We are now looking at a new date in June (tentatively between the 16^th and 22^nd – to be confirmed).  Your feedback regarding your general availability to attend future forums would be much appreciated if you can kindly complete the following 5 minute survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YH7H72C to ensure that we address your needs.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused! We are looking forward to see you soon..

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Our planet is facing a rapid depletion of natural resources, increasing environmental contamination and major changes in the earth’s atmosphere. As a frontrunner in sustainability research, Germany strongly believes in international cooperation to overcome these global challenges. Especially the creativity and innovativeness of young scientists is called for.

This is why the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is now holding the 5th round of its prestigious “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development”. The competition, under the patronage of Minister Professor Johanna Wanka, annually awards the 25 most outstanding minds worldwide. Hailing from various research disciplines, the winners are honoured for their original solutions for a more sustainable future.

Selected by a high-ranking jury of German experts, the “Green Talents” will be invited to a two-week science forum, touring Germany in the fall of 2013. This visit will not only grant them unique access to some of the country’s hot spots of sustainable development but also allows the participants to exchange ideas with peers and senior scientists. In addition, the awardees will have the chance to present themselves to experts of their choice and discuss their work with them in individual appointments.

The year following the forum, the winners are invited to return to Germany for an additional research stay of up to three months at an institute or company of their choice.

With previous awardees from 30 different countries, the “Green Talents” build a network of outstanding young researchers, renowned experts and top-class facilities that is unparalleled.

APPLY NOW! Deadline for submissions is 09 June 2013, at 12 p.m. (Central European Time).

Download the Application Flyer.

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• OPEN DAY – Online FLOW POD session: Wednesday 22 of May  (19:00 to 20:00)
• Blue Economy Flow Pod Starting the week of  27^th of May (day and time to be confirmed)

Wednesday 22 of May (19:00 to 20:00)

No charges apply for people interested in joining this Flow Pod.  In this session you will visit the online meeting room, meet the two Flow Pod coaches Amélie and Elize, and get a taste of the general style of the Flow Pod approach. To RSVP click here or copy the folloing link into your internet browser: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1UOSNZDnHfnXXCVpKmPnO8TAv2xhFwxRyJNVFUlNN29M/viewform

CONNECT TO THE BLUE ECONOMY FLOW POD!
The Blue Economy Flow Pod

- Starting the week of  27^th of May (day and time to be confirmed)

This Flow Pod will be for ENTREPRENEURS and have a ‘Blue Economy flavour’ – inspired by the Blue Economy  business model for entrepreneurs, founded by Gunter Pauli.

“We can transform scarcity into abundance through mirroring the successful method found in natural ecosystem, we can then choose models with a generous scope, a propensity to cascade, a goal of planetary and species stewardship, and a future of perpetuity. Therein is true economy.” Gunter Pauli

The Blue Economy Flow Pod is a coached space, for a small groups of like-minded entrepreneurs who want to connect on the theme of the Blue Economy.

What to expect?

If you join this Flow Pod will gain a basic understanding of the ‘Blue Economy’ theory. The theory will be covered in homework given between session, while the session being a facilitated space for sharing personal experience with regards to individual ideas and experiences. Main theory covered will be:

• How innovation and law of physics inspired by nature are directly interconnected to creating a sustainable system, will be covered.
• The importance of harnessing and optimizing the innate virtues and values connecting untapped local potential-like a natural system
• Moving away from a linear perception to seeing in cyclic, regenerating model
• Working with new way of thinking and creating a sustainable systems

This Flow Pod will help you find clarity and focus with regards to your (your business, or organisation’s) specific place within the Blue Economy.

By the end of this Flow Pod you should be able to identify Blue Economy entrepreneurship opportunities, within your specific context. You will be able to find creative solutions and to current challenges of design and implementation. You will know how to access to a global network of BE entrepreneur.

These Flow Pod groups will run every for 1 hour every two weeks.

I will be available to clarify questions, and will have a short interview with new members as well as introduce new members to the technical side of our online ‘meeting room’ (all very fancy!). To ensure that all are familiar with this online system before their first meeting. Participants are encouraged commit for a 6 months (you want to get to really know people), but pay on a month-to-month basis (R495 per/month).

