Gunter Pauli suggests by emulating Nature we can evolve
from an economy based on scarcity to an economy based on
abundance---the cascading, nutrient rich, Blue
Economy
.
Gunter
Pauli, famous eco-entrepreneur and passionate proponent of green
development worldwide, will discuss the potential for green jobs to
revitalize and reinvigorate our economy with creative systems thinking
in a public talk
on December 5, hosted by the Santa Barbara
City College Center for Sustainability. Author of the soon
to be released book
"The Blue Economy, 10 Years; 100
Innovations; 100,000,000 Jobs", Pauli shares four years of
research and case studies identifying 100 innovations that have the
potential to generate as many as 100 million jobs worldwide in the
next 10 years.
The former
president of the hugely successful biodegradable soap company Ecover,
Pauli was responsible for Europe's first ecological factory located in
Belgium, that subsequently turned into a "green" tourist
attraction. He founded
"Zero Emissions Research and
Initiatives" (ZERI) at the United Nations University in
Tokyo, and established the
Global ZERI Network, redesigning
production and consumption into clusters of industries inspired by
natural systems. Leapfrogging past stagnant models of business
that no longer work, Pauli is known for innovative strategies for the
first and third worlds, involving the genius of both street kids and
savvy business icons alike. Noting that whole systems thinking
is a learned process best learned early, Pauli has written children's
books in many languages and helped create curriculums for
schools.
At the evening
talk Pauli will share successful entrepreneurial projects from around
the world that exemplify ZERI's waste equals food and system design
logic, including a program to convert coffee pulp to mushrooms,
brewery waste to pig food, and spirulina from the heat of a coal power
plant. Waste is always seen as a resource that with creative thinking,
can be used to create multiple enterprises from singular ones, with
benefits for the economy and the environment. Pauli is fond of saying
that returns on investment from these kinds of business models far
exceed those of companies like Microsoft.
Gunter Pauli was born in Antwerp, Belgium
in 1956. He graduated in Economics from Loyola's University in Belgium
and obtained his masters in business administration from INSEAD in
France. His many entrepreneurial activities span business, culture,
science, politics and the environment. Pauli is the founder and former
President of Worldwatch Europe, and a member of the Club of Rome. He
is the author of 17 books in 21 languages. Pauli currently lives
in Japan.
The event takes place on
Sat, Dec 5, 6:30-9pm at the Fe Bland Forum
on the SBCC West Campus, 721 Cliff Drive. Admission is $10 for
general public, $5 for students. No reservations are required.
For more information please call
(805) 965-0581, ext 2177, email
msbu...@sbcc.edu;
http://sustainability.sbcc.edu