At Forward we enjoy "extracurricular" activities. We're deep in exploring sustainability issues and always engaged with our colleagues. It's about taking action and finding new and exciting paths. Here are just a handful of the ways we're involved.

What other people think:

"On behalf of Nexus I would just like to thank you for all your help this year and we look forward to another year of new challenges and progress together."

- Yuyi Shi, Nexus Organising Committee

"I just wanted to thank you for putting together the presentation on how permaculture principles can be applied to business. In addition the reference to ROWE is perfect as well. I have been preaching both of these concepts for years and never had any ideas that others were not only thinking about it, but actually articulating it... Thanks again for your dedication to this subect."

- Wes Chyrchel, 3GC Interactive

"I'd like to thank you for the excellent information I've found
on forward.net.nz, it's one of my favorite readings on
the net...keep posting your excellent
information!"

- Shannon Combs, Residentialsolarpanels.org

Involvement: Collaboration with Our Community

What are the ideas that will really change our world for the better? Who are the leaders bringing them to light? Explore the world through a new lense in the Forward Thought Leadership series. This extensive series of interviews and profiles are carried across a number of our content partners, including Eco-business.com and Celsias.

Here's a comprehensive list of our in-depth interviews and profiles:

Tim Flannery - Esteemed climate scientist and researcher shares inside thoughts on the future of climate change and international negotiations.

Jaime Lerner - Highly awarded former mayor of Curitiba Brazil and former governor of Parana state shares his insights on coupling livable cities with economic growth.

David Holmgren - Co-founder of Permaculture, author, and sustainability theorist discusses Future Scenarios in a world of climate change and resource depletion.

Gunter Pauli - Entrepreneur, business visionary, and author walks us through his vision for a Blue Economy -- a complete rethink on the way we do business, and the notion of "going green".

Masami Sato - Founder of Buy 1 Give 1, as well as numerous businesses, shares a new perspectives on giving, philanthropy, and CSR.

Phillip Mills and Geoff Ross - Legendary entrepreneurs of Les Mills and 42Below Vodka fame advocate a cleantech development strategy to boost economic opportunity.

Ivy Singh-Lim- Former President of Netball Singapore, CEO, and entrepreneur dishes dirt on dealing with politics, being gutsy, and starting a new career in "retirement:" going back to the land.

Dr. Ron Coleman - GDP is a pretty lousy measurement. We explore the alternative, Genuine Progress Index, proposed by this internationally renowned academic and trendspotter.

Jack Sim - This businessman turned social entrepreneur and Ashoka Scholar set out to raise awareness of sanitation and health issues. Setting up the World Toilet Organisation (or WTO), he helped rally governments, NGOs, and corporations to a unified cause: improving the health and environment for people in developing nations.

Stuart Smith - CEO and polymath leads us through the importance of involving stakeholders to help drive better project outcomes.

Profs. Robert and Brenda Vale - Two internationally renowned architects and experts on green building tackle the truths and dispel myths on environmental footprinting.

Singh Intrachooto - What is the key to making good products? Focusing on the process, and not just the outcome. Learn some vital secrets of design with this highly awarded architect and product visionary.

Naoki Shimoni - Burntout on an overkill career, path Naoki changed his life around, and with it many rural communities in Japan. Originating the concept "Half Farmer/Half X", he helped kick of a movement encouraging many people to find a new and meaningful path in their lives and career.

[ stay tuned as this list is updated as new content comes online ]

Networking is good, but standing up in a room full of 100+ people for several hours can be a bit daunting. Never fear, we have a good alternative. Join us one Thursday evening of each month for Forward Thinking Thursdays.

It's a chance to have an intimate conversation with switched on people over a glass of wine, and connect on the issues that really matter. Its about your business, your community, your environment, your world.

Find new resources and perspectives among some like-minded professionals. Keen to join us? Keep an eye on the Forward Thinking Blog for monthly event announcements and information. Catch you at the next event!

Energy is critical to every area of our lives. We were approached by Prof. David Laurence and Prof. Harvey Neo to give third year students the lowdown on peak energy and its social implications.

In our guest lecture at National University of Singapore's School of Geography, we spelled out the trends that will be shaping the future, and stressed the importance of turning challenge into opportunity. The presentation and resources can be found here; the video is (hopefully) forthcoming courtesy of NUS.

The youth of today are instrumental to our future. It's vital they understand issues like climate change, and what it means to our society, environment, and economy. Since November 2008, we've been proud to help mentor Nexus, the student sustainability group based at Auckland University.

Check out some of their great speakers and events on throughout the year! Also: calling all professionals! Nexus could use your help too. If you'd like to help mentor students, contact us to get started.

Can Permaculture principles be applied to a business model? We like to think so, and have been exploring the possibilities of this design methodology since 2005. Together with Gary Marshall, Finn Mackesy, and a local group interested in David Holmgren's work, we've explored how the concepts can be used to further the aims of business and better our environment at the same time.

If you're keen to learn more, check out our presentation on the subject that was given at a talk in March 2009, and again in November at Singapore Green Drinks. If you would like to get the schedule for the Auckland modular PDC programme, send Gary an email.

What most to New Zealanders? In late 2007, we took part in a workshop hosted by Anew NZ and Statistics NZ to try and answer this question. The workshop was aimed at developing sustainability indicators that would give an accurate view of wellbeing and prosperity-- something which simply looking at GDP does not accomplish. The project continues and the results on the day were quite intriguing.