Coach: Amélie is an experienced coach and facilitator, with 13 years’ experience. Having first trained as a social worker, she worked in the NGO sector and later as a private practitioner with youth and adults from diverse backgrounds. She specialised in Social Development (community building) and has an MPhil in Sustainable Development Planning and Management. She currently is overseeing Green Talent`s Career Development programme.  Amélie is passionate about supporting individuals and groups with capacity building within the sustainability fields. She has facilitated hundreds of individual and group processes, aimed at tapping into people innate creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.

On-going guest-speaker/advisor: Henschel Kok, is passionate about the Blue Economy and since she met Gunter Pauli, a year ago, she has chosen the entrepreneurship road herself. Gunter Pauli’s vision for the Blue Economy is for it to be an open source community that inspires the young at heart and in age to become entrepreneurs who want to make a difference. Henschel’s long-term aim to implement as many of the Blue Economy cases as she possibly can, in South Africa. She is in an on-going conversation with Gunter Pauli.

Deadline for signing up Monday to this Blue Economy Flow Pod the 15^th of May! Click here to complete the online registration form.

 To subscribe to Flow Pod updates: (click here) If you want general information about what a Flow Pod is about: (click here) or email me if you have any questions.

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The next Green Collar Workers Forum in the Western Cape will be held on 14 August 2013 (new date)  at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands.  To register, kindly complete the online form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yvTtF9jujDqUDpSVwNIPiprM9GgJ7-PngoplfaQ0II0/viewform

Our guest speaker is Andre Nel, the Head of Sustainability at Pick `n Pay.

Andre`s specialties includes: Sustainable Development, Sustainability Strategy and Implementation, Sustainability Marketing and Communication and Business Strategy. He holds a  Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from Cambridge University and an Masters degree in Business Administration from Stellenbosch University.

More updates to follow soon!

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Along with her sister, Catherine Constantinides, she founded Generation Earth — an organisation that provides a platform for the youth to be active through initiatives such as Green Your School, which helps learners to talk about environmental issues and do what they can in their area to save the planet. By changing mindsets, Constantinides hopes to “change the supply and demand chain, by driving environmentally responsible consumerism”.

The programme saw her crowned Miss Earth SA, and then selected as a youth ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme, whose executive director warned her that she would soon steal his job. Both of these positions take her across the globe to address ordinary citizens and the United Nations on burning environmental issues. And when young people got to draft an Africa youth statement for COP17 at the Tunza Generation Earth Africa Summit in 2011, Constantinides was there, supporting their efforts every step of the way.

She says that working with young people is exciting because they “always push the bar higher and think out of the box”. The only downside to her work is “the realisation that I’m human with human limitations, which is a big let-down”. She wants more nephews and nieces, and one day to “surround myself with the pitter-patter of little feet” — that is, after she has added a PhD to her master’s in dramatic arts and education. For now, Constantinides has one request: “Please join our revolution. Get involved because this is our fight to save our planet and our people.”

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We shared more about career opportunities for industrial biotech engineers in Sustainability fields and we chose to showcase John Warner`s career as an industrial chemist involved in bio-mimicry. The following video captures his views: Intellectual Ecology Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkyHUml_UU0

Amelie explained the contemporary meaning of the terms ‘job’, ‘work’ and ‘career’ and how these concepts are connected to sustainability professionals identity and life purpose to affect positive change.

Here are a few of her thoughts on this topic:

“It is interesting to reflect upon what the terms: ‘having a job’, ‘working’ and ‘career’ mean to us? Although these are common terms the deeper meaning they have for us (through associations, history and projections ) is personal and changes over time. For example, for many of our parents/grand-parents work might have been associated to ‘security and stability’. Two generations ago people often stayed in one job their whole life. Another example, is that for some women, ‘career’ might actually have the deeper meaning of ‘freedom’, as they might have had to break out of historical constraints.

