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Sustainability Now!: Social Energy in support of Sustainability
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Social Energy in support of Sustainability

Note by Reinder van Tijen, Demotech related to discussions with Constanza and Simon, Maastricht 07/01/17

People take part in many forms of economically non-productive group activities, such as

  • theater groups
  • choir groups
  • card play groups
  • groups dedicated to sports, passive and active
  • and many types of group activities more ...

    With this they invest time and dedication, or with other words: they invest 'Social Energy' to create 'Social Goods'.
    Further description of Social Energy will reveal quality aspects, such as the 'why'-questions: why do people this, of what kind are the rewards it does give. There are also the quantitative aspects such as how much time is invested and what is the level of the rewards compared to rewards coming from economic activities and personal activities of other nature.

    Considering the need of work to be done on attaining Sustainability, can Social Energy be mobilized for this purpose?
    To this question relates an other form of Social Energy: people's contributions to an on-line community, that produces WikiPedia, the on-line encyclopedia. Thus they created a Social Good of high standard, when compared to similar goods produced by economic drivers.
    A young sister of WikiPedia is Appropedia, also created by an on-line community, dedicated to technology linked to sustainability and raising the quality of life.

    Would it be feasible to apply Social Energy to develop the content of Appropedia, without changing the reward structure of Social Energy and thus creating the option of generating the quantity of Social Energy that is needed for the massive change in social and economic structures that Sustainability asks for?


    Sustainability Now!: Social Energy in support of Sustainability
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