About Us

Welcome to the Ecosphere Net Blog!

Ecosphere Net is based out of St. John in the US Virgin Islands.

Our website is www.ecosphere.net

Ecosphere Net is a growing global network of people working together to develop education for sustainability that is defined and guided by cross-cultural conversation, action and research.

We want to expand and improve corporate social responsibility (CSR) and individual social responsibility (ISR) through innovative action research oriented education for sustainability worldwide.

There’s CSR and BoP, but how about ISR for the MoP?

Most of us share some understanding about corporate social responsibility (CSR) especially as it can relate to the poorest socioeconomic group at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP).

One of the questions we’re asking at Ecosphere Net is, “what about individual social responsibility (ISR) for those of us at the middle of the pyramid (MoP)”?

Especially as it occurs within the corporations we work for and as it relates to their CSR.

Our reasoning is that while CSR is vital, just attaining CSR globally will likely not be enough for global sustainability.

Change comes from within. Through ISR. Not only from within a corporation but also after the “corporates” leave from within their office buildings and factories at 5 pm.

While it is great that we are moving toward a world where people might become environment-positive consumers without even realizing it through government imposed regulations and incentives, this passive osmotic approach may not be enough and perhaps shouldn’t be our only goal. Why not include an active process as well?

While how a corporation relates to the world and the environment at large is CSR, ISR is about how the individuals within a corporation relate to each other, to the world and to the environment. So, ISR takes action and works within the corporation to not only help generate the SR in CSR but also the SR in the world at large after the office doors close for the day. This is ISR in action.

I recently returned from a directors meeting in Hong Kong of a multinational that may be on the verge of taking a big first step in getting to better CSR through an engaged ISR. Here’s how they are doing it:

Teach synergy and sustainability not as a defined static workshop but as a process in action and in evolution.

Synergy is team building with a twist (well…actually more than a twist…See Synergic Inquiry: A Collaborative Action Methodology, 2006, Tang and Joiner, NY: Sage)

Build the synergy processes and actions and then introduce education for sustainability.

The line of reasoning goes like this:

If you develop synergy between the various divisions of a corporation and include the tenets for global sustainability they will invariably begin to look over their fence beyond the boundaries of their selves and into their communities to see the world around them. Some too will invariably even hop the fence to help out. In fact, in my experience, most want to.

Corporate types are competitive. They like challenges and they like to achieve goals. Once the comfort with the process of synergy is in place participants are ready for education for sustainability and, most importantly, eager to engage in actions for sustainability within their corporation, within their communities and within their own lives. And that is good for everybody.

I saw this process in action in Hong Kong; there was unanimous and concerted engagement in synergy across the cultures from Sweden, Korea, China and Canada that were present.

ISR can lead the way to expanding CSR and achieving global sustainability.

And by the way, the synergy approach I experienced in Hong Kong is just one way.

Our members at Ecosphere Net are developing and using a wide variety of approaches to build and expand CSR through ISR worldwide.

How can you help?

Ecosphere Net is a vehicle with which you can truly manifest your personal creativity and intellect, the expression of your true potential toward helping to co-generate a sustainable world.

While many people are taking part in various initiatives toward sustainability, the broad focus of Ecosphere Net is the development and implementation of transformative education methodologies for learning communities.

Ecosphere Net addresses two main learning communities: 1) Corporate culture, and 2) Learning Cohorts (children/young/adult).

Corporate Culture:

With corporate culture we are looking to generate organizational change toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) and we want to take those already somewhat engaged in CSR even further.

In both cases we are looking to introduce a sustainability suite that is not limited to environmental friendly practices by the corporation or limited to the walls of the corporate buildings.

We want the new sustainability suite to engage social actions toward human rights, education, third and forth world development through reciprocal and mutually beneficial transformative learning vehicles. In other words we are expanding what CSR means.

We want the new sustainability suite to expand the vision and action of what is currently thought of as CSR. We want corporate individuals to engage in social responsibility equally at work, in their lives and in their communities. In other words we are expanding how CSR is engaged. We want ISR to move CSR and move beyond CSR.

Our novel sustainability suite for CSR is comprised of, but not limited to, the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The following are some of the members of Ecosphere Net involved in ISR/CSR Education for Sustainability.

Yongming Tang, Beijing, China

Dave Williams, Austin, Texas

Saad Ullah Khan, Islamabad, Pakistan

Zach Lane, New York, New York

Jared Falek, US Virgin Islands

Jean Meeks, Eugene, Oregon

Learning Cohorts (children/young/adult):

Valid and effective curricula for global sustainability are desperately needed within the school systems of our world.

We are developing cross-cultural education for sustainability based in conversation, action and research.

This action-oriented type of education engages learners to participate in the definition of what sustainability means and how to best generate it within their lives and within their communities.

We want to generate a worldwide network connected in conversation, action and research toward global sustainability.

We want to connect learners through a global network of sustainability education centers (SEC’s) and make these centers accessible to everyone on the planet regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic status.

SEC’s are fixed physical locations as well as coordinated mobile events.

Curricula for global sustainability for learning cohorts will share some similarities to those used in corporate culture.

For instance, Ecosphere Net will primarily utilize conversation, action and research based focus group methodologies in both learning cohorts and corporate culture.

The objective in both cases is for participants to begin to connect with and develop sustainability as an evolving dimension of their own personality. That's right, sustainability as part of who they are.

While our curricula for global sustainability for learning cohorts will be similar to those used in corporate culture there are some important differences.

For instance, to be valid and effective curricula for global sustainability in learning cohorts must be age appropriate.

The following are some of the members of Ecosphere Net involved in Education for Sustainability for learning cohorts:

Lyubov Laroche, Vermont

Carlos Torre, Puerto Rico

Mallary Tytel, Arizona

Fred Abraham, Vermont

James Clayton, US Virgin Islands

Peter Jones Boulder, Colorado

Carolyn Jones, US Virgin Islands

The membership and actions of our membership at Ecosphere Net is in its formative stage.

We invite you to explore our website www.ecosphere.net and our blog www.ecospherenet.squarespace.com and join us at Ecosphere Net by sending us an email at info@ecosphere.net

EJ Wensing

Founder, Ecosphere Net

St. John, US Virgin Islands

(c) Ecosphere Net 2009