trends and future of sustainable development - TransEco

Useful PrinciplesAn especially important aspect of the work of the Barbets Duet has been the search for useful principles,both for the collective and for individual sites. These principles are constantly evolving, based onexperience and what is needed, as set out below.The first cluster of principles began as the working assumptions behind the whole Barbets Duetexperiment. These were restated at the 2009 Invention Convention. On that occasion, the Partners alsobegan thinking about what principles should define the governance of the collective, quickly agreeingthree very simple statements about the relationship of each site to the collective. (Barbets Duet, 2009)In August, 2010, at the Partners meeting in Nkoroi, a third set of principles began defining thefoundations of a Barbet Learning Site (Barbets Duet, 2010).Working Assumptions of the Barbets Duet Experimental Space Multiple experiments: Multiple experiments, in multiple learning sites in different ecologicaland social settings will stimulate rapid learning. Equity & engagement: By engaging equitably with people across boundaries of knowledge,power, skill and culture, everyone will learn more rapidly what can and cannot be achieved. Give & gain: This principle recognises that everyone has something to offer and something tolearn. (Project Phakama, n.d.) Mosaic rights: Property rights need to reflect the needs of ecological economies which are quitedifferent from the needs of industrial economies. A key principle of the Barbets Duet is that theAfrican legacy of ‘mosaic rights’ will better support environmental markets than the columnrights of industrial society. (Barbets Duet, 2009)Initial Governance Principles Defining the Relationship of Learning Sites to theCollective Each Barbet site evolves in its own way to its own conditions. There is value in coming together. The organizational form of that coming together will be one in which we all have a stake andall share the responsibility. (Barbets Duet, 2009)Principles That Help to Establish a Barbet Learning Site Barbet activity is Consistent with Its Site: The site determines what happens, growing out of itsecology. Learning by Demonstration: How do you foster learning? By demonstration. You show whatcan work. Just Begin: But begin with something that can bear fruit quickly. Something enticing andexciting, e.g. at Lukenya, a tree nursery is being imitated by others. The nursery is an end initself, then the fruit you sell or the wood you coppice is the later achievement. Thinking Step by Step: Every process follows on another one. In Molo, a new fish pond fostersthe idea of a bridge which will foster the learning on the other side of the stream.104