Seeds of Change - Heiner Benking's Blog - quergeist.info
Welcome to the NewsLog or Blog of Heiner Benking. A kaleidoscope of insights and impulses collected first in the DaZiBao (Rio) process Seeds of Change Viewsletter of the Club of Budapest since 1995, continually updated ever since. Now available for broader distribution and comments in this blog - enjoy, and come again !
20 May 2015 @ 17:37
2 days we had here in Berlin - May 18-19 - the Petersberg Climate Dialogue VI
"Reaching for the Paris outcome"[link] see November in Paris: [link] see also: [link] backgroundpaper: [link] and
I must say, media waiting in their slots for the Press Conferences and maybe an interview, but the rest is gated - not really what I am up to any more after 30+years ...
It was good to see out Chancellor Angela Merkel a little changed after the the COP in Berlin in 1995. 20 years ago, but was there some other news?, good news? I wonder.
Angela was not around when we had the opening of the GLOBAL CHANGE exhibition in the German Chancellery 20 years ago. May 30, 1990. We did not talk about Climate Change, but about all the "changes, short and long term, across scales and sectors. We talked about the system earth, life-styles, and the nexus between all the issues. Some of us aware about the Problematique [link] as laid out by Hassan Oezbekhan in the late 60ies.
see also: [link]
Nowadays it look like defining some targets, some goals and "numbers" is enough! I strongly object and wonder if not solutions looking for the leverage points, the little triggers which might be really "smart".
I feel after all this talk by Merkel and Hollande, that we are waiting for the "silver bullet" reduce the tons of CO2 and all is solved.....
What an ignorance and dream world....
25 years ago, May 30th, we had the opening of the GLOBAL CHANGE exhibition, its subtitle was "Challenges to Science and Politics" but what has been learned since then? Did we make progress? Did we learn to come to grids? Or is our Worldview to Flat" [link] as I wrote in 1993, or a year later that the needed result / expectation after Rio'92 was to come to "Common Frames of References" [link] But as some alerts around the UN and ECOSOC have been lost in the wind the last 20+ years (for example: [link] ) I feel it is time to revisit some old documents, exhibitions, reports and some discussions around going beyond bracketing to deliberation. I mean here to take issues and find deep drivers, go to influence voting instead of shopping on a menue....
I am angry now, but maybe a good impulse to put my thoughts together for May 30th, the the GLOBAL CHANGE exhibition [link] started its tour around Germany for some years. What have we understood, learned? can we learn? or do we follow our mind-bugs and group-think? fiddling in the dark? Always waiting for another COP or Summit? instead of getting our wits and acts together?
13 Apr 2015 @ 06:53
For the Fischer Centenary we had cross the lobby of the Humboldt-University, overcrowded, the kick-off of the European Students For Liberty Conference | ESFLC2015. [link] #openborders #ESFL2015
Libertarianism, Objectivim, “Prohibitism”, .... many "isms" are in the publications and in the hall-ways and I am alerted as you might have seen figuer abot the “isms” and how they need to be seen together in context. ******* One eyed – or with one “ism” such positions are in danger to become weapons to protect and defend. Maybe I am too alerted in view of all the fundamentalisms.
Here you find people who speak up for liberty and rights. Good names and strange names and organizations all under one umbrella.
Great speakers like the Danish Journalist and Mohammad cartoon publisher Flemming Rose with lots of security needed, Finance gurus, and politicians abound, and an interesting width of participants, activists, students, … like you find here around the German FDP party.
They invited the best debating team to Berlin and I spoke with some of them about the quality and what after the “pitch” - can it be done in a circle or only with some coaching with experienced trainers. They liked the MAGIC ROUNDTABLE – and I showed to some how this was done for example here: **** Maybe we come to learning and harvesting in groups and learning more about the “other” perspective....
The last keynote and finish was by TOM G. PALMER *** -his books have been everywhere for free ! and he brought interesting books from others and showed some roots and reflections. We need to check was can be practically used and helps to go beyond fundamentalism and worse.... *****
I observe the earnesty and eagerness, but also the fixation against any kind of frames or rule or government. I have my reservations even when I can understand individual positions.... Like always. Last night we were active online with some systems people about Climate and the Messages of the Club of Rome and how Contrarians and Doomsday Messengers, say call it alarmists, have not learned from each other the last 40 years, frightening. Check the discussion in THE GUARDIAN and around the Systems People: Limits to Growth was right? or just scare mongering? https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/116948-5968690349533601794 my little concerens from tonight... 1-2-3 deep concerns.
