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a responsible as well as a competent global citizen today.
We will help each of us to become a neo-entrepreneur in
our own rights, no matter however or wherever we live or
work. HomeEmail me with your suggestions for useful green links and your comments on Neo-entrepreneurism. Thank you! This site has been updated on 13th September, 2000!
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We have discussed various aspects of Neo-entrepreneurship so far (e.g., see a discussion on Teamwork. From now on, we are going to discuss Neo-entrepreneurship in action. These will divided into three sections. One is a theoretical exploration as to how to achieve Neoentrepreneurship in reality. Another is comments on recent events, showing a Neoentrepreneurial perspective. Last is links to various web sites, which may be used to encourage or support the emergence of neo-entrepreneurism.
Neo-entreneurship in Action!
On the Geen network this month, we are talking about the potential impact of the Internet to the preservation and management of our natural environment. I think the main contribution of the Internet to the environment and its management can come in many forms as below:
- Saving paper and create a paperless society;
- Preventing foolish polluting behaviours by individuals and organisations by highlighting the alternative choices available, knowledge about potential damages and a monitoring service as a preventative measure;
- Increasing the likelihood of visionary sustainable development programs by companies and countries, by researching into the future and the unknown;
- Speeding up technological innovation;
- Spreading environmental knowledge and education;
- Facilitating environmental campaigns and inter-personal or public discussions and debates;
- Improving national and company policies with increased transparency;
- Enabling the call-up of environmental investment, donations, and other funding for projects and programs throughout the world;
- Helping to shape powerful environmentally informed political parties;
- …
With the internet, we could take the following necessary steps to ensure the preservation and proper management of environmental issues and our natural environment:
- setting up a global barometer, for benchmarking, comparison, …Any offence would then be deliberate offence like murder, rather than manslaughter, in legal terms;
- setting up a global knowledge base, partly catering for individuals and partly for companies and collective entities;
- setting up a global monitoring service, to monitor polluting behaviours and responding to environmental disasters;
- setting up a global financial market for environmental properties, such as green assets, green permits/labels/brands, pollution permits,…
- setting up a global green market for environmental capabilities, such as green technologies, green investment, environmental services and personnel, etc…
- setting up a global media platform for environmental program, interpersonal and public discussions and debates, lecturers, films, TV programs, etc…
- many other possibilities
The internet can certainly bring forth the reality that the environment is really a global property and hence the responsibilities of the global community, rather than individuals, locals, regions or countries. Anyway, you may think I side with 1984 and the Big Brother. But as far as I am concerned, there is nothing wrong with Big Brothers abound in public arenas. I certainly would insisting on respecting individual’s right and freedom in their privacy, which is the foundation to our human souls.
Now you see the essence of a global environmental neo-entreneurism. In terms of a global property like the natural environment, it encourages all the stakeholders to be part of the actions, e.g., to be involved, informed, be able to discuss, debate, compare and make judgements and choices, be able to witness reality and see through veins of company and other collective policies, and so on. At the same time, it does not allow the idle existence of any one stakeholder, as his or her responsibilities command. No free riders are allowed on the global bus, which should reduce the overall bus fair and enable the maintenance of the bus so that it can go on longer and be replaced by more effecient and effective new models. A lot of interesting things can be achieved through a global neo-entrepreneurial network, starting with the environment. Then, we can go on to tackle many of the issues in the public domain, such as crime (e.g., killer doctors such as Dr Shipman in the UK), corruption, mistakes in the public domain, and so on.
Comment on Current Affairs: Previous comment: Recycling in Lincoln
I just went to Tesco for some weekly shopping. Once there, I realised how serious this so-called petrol crisis is at the moment. The filling station was distinctively vacant, and throngs of shoppers went in and out Tesco with trolley-loads of goods. Their faces showed no other emotion but stress, worry, and some sense of panic. Once in the supermarket, the shelves were not filled with goods as on normal days. Daily necessities were running short or out fast. I watched in amazement at the checkout when I saw people's shopping bills averaged 50 pounds or so. The assistant at the counter said, 'People are buying in panic, but I am sure it will be all over by the weekend.' Predicting future is always a risky business. Perhaps she knew the British people than I do, as the newspapers last weekend were lamenting the lack of response and perhaps lack of guts from the British compared with their European counterparts in France and elsewhere. Mind you, petrol in Britain is currently ranking one of the most expensive in the Western world, with more than 70% of that all national tax.
So the question is why the Prime Minister is not championing the great green cause which should have been behind the high petrol tax. He and other ministers have time and again stressed the importance of sound financial house-keeping in terms of perhaps budgetary surpluses. On the radio and TV, few people have been shouting about the great green cause either. So did the UK government hike up the tax behind a wave of green enthusiasm following recent global green conferences, while its real motive being that of sound financial house-keeping rather than environmental responsibility.
Apparently, financial house-keeping is a sensitive and yet proud issue that the government and the parliament can debate on and show off when it is in good position as is now. But environmental responsibility is rather a grey issue, which is kind of difficult to assertain, particularly in terms of governmental performance or achievement, the No. one priority for any government. If a Western democratic government like UK's feels this kind of obscurity for the environmental issue, no wonder it is so difficult to promote and implement green policies in developing countries like China. So it is all policies with little reality. So is environmental awareness and responsibility all a bit of dream or fantasy even today?
Upon reflection, one can conclude that hiking up tax on users of petrol without providing infrastures and means for alternatives is rather a misguided national approach to environmental management. Given the ever-enlarging ozone hole, the environmental issue must be serious and real enough to be worth its appearance on everybody's tongue and every political and public agenda. This seems to deal with the normative aspect of the environmental issue, which demands more media and educational coverage.
At the strategic level, more substantial alternatives must be offered to the public before they can be left to make their choices. In any case, a lot of the traffic nowadays are likely to be supermarket lorries transporting goods around the country and across the borders. Surely, it makes sense to build a light-rail network for all the major supermarkets as well as major manufacturing companies. In terms of cars, maybe the consumers should be offered either gas-powered cars or electric-powered cars or other environmental friendly cars, rather than choosing which petrol to use, should that aspect of environmental research be conclusive. The difficulty is cut off history (status quo) and make future. I can see the real progress being made if we initiate our actions with children, because it is their future and their children's future we are trying to protect. What do you think? Send your comments to me, and I will post them on this site.
Great Links to support the emergence of Neo-entrepreneurism
Art and Sustainability
Network of Environmental Experts and Researchers
Green Network
United Nation's Sustainable Development Program
Resources about the Earth
Earth Change Resources
Energy Quest
Kids saving the Earth
The Globe Network
Cool Green Ideas and links
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