Changing the Future

Somebody said to me earlier in the week that business will seek locations with quality local energy supply. This is 15 maybe 20 years down the line but two things struck me. It is within my working lifetime (not just my lifetime), and it is a real issue.

Fossil fuel depletion is challenge for all of us. How much it costs us to commute to work, go to the shops, heat our house in winter and where we go on holiday in the summer. For business leaders it is even more of an issue. How do I keep my manufacturing plant running 6 days a week, how much does that cost me, can I afford to run a data centre in this location, where is my power coming from?

For most of us this is a bridge we will cross when we get to it. Electric/Hydrogen car, solar heating, a wind turbine in the garden. When my fuel bills hit £300/month I'll think about it.

But what about our policy makers, our leaders today and our leaders in the future. Are they planning, getting ready, pushing boundaries and making changes? If they aren't what are you doing to help them realise? What can you do? You'll find it is more than you realise...

Localism - Challenge or Opportunity

There are a whole raft of challenges floating around at the moment in terms of the local offering. Whether this is around LEPs, social enterprise developments around the "Big Society" or even the local stock exchange idea. It seems in politics we are desperate to make changes and put our stamp on a project and retain ownership. The idea of the big society is interesting as is the formulation of LEPs. There is no stipulated framework or booklet of guidelines. As a result we seem to struggle with this as a society. We have been told what to do and how to do it for so long we seem to rely on others to make decisions.
This is a unique opportunity for empowerment of individuals and communities to make a real difference and throw out the rule book. But let's not reform what we are trying to get rid of. We need to start again, build from the bottom up and engage with those looking for the change. We all see areas where change is needed whether it is local authority duplication, disengagement or crumbling communities. Now is the time to make your voice heard, take action and feel empowered. No rule book is an opportunity not only for those in power to make radical changes but for those who feel they have no voice to find one.