Friday 20 December 2013

Certificate of Achievement in Sustainable Exchange




(Offered by the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) in our London Docklands Campus, 20 credit points at Masters-level, can be part of a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership).

Economic and environmental crises are often in the news, yet social innovation is growing at pace.


Collaborative consumption systems like Airbnb, digital currencies like Bitcoin, local currencies like the Bristol Pound, gifting systems like Impossible.com, and sharing systems like TimeBanks UK, suggest that there could be a new paradigm emerging for how we organise our economic lives in ways that could restore community and the environment. 

The aim of this Certificate of Achievement is for you to understand why and how to create, scale and evaluate digitally-enabled systems of “sustainable exchange”.

Sustainable exchange includes systems for giving, sharing, renting, exchanging, and funding, with or without official money.

We understand that this is the world’s first Masters-level course on digital currencies and the sharing economy, and it is already receiving international press coverage.

The course is taught as a four-day block on the edge of the London Docklands financial centre, with structured online interaction beforehand, and an assessment to study for and write afterwards.
 
Join us at our London campus
Various online materials are supplied pre and post residential via our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).The course involves walking tours in the Docklands on monetary history, visits to relevant initiatives, and guest lectures from leaders in the field.  
Tutors will include Professor Jem Bendell (IFLAS), April Rinne (Collaborative Lab), Adam Werbach (Yerdle), John Rogers (author, People Money), Leander Bindewald (NEF and IFLAS), Brett Scott (author, Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance), Chris Cook (UCL), Will Ruddick (BanglaPesa and IFLAS), Susannah Martin Belmonte (EuroCat) (all TBC) and Matthew Slater (Community Forge).
The first offering is in 2014, but places are limited so apply early to avoid a delay of 6 months for the following iteration. Course fees are £1,111.
If this module is taken standalone, there are no specific entry requirements for this module but you must demonstrate that you are able to study at the appropriate level. 

To apply for the course click here.  If you would like to take this course as part of the new Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership, click here. If you would like to apply for a scholarship then the deadline is January 30th 2014 and details on that are here.

We are currently accepting donations in digital currencies and national currencies to be able to award scholarships for this course. If you would like to support this initiative, please contact Professor Jem Bendell: iflas@cumbria.ac.uk

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
  • Critically evaluate the historical evolution of different exchange systems.
  • Critically analyse the variety of sustainable exchange systems and the potential and pitfalls of digitally-enabled sustainable exchange systems
  • Effectively communicate the rationale for sustainable exchange systems to a variety of stakeholders, with a critical understanding of claims made about them
  • Describe and advise on the key factors for designing, developing and managing successful sustainable exchange systems
  • Critically analyse the potential and current impact of any sustainable exchange initiative for its ability to promote sustainable production and consumption

Indicative Module Content:
  • The history of exchange and monetary systems, according to anthropology and contrarian economics.
  • The current monetary systems and its implications for sustainable development
  • The variety of sustainable exchange systems, both new and old, for giving, sharing, renting, exchanging, and funding, with or without official money.
  • The potential and pitfalls of digitally enabled sustainable exchange systems
  • The key factors for designing, developing and managing successful sustainable exchange systems.
  • Evaluation systems for sustainable exchange initiatives.
  • Communication challenges and techniques for sustainable exchange.
  • Practice-based inquiries into sustainable exchange.
For a short TEDx talk introducing this topic, see Professor Bendell’s The Money Myth:



Indicative Bibliography
  • Bendell, J and T. Greco (2013) ‘Currencies of Transition’, in McIntosh (2013) The Necessary Transition, Greenleaf Publishing, UK. http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/content/pdfs/TNT_bendell.pdf
  • Botsman, R and R. Rogers (2010) Beyond Zipcar: Collaborative Consumption, Harvard Business Review, October 2010.
  • Gold, L (2004) The sharing economy: solidarity networks transforming globalisation, Ashgate Pub Ltd, UK.
  • Graeber, D (2011) Debt: The First 5000 Years. Melville House Books.
  • Greco, Jr., Thomas H. (2009) The End of Money and the Future of Civilization. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2009.
  • Eisenstein, C (2012) Sacred Economics. Evolver Editions, USA.
  • Lietaer, B., M. Kennedy and J. Rogers (2012) People Money: The Promise of Regional Currencies, Triarchy Press.
  • Schroeder, R.F.H., Y. Miyazaki1 and M. Fare (2011) “Community Currency Research: An analysis of the literature”, International Journal of Community Currency Research, Volume 15 (2011) Section A 31-41.

Monday 2 December 2013

Become a sustainable leadership scholar with a funded place for the Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership


The Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) is accepting applications for the new Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership; aimed at experienced professionals seeking an academic context to explore how to increase their impact. 

The course begins in 2014, and requires two visits to the Lake District, UK, of one week each, and then a module of independent study.  

Through sponsorship by the Robert Kennedy College, there are scholarships for two students to have their £3,333 fees paid. The scholarships are made through a competitive award and are only open to UK or EU nationals only. 

The scholarship provides the opportunity to study in the heart
of the Lake District National Park during two residential weeks.
To apply, complete the following steps before January 30th 2014:

- Write an article of between 700-1200 words that is published on a relevant online website (either through a publisher, an internationally recognised newspaper or a relevant organisation, but not behind a paywall). The article must be on one or more of the topics of the programme: sustainable leadership, experiential learning, the sharing economy or community currency. The article must mention at some point why courses like the PGC in Sustainable Leadership, or its modules (such as the module “Sustainable Exchange”) are important, and link to the course website: http://bit.ly/1hmTmyR. The article must be published between December 9th 2013 and January 30th 2014.  The article must indicate that you are the author.

- Tweet the article title and web-link, including the following text within the tweet: See #IFLAS course http://bit.ly/1hmTmyR

-  Consider uploading the article as part of a discussion on the IFLAS Sustainable Leaders Linked In group (accessible via the menu icon at www.iflas.info)

- Send an email with your CV, a link to the article, and less than 200 words explaining why you want to take the course and why you need your fees to be paid. Email iflas@cumbria.ac.uk  (do not contact individual judges).

Applicants will be informed of the decision before March 1st 2014. 

Before applying, look at the programme description. Other courses may be more relevant to you, such as our suite of MBAs offered with the Robert Kennedy College, including the largest specialist sustainability MBA, delivered online, with a block residential in the Lake District. 

The Judges
  • Leander Bindewald, New Economics Foundation
  • Richard Little, Impact International
  • Philippa Chapman, Institute for Leadership and Sustainability
  • David Connor, 3BL Media and Just Means
  • Professor David Costa, Robert Kennedy College
  • Dr Audrey Sleight, University of Cumbria
  • Professor Jem Bendell, Institute for Leadership and Sustainability
Please note that individual judges cannot vote for someone they work with, live with or are related to.