There are a ton of people out there in the world doing great, innovative work. We wanted to share a few of our favorite projects going on, groups changing the way we see the world, and organizations making waves. Check them out, and be inspired!!
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Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities. Our pioneering Placemaking approach helps citizens transform their public spaces into vital places that highlight local assets, spur rejuvenation and serve common needs. See more work being done by PPS at www.pps.org.
Aware that our world is deeply troubled and polarized the Charter for Compassion International is committed to making the world a better place. We work to establish and sustain cultures of compassion locally and globally through diverse sectors—arts, business, education, the environment, healthcare, interfaith communities, peace, restorative justice, science and research, social justice, social services, science and research and women and girls.
At the heart of our work is working with cities to identify issues of concern that make their communities uncomfortable places in which to live. We supply resources, information and communication platforms to help create and support compassionate communities, institutions, and networks of all types that are dedicated to becoming compassionate presences in the world. Learn more at https://charterforcompassion.org/.
Island Press began with a simple idea: knowledge is power—the power to imagine a better future and find ways for getting us there. Island Press is the publishing house for Randoph Hester, author of Design for Ecological Democracy, which inspired much of PraxTHIS thought and work.
Founded in 1984, Island Press’ mission is to provide the best ideas and information to those seeking to understand and protect the environment and create solutions to its complex problems.We elevate voices of change, shine a spotlight on crucial issues, and focus attention on sustainable solutions. Island Press has developed a comprehensive and growing body of knowledge—vital resources for all those working to protect the environment and create healthy communities.
Our programs and partnerships bring our authors and their views into conversation with people who can trigger change on the ground and keep it moving forward. Click here to read about some of the changes our work has shaped.
Film offers us a powerful tool to raise awareness of important issues not covered by the corporate news. Our goal is to provide citizens of the world with the information and perspectives essential to creating a more just, sustainable, and democratic society.
Our website has cataloged over 3000 of the best documentaries, short films and videos that can be watched free online, sorted into 40 subjects related to changing the world. And, since there’s still so much to learn about that isn’t featured in a film, we’ve also cataloged a fair amount of articles, too.
The Presencing Institute (PI) is an awareness-based action-research community that creates social technologies, builds capacities, and generates holding spaces for profound societal renewal. This community tries to contribute to shifting the economy from ego to eco, and toward serving the well-being of all.
A ten-year research project we started in 1996, conducted by Otto and his colleagues, including Joseph Jaworski and Peter Senge, at MIT, resulted in a consciousness-based framework of leadership and change. That framework, referred to as Presencing or Theory U, says that the quality of the results that a system creates is a function of the awareness from which the people in that system operate. The findings have been published in the books Theory U (by Otto Scharmer) and Presence (co-authored by Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers). Learn more about this amazing work at https://www.presencing.com/about.
The Art of Hosting is a highly effective way of harnessing the collective wisdom and self-organizing capacity of groups of any size. Based on the assumption that people give their energy and lend their resources to what matters most to them – in work as in life – the Art of Hosting blends a suite of powerful conversational processes to invite people to step in and take charge of the challenges facing them.
Groups and organizations using the Art of Hosting as a working practice report better decision-making, more efficient and effective capacity building and greater ability to quickly respond to opportunity, challenge and change. People who experience the Art of Hosting typically say that they walk away feeling more empowered and able to help guide the meetings and conversations they are part of move towards more effective and desirable outcomes.
The Art of Hosting network is rapidly spreading and growing all over the world, as organizations, communities, and people from every walk of life take part in this new way of working that blends the best of what we all know about the power of conversation. We are rediscovering it, together.
The Art of Hosting network has no formal, legal structure, no appointed leader, no accreditation program and no controlling body. It is based on a practitioner network, with local communities of practice; it is committed to learning and generous with its sharing and support. Learn more at: http://www.artofhosting.org/what-is-aoh/