Positive Futures Network: Difference between revisions
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The '''Positive Futures Network''', is an independent, nonprofit organization with the belief that we need deep change if we are to avoid the breakdown of society and the natural world. It was founded by David Korten and Sarah van Gelder. | |||
==What is the Positive Futures Network?== | ==What is the Positive Futures Network?== | ||
[[File:yes-winter09.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Yes! Magazine]] | [[File:yes-winter09.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Yes! Magazine]] This organization publishes [http://www.yesmagazine.org/ Yes! Magazine], a nonprofit, ad-free magazine that is printed on recycled paper and archives all of its articles online. Each issue of the magazine focuses on a theme of social justice, working to show possibilities and practical steps people can take for change. There is also YES! for Youth, which is designed to inpsire and empower students. This magazine is widely distributed and encourages all of its readers to become part of a global community of change-makers. YES! now reaches over 150,000 readers each quarter and draws some 100,000 visitors to the organization's website each month. | ||
This organization publishes [http://www.yesmagazine.org/ Yes! Magazine], a nonprofit, ad-free magazine that is printed on recycled paper and archives all of its articles online. Each issue of the magazine focuses on a theme of social justice, working to show possibilities and practical steps people can take for change. There is also YES! for Youth, which is designed to inpsire and empower students. This magazine is widely distributed and encourages all of its readers to become part of a global community of change-makers. YES! now reaches over 150,000 readers each quarter and draws some 100,000 visitors to the organization's website each month. | |||
The Positive Futures Network has also published two books that discuss possibilites for social transformation. The organization focuses on sustainability and social and economic justice.They believe our hope lies in the fact that powerful innovations are taking hold within virtually every sector of society. | The Positive Futures Network has also published two books that discuss possibilites for social transformation. The organization focuses on sustainability and social and economic justice.They believe our hope lies in the fact that powerful innovations are taking hold within virtually every sector of society. | ||
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==Mission== | ==Mission== | ||
Many of those engaged in birthing a new culture feel a deep sense of loneliness, isolation and powerlessness. Yet recent survey data indicates that nearly a quarter of the US. adult population, 44 million people, share many of the values of an integral culture. | [[File:Cycle.jpg|300px|right]] Many of those engaged in birthing a new culture feel a deep sense of loneliness, isolation and powerlessness. Yet recent survey data indicates that nearly a quarter of the US. adult population, 44 million people, share many of the values of an integral culture. | ||
The Positive Futures Network is committed to helping break this sense of isolation by publicizing indicators of the depth and breadth of the changes already underway. In addition, they seek to strengthen capacities for meaningful and effective action by helping each individual and organization see where their efforts fit within the larger context, facilitating connections among individuals and organizations to share experiences and ideas advancing this creative process. In other words, they encourage people to become a conscious part of this multi-dimensional, multi-scale creative evolution. | The Positive Futures Network is committed to helping break this sense of isolation by publicizing indicators of the depth and breadth of the changes already underway. In addition, they seek to strengthen capacities for meaningful and effective action by helping each individual and organization see where their efforts fit within the larger context, facilitating connections among individuals and organizations to share experiences and ideas advancing this creative process. In other words, they encourage people to become a conscious part of this multi-dimensional, multi-scale creative evolution. | ||
Latest revision as of 21:27, 12 May 2010
The Positive Futures Network, is an independent, nonprofit organization with the belief that we need deep change if we are to avoid the breakdown of society and the natural world. It was founded by David Korten and Sarah van Gelder.
What is the Positive Futures Network?
This organization publishes Yes! Magazine, a nonprofit, ad-free magazine that is printed on recycled paper and archives all of its articles online. Each issue of the magazine focuses on a theme of social justice, working to show possibilities and practical steps people can take for change. There is also YES! for Youth, which is designed to inpsire and empower students. This magazine is widely distributed and encourages all of its readers to become part of a global community of change-makers. YES! now reaches over 150,000 readers each quarter and draws some 100,000 visitors to the organization's website each month.
