Ideas

Bright ideas can emerge at any time, we just need to look out for them!  This is a space where some new ideas will be floated, and comments invited.  They will be primarily on the themes which are central to the work of IDEAction - Sustainable Solutions, Working with Knowledge, and Exploring the Future.   

Click on any of the ideas below to read more details or to comment on the ideas.  Or e-mail andyllanwarne@hotmail.com with an idea you'd like to float. 

Resilience and Sustainability

What do we mean by "resilience"? Is it the same as "sustainability"? If not, what are they differences?

There is a lot of discussion these days about "resilient communities" and "resilient cities", for example in connection with adaptation to climate change. If cities and communities have considered the risks presented by disruptive climate change such as severe weather, flooding and high temperatures, and planned how they will respond to these risks, then they are boosting their resilience.

But is "resilience" becoming another trendy buzzword that is itself at risk of becoming too broad to be useful - a bit like "sustainability"? These questions are explored in more detail (click on heading above), and feedback and comments are welcome.

Plastic bags and the impact of a story

Finally Gordon Brown has stolen a march on his cautious environment secretary Hilary Benn by saying that he wants to see an end to the use of billions of free plastic shopping bags every year in Britain.  Could it be that a simple story about wildlife in Hawaii has persuaded him, where no amount of reasoned argument has succeeded in the past?

Learning from our experience - a practical example

The latest calls in the UK Parliament for an inquiry into the Iraq War highlight the importance of learning from our experience. Too often it takes a high-profile debacle such as this before organisations and politicians are forced into holding an inquiry, whereas really we should be aiming to review projects and business activities on a regular basis in order to improve our performance in the future.