I feel it is bad when people follow their favourite “ism” and not hear the situations, contexts, frames, values from the other side of the street and think black-white boxes - even when they sound appealing like Growth or non Growth Decay/Death ***-- Perestroika etc****
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this is the CeBIT week and Factory 4.0 - stay tuned ... Merkel urged to not forget Standardization in her opening speech. I wonder when she speaks about OPEN what her team checked about Harmonization **** and its "roots and wings"... ***
WORK IN PROGRESS
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BUT LAST NOT LEAST: Bürgerdialog 2015 https://www.gut-leben-in-deutschland.de/DE/Home/home_node.html and: 2
Also our CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL
is in-between, already back in BERLIN for the Citizens Dialogues [link] check also: https://www.dialog-ueber-deutschland.de/DE/00-Homepage/homepage_node.html
and the online broadcasts: [link]
VIELFALT zutrauen und Wohlfühlkultur: http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/initiative-gut-leben-in-deutschland-wirklicher-dialog-oder.1773.de.html?dram:article_id=316891
10 Apr 2015 @ 19:56
Rushing home from Humboldt University - 100 years celebration of our late honorary president and ambassador not only of the TAGORE EINSTEIN COUNCIL: [link] Herbert Fischer, [link] Here is the invitation of the TAGORE EINSTEIN COUNCIL: [link]
I can not find anything in WIKIPEDIA in English: ****
Ever heard about HERBERT FISCHER!?? - Wikipedia is poor ! even wen he was more than a raw model - something we should learn and use for the education of our Youth, Cultural deep understanding, decency and humility and giving examples, and policy and governance today. We talked about MAHATMA, Albert Schweitzer, ..... and and ..
WIKIPEDEA is really poor - but so is GOOGLE. I learned today that they consider rating by truth and relevance, not my hits or links as the original "design" for ranking. The old question of quality and esteem, versus quantity and noise.... BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY....
I have lasting images from meeting AMBASSADOR FISCHER in his home, a unique, one-time deep and intense encounter before he died. We came very fast from Education: Comenius, Ethics: Jonas, to Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde Unitas Fratrum[link], Quakers, Life Reform = German Life Reform League - see Lebensreform, [link] Humboldt University, Rudolf Bahro, .... to Planning, Agriculture and Development, and then suddenly where around Gandhi and Siu, Dukkha and Sukkha !! an incredible tour de raison.....
I REALLY SELDOM HAD IN MY LIFE SUCH A WIDE RANGE OF THEMES in O N E conversation !!
Fischer is for me on the same level as Robert Jungk, Hans Jonas, Ralph Siu, Herbert Stachowiak, Alfred Schinz, ...
I could not resist, being moved to give my "time-witness - story" about how I encountered and learned or got "food-for-thought" from him. But first it was his attention and presence, well packed questioning connected with deep practical experience.
THE STORY of my statement should be added here a.s.a.p. - I need to transcribe what I have said. As our conversation over maybe 3 hours years ago was vivid like yesterday and it explained fragments by the other "accounts" building a solid architecture of his life as model not only with GANDHI and TAGORE !! - His eldest son later joked with me about "EPISODES", "ETAPPES", and "EPOCHES" in his live ! I was very moved ! I WILL ADD IT UNDER "MORE" below !!
Fischers son summed it up by saying that the essence was "WEITER SEHEN" - seeing beyond - and later it was mentioned that he had a "Jahrhundert Blick".
I had studied much the time of Gandhi in South Africa, the Tolstoy Farm and also Tagores interest in it, but also how extremely different positions found to honour and respect each other, even helping ... the "other".
check these links about the sources of HOLISM http://benking.de/history_scope-holism.html***** and our WHOLENESS seminar around the ISSS: [link] I mean here the relation of J.C.Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi, the times in South Africa and stories that such extraordinary people had a broader and more tangible and deeper approach as we find it typically today, beside all the "noise we know" - and that people those days were closer to Life and Survival, Curiosity and Demut. (Humility-Decency).
Check also: Big Data, Big Noise from 2012 here: https://sites.google.com/site/21stcenturyagora/home/connecting_dots_and_-spaces and the collection with Reynaldo Treviño Cisneros: https://www.createspace.com/3977896
MOVING FOR ME was the authenticity and level of people in a small circle who have met him and got inspired by him. I was very moved and present this entry here as I feel he was with GANDHI and a Diplomat on very interesting levels in different times. What his colleges, friends, pupils, kids, ... said this afternoon was really moving.
So many people in this small circle of maybe 40 people I have met, some maybe even 25 years ago, and it really felt like a family of decency in "reunion".
THANK YOU !! Sunil Sen Gupta !!
- there was something in such people I had the honor to meet and learn from, even when the time was very brief...
