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Live Earth is our Planetary Game of Balance & Celebration to help restore and maintain the natural balance. We feel it is the Celebratory Social Software for Sustainability of the 21st Century The playing field is the whole planet and all are invited to join in. Each player is asked to consider their own sense of connection with the planet / nature / humanity and ask themselves in their hearts how they would like to see the future unfolding. Individuals, communities, countries etc who recognise their connection with the Earth / Nature and wish for a sustainable future may consider themselves as members of Live Earth and players in the Game of Balance & Celebration. Individuals and groups who feel they are not connected and do not care about social and environmental degradation simply carry on in their current mode. Their freedom to feel like this is naturally respected and their current standpoint is accepted as part of the challenge of the game. In reality of course all things and all beings, including ourselves are an interdependent part of the natural world. This self evident fact is acknowledged by all branches of science and is a matter of basic primary school education
Live Earth
Live Earth is based on the recognition that all things, beings, plants and creatures are part of this planet and are indivisibly interconnected and inter-related. This is the fundamental physical and biological reality of all life on this planet, and it is the cornerstone of Live Earth. Unlike concepts or beliefs this reality generates no opposites, it simply is. If we look at the fabric and detail of our society we find that a lot of it, if not most, is based upon separation. Separation from each other, separation from nature and the natural process. We could perhaps observe that the present underlying game of society might be called ‘Separation’ ! Hence the current state of affairs. Live Earth is the social game of ‘Connection’. In Live Earth, people are asked to consider whether they are part of the Earth / Nature / Life. If they feel they are part of the whole and that everything is connected and worthy or respect, then they are invited to step out of the old social patterning of ‘Separation’ and onto the connected and co-operative grounds of Live Earth What a game does is to create a context and give social permission for the actions involved in the ‘playing of the game’ to take place. Live Earth creates a user friendly identity and context for the ‘game of Connection’. It recognises the connectedness of all things and beings and identifies the planet as the playing field and humanity as the players. This is the basis of ‘paradigm shift’.
The Levels
Individuals & Families Individuals, families and friends can play the game by assuming responsibility for their own personal space, environmental and carbon footprint. By reducing consumption, recycling and giving back to nature they can contribute to the restoration of the natural balance. They can also contribute to and support the local, county and national levels of the game and bring their children up to play the game and celebrate their contributions. Groups Groups, Voluntary societies, schools, Colleges etc can play the game by reducing their footprints and by contributing to their local game with solutions, initiatives and celebrations.
Local Local Area Co-ops, Villages, Neighbourhoods and Towns are seen as the grassroots building blocks in the Live Earth Game. The Game arrives in the Community Chest which contains all the formats, instructions, connections and support that a local community needs to start up and develop their own game. The basic mechanisms of invitation and welcome and the social lubricants of fun and celebration are brought together with the objective of identifying and resolving problems and generating solutions and initiatives. This process is underpinned by the website which gives access to all the back up and support agencies and provides details of other communities successful solutions. The Local Footprint = the sum total of all the individual and commercial and social footprints. Business & Organisations Business’s and organisation’s, can have a specially adapted version of the Live Earth Game that will greatly improve their internal communications and workings, focus them on their sustainability issues, provide a footprinting mechanism and develop lock on and feed back points into their local community and Local Game.
Counties Counties, Cities, Regions play the game by encouraging all the local games that create their game and by generating policies that support and facilitate social and environmental balance. They measure and monitor the County Footprint and celebrate the progress of their County Game. They acknowledge that they are a building block of the National Game. The County Footprint = The sum of the Local Footprints + the Commercial and Social Footprints.
National The Live Earth Game can be played by countries with government giving recognition to connection and creating policies that create balance and sustainability. The National Game is made up of all the County / Commercial / Local / Individual Games in an integrated network. This creates the basis for involved and co-creative citizenry.
Continental The Live Earth Game can be played at the Continental Level where the National Games come together to make the Continental Game. The Continental Footprint is measured and monitored with all countries trying to reduce it.
Global The Live Earth Game of Planetary Balance and Celebration can be played by the United Nations and indeed this is its natural and full flowering. Once we get up to the international level the effects of the Live Earth Game are profound indeed. Not only does it have ramifications for the environment and social issues but also for peace between nations. The Live Game will act like a tap root for the UN connecting it back into nature and helping it to step free from species egocentricity. It will act as a redefining process that everyone on the planet will be connected into. At present we can observe that the current international game is based upon various degrees of separation, self interest, ideological conflict, competition for material resources, power struggles and enlightened altruism. What the Live Earth Game would do is to simplify this arbitrary situation by declaring and inviting the natural, connected or real grounds. By doing this it would increasingly act to pre-empt strife rooted in ‘Separation’ and focus the international will on sustainability and balance. The Global Footprint is of course made up of all the National Footprints. In this way One Planet Living for all will be achieved which will lead to The Great Turning.
