As a fully functioning adult living in a world as a ‘normal’ person (of course, that could be debated) I never had the opportunity to spend any time with the developmentally disabled population until the creation of Search for Adventure (SFA). About 6 years ago, Horny Toad (Nau’s sister company) and Search, Inc. got together to create SFA. The big idea here is that people without disabilities regularly have experiences that shape them outside of home, work or family – the developmentally disabled are often dependent on the government for benefits and services – rarely do they get the chance to experience the world beyond their day to day regiment. The primary goal of SFA is to give access to life experiences based on what they want to do instead of on what others have thought they should or shouldn’t, could or couldn’t do.

I have learned first hand that these trips empower people with developmental disabilities. They are able to see the world outside of the daily routine; not just survive but thrive, learn and experience. In 2004, one of the first trips was to the Powderhorn Dude Ranch in Colorado. One of my favorite quotes from this first trip is from Ed.  Ed is a horse enthusiast and budding cowboy. He got off the plane, took in the scenery and asked, “Is this heaven?”. If I could share the twinkle in his eyes or the excitement in his voice… you would understand.

This program has been so successful that we would like to offer additional experiences to more people. In our dream state we conjured up the idea of the “Adventuremobile” – essentially, a modified van. This vehicle would allow more accessible and economical trips to the most severely and profoundly disabled individuals. Here’s the cool part – you can help us reach our goal with the simple click of a button. (Seriously, it is that easy.) SFA has applied for a grant and the one with the most votes wins. You can learn more and, of course, we welcome your vote.

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Today marks the launch of our first annual Grant for Change, a $10,000 grant designed to support those who instigate lasting, positive change in their communities.

It’s a project we’ve been working on for months, trudging feverishly through hours of meetings, debates, and revelations. It’s been a collective effort, with late nights, scattered moments, no blood or tears but definitely some sweat (though that could be from our recent heat wave, too).

And we’re finally ready to share it with you. This is exciting.

We’ll shift the focus of the grant each year, but this year, we’re dedicating it to those who move in the spirit of the Nau Collective, accepting nominations for

ATHLETES who are challenging assumptions about what it means to move through the world.

ARTISTS, designers or other creatives who are moved to design better solutions to the world’s greatest problems.

ACTIVISTS who are seeding positive change in their communities, and moving others to do the same.

You can learn more about the details of the grant – what it’s about, who it’s for, how it works, and why we’re doing it – on our website.

It’s inspiring stuff. There are amazing efforts in positive change happening all over the country. While working on this grant, we’ve met remarkable people with tireless commitment to causes as varied as climate change, transportation, urban agriculture, and clothing design.

The grant is nomination-based, and voter-driven, which means we’ll need your help to get it off the ground. Maybe this means you nominate yourself, or maybe it means you nominate your friends, or maybe it means you just spread the word and vote. When you check out our site to learn more, we hope something in there will trigger you to get involved.

Nominations for the grant are open ‘til August 17th, the voting ‘til August 31st.

And once you’re in, don’t hold back. The more nominees we get, the more stories of change we get to tell.

Nominate. Learn. Vote. This is the Grant for Change. Have at it. We hope you’ll like it as much as we do.

A historic thing happened in Washington DC last week.  The House of Representatives voted on the Waxman-Markey climate change bill. 44 Democrats voted against it, 8 Republicans voted for it and with only one “yay” to spare, the bill passed on Friday, June 26^th with 219 votes.

I’ve been reading about the pro’s and con’s and why two Democratic Representatives from my home state of Oregon voted against it. Honestly I can’t say for sure if I’m entirely for or against it, but I do know this is a big deal. The health and well-being of our planet for future generations is dependent on legislation like this.

If you’re like me and didn’t take the time to educate yourself about the climate change bill before the House voted, here is a short list of resources I recommend reading to help navigate all the buzz.

Here are two useful summaries of the bill from Climate Progress and Salon.com

This NYT article talks about who is for and against the bill and why.

Here is Grist’s light-hearted but informative take on it.

The Huffington Post talks about the flack the 8 lonely republicans are getting post “yay”.

Treehugger, my personal favorite, wrote a lot about the bill.  Here are two are must-reads; “Everything You Need to Know” and “Green Groups Mustn’t Surrender When the Battle is Just Starting”.

A few weeks ago, The New York Times wrote an article about the death and hopeful resurrection of Polaroid film. In the Netherlands, a small group of Dutch scientists are working tirelessly in an abandoned Polaroid factory to reinvent the film that so many photographers have come to love and now cherish. The New York Times Lens blog later asked readers to send in their own Polaroids. Check out the overwhelming response here.

I was giddy with excitement yesterday when Jamie sent me a link to Yakkay, a Danish company that makes bike helmets and stylish helmet covers.