Sooo much is known and time has passed quickly - and so the citation I noted during our session how he was "right" with his statement: "Unzählig die Bücher, groß das Wissen, kurz die Zeit" = "Unlimmited number of books, much knowledge, short the time"
I would add: no awareness and tangible concepts for the time we use and steal.... misuse and waist.... or the old "data numbers explode, knowledge and wisdom disapear"...
We had mentioned: "The Art of Governance - Panetics"[link] - came again and again into mind.. see "or Speakers Bureau": [link] and what we did GANDHI Society was one of the key movers 20 years ago AFRICA BEYOND POVERTY.... The Robust Paths have been published widely: [link] but more importantly (I feel now) the OPTICS OF ETHICS never hit the streets: [link] and [link] The son of our conference president: ODERA ORUKA https://www.facebook.com/pages/ProfHenry-Odera-Oruka/627269133995938?ref=stream - his name is Peter, has just send this from the 2013 memory symposium: https://picasaweb.google.com/105368192827176055914/OderaOrukaSymposium2013?authkey=Gv1sRgCM_Z4v6RsbrfrQE&feat=email ODERA ORUKA and his Sagacious Knowledge and the Mastermind behind these Futures projects: Pentii Malaska https://www.utu.fi/en/units/ffrc/about/pentti-malaska/Pages/in-memoriam.aspx should join the list of persons mentioned above !!
1 Apr 2015 @ 17:50
Before Easter - the German Parliament opened the door today to FRACKING.
3000 Meter deep sounds good, maybe as far as the back-side of the Moon !?
I wonder. The Agency in charge the BGR published 30 years ago: MACHET EUCH DIE ERDE UNTERTAN, ABER RUINIERT SIE NCHT. But this is what we are doing, learning and applying economical thinking at ist externalisation to the "rest" of human endeavour...
Today I missed the demonstrations, but it was too late anyway, and I believe in the many sectors where we should engage, active protest is one here: [link]
28 Mar 2015 @ 15:06 Citizens for Europe (SfE) : Initiating Change in Europe since 2010: Celebrate Participation, Diversity, and Citizenship[link] An OpenSpace - With the title:Future Cities: Stadt der Zukunft: bunt, lebendig, partizipativ, [link]
A great event - Dead-tired I wanted only to check who is around - but stayed all day - as the 3 themes very well match ! and reinforced each other ! and last not least an Open Space with buffet and great catering, so all the butterflies and bumblebees can meet at the bar, pool, or chill out outside or at the sofas.In one word: Very intensive and no bore any time, as you honour in such a gathering the group or circle by leaving it !
and I was agasp by the particiants, deep, experienced, varied, attentive, young, ....
I need to add ere the outcomes and share them asap......
I will also add some links and feel there will me more to be added ! pls. check the website !
Well, maybe in a nut-shell: I was great to be able to discuss magic roundtables www.open-forum.de and the SDP in the Global Agora 21stCenturaAgora.org and have a bunch of great participants, experts in all field and sectors connected to my 1st track, 1st session open-spce round on factors od sucess, and failure: Gelingen und Scheitern, Challenges, Lessons learned and best practices ! And I was able to tell some stories from CHANCE 2000, [link] Wahlkampfzirkus - Roundtables, .... We learn to Speak (up) - Wir lernen sprechen: [link]
The other far out session was on SLOW DEMOCRACY !! check the docu ! and the workgroup to discuss future activities of CfE where I proposed something around perfomance and deliberations, and mentioned our CAP MAGIC ROUNDTABLE as we did it recently for the CEC CAPS introduction in Berlin ******
and the Madrigal Sea, [link] a project from 1993 where "on stage" the Madrigal Sea was brought "onto stage", We said we do it next around the Black Sea, [link] actually what we had "in the oven" as one way to go for the region - and maybe now in co-op with CfE !?
Maybe also check: Beyond Pitching - harvesting pitches, collective solution augmentation and .... [link]
I enjoyed the day as it was a day for stories, storytelling and reflecting slow and deep the ways, means , and ends with very bright students and professionals....
24 Mar 2015 @ 10:43
We as the Council of Global Issues [link] look into smart or wise solutins along and across scales, issues, problems, regions, scales,.... Getting dizzy and perplex? NO problem - you are not alone
Here in Sofia, Bulgaria, representatives from all these sectors are as stakeholders in one room !
In the Balkan Hotel we are looking into new transboundary opportunities and solutions may they be urban, rual or marine !
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION invited for the
Smart and Blue – Second black sea stakeholder conference – new opportunities for the blue economy of the Black Sea
[link]
Presently Francesco Musco from Venice is speaking. Impressive !! also openly speaking about the mistakes of the past. Discontinuity ... Permanent interation of stakeholders... crossborder ... activitiers ..