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The Community Chest
The Local Game arrives in the Community Chest, which we see as being made of wood or recycled materials in an attractive and durable manner. It’s arrival and opening are themselves an event that draws the community together and creates a focus or starting point. It becomes the community possession. It contains ... |
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Community Initiatives
1. Water Testing 2. Community Woodlands 3.Village Greens 4. Local Food 5. Mapping 6. Environmental / Carbon Footprinting 7.Home / Village Audits 8. Bulk Buying 9. Food Audits 10 Original inhabitants ; honouring 11. Newcomers ; welcoming 12. Seasonal Celebrations 13. Collection of Sustainable Visions 14. The Community Story 15. Local Bards 16. Earth Heart 17. Games with other communities 18. Community Website 19. County Input 20. Sen. Citizens recycling 21 Community Treasure Chest 22. etc etc |
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The Local Game
The Live Earth Local Game is made up of a variety of parts that fit together to help explore, discover and regenerate our sense of community. As this evolves the focus of sustainability is brought into play. Invitation The Live Earth Local Game does the simplest of all ‘playground’ things, it invites people to join in and have fun. When the Community Chest arrives and is opened at a community gathering it is found to contain all the necessary formats for including and engaging everyone. This gives recognition and makes a place for all. Formats … Indicators … The Game Having agreed to join in, there are plenty of ice breaking formats to facilitate social fun and gathering. This helps to dissolve reserve and assist the bonding process. In this way community spirit is raised preparing the grounds for the Local Game. The Local Game may be seen as that communities part of the regional / national / planetary game, through helping to restore the local balance. The game is played against social and environmental indicators which are seen as dials. There are sets for the Village Hall, post office, pub etc etc. The community decides on the categories for their indicators based upon local issues that they feel are most relevant to them. Example of indicators are : Water purity, Waste / recycling, Flora and fauna, Carbon Footprint, Crime, Traffic levels, Health, Employment, Social Happiness etc etc The dials read from 1 – 100, where 1 is disaster and 100 is excellent. The first job for the local people is to decide collectively where each dial should be set. This of course will involve discussion and consensus which are learning processes in themselves. It also raises and focuses community awareness on the state of play in each specific area and what other people feel. Identifying, quantifying and displaying them gives social permission to discuss with people one might not know very well as they are established as common concern. The context that the Game provides is that the direction the dials need to move in is towards balance. This creates positive momentum. Every time an improvement is made and the official Dialkeeper (she of the funny hat!) moves the relevant dial there is a celebration. The person or people who made this are celebrated and they get to choose something from the Community Treasure Chest. In this way the community advances towards balance both individually and collectively. This then feeds into the County Game and hence into the National and Global games.
Board Game The board games involve elements of village / community mapping so that the board reflects the community. There aqre ways to play the game which enable individuals to express their dreams and visions for the locale. This can be done through stories or the use of dice and may also draw out elements of performance. These board games can circulate in the community and be played in homes, between families, friends and neighbours. They help strategies and pictures develop. Community Treasure Chest The Community Treasure Chest represents the goodwill of the community. Everyone is invited to donate a service or offer of some sort to reward those whose actions help the dials back towards balance. These can be things like a window clean, a baby sit, a hair cut, gardening, storytelling, music, a trip out somewhere etc etc So when a dial gets moved the person(s) who did it get celebrated and choose a reward. Community Trivia Initial contact mechanism and onward going game. All citizens are invited to generate community trivia questions and answers about their locality. These can be historical, logistic, environmental, residential etc etc In this way a body of local folk knowledge is generated and collected. Seasonal Celebrations and Carnivals A rolling programme of seasonal celebrations with start up suggestions for their expression is contained in the Chest. This will knit together with local events that already exist in the community. The regular practice of this helps to bring people together and strengthen their awareness of the natural cycles which in turn strengthens community. They are also non denominational which makes them easier for social sharing. This of course links into the Earth Hearts. Communities are encouraged to design their own celebrations with bonfires, lantern processions, music and feasting. This provides the natural platform for local artists and musicians. Alongside these are the carnivals that are celebrations of the success of the community at playing their ‘game’ during the year and the communities contribution to the County Game.