The Positive Futures Network has also published two books that discuss possibilites for social transformation. The organization focuses on sustainability and social and economic justice.They believe our hope lies in the fact that powerful innovations are taking hold within virtually every sector of society.
The work of the Positive Futures Network and YES! Magazine is to give visibility and momentum to these signs of an emerging society in which life, not money, is what counts; in which everyone matters; and in which vibrant, inclusive communities offer prosperity, security, and meaningful ways of life.
To enhance the impact of their work, they carry out extensive outreach programs to educators, students, journalists, activists, faith organizations, national networks, policy makers, and businesses. <ref> http://www.yesmagazine.org/about </ref>
Values and Beliefs
The Positive Futures Network is founded in the belief that humanity is in the midst of an historic transition. The industrial era, which brought tremendous increases in technical and scientific prowess, has also brought a deepening social, economic, political, and environmental crisis. The roots of our collective predicament can be traced to a culture of alienation - deeply imbedded in the institutions of the industrial era - that denies our essential relationship to the larger whole of life.
They believe that our hope lies in a cultural awakening that is now underway, as people from all walks of life realize that in the face of the massive failures of our dominant institutions, their best hope lies in reclaiming responsibility for their lives, their communities, and our collective future. In doing so they are discovering the integral nature of their relationship to other people, to the natural world, and to the spiritual forces manifest deep within themselves. Together they are birthing what Pitirim Sorokin called an "integral culture." Willis Harman called it a global mind-change. <ref> http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/articles/yes-magazine-money-issue/pfnorg/pfndesc.html </ref>
Integral Culture and the Power of Yes!
Much of the impetus for the shift is coming from the yearning of individuals for more wholeness in their lives. The life-affirming values of an integral culture gain expression in concerns for preserving the regenerative vitality of natural systems and for creating just, inclusive, and sustainable societies that nurture healthy communities and celebrate the worth and creativity of every person. Numerous individual acts, from the investment banker who chooses to live more simply to the former gang member who turns to peace making, are spinning threads from which the new cultural fabric is being woven.
Many people now realize that it is not enough to just say "NO!" to injustice, violence, and the destruction of nature. The NO! must be followed by a "YES!" to the creation of societies grounded in life-affirming values. As organizers for the environmental movement reach out to help communities better meet their economic and social needs in ways that enhance the environment, as mainstream religions begin to incorporate a sense of the sacredness of nature, as economists begin to recognize the depth and value of the human spirit we begin to see the outlines of a multi-dimensional shift happening at all levels. The title of the Positive Futures Network journal, "Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures," celebrates the transforming power of this affirmation. <ref> http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/articles/yes-magazine-money-issue/pfnorg/pfndesc.html </ref>
Mission
Many of those engaged in birthing a new culture feel a deep sense of loneliness, isolation and powerlessness. Yet recent survey data indicates that nearly a quarter of the US. adult population, 44 million people, share many of the values of an integral culture.
The Positive Futures Network is committed to helping break this sense of isolation by publicizing indicators of the depth and breadth of the changes already underway. In addition, they seek to strengthen capacities for meaningful and effective action by helping each individual and organization see where their efforts fit within the larger context, facilitating connections among individuals and organizations to share experiences and ideas advancing this creative process. In other words, they encourage people to become a conscious part of this multi-dimensional, multi-scale creative evolution.
The Positive Futures Network believes that everyone has the right, responsibility, and opportunity to help create a positive future for themselves and all beings. Positive Futures Network is an independent, non-profit corporation. They are not associated with any one spiritual, political, social, or philosophical tradition, but draw on many that provide insights and tools for building a positive future. <ref> http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/articles/yes-magazine-money-issue/pfnorg/pfndesc.html </ref>
Goals
The heart of their work is to spotlight practical possibilities for deep shifts in our society.
- Inspire people to say YES!
- Support and connect individuals and communities working for a just and sustainable world.
- Reframe issues, reflect diverse human-scale stories, and offer tools for people to use and to pass along. <ref> http://www.yesmagazine.org/about </ref>
Links
References
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