This is TWITTER world access of our host, the Commissioner from Brussels: https://twitter.com/KarmenuVella
Presently Francesco Musco from Venice is speaking. Impressive !! also openly speaking about the mistakes of the past. Discontinuity ... Permanent interation of stakeholders... crossborder ...
I can not but recall the EMECS "Madrigal Sea" podium. Many of the arguments sound very familiar ! I mentioned the 2 weeks ago Kiel Ocean Futures event - See my blog below March 4-6: [link]
As the results were so interesting in Kiel I could not resits but check in for Sofia. Why? there are so few integrated "All Win" aor win-win-win approaches, but as I collect them, I feel I should learn about the Black Sea and see that it is Green/Blue again soon ...
Here are Powerpoint slides of our ReefFormers project as we did them the night before... [link] Enjoy and check for more and new answers - for old and new questions and solutions.
In general: I find this multi-stakeholder gatherings, cross-border, and multi-lingual very interesting and rewarding.
It is like a hearing in the old days. The incomming "king" travels his lands and makes receptions for his people...
The questions is as alwaxs: What is next!
We have to learn about the other positions and views. I will report back to the COMMONS CLUSTER (ECOSOC) [link] (see recommendations at page 3) and let us review the MDG - SDG transition and activity areas priorities around not only the BALTIC SEA and the BLACK SEA ....
23 Mar 2015 @ 21:32
Last week was heavy, Potsdam graduations and the 6. Potsdamer I-Science Tag posted in 6.Potsdamer I-Science Tag, the CeBIT in Hannóver with Big Data, Community Computing .... and 3 days bpb congress in Duisburg (as announced earlier in this blog: Beyond Pitching - harvesting pitches, collective solution augmentation and ....
I am already via Berlin back now in Sofia ... tough times before Easter.... well lets see tomorrow...
4 Mar 2015 @ 15:37
The Symposium in Kiel is a gathering of scientists and practitioners concerned with sustainable ocean development. 150 participants from 24 countries and with a wide array of backgrounds, unique in variety in such a broad "subject area" - See SIGs vs, GIGs in the "side bar". Early career scientists and established experts from a broad range of disciplines, policy, academia, administrations, .... exchange their views on: Ocean sustainability, ocean conservation, ocean resources, ocean governance and outreach & arts. [link] and FUTURE OCEAN [link] I was attracted by so many new names and the "elders", some in the "business" since 30+ years, and some from "odd" fields like ethics, games, international research and governance, or around climate or whatever policy making....
This is Heiner Benking's News Log, a private-public diary presenting events, symposia and happenings in Berlin and elsewhere - my farings, foci, issues and concerns.
PLEASE CONSIDER THIS PERSONAL BLOG an ARTISTIC and PERFORMATIVE MEDIA INTERVENTION !
The Log links to my work and interests and presents issues and special concern of maybe a very small group of "concerned, engaged generalist" - a Global Interest Group (GIG). This needs to be seen in contrast to the ubiquitous Specialized Interest Groups (SIGs), the "scientific" approach to organize subject areas and specialization and standardization and harmonization! of means, nomenclatures, and modes of thinking. My favorite stories in the WHOLENESS SEMINAR include:
BELA BANATHY: "GENESIS
OF GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY" and "IVAN HAVEL: Longing for Unified Knowledge" where a "specialist" runs into the founding session of the early foundations General Systems, mumbling "this is not my field" or where Ivan M. Havel expresses his search for other kinds of knowledge.
As a starter I also recommend to check my MINDPRINT site, where we add the need for HANDPRINTS and MINDPRINTS, as FOOTPRINTS are good to visualize and communicate numbers, densities or consumption per area, but are not sufficient to negotiate and "harmonize" across domains and communicate gains in different cultures, technologies, times,... in short: incompatible but relevant information and our work on dialog, peace, policy-making, and multi-modal, faceted issues and consequences.
What am I? This is a "well-packed" question for which I have not the or a single answer. Some called me an in-betweener, go-getter, facilitator, hub, marvel-hero, trim-tab, bricoleur, bricoleers??? - career designeer, .... Some even "hank" which I disliked or Story which I liked very much !!
I have no single answer as I feel we need to walk the talk and sing and dance Life ! in spectra and fields in multiple embodied spaces.
To nebulous an answer? I am sorry but I do not go for overclaims and oversimplifications, under-complex and over-simplistic approaches with clan-think mindsets about real issues in clear contexts!
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22 May 2015 @ 08:28
20 May 2015 @ 17:37
13 Apr 2015 @ 06:53
10 Apr 2015 @ 19:56
28 Mar 2015 @ 15:06
24 Mar 2015 @ 10:43
23 Mar 2015 @ 21:32
4 Mar 2015 @ 15:37
