Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the publication on June 2nd 2005 of:

SOCIETAL LEARNING AND CHANGE

How Governments, Business and Civil Society are Creating Solutions to
Complex Multi-Stakeholder Problems

Steve Waddell

June 2005 | 164pp | 234 x 156 mm
Hardback: ISBN 1 874719 88 8 | GBP35.00 USD65.00
Paperback: ISBN 1 874719 93 4 | GBP19.95 USD40.00

*********************************
To place an order for this title at a discount of 10%, or to view Chapter 1 'Responding to Crisis and Opportunity' online, please visit the Greenleaf website at:
http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/catalogue/soclearn.htm

You can also request a review copy or inspection copy from this site - see the home page: http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com

*********************************

CONSTRUCTING ROADS in Madagascar; forestry along Canada's Pacific Coast; water and sanitation projects in South Africa; community banking in the United States; constructing a new global system for corporate reporting.

These all have something in common. They provide great illustrations of the types of profound and wise changes needed in the way we run our affairs if we are to respond to the scale of environmental and social challenges and opportunities facing us. They are examples of 'societal learning and

Building on the traditions of individual and organisational learning, this book suggests that our challenge is to create learning societies and processes. This involves both change in ourselves as individuals, but also change in the way the three key systems that make up our societies - the political system (government), economic system (business) and social system (civil society) - function by creating more robust interactions that respond to human and environmental imperatives rather than organisational

'Societal Learning and Change' presents a meta-framework that covers
diverse approaches, including corporate citizenship, social responsibility, community development, private-public partnerships, inter-sectoral collaboration and sustainability strategies. It makes sense of all of these by emphasising that they all share the need to change relationships at the societal level and explaining how to do this from a systems perspective. The book helps overcome the conundrum where individual organisations are un

Wherever you are, you can make a contribution to shifting the paradigm through a societal learning and change strategy. The critical contribution is creating new relationships between people and organisations that traditionally would not interact but in fact have common interests. When these relationships become meaningful by addressing a problem or developing an opportunity, people begin to learn about each other and develop mutual appreciation and understanding. Often this process is complicated and conf

This is an extremely optimistic book at a time of great pessimism about the huge forces of globalisation and corporate power that seem to be overwhelming us. It will be essential reading for students and practitioners in the fields of organisational learning, sustainability, poverty, international development and stakeholder relations.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Responding to crisis and opportunity

Chapter 2 Where does the SLC concept come from?

Chapter 3 The case studies

* Amanz'abantu and water systems in South Africa
* Transforming forestry in Canada
* Centre for Technology Development and economic development in India
* The Global Reporting Initiative and corporate transformation
* Madagascar road-building
* Rice production in the Philippines
* Community-bank innovation in the US
* The Access Initiative/Partnership for Principle 10 for global
environmental decision-making

Chapter 4 What is changing?

Chapter 5 What are the change rationales and motivations?

Chapter 6 What is the change process?

Chapter 7 What are the SLC structures?

Chapter 8 What are the SLC lessons?

Chapter 9 SLC: a growth industry

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Waddell works as a researcher/consultant/educator, with a focus on issues and opportunities that require large systems change. Often this change involves creating business-government-civil society collaborations or networks; these may be local, national or global. Steve is founder and Executive Director of the Global Action Network Net, which focuses on building capacity of, and knowledge about, Global Action Networks. He also is Senior Associate at Strategic Clarity and the Institute for Strategic C