Do text books of economics in standardized university education use elements of indoctrination? That is the question Silja Graupe, vice president of Cusanus University and professor for Economics and Philosophy investigated. Her findings are alarming. Prof. Graupe analyzed textbooks that are used around the world, translated into over 40 languages with millions of copies sold. […]
Category: Economy & Employment
How Something Worthless Reigns the World
Currencies constitute a means of exchange. When we think of a currency today we usually think of money. However, anything that is used for exchange could be a currency. Just think of the war time in Europe, when cigarettes or coffee were used. Currencies serve as symbols. They symbolize value. Today there is a trend […]
Economy for the Good of All Beings
“All economic activity caters to the common welfare.” This phrase sounds like a utopian ideal. Too good to be true. Yet this is article 151 of the Bavarian constitution which legally took effect in 1946 (and is now obsolete in large parts due to the German Constitution). But there are economic alternatives. Last weekend some […]
Sharing Economy – Sharing Future
Can you imagine a place where exchanging business cards, using compost toilets, pitching start-ups, doing meditation and covering face and hair with colorful glitter in preparation for a wild dance don’t contradict but complement each other? That is OuiShareFest! The Meditating Eco Manager Geek What really astonished me about OuiShareFest was this: eco folks, business […]
Back to Germany: Old Country – New Perspective
In the first days and weeks I looked at sceneries I have passed by millions of times and I am awestruck with their beauty as if I perceived them for the very first time. For example when I studied in Mainz I often took the train through the Rhine Valley towards Cologne. Returning from Frankfurt […]
Get an Insider’s View of a Co-Working Space
KoHub is a Co-Working Space on the chilled island of Koh Lanta in Thailand. It is located on Long Beach, just 3 minutes from the tropical water line. I loved to sit on the bamboo chairs of the deck because I enjoyed the beautiful view into a garden with a giant Buddha statue made from […]
Work-Life Balance in Paradise
While working in paradise I discovered my ideal work-life balance. The early sun-set and the opportunity to watch this wonder of nature were a big motivation to really cut down working hours and call it a day by 4 pm at the latest. I found my effective 6 hours of work super productive and I still […]
Future of Work – Expectations, Challenges & Dreams
How do young people envision the future of work? That’s what I asked my fellow co-working space members in the Ko Hub on Koh Lanta in Thailand. Some of them are Digital Nomads and have been travelling for years. Most but not all work location independent and earn money through using a computer and the […]
Why Join a Co-Working Space?
I went to Thailand to explore the scene of Digital Nomads – people who travel and work at the same time over the internet. But why pay for a co-working space if you get free wifi in your hotel room or any coffee shop? That’s what I asked Stephanie, Jenny, Alex, Keji, Matt, Laurent and […]
Hybrid Business Model: How to Finance Your Own Non-Profit Work
Eco Femme is a social enterprise for female hygiene products. The hybrid business model combines both for-profit interests and non-profit social work: With the commercial gains from selling re-usable cloth pads the all-female team based in the intentional township of Auroville, South-India, finances their non-profit activities in education and research. When I met Jessamijn Miedema , […]
Ecovillage Design Education Video: 5 Weeks in 20 Minutes
36 participants from across the globe – 5 intensive weeks – 1 intentional township striving for human unity. Serena Aurora managed to fit this wealth of information and emotion into a 20 minutes video. Enjoy watching. The Ecovillage Design Education course is recognized by the UNESCO and provides students of all ages with knowledge and practical […]
World-Views – Ancient & Contemporary
In World-View Week of the Ecovillage Design Education Course in Auroville, India we explored the dynamics of internal and external influences on the way we see and perceive the world. We also visited an Ashram and the local village Nadukuppan to study different world views and life situations. Other topics included Ayurveda as a holistic […]
Economic Dimensions of Tomorrow’s World
Economy week came with a full load of deep insights and amazing aha-moments about old and new economic paradigms. We got an overview of the history of production from manufacturers to mass production, different schools of thought like John M. Keynes and Milton Friedman and the current distribution of wealth. We dismantled the concepts of money […]
Handmade Bricks
Why buy bricks if you can make them at home? The crew of the ecological project Otepic in Kitale, Northwestern Kenya, makes bricks manually. Without using any electricity. Zero-emission footprint. They want to construct a seminar center in Sabwani Garden, the largest of the three gardens they own. It will be a school for permaculture […]
One Day in the Nieklitz Summer Camp
In August, the project “Wir bauen Zukunft” in Northern German Nieklitz invited for a summer work camp. For two weeks, volunteers helped in the 10 hectares biotope, planting, tidying, constructing, repairing… The camp was organized in an open space format. In the morning, after a hearty breakfast in the outdoor kitchen and dining area, the […]
Video: Nairobi Social Entrepreneurs Camp
The Nairobi Entrepreneurs Camp (NEC) supported young social entrepreneurs in Kenya. Experts from Kenya, Germany, and France trained participants to gain new skills in both forward-looking ideas of decision making and team work as well as traditional business skills. The NEC took place from October 7-9, 2016. Watch the video for impressions from facilitators and […]
Collaboration for Social Businesses
Next year, the first Kenyan Impact Hub, a co-working and encounter space for social businesses will open in Nairobi. Tonight, the co-founders invited anybody who is interested in joining the Hub community to find out about expectations and needs. Around 40 national and international people attended. A feeling of community, collaboration and mutual trust started […]
Silicon Savannah Goes Social
In the past couple of years, Nairobi earned itself the nick name of Silicon Savannah due to a mushrooming start-up scene. Last year, Bloomberg Media estimated Nairobi’s tech scene could be worth as much as $1 billion by 2018. At the same time, social entrepreneurs are gaining ground with the first Impact Hub opening next […]
Working with a Smile: Summer Work Camp in Nieklitz
I felt like I entered into the enchanted remains of a long forgotten world when I opened the great wooden gates of the biotope park in Nieklitz, 70 km east of Hamburg in Northern Germany. Behind those gates, nature had reclaimed its space in the past three years without any touch of a human hand. […]
Video interview with Ceylan, co-founder of “Wir bauen Zukunft” in Nieklitz
Ceylan Rohrbeck, co-founder of “Wir bauen Zukunft” (we build future) gives insights into this new project in Northern-Germany. The group will not only construct sustainable buildings but use the former biotope as a place for co-working, co-living and as an educational center. In German. (English subtitle will follow)