Think global, act local

This page describes a concept which is part of our glossary

Think global, act local is one of the values of OrganicDesign (the Platform specification includes a process of alignment with it) The term was coined by David Brower, founder of Friends of the Earth, as their slogan when it was founded in 1969. In OrganicDesign, it is a core concept that all platforms are in alignment with which refers to the ability for it to be able to assess the efficiency of processes from a holistic viewpoint. In this way a general tendency can be created toward sustainability and toward the well-being of all.

Every node in the Ontology has the potential to be a self governing system working in alignment with the Whole equivalent to a cell in an organism. More general and commonly used concepts (which are all instances that have resource allocated to them) have more overall resource available that they can support.

This allows the needs of the Whole to be naturally catered for and allows the more general principles and aspects to be more dominant by determining more strongly the overall constraints that other systems must operate within. Simply put: the needs of the environment outweigh the needs of any organisation or group such as a nation, and the system architecture should reflect that.

Alignment to Think global, act local means maintaining a balanced perception of, and allocation of, resource amongst aspects of the environment and the self (organisation or trust group) resulting in the above allocation of resource to the general becoming the case. It also means a group must strive to be neutral in its affects on all dimensions of its environment. Doing trade-off's between dimensions is not an option; doing good organisation in one domain doesn't excuse doing damage in another. If it did, then the system would be supporting the concept of abuse being acceptable for large effective charity organisations.

Alignment to Think global, act local requires a group to maintain Openness which is defined as follows:

Openness: Openness is one of the values of OrganicDesign (the Platform specification includes a process of alignment with it) All cells in an organism share knowledge to expand awareness of the environment, and collaborate on and govern together accurate, complete and accessible information. Accessibility means web 3.0; using open standards to make more shareable the system (concepts, methods, tools and resources etc). [more]

See also

• Wikipedia:Think Globally, Act Locally
• Hexagram 60 of the I Ching refers to this aspect of the project.
• GPI & GDP
• Joseph Stiglitz - Problems with GDP as an Economic Barometer