What do these term mean to you, at a deeper level today?  Contemporary trends show that most people will have multiple jobs within their overall life-career, sometime even changing areas of work completely. Due to this increases rate of change,  for many our career has  become intimately linked to our sense of identity.  Our sense of identity is what enables us to hold our centre within on-going change. So we ask ourselves new questions such as: how can I contribute to the planet,  how can I contribute to something bigger than myself which I feel part of? What will my grandchildren think about my decisions? How can I make my work meaningful? Of course we would all like some stability and security, but we are giving birth to more complex understanding, experiences and new shapes and textures to the old 9 to 5 job.”

Bernelle Verster, an industrial biotech entrepreneur and founder of Merah Mas shared more about her career choices that she made and the importance of social entrepreneurs. Her love of water, a symbol of which she has tattooed on her arm, often lands her in hot water. Her freethinking and speaking around anything water-related has earned the 30-year-old the nickname “the Water Maverick”. Combining her pure passion with out-the- box creativity, Verster is currently pursuing her PhD in chemical engineering, focusing on cleaning wastewater and adding value to it, as well as addressing the huge implications wastewater has on health and sanitation. But it’s not all theory. Through her company, Merah Mas, Verster puts her ideas into practice, proving that, when it comes to wastewater, an integrated approach to education, management of the resource and profitability are possible. As passionate about connecting people and ideas as she is about changing the way we think about wastewater, Verster curated the first TEDxCapeTown in 2011, helping to get people outside the industry to do exactly what she does: talk passionately about water.

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Pretoria: 14 May,  click here to register
Cape Town: 12 June, click here to register

Courses

Upskilling for the Green Economy is vital.Pimp your skills by registering for a academic or professional development course.
Click here to view the  latest course offerings:

Permaculture Design Course: May, June and July 2013

Energy Efficiency:

• Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP): May 22, 2013 – Friday, May 24, 2013, Emperors Palace, Gauteng
• Certified Energy Manager (CEM) Course: Monday, May 20, 2013 – Friday, May 24, 2013, Emperors Palace, Gauteng
• The Fundamental of Energy Management Training (FEMT) :Tuesday, April 16, 2013 – Thursday, April 18, 2013, Emperors Palace, Gauteng
• Energy Management Systems Implementation (EnMSI): May 20, 2013 – Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Emperors Palace, Gauteng

Corporate Sustainability: Certified Sustainability (CSR) Practitioner Course -IEMA approved:  27-28 May in Johannesburg (book online)

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*NB (Note: This event is postponed until June - a new date in June will be provided shortly!)

Come and learn more about Corporate Sustainability in the workplace and how you can shape your career!

• Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013 at 18h00 for 18h30
• Venue: Karoo Cafe on 141 Lynwood Road ( C/O Lynnwood and Albeth) Opposite Willow Way Centre, The Willows, Pretoria East. Follow this link for online directions: http://karoocafe.co.za/where
• Cost: R200 for Forum Members that are registered on our SustainabilityCareerCentre.com | R250 for non-member | R100 for students with a valid student number.

To attend this event, kindly complete the registration form online, click here. The event invitation can be downloaded here.

Keynote Speaker: Jess Schulschenk

Jess Schulschenk is a Senior Researcher with Ernst and Young’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services division where she specialises in corporate governance and sustainability research programmes and partnerships. She has previously worked in the non-profit sector on collaborative community development and research initiatives (including support for emerging sustainability entrepreneurs and youth skills development) as well as in private consulting. She has developed curriculum for and taught on a broad range of sustainability related topics for postgraduate and executive education programmes. She holds a MPhil in Sustainable Development and is currently undertaking her PhD in Business Administration, investigating the interplay between organisational culture and leadership as it supports companies in realising sustainable value creation.

Remember to subscribe to our Gauteng Forum`s mailing list! For more information regarding our events, email us at: events@greentalent.co.za

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Learn more about Jess!

Jess Schulschenk is a Senior Researcher with Ernst and Young’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services division where she specialises in corporate governance and sustainability research programmes and partnerships. She has previously worked in the non-profit sector on collaborative community development and research initiatives (including support for emerging sustainability entrepreneurs and youth skills development) as well as in private consulting. She has developed curriculum for and taught on a broad range of sustainability related topics for postgraduate and executive education programmes. She holds a MPhil in Sustainable Development and is currently undertaking her PhD in Business Administration, investigating the interplay between organisational culture and leadership as it supports companies in realising sustainable value creation.

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