Yakkay gets kudos from me for more than just the cute factor. The simple equation “hipster hat + dorky helmet” was staring us in the face for decades. I love that I no longer have to make a choice between function and fashion when putting something on my head. But then again, the concept sounds familiar so maybe I’m biased.

They aren’t distributed in the U.S. yet, but there are two dealers that will ship overseas, 50 Cycles in the U.K. and Heino Cykler in Denmark.

I can’t help but wonder, is the solution to the ever-so-flattering climbing harness staring us in the face too?

So asks Faith Popcorn, who has created quite a reputation for what she calls “applied futurism.” By that she means weaving the future into the everyday texture of companies and brands. Faith and her gang have come up with a list of predictions for 2008. One in particular caught my attention. It’s titled “Reactions to Cashing Out”:

Lagom: From the Swedish, most commonly translated as “just enough.” It’s an approach to both design and consumption that explains the essence of brands like Ikea and Volvo. We see notions of “minimalism” and “sustainability” taking on significant currency, as even Americans reject hyper-consumption as not just excessive, but actually damaging to themselves, others and to the planet.

KarmaCapitalism: As “Cashing Out” rises to this level of prominence, we’ll see a basic shift in the identity/mentality of people, as they make the transition from “consumer” to “citizen” ” recognizing that every act of consumption has cost and consequence beyond the transaction, and that every transaction is a “vote” in favor of the offering entity, and against the options not chosen. To compete, companies are going to have to weave “goodness” as a fundamental intent into their corporate culture. Bringing on a dash of “corporate responsibility”; whether the mere monetary commitment to a cause, or some more symbolic gesture, will not suffice to curry favor with the citizen. In a world of transparency, where every corporate practice is knowable, they will be watching and exercising that all-important vote of the purse.

Hmmm. As we like to say: that was then, this is Nau.

Take a bit of entrepreneurial flare, mix in a bit of eco consciousness along with a dash of digitally enabled community participation in the form of “crowdsourcing” and “crowdfunding” and what do you get? How about Nvohk (pronounced “invoke”) ” an eco-friendly, surf inspired clothing manufacturer that appears to be decidedly democratic in its management approach. The concept: You sign up for free and when membership hits 20,000 everyone invests $50 a year. In return, you get a say in the management of the company, including — according to its founders — major business decisions like logo design, product design, athlete selection and advertising direction. You’ll also have a voice in choosing what charities receive 10% of net profits and 35% of net profits will be directed back to members via award points. As of March 21st, over 2106 future members had signed up. This experiment is one to watch, if not participate in. It will certainly test the power of crowds and our capacity for collective decision-making.

It’s not often that I envy other cities for their bike-related policies (Portland being such a poster child, in that department), but this is pretty impressive: a formalized bike-sharing program in Barcelona that’s much like Zip Car here in the states, only better, because it cuts out the car part.

Only begs one question: Why haven’t we done this yet in the States? Or have we?
Found via Out There Biking.

Intelligent Debate. Passionate Media. How rare is that? If you found it, would you engage with it? I ask because I recently discovered Scribemedia.org. That’s exactly what they promise and that’s definitely what they deliver. The folks at Scribemedia travel extensively to capture and deliver speeches, roundtables and interviews of thought leaders across an incredibly diverse range of disciplines from technology, fashion, business, design, media and the arts. My samplings included a talk by Chris Jordan at the recent Greener Gadgets Conference where he artfully illustrates our staggering quantities of mass consumption and a speech by Lord John Browne of Madingley (former Managing Director of the colossus oil company British Petroleum) about the future of world energy markets.

Scribemedia serves up intelligent dialogue, versus the usual sound-bite approach that has become all too prevalent in our national dialogue. As they say, they “deliver content where and how people want to receive it.”

A few days ago I received an email that read as follows:

“I try not to send too many mass emails about the subject of my work, but this one can’t be missed. A friend in Berkeley, Annie Leonard, produced this video with Free Range Films. I have been anxiously awaiting it, and boy is it good. It gets a little political perhaps where it shouldn’t, but it is the first time I’ve seen the truth and consequences of our consumerism put into understandable, comprehensive terms. Please watch it online“it’s pretty short (15 mins) and you will not regret spending the time. And please send it to everyone you know. Everyone in the world (literally) needs to see this.”

Watch the full-length version of the video HERE.

There’s only one thing I’d add to that urging: Our dominant paradigm for understanding the world is based almost exclusively on a linear cause-and-effect worldview. The difficulty with this paradigm is that it provides a very limited short-term perspective for understanding how things really work. What makes this video, which is called “The Story of Stuff,” so compelling is that it goes beyond the typical linear cause-and-effect paradigm by examining patterns of behavior and the interrelationship between things. It’s a whole systems view that enables a much deeper understanding of the way things operate; an understanding that creates the conditions to make lasting positive change within the system possible.