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The Website
We can think of the website as a ‘virtual community chest’, indeed The opening imagery is seen as being a beautiful chest out of which when opened rises the Planet Earth. Just as the Community Chest contains and provides suggestions and formats that a community will need to sustain and regenerate itself, as well as receive its treasures and wisdom, so to with the ‘virtual chest’. ………….
The websites will be networked and fit together like Russian Dolls! The local website services the local community and their Local Game. This fits together with the other Local Games into the County Website for the County Game. The County Games fit together into the National Website giving the National Game. The websites relate to the community indicators as areas. Water, Air, Earth, Flora, Fauna, Human etc. They contain details of working initiatives of all sorts from this country and all over the world. The sites also contain details of all the back up agencies who are available for support.
Eg : WWF Social Agencies Friends of the Earth Water Agencies Planning for Real Wildlife Trusts Greenpeace New Economics Foundation Soil Asscociation Tree Planting Groups Carbon Footprinting Commom Ground Etc etc
People will be able to access the websites and research and relate to examples of other community solutions and initiatives to similar or identical situations. It will be possible to access the relevant people and to speak to them and discuss how the process developed for them. They can also post their new and inventive solutions and discoveries on the site for the benefit of all. In this way the website becomes an interactive and virtual folk repository of practical wisdom and initiative. The websites will also include accounts and read outs of the other communities ‘Games’ and Footprints. Details of the County Games and Footprint and details of the National Game and Footprint.
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Earth Hearts
An Earth Heart is a piece of land which represents the connection between people and nature, a place where the feeling of unity with the planet, nature and fellow species and humans is collectively expressed. We see Earth Hearts as special places for contemplation and simple recognition of the reality that our bodies have grown from drinking water, breathing air, and eating plants and animals. That we are all part of one planet is now a matter of basic primary school biology. By honouring and expressing this we create a fresh awareness that can feed back into our community and society with harmonious and beneficial results. In essence an Earth Heart helps to awaken and raise awareness of this simple reality of life. By making a place for it in our lives and communities we are accepting a basic aspect of ourselves and our place in the scheme of things. Sharing this in a community way creates the ‘common grounds’ for all. An Earth Heart is a celebration of the local fauna and flora. It contains at its centre a Sacred Grove which is a circle of one of each of the original trees of these islands. There is also the Sweet Cauldron which is an ellipse of the smaller halfway tree’s like hawthorn, hazel, broom, elder etc etc Naturally the chosen expression is up to those involved but the groves are a nod to our ancestors as well as nature. They can also feature sculpture, water forms, willow domes, places for contemplation or gathering.
Land Ownership for Nature Over the years Live Earth has explored the details and mechanics of the Souvenir Sale of Land Scheme. This area of land law allows for the subdivision of land and its redeeding. In this way it is possible to divide land up into small pieces eg 1 sq ft. Live Earth has worked out a practical and approved way to do this on a community basis with the Land Registry Office. Using this process we have developed patterning which enables people to buy plots of land whilst at the same time generating community self funding. This opens the door to placing fund raising back to back with conservation. If we add to this mix the individuals need to ‘give back’ to nature as part of their ‘environmental footprinting’, we have a complete process. The financial mechanics are explained in the Funding Pattern section but what it means to the individual is the chance to buy land on a weekly basis which becomes ‘their part’ of the Earth Heart that they can plant up with trees. This creates a rolling tree planting, conservation programme that connects people to each other through the land and also generates community funding. The people get to ‘own’ their own bits and so get the sense of ownership. This is enriched and deepened by the sense of the collective and interconnectedness with nature. In a practical and real way the community underpins, connects and knits itself together in nature.
