Visioning 2026 Blog
Process Project -- Appropriate Questions to Consider -- Solar Power
In preparing for the Norfolk Leadership Transformational Learning Process Project a class participant provided the opportunity to provide comments that should help other participant.
Mike,
Thanks for responding to my earlier question on what topic area the group had chosen.
Solar power is a very interesting topic that we as a community need to learn more about and how it will impact us in the future. With the number of sunny days we have in Northeast Nebraska we should be taking advantage of opportunity. What are the are issues that will allow for a "convergence of change" and how will transformational learning enable us to make this change sooner?
From a transformational learning view point I pose the following questions the process project group might consider
- What questions might you ask community leaders that could seed the concept of incorporating solar power energy solutions into projects such as the Recreation and Water Park infrastructure proposal and the NorthFork River Development project? How could they connect and influence the citizens that may have an opportunity to vote on a bond issue?
- How can you make your project into a community collaborative project? What do think will be important for these leaders and citizens to get to the hmmm.... stage of accepting these renewable energy changes?
- What connections could you try and get citizens to make with solar power, these projects and other future trends as well as organizations outside the immediate area that could influence the implementation of these renewable energy solutions in our community?
- How should we engage the educational systems in our communities to realize the importance of renewable energy and their impact on our community and their lives?
- If you picked 5 individuals (or groups) in the community to present your project to who might they be, why, and what result would you expect from these individuals (and groups)? What relationships / connections could these individuals / groups have with each other and how might they be connected to individuals / groups outside the community?
- What other future trends and technologies would you expect will have a direct, indirect or even oblique impact on solar power and our community?
- What connections can you make with the increased emphasis on nanotechnology to help in solving numerous challenges, improved energy conversion, reduced manufacturing costs, and fuel cell storage that are related to solar power? How will solar power energy distribution be different from the current model?
- What would you state is your vision, mission, and purpose of your project in transformational terms and why might this be different from a traditional method of making these statements?
- What references will you be using and how will they be connected to transformational learning concepts?
Let me know if you have more questions related to this project.
Thanks for continuing this dialogue.
What's the "Best News in 2007" -- Process Project Possibilities
What was the "Best News in 2007" as reported in published literature at the end of 2007 through
KurzweilAI.net Weekly Newsletter, 12/31/07.
What weak signals, trends, and connections can you suggest from these reports? How will these news items impact the Norfolk community in the future?
Also, please consider the following paper, 56 Top Trends Affecting Norfolk, presented by Marvin Cetron, in September 2006, as ideas for your process project. There are 56 trends identified by Visioning 2026 members that were evaluated by Mr. Cetron and their likely impact to the community and Northeast Nebraska.
Mark Hall
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Science's 2007 Breakthroughs of the Year
KurzweilAI.net Dec. 21, 2007
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Science recognized "Human Genetic Variation" as the 2007 Breakthrough of the Year, and detailed nine other of the year's most significant scientific accomplishments in its December 21 issue: - Cosmic rays' acceleration may come from passing by the magnetic fields around black holes. - Researchers determined the structure of the human...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7680&m=24788
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2008: your guide to the year in science
Popular Science December 2007
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IBM's 3-D chip stacks, "physmatics" (the blurry line between math and physics), and high-resolution imaging satellites will be part of 2008's biggest science stories, predicts Popular Science....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7720&m=24788
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Popular Science's Best of What's New 2007
Popular Science December 2007
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The first five-finger bionic grip, the world's most efficient solar panels, and a home 3-D printer are in the "Best of What's New 2007" list from Popular Science....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7719&m=24788
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Internet Opens Elite Colleges to All
Washington Post Dec. 29, 2007
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More than 100 universities worldwide, including Johns Hopkins, Tufts and Notre Dame, have joined MIT in a consortium of schools promoting their open courseware--college courses available online for free. MIT's OpenCourseWare's site gets more than 1 million hits per month, with translated versions getting 500,000 more. About 60 percent of users...
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7717&m=24788
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The Year in Biotech
Technology Review Dec. 28, 2007
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Stem cells from skin, myriad microbes, and a $350,000 personal genome are among Technology Review's list of top biotech stories in...
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IDC serves up top 10 storage predictions for 2008
Computerworld Dec. 24, 2007
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Online storage services and solid-state disk drives are among IDC's top 10 storage predictions for 2008....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7712&m=24788
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2007: The year in technology
New Scientist Dec. 24, 2007
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Leech-like robots that crawl along the heart to deliver drugs, robots with a fish-like electrical sensing system, and boredom-detecting software are among the key new technologies featured in New Scientist magazine in 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7711&m=24788
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2007: The year in biology and medicine
NewScientist.com news service Dec. 26, 2007
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Obesity research (including potential causes from genetics or viruses), the emergence of completely drug-resistant TB, other infectious diseases, and stem cells were among the big biology and medicine news stories covered by New Scientist in 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7710&m=24788
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Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007
Wired News Dec. 27, 2007
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A transparent material as strong as steel, stem cells from a cloned Rhesus monkey, and smaller transistors made with new materials are among the top 10 scientific breakthroughs covered by Wired in 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7707&m=24788
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2007: The Year in Energy
Technology Review Dec. 26, 2007
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Advanced biofuels, more-efficient vehicles, and solar power (using quantum dots and mimicking photosynthesis) top the most notable energy stories covered by Technology Review in 2007....
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2007: The Year in Hardware
Technology Review Dec. 26, 2007
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Touch screens, context-aware gadgets, autonomous vehicles, and brain-computer interfaces (controlling computer games, market research, facial recognition) were among the top hardware developments covered by Technology Review in 2007....
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The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007
Wired Magazine Dec. 26, 2007
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Organisms invented in 2007 include insulin-producing lettuce, yeast with poison-sensing rat genes, cancer-fighting Clostridium bacteria, artful fluorescent tadpoles and butanol-producing E. coli....
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The Year in Nanotech: Better batteries and supersticky glues are on the horizon
Technology Review Jan. 3, 2008
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Nanowires and nanotubes for generating and storing energy, new classes of materials that could render objects invisible, and non-stick or supersticky materials are a few of the nanotechnology items in Technology Review's "The Year in...
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The Year in Software
Technology Review Jan. 2, 2008
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New search technologies (such as speech recognition), cloud (web-based)computing, virtual worlds, self-expression, new social-networks features, and expanded mobile-phone services were Technology Review's key software developments of...
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A Few of Our Favorite Things: ScienceNOW's top stories of 2007
Science NOW Jan. 1, 2008
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Arguments that black holes do not exist and quantum mechanics research that finds an observer can change the behavior of light, even after it has been measured, are two of Science Now's top stories of 2007....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7731&m=24788
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National Nanotechnology Initiative releases new strategic plan
KurzweilAI.net Jan. 2, 2008
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The new 2007 NNI Strategic Plan for the work of the National Nanotechnology Initiative has been released, describing the vision, goals, and priorities of the NNI, high-impact application opportunities, and critical research needs....
http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=7730&m=24788
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The Generational Divide in Copyright Morality
New York Times Dec. 20, 2007
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Today's college students don't find file-sharing wrong, according to one informal audience...
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Technology Focus Group
To read notes from the November 13, focus group please click here.