The Canadian social change community is slowly reacting to the latest American border restrictions. It’s hard to believe but the Americans intend to restrict the free use of US intellectual property (including social change concepts and practices) outside their borders. … Read More
Blog posts by Al
Cherry Blossoms & the Social Innovation ‘Terroir’ of Canada
Have you ever wondered what cherry blossoms in Vancouver taste like? I didn’t have the imagination to even conceive of such a question let alone answer it until I attended a dinner hosted by Elementa a collective of young culinary … Read More
Steve Nash and Acting Your Age
Steve Nash’s decision to retire from basketball is a reminder that boomers like me also have a hard time letting go of our roles and responsibilities. The professional sports world is full of stories of athletes who stayed on past … Read More
Setting the Heather on Fire – The Antigonish Movement
I fell in love with Nova Scotia in the 1970’s. It started in Antigonish – green rolling hills, sea bound coast, hundreds of fiddlers performing under the summer stars, John Allen Cameron singing at a local club, caber tossing, and … Read More
Dating Concepts
I fall a little in love with new ideas, methods and concepts. It happens all the time. We date. Everything is rosy. They are perfect. There is nothing they can’t do. I’ve found the one. This has happened with social … Read More
Resurrecting the Ordinary
The Quakers of the seventeenth century thought of themselves as “God’s ordinaries.” They meant ordinary in the sense that extraordinary acts are not reserved for the special few. They believed that we are all born with the capacity to be … Read More
Stepping Out
Dear Reader, I’m excited to be back blogging! For more than 2 years I’ve been immersed in writing a new book, Impact: Six Patterns to Spread Your Social Innovation. (More details very soon!) Writing a book in my case meant … Read More
Jim Flaherty, poverty fighter
Today, Jim Flaherty, Canada’s former Minister of Finance is bring honoured with a state funeral. Even his critics acknowledge his commitment to people with disabilities and their families. They point to the Registered Disability Savings Plan as the highlight. My … Read More
Women for The Long Now
I support the Long Now Foundation. It wants to shift our fast paced, fast thinking culture toward long term thinking. Among their many projects they are assembling the 3,500 books most essential for sustaining or rebuilding humanity. Its co-founder Stewart Brand … Read More
"There's always someone trying to make change happen and to make our world even more beautiful"