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Funding Patterns
The funding patterns arise from the Earth Hearts The funding patterns use the Souvenir Land mechanism
In an acre of land there are apprx 42,000 sq ft Let us call it 40,000 sq ft for the ease of arithmetic
Let us say that land costs approx £4,000 an acre
So £4,000 for 40,000 sq ft So 1 sq ft costs £4,000 / 40,000 = 10p So when land costs £4,000 an acre, I sq ft costs 10p
Direct Debiting This is a co-operative system of co-ordinated community self funding. Let us take a basic unit of £1 a week as a sum of money that a person might give into their community fundraising and footprinting scheme. If a sq ft of land costs 10p let us allow a further 20p for admin making a working total of 30p. So for £1 this leaves 70p that can be targeted donation. This might be targeted as in 20p to the local mental health drop in centre, 10p to youth club, 10p to Oxfam, 10p to WWF, 10p to recycling initiative, 10p to Children in Need. So if I give £1 a week I get credited with 1 sq ft of land to give back to the planet and I target give the remaining 70p to local, national and international good causes. The good causes would register with the local scheme for the consideration of the participants. If you are a small initiative and you can attract say 100 people to give you 10p a week that is £10 a week or £520 a year. This could help pay your phone bill! It also demonstrates community support which helps with funding applications. The participant donors receive a credit for 1 sq ft of land for every £1 they give. By the end of the year this will add up to 52 sq ft of land. This sizeable chunk then forms the basis of that persons environmental footprinting and giving back to nature. In this way through co-ordinated direct debiting on a local, county and national level, regular significant amounts of funding can be realised which at the same time help people to realise their environmental footprinting whilst at the same time conserving nature and knitting communities together. It would help us all to wake up to the reality that between us we have all the strength to support and shoulder all the initiatives that are needed to balance and regenerate our society. The scheme also lends itself to fundraising for national organisations, people doing voluntary / community work, schools, colleges and hospitals. It can be used to underpin local currencies and LETS systems. The possibilities for corporate citizens and their support of local community, national organisations and addressing their own corporate footprint are immense. |
County Shows
Celebration of the County Game and its progress
County Game is made up of all the Local Game
Showing of work and progress towards balance
Showing of work by the Local Games
Celebration of Community
County Footprint
Celebration of the Environment
Schools, Colleges, Vol Societies, Groups etc
Council, Health, Police, Education ….. citizen interface
County Shows all take place on Live Earth Day
The County Shows are the annual celebration of their County Game and their journey back towards sustainability. They celebrate all the Local Games that go together to make up the County Game and honour the fact that it takes us all to make society as we really want. They celebrate the local environment, people and community. They are seen as culminating on Live Earth Day, which is the national day for celebrating the National Game of Balance and Celebration. The County shows are a public showing of work by the Local Games, Schools, Colleges, Special Interest Groups, Ethnic Minorities and Business Community. They are also a major interface for the local councils, MP’s, MEPs, Police, Health Authority, Education Authority with the local people. They all communicate, demonstrate, explore and celebrate their common County Game, the progress made and the challenges faced. Councillors and local people meet and share and celebrate. The County Footprint gets reduced. The local artistic community provides the music, theatre, poetry, stories and spectacle whilst copious amounts of local food is eaten and local beer gets drunk. The local network gets refreshed, strengthened and vitalised as connections are made, success’s honoured and spirits raised. Challenges are identified and invitations for solutions issued and people return to their Local Games and communities with a great sense of being part of a collective wavefront that is heading back towards sustainability and harmony with Nature. |
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Live Earth Day
Live Earth Day is a public holiday and celebration of our national connectedness, environment, community, culture and the progress of our National Game of Balance and Celebration to restore the balance between mankind and nature.
We have some ideas for the launch of Live Earth Day like the creation of the National Earth Heart. 60 million sq ft of land is an area of 1,500 acres which is the size of a fair size farm. Obviously this would have to be split up between England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland but you get the general idea. This highly symbolic step would link all citizens together practically and symbolically together with the land and nature. From then on whenever a child is born they will be given a piece of land from the National Earth Heart. As the country wakes up to the Live Earth Game of Balance and Celebration through their Local and County Games the National Game comes sharply into focus. As the country and people reconnect with each other and their environment it becomes clear that politics is in practice the working management of the National and Global aspects of the Game. The National Footprint both Carbon and Environmental is quantified and observed. Has it been reduced? What can be done to reduce it? The national challenges are identified and given back to the country as a whole. The country celebrates its progress in the Game at all levels. It encourages other countries to engage and takes the Live Earth Game structure into the United Nations as the Global game. What people want in their heart of hearts is a …… Live Earth ! Live Earth How it Fits Together
The Live Earth Area Co-ops launch and spread Creating a firm basis in society
The Live Earth Game of Balance and Celebration is launched into society as the Local Game
This spreads through society and builds the County Game at County Level.
This is facilitated by the Live Earth Consultancy to the Councils / Business’s / Organisations to prepare and educate them with the pattern.
The County Games build up to the National Game which gives rise to Live Earth Day.
The National Game spreads to other countries and continents giving rise to the Global level of our Planetary Game of Balance & Celebration.
It all rests in The Common Bond which joins together, The Earth Hearts that underpin, The Community Funding Patterns that self generate, The Game that creates organic order and structure and the Celebrations which socially lubricate and raise the spirits to Joy.
It was in this way that The Great Turning was effected.
This is a Live Earth and we are all part of it. |