One of the greatest concerns in sustainability is the exponential growth in global population. Even more concerning is the higher occurrence of this population growth in poor countries with the least resources. Continuing to discuss levels of analysis, panelists discussed the importance of total participation of community members in order to produce real sustainable change and, in addition, the necessity to align one’s own desire for sustainable achievement with a society’s desires. As a result, it can be difficult to find solutions for a problem that people aren’t even familiar with—but in contrast to popular opinion, environmental concern is not at all related to the level of development of the country or community. This led us to ask more general questions about international development from the American perspective—should a country or community’s success be measured in terms of its resemblance to U.S.? Is the U.S. leading by example or imposing ideas onto under-developed countries?

Saul Garlick explained his experiences with Think Impact and what he has learned about development in rural communities through this work. The most important lesson is to not judge, and to assume that you know nothing. There must be a prolonged time of exposure before you can hope to have impact and you must let the people take the credit for their own future. Also, in order to truly understand a community you must come to understand the cultural norms that run deeply, such as food, language, occupation, gender and entertainment. Furthermore, political hierarchies greatly affect the running of a community and you cannot hope to enact any kind of social change unless you gain the support and permission of the levels of government within the community.

In Hodka the social structure has a long history of subjugation of women and alternating supremacy by Hindu and Muslim factions.  Can this project be successful when the primary beneficiaries are those already in power?  While eventually the project created engagement throughout the community, it also created corruption, didn’t change the gender norms (women still sequestered, have no ownership/ leadership of the resort), and generally stayed under the power of the town council.  Yet this ETP is one of the most financially successful of the UNDP and is used as a model for replicable projects in the state of Gujarat.  How do we evaluate that success?  Could there have been better models of helping this village economically develop?  You can follow all the right ABCD tools, but still not necessarily the right steps in this particular village because of cultural issues and structural issues that interfered with the goals of the UNDP partnership and forced uncomfortable compromises.

This workshop focused on communication and dissemination of your message. It aimed to help delegates figure out what is the best way to convey the message of their project. Rachel, the facilitator, began with an exercise asking delegates to compare the way that they introduce themselves to each other. Next, she showed participants two different types of campaigns. The first was a global social marketing campaign, which aimed to spread awareness on the communicable disease, avian flu. This campaign used images and words on a one-page flyer in order to educate a mass community. The second was a project that focused on drama for conflict transformation, using techniques that allowed individuals to create a play based on a conflict situation they have experienced. This method focused on a smaller group of people, and was more specialized and interactive. Each method is successful for its relative goal. What Rachel tried to emphasize was for delegates to really evaluate what their ultimate goal is with their project and what is the best way to communicate this goal. There are four considerations in designing the methodology of message communication. These include: culturally appropriate message and approach (like a multiplier effect where individuals are engaging with others in their own community), a continuum of participation (who can you reach with your resources, and how), method of dissemination and continuity, and available resources.

GES has played a big part in NU Stands with Haiti, the Northwestern community’s response to the earthquake in Haiti. So far, the community as a whole (undergrads and grad students combined) have raised well over $12,000. And where has the money come from? Canning, bracelet sales, yoga classes, and, well, keggers.

We’ve spent a good amount of time at GES meetings discussing the way things are going here. It’s been a huge success in terms of fundraising, and a large part of Northwestern has contributed their time or money to help the hundreds of thousands of Haitians affected by the earthquake. And one of the best parts is that this extends way past the usual boundaries of engagement at Northwestern — there are easy ways for everyone, literally everyone, to get involved, even if it’s only by giving $5 and assuming that whoever you’re giving it to will get it to the right place.

I think we can all agree that the more money we can send to Haiti, the better. But are there any problems with the way we’re doing it? Is raising awareness by changing your facebook status or paying an extra couple of bucks for a party (I believe the term is “slacktivism”) the right way to go about it? Is there a right way to go about it? NU Stands with Haiti has also been arranging panels and discussions to actually educate the community, but on a college campus, it’s a certainty that the parties will be better attended than the panels, no matter which experts they bring it.

I think if we at GES had our way, everyone would know about the specific organizations they were supporting, and they would know exactly what was going on in Haiti, where their money was going, why it’s imperative to help this country, and why now. But the reality is that not everyone cares enough, and that anything that we as a community can do to help is better than not doing anything at all, even if it is just blindly donating. Right now, what Haiti needs is numbers, and if we can do that through appealing to Northwestern’s cravings for beer and baked goods, then that’s the way we’ll do it.

Anything is Possible from The Canary Collective on Vimeo.

There are no words to describe how thrilled we are: Brian Bordainick will be the opening keynote to GES. He will speak at the opening banquet, in front of GES staff, delegates and everyone who has collaborated with the realization of the Summit, including Northwestern’s President Morton Schapiro.

Why Brian?

The opening keynote should give delegates a taste of what GES is about, what they should expect from the Summit and above all, it should give them a clear sense of WHY they are here. They are here to form a learning community of individuals that care to see beyond the end of their nose, and dare to act upon what they see.

Brian is one of us. When he graduated, he went with Teach for America to New Orleans. He found a community devastated by hurricane Katrina. Right now, kids at George Washington Carver High School receive classes in prefabricated trailers and of course there is no proper sports infrastructure.

New Orleans’ 9^th Ward suffers from many illnesses related to lack of infrastructure and places for the community to gather and enjoy. The aspect of a place can affect a community in very bad ways.  Brian saw that obvious connection between low graduation rates, high crime and drug use with the fact that students were not motivated by their surroundings.

Due to these harsh realities and after being promoted to Athletic Director after only 3 months in Teach for America, Brian founded the 9^th Ward Field of Dreams, a non profit organization that has already raised more than a million dollars for a project that will bring a football field, track, lighting system, and stadium seating to New Orleans. This will not only benefit Carver High School, but also the rest of New Orleans.

This project builds community by creating a space for young people to practice sports and for the whole community to enjoy themselves, get to know each other and this way realize all the potential they have to further improve their surroundings. When they accomplish their goal, the 9^th Ward will be completely conscious of the inherent ability all communities have to come together and fight for the same cause.

The lesson:

After hearing Brian’s story, delegates will realize that it is never too early to take upon projects that seem “too big” for young people like us. At GES, delegates will make life long connections and learn skills that will enable them to take over projects that improve communities in the same way – and through a million different methods-that Brian is doing with New Orlean’s 9^th Ward. He inspired us, we hope he inspires you too!!

But just because we’ve gained greater visibility in the field doesn’t mean that GES is only for the most advanced delegates.  GES values diversity – and we don’t mean just ensuring cultural diversity (although we have that, too).  We’re talking about diversity of perspectives.  We want people from big schools, and people from small schools; people with a lot of experience, and people with none; people with well-developed projects, and people with only the spark of a good idea.  We construct everything from our curriculum to our outcomes opportunities with this diversity of perspectives in mind.  Last year, we offered workshops on fundraising and webtools at the beginner and advanced level.  Our outcomes opportunities were similarly multi-tiered, targeting projects at the idea, planning, or implementation stage.

We believe that everyone who’s passionate about and committed to global change should have a seat at the table. And that everyone, from the delegate who started her own NGO, to the delegate who took a class on refugees and decided to do something about it, has something to contribute and learn from each other.

So the bottom line is this: don’t be intimidated!  There are sure to be some pretty notable delegates at GES 2010.  But there will also be delegates who you haven’t heard of.  Yet.