Science and Humanities Program

The development and implementation of wisdom is critical to navigating our current precipitous global situation--one that many consider as a time of transition pregnant with both great possibilities and dire consequences.

The requisite wisdom must come fourth out of an effective and balanced synthesis of the many forms of knowledge--observation, reason, intuition, pragmatic experience...and the inclusion of human spiritual propensities. 

The application of wisdom and the evolutionary science account of our origins and ontology, including our emerging understanding of cultural evolution, are both critical to the CEF vision for the Earth’s future. This science account provides a basis upon which modern humanity can rethink its own identity, not as separate from, but as a part of an ongoing evolutionary process.

This  identity is a foundation for humans to change their behavior toward caring for the environment, it contributes to our survival as a species, and it supports the implementation of a sustainable future. At the same time is recognized that humans have varied responses to the knowledge that scientific research brings to the human experience.

Projects

Science and Humanities Conference and Workshop Project

The Flourishing Earth Project
Gathering Many Voices to Create a Vision for the Future

What is the Flourishing Earth Project?
There are currently extensive efforts across the globe, by individuals and organizations, to create a positive future for humanity and all living creatures, indeed, for the whole Earth through sustainability, evolutionary consciousness, mutual understanding, interdependence, and common purpose. The CEF's Flourishing Earth Project proposes to identify, explore, and support such efforts. It is not a formal organization or in any way intended to duplicate the diverse work already being done. It is rather a conversation that may take many forms: social networking, blogging, website coordination, books, and in person and other types of get-togethers intended to create a common vision of a flourishing Earth. It is about finding, or building, the will to make happen what is now believed by many experts to be technologically possible, perhaps for the first time in human history. 

Activities:
Social Networking
     Flourishing Earth Blog
     Flourishing Earth Facebook 
Flourishing Earth Book Series
     (under development)
Think Globally, Act Locally Initiatives
     (In cooperation with the San Luis Obispo,
     California area, and California Polytechnic
     State university sustainability and justice
     programs)  Transition Towns
Flourishing Earth International Conference
     (proposed-unscheduled at this time)

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Evolutionary Science
and Sustainability Project
Providing support and enrichment for
   Evolutionary Science education both
   public and academic
   (Big History/Evolutionary Epic)
Evolutionary Science – Research and public
    education (Evolution of Religion)
Science research that moves us forward in the understanding of both our evolutionary path and our evolutionary nature as a species, is critical to developing our vision of, and path towards, a sustainable, even flourishing future.

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Science Education Project
This project is undergirded by a belief in the value of science and technology research, global networking, and student mentoring.

Astronomy (Telescope and Research
     Development for amateur and student use)
Solar Power (Research and Development
     through adaptation of large, light-
     weight, portable telescope technology
     and other technological advance

Business and Sustainability Program

The objective of CEF’s Business and Sustainability Program is to demonstrate to the worldwide business community that business can be conducted both profitably and sustainably at the same time.  We believe that business can become sustainable and healthy in the long run through better integration of environmental and social concerns with the traditional financial bottom line.

Through its Business and Sustainability Program, CEF organizes retreats and conferences; publishes proceedings, research reports, and case studies through the Collins Foundation Press division; and engages in research projects focused on sustainable business themes

CEF has partnered on a number of projects with the San Francisco based Presidio Graduate School, where Dwight Collins, the President and Founder of CEF, is a member of the Core Faculty and Chair of the MBA Program.  “The Presidio” offers a distinctive MBA in Sustainable Management, which integrates environmental, ethical, and socially responsible concerns into all its courses. Since 2003, the program has prospered as a collaborative learning community committed to bringing sustainable management ideas and solutions to reality. 

CEF has also partnered with a number of other nonprofit organizations in its sponsorship of events and projects including the San Francisco based Future500, and the Seattle based Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability (NBIS).

The Business and Sustainability Program projects below are currently ongoing.

Projects

Mobile Solar Initiative Project
The focus of this project is to coordinate the activities of the Mobile Solar Initiative Working Group.  The Mobile Solar Initiative (MSI) refers to development of testbeds to demonstrate how new technologies for concentrating the sun’s energy can be used to generate off grid electricity and provide potable water for third world communities.  The work is conducted by the Mobile Solar Initiative Working Group, a loosely knit group of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs coordinated by Dr. Russell Genet, observational astronomer, inventor, and Research Scholar in Residence at California Polytechnic Institute.  Members come from educational, research, and for-profit organi-zations from around the world.  They contribute their time to the initiative, openly sharing innovative ideas and developing prototype components within the testbed environment.  One objective of the working group is to determine the applicability of low cost light bucket telescope mirror production technol-ogies developed by a number of its members through the Alt-Az Initiative to solar energy generation.  Members occasionally commer-cialize components of the technology and offer their new products to the testbed environment to demonstrate its value in the larger context of the testbed. The MSI Working Group meets in workshops a number of times each year and otherwise coordinates its work online.

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Sustainable Business Case Studies Project
In this project, CEF is working to facilitate generation of high quality teaching case studies and stories in sustainable business. Some of the components of this initiative are (1) providing processes, procedures, and templates to writers of sustainable business case studies to enhance project efficiency and ensure a high quality project output, (2) identification of business organizations interested in having their sustainable business successes documented for teaching purposes, and (3) convenient case study distribution through CEF's Collins Foundation Press website. 

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Cultural Evolution in Business Project
This project makes application of cultural evolutionary theory to a paradigm shift in the foundational assumptions of business practice. The objective of this project is to help leaders of businesses and other organizations make strategic, tactical, and operational decisions based on sound science. Using the theory of gene-culture coevolution as a tool, we provide a framework within which executives can understand the processes by which human social psychology evolved in the remote past and corporate cultures evolve to accomplish their objectives in the present. The activities of this project have been conducted in partnership with Professor Emeritus Peter J. Richerson of UC/Davis. Prof. Richerson is a primary founder and developer of the modern scientific theories of cultural evolution.