Location

GOAL = Social Consequences & Policy Implications of Knowledge

'Internal'

(within WAAS)

Strengths

Weaknesses

  S1 – 50 years since establishment by eminent individuals – Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell

  S2 – Membership of eminent individual artists & scientists with interdisciplinary experience

  S3 – Continual renewal of membership

  S4 – Corporate structure & constitution

S5 – Ability to comprehend & discuss critically emerging complex issues relating to the social & policy impacts of knowledge

  S6 – Driven by individual interest, passion & liaison to form global & regional multi-disciplinary networks to critically explore & learn about, analyse & synthesise, disseminate & build partnerships on critical issues

  S7 – Lack of a partisan or negative reputation

W1 – Not widely known or active outside the North Atlantic region

W2 – Purpose unclear to members

W3 – Without defined programmes for collective collegial action

W4 – Harnessing knowledge, experience & passion of all members for their involvement & satisfaction

W5 – Rarely used the knowledge & experience of members in strategic programmes

W6 – Insecure programme funds for medium-term

'External'

(outside WAAS)

Opportunities

Threats

O1 – Harnessing the knowledge, experience & passion of members to address critical social challenges at regional or global scale

O2 – Identifying critical global & regional challenges within it comparative advantage for strategic action & leverage potential

O3 – Identifying target audiences for the its programmatic work

O4 – Discovering modalities for promoting mutual understanding & commonwealth

O5 – Establishing networks / 'virtual communities' exchanging information using ICT

O6 – Formation of new national academies of art & science to stimulate industry & commerce in NIEs & transition economies

T1 – Perception as a diffuse & non-serious entity

T2 – Emergence of many other global 'players' concerned with the social consequences & policy implications of knowledge (e.g. Club of Rome resurgence, School of Athens, university centres)

T3 – Strengthening of national academies of art & science to address social & policy impacts & applications of knowledge

T4 – Potential decline in funding 'global' think-tanks

T5 – Prioritization of local governance challenges resulting from globalization

1.      Human Dignity & Actualization 

·         Knowledge & Skills: Encouraging individuals to acquire, use & generate knowledge & skills for meeting their needs, enterprise & employment flexibility

·         'Environment': Nurture an enabling ‘environment’ for individual & group enterprise, competition, innovation & risk-taking

·         Styles & Approaches: Harness the rich & diverse talents of global multi-cultural societies to search for styles & approaches (a) to solve problems, & (b) to exploit & manage opportunities

·         Recognition: Recognize ‘heroes’ who have generated wealth through enterprise in various forms (e.g. arts, science, commerce, engineering)

·         Social & Cultural Capital: Encourage individuals to learn knowledge & skills from others, to be aware & motivated, to create social, cultural & economic capital, to gain personal satisfaction & contentment (i.e. the feeling of ‘making a difference’), & to gain meaning & enlightenment when linked with, responding to, having a vested interest in & committing to their ‘neighbours’ or associates in a place, local organization or social business

2.      Enterprise & Organization

(Diverse Capabilities)

·         Creative Leadership: Encourage the emergence of leaders in enterprises who constantly challenge the status quo & display creative dissatisfaction for better political effectiveness & social & ‘environmental’ sustainability

·         Emergency Preparedness: Prepare citizens for abrupt & irreversible environmental changes & extremes (e.g. climate change impacts) that threaten livelihoods, food security & health

·         ‘Community’ Organization: Encourage ‘local’ communities & neighbourhoods to organize themselves in terms of a stable composition, cohesiveness, mutual support, transformation & change, harnessing energy & creativity, outward-looking, being engaged, ensuring safety & security, communication, & responding to threats & adversity

·         ‘Neighbourhood Trusts’: Encourage formation of neighbourhood ‘trusts’ at different levels with a clear focus, cause, purpose, beliefs; & with an ability to form alliances & partnerships to communicate, care for the group, access resources, realize freedoms, & to promote security similar in function to site-bound parishes & communities

·         Capacity Development: Enable individuals to acquire basic knowledge, concepts, understanding & skills (‘soft’ skills) with technical support tailored to their needs & aptitudes so that they may be able to choose & develop their potential, talents & career at a time of rapidly changing technology & knowledge redundancy 

·         Creative Livelihoods: Promote an understanding of converging skills & capabilities needed for work & life (i.e. life-long learning & coherence), autonomous livelihoods & self-actualization, individual creativity & initiatives, wealth creation in various forms, & for leadership in a world influenced by consumerism, sophisticated technology, IT & global labour markets

3.      Global Governance & Resilience

·         Economic stability: Promote economic stability through various measures such as low inflation & interest rates, low bureaucracy & regulation, tax incentives & regimes, good infrastructure, balancing equity with efficiency, increasing employment opportunities, enhancing individual & corporate reputations in international ‘markets’

·         Security Potential & Limits: Encourage knowledge & understanding about the potentials & limits of internal & external security (e.g. environmental, nuclear, technological, social)

·         Public Information: Provide robust public information to enlighten individuals on alternative consumption lifestyles, food & water security, healthy & creative livelihoods, & pathways to reprocessing & recycling of domestic & industrial wastes

·         Consumption Patterns: Promote reduced energy & materials use & wastage to redress the impact of individual 'footprints' on nature’s absorption capacity (‘metabolism’) through ‘green’ policies, a variety of reprocessing practices & opportunities that create ‘resource loops’, & through corporate / social reporting on environmental impacts & waste generation

·         Ethical Values: Encourage all individuals to understand & share the five (5) ethical values for responsible citizenship important in every culture: Honesty, Responsibility, Respect, Fairness, & Compassion, so that they may invest in the formation of human, intellectual, social, cultural, ethical & financial capital

·         Democracy & Accountability: Promote democracy, universal suffrage, equal voting, public accountability of all associations, partnership arrangements, strong leadership (within & outside organizations), internal visionaries, external pressures, & citizens’ rights

·         Investments: Ensure the rights & responsibilities of 'investors' to promote efficient enterprises, secure a local 'market' or competitive advantage over the medium term in return for their social investments, ensure a decent wage, & to pay reasonable & democratically-agreed taxes

·         Popular power: Harness the creativity, innovation & cultural power of people to promote social & economic transactions & changes, & to exploit & manage social & economic opportunities