WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF CHANGEMAKER LOOK LIKE?
(Pablo Villoch)
I always
say that if you want to know the future, see what the AIESECers are doing today
. Learning from pioneers, from visionaries, can give you some hints about the
future.
But Now I
will tell you some stories from the past.
Almost 70 years
ago, after the Second World War, a group of seven students from different
countries gathered in Sweden and
decided to create an Exchange student association to promote cultural
understanding, peace and the fulfillment of humankinds potential, to change the
world, one person at a time. They created AIESEC, that still changes thousands of lives.
40 years
ago, in rural India, a group of young
women met with a teacher. They got inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s
philosophy and started The Barefoot College to help rural communities
become self-sufficient, empowering poor women from all
over the world with sustainable technologies.
In Finland, 24 years ago, a Marketing
professor posed a question to his
students: “Do you want to travel
around the world and learn Marketing at the same time?”. They said YES. And
they created Team Academy, a cooperative entrepreneurial
school that is expanding in the five continents right now, thanks to Mondragon Team Academy. It is a business school without teachers, but with Team coaches.
Without exams, but with KPIs. With real projects for real clients. And lots of
travelling. They have learning journeys into three continents to run their
business and their learning process.
In Brasil, 18 years ago, a group of
Architecture Students realized that their University was not teaching them the
kind of architecture they wanted to learn, a more participatory, community
based approach. So they occupied an old abandoned theater and they started
teaching the architechture they wanted to learn. That is how Warriors Without Weapons was born.
In an
Ecovillage in South Africa, 18 years
ago, two young teachers founded the Sustainability Institute, where they train leaders for
sustainable development.
And it
happened the same in Denmark with Kaospilots, in the Netherlands with Knowmads… and so on..
COMMON PATTERNS
What do all
these stories have in common? What are the common patterns?
In
different countries, small self-organizing teams of young people
had the
courage to start something new.
All of them
created learning spaces to educate new leaders, entrepreneurs, facilitators,
changemakers… for a better world.
They felt
the current educational system is not enough. It is not developing the skills
we really need to face the challenges of our time. Climate change. Terrorism.
Wars. Refugees. Drugs. Corruption. Poverty. Unemployment. AIDS.
There is no
single country that can solve them. There is no single changemaker that can do
that. There is no single institution… The challenges of our time demand great
scale collaboration from all of us.
We cannot
guess the future, but we can create it. Indeed We need to co-create it.
How can we learn together to co-create a future
where we all want to live?
What if learning together is the kind of
collective leadership we need today?
In which world do you prefer to wake up every
morning?
- A world where everyone expects
somebody else to fix the problems
- Or a world where everyone wakes up
inspired to build a better place for all
Now I want
to tell you a story from the future...
Imagine
that you wake up in a world where every
one can be a change maker
Imagine all
those changemaker schools
·
collaborating,
·
connecting young leaders,
·
co-creating cross cultural and meaningful projects,
A world
where every city, every town has a
in Impact Hub, a social innovation lab, a changemaker learning program, where
people from different origins learn together to cocreate the future they want
to live....
Imagine a global network of learning spaces, locally
rooted, globally connected, with both
virtual and physical platforms.
Where a whole new generation of changemakers
can play, work, learn and celebrate.
A world
where everyone can be a changemaker!
CALL FOR ACTION
Well... the challenges
of our time are exponential.
However,
the speed of our changemakers production is not exponential.
How can we
accelerate our capacity to inspire, connect, and empower a whole generation of
new changemakers to dedicate their life for a better world?
Now, I
think that if you want to see the future, IMAGINE what could happen if Team
Academy, Kaospilot, MSLS, the impact Hub network, Warriors without Weapons,
AIESEC and all those changemakers schools just get together, sit on a circle,
connect, learn from each other, cross-polinate each other, coinspire and create
conditions for a new generation of changemakers to learn and empower
themselves.
Being a changemaker …is not only about making changes.
Changemakers are not only happy clappy people playing with post its
Being a
changemaker is a learning journey,
an inner journey and an outer journey.
Being a
changemaker is an emotional rollercoaster
of
·
joy,
sadness,
·
fear
and courage,
·
ceaseless
cycles of failures, learning and success, rage,
·
frustration,
enthusiasm, pain and hope..
·
sometimes,
several times a day…
We need
silence and introspection to connect with our higher self, with our
purpose...re-energizing your self to energize others.
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it."
If you are a parent...
If you are an entrepreneur...
If you are an activist,,,
If you are a leader in charge of a team.,,
I am sure that in your country, there are already amazing people
prototyping amazing things.
Come on, go and support them!
What can we do locally to contribute to a new generation for
changemakers worldwide?
Previous generations—our parents and grandparents…- didn’t have the
knowledge and the technology we have today. They didn’t have internet, google,
smartphones!
Our generation , I don meant
those who are in their 30s or their 40s of 50s
I mean all those who live on this Earth today, all of us
We have the technology, science, knowledge…
we have a responsibility for
the next generations
but do we really have the
courage?
Do we really have the willpower?
I must confess that I bring more questions than answers
We already know the consequences
of absence of leadership in a team or a local committee.
We have also tasted the power of collective leadership when it is truly
in service of a shared vision, a higher purpose for the common good.
What if leadership is
the most important and abundant renewable energy of our time?
Are we really harnessing it? Are we unleashing all its potential?
What is the legacy of
our generation? … What will be your
legacy?
·
Are we leaving enough changemakers for the next
generation?
·
Are we giving space for the next generation of
changemakers to shine?
·
We are here to shine. Because when we shine, we
ignite others, we illuminate ...
when we put our light in service of others, we shine and let others to
find and ignite their own light….
How can we all shine in this world?
Transforming what exists and conserving what matters, both demand vital
energy.
Where are you putting your vital energy?
Where do you want to put your vital energy in this life?
Transforming the old? Creating the new? It is up to you.
In the same conference, Peace Nobel Price Presidente Santos gave an inspiring speech to the young aiesec changemakers from all over the Planet, appealing to their leadershipt to serve a peaceful world.
In the same conference, Peace Nobel Price Presidente Santos gave an inspiring speech to the young aiesec changemakers from all over the Planet, appealing to their leadershipt to serve a peaceful world.
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