Discussion Paper Series launched
Posted By The Club of Rome On November 1, 2011 @ 3:14 pm In Archive,Club of Rome News,Featured,Publications | Comments Disabled
[1]Discussion Paper Series launched: Download CoR Discussion Paper 01-2011 [1]: “Sustainability under Scrutiny – Real Values and their Role in Promoting the New Economics of Growth”, written by Ian Johnson, Secretary General of the Club of Rome.
The Club of Rome was the first and, for many years, the most influential thinker on long-term future issues. In 1972 “Limits to Growth”2: the first book to the Club of Rome and a pioneer work at the time “kick started” the environmental movement that was to follow, influenced thousands of people into thinking about our n natural environment and shaped some of the more en-lightened policy-makers of that time. In many ways, the genius of Limits to Growth was the fact that it asked the right questions; it posed the dilemma as a problem in search of a solution (all too often this is reversed!); and it focused us all on the longer term. Intellectually it also stressed the importance of systems thinking. And it coined a new term: “The Problematique”. There was intense debate around Limits to Growth, especially amongst the technological optimists and those who mistakenly understood the book as a series of predictions rather than a reflection of outlooks and scenarios.
Over the course of the next two decades many fine books from eminent researchers were prepared and submitted as reports to the Club of Rome. They were ad hoc in nature but of high quality and great relevance. Some four years ago, the Club moved towards an integrated work programme: “Pathways to World Development”. This allowed us to revisit the “problematique” and to state it in a more contemporary setting where we had already witnessed the realities of “Limits to Growth” and where new findings and new research had provided us with new insights. The “Pathways” work programme focused on five interlocking themes: Environment and Natural Resources, Globalisation, International Development, Social Transformation, Peace and Security. Although not quite complete (it will be completed this year) our efforts have already provided valuable insights to move towards a new phase for the Club of Rome which focuses on the systemic or “root” causes of the problems we face and on identifying potential solutions.
Article printed from THE CLUB OF ROME (www.clubofrome.org): http://www.clubofrome.org
URL to article: http://www.clubofrome.org/?p=3140
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.clubofrome.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/CoR-Discussion-Paper-Series-01-2011-Ian-Johnson.pdf
Click here to print.