Recently, I moved into a new house.  Designed by my wife and partner, Kristina AtKisson, it aims to reflect our philosophy of “sustainability as normal.”  It’s not a “super-green” house — e.g., there is no grass on the roof, we’ve prepped it for future solar cells — but we thought through every feature of the design, construction, and interior from a life-cycle and climate-smart perspective. (You can read about it on my blog:  http://alanatkisson.wordpress.com).  What a trip! as they say.  Nothing goes exactly as you plan.  But now we are at the end of the journey … and we are living inside of something that, two years ago, was just an idea.

So much sustainability work is just this:  turning ideas into reality.

Also two years ago, I and my team began imagining a more comprehensive approach to our training offerings.  We gathered all our workshop offerings under one roof, and called the result the “ISIS Academy.”

Now, that’s a reality too.

As our flagship for this new ISIS Academy, we created the Master Class in Change for Sustainability — six days of intensive, reflective, inspiring, hands-on learning, in a stunning location outside of Stockholm. Despite the economic downturn, last year’s pilot was a lovely success, drawing students from as far away as Australia, California, and Indonesia. Nearly a year later, they are still writing to us to say how much the course advanced their careers and supported their professional and personal development.

So now, I would like to invite you to join us for the 2010 Master Class, 16-22 May.  We have a truly wonderful faculty, a fantastic location … and judging from the pre-launch registrations, this is going to be a very motivated and international group.

Please click here to learn more about the Master Class.

And I’m happy to say the ISIS Academy is spreading its wings more and more.  In the last two years, we have offered trainings at many locations in the US, Europe, and Asia, as well as on-line (with our partners the International Society for Sustainability Professionals – click here for information on our next on-line course with ISSP).  Just this year we offered the first ISIS Academy programs in Poland and Iceland, and this year we will offer the first-ever ISIS training in France (for French-speakers – Écrivez à Cassandra@AtKisson.com pour recevoir plus d’informations en français.)

And if you are an educator, don’t miss our next Compass Schools workshop in Thailand, 15-16 May 2010.  The Compass Schools program is growing, as educators and their institutions adopt the ISIS Method and the “Nature/Economy/Society/Wellbeing” framework for both classroom learning and school management.

Click here for information on the next Compass Schools workshop.

Soon, we will launch our new “ISIS-Net” learning community platform for our workshop graduates.  We decided that this growing global network of ISIS Method and ISIS Accelerator users needed a home as well.  Watch future issues of WaveFront for details.

Turning sustainability dreams into sustainable realities.  That’s what this work is all about.  We hope you will join an ISIS Academy training, and we look forward to keeping in touch.

Warmly,
Alan AtKisson
President & CEO, The AtKisson Group

*

Now Accepting Applications for the ISIS Master Class in Change for Sustainability, 16-22 May in Stockholm, Sweden

A COURSE TO ACCELERATE ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION …

You are already committed to making change. You have knowledge and experience. But now you’re looking to learn the tools, techniques, and processes that will help your clients or your company to address risks and opportunities linked to sustainability to accelerate transformation.
The ISIS Academy Master Class, six days of intensive hands-on learning, brings years of sustainability learning and experience into laser-like focus.

Alan AtKisson and our international faculty of experts will guide you through theory, reflection, and practice, working in teams and individually.

You’ll go home refreshed, inspired … and equipped with the tools and insights to make change happen.

Learning objectives:

• Fluency in global sustainability issues … so you can help people grapple with the great challenges of our time
• Mastering the ISIS Method … working with Indicators, analyzing Systems, developing Innovations, and planning Strategy for sustainability …. and how to lead others through the process.
• Learning the best tools … how to apply ISIS through the AtKisson ISIS Accelerator tools, as well integrating ISIS with other popular tools, to greatly expand your capacity to respond to almost any sustainability challenge
• Developing practitioner excellence … using group facilitation, personal coaching, communication, training techniques, and technical analysis skills to help you be at your personal best in a demanding profession
• Understanding yourself … defining your strengths and planning for your own long-term development as an effective change agent for sustainability

To read the program details and to register, click here.

*

Becoming a Compass School:  2nd Workshop in Thailand, 15-16 May 2010

Our first workshop to support in-school facilitators to become effective change agents, using the Compass framework and the ISIS Accelerator tools, was so successful that we quickly scheduled a second one.

Especially if you are working on education and school sustainability in Asia, please come to our Compass Schools workshop, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Taught by a team of very experienced education professionals, this workshop is a dynamic, inspiring, and empowering introduction to a new way of working on sustainability in your school.

Click here to read more about the Compass Schools workshop …

*

Noted While Riding the Wave

Things we’ve heard or read that seem to sum it all up …

“The shift to a low-carbon economy to mitigate global warming will require the creation of new technologies, industries and jobs on a massive scale. The absolute imperative to prevent climate change is therefore, also, I believe, the economic and investment opportunity of our lifetime.”

- Kevin Parker, Global Head of Asset Management, Deutsche Bank

Thank you for reading this issue of WaveFront.  Please write to us with ideas, suggestions, comments.