1. Evolving Knowledge for Development Creating a path for evolutionary development Prepared by Kathia Castro Laszlo, Ph.D. and Alexander Laszlo, Ph.D. Syntony Quest, San Francisco and Mexico EGADE-ITESM, Mexico © 2003

2. Origins of EDGE The Evolutionary Development Group of EGADE  Kathia & Alexander Laszlo, co-founders of Syntony Quest, are faculty members at EGADE — the Graduate School of Business Administration & Leadership of the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM) in Mexico.  They founded EDGE (the Evolutionary Development Group of EGADE) in January 2001 as an international, interdisciplinary research group.  EDGE is dedicated to the study of human, social, economic and sustainable development from an evolutionary systems perspective in order to contribute a knowledge-based praxis to support development in Latin America and around the globe.

3. Beyond economic growth Traditional Development Approaches Economic Growth Quality of Life Social and Environmental Sustainability Evolutionary Development

4.  is...  Understanding development as a complex dynamic system  Knowledge-based participatory and emancipatory processes of wealth creation  Doing new things, and doing more with less (i.e., ethical social innovation)  Increasing quality of life and standards of living  Creating sustainable economies that protect the natural environment and indigenous cultures  Fostering human and social capital for a global learning society  Technology blending and the develop- ment of appropriate technologies  is not...  Progressive and linear improvement of conditions that tend to be confounded with growth  Devising policy and business strategies without taking into account the general population and the underprivileged  Creating knowledge economies for doing more of the same (i.e., unsustainable socio-economic paths)  Improving only standards of living  Technology transfer or technology imposition

5. Learning and innovation Key processes of evolutionary development  The main vehicle to catalyze evolutionary development is the concept of Evolutionary Learning Community (ELC)  ELCs are:  Learning environments where people can learn together about the interconnected nature of our world, the ecological impact of our individual and collective choices, and the joy of finding a meaningful way to contribute to a sustainable learning society.  Spaces for knowledge sharing,creation, and innovation with a methodological support for creating sustainable processes and products.  Communities whose core purpose is the development of human and social capital for evolutionary development.  Opportunities for designing learning systems that respond to the needs and challenges of the 21st century.

6. socially desirable culturally acceptable psychologically nurturing economically sustainable technologically feasible operationally viable environmentally friendly generationally sensitive capable of continuous learning Sustainability Criteria In order to be sustainable, any process and product must be:

7. knowledge resources information individual learning collective learning Evolutionary family Evolutionary corporation Evolutionary neighborhood Drawing on the learning environment creates a knowledge base for evolutionary development Facilitating evolutionarylearning creates a local learning ecology Empowered individuals and groups catalyze evolutionary socio-ecological transformation ELC The process of ELC empowerment

8. Knowledge Management From an evolutionary perspective  First generation: knowledge sharing – how to distribute existing organizational knowledge, usually through technology. (“What is:”standards and benchmarks)  Second generation: knowledge creation – how to satisfy organizational needs for new knowledge, usually through processes of learning and value creation. (“What could be:” innovation)  Third generation: evolutionary knowledge distribution – to enable evolutionary development (“What should be:” social ethical innovation) Descriptive Prospective

9. Third generation KM Third generation KM is about the democratization of knowledge, about citizen involvement, and the expansion of the boundaries of what traditionally has been considered education in order to design a sustainable learning society. It is not so much about knowledge and know-how anymore but more about meaning and know-why. It is based on a new way of thinking informed by a planetary ethic and a different way of living from what it is now favored by mass media commercialization.

10. Next steps for EDGE Further action-research on  Describing and fostering socially and environmentally responsible entrepreneurship.  Developing methodologies for the creation of human, social, and natural capital for evolutionary development.  Designing approaches and programs for participatory and anticipatory processes of third generation knowledge management.  Devising strategies for the creation and distribution of wealth in a knowledge economy.  Integrating learning and innovation in the core processes of education, business, mass media, the arts, health, governance, and community activities.  Documenting cases of ELCs in diverse socio-cultural contexts in order to apply the lessons they provide to the specific realities of developing communities contributing to the emergence of a sustainable learning society.

11.  EDGE research coordinators:  Kathia & Alexander Laszlo Syntony Quest and EGADE-ITESM laszlo@syntonyquest.org  EDGE researchers:  Marcia Campos, EGADE-ITESM marciac@itesm.mx  Carlos Romero, EGADE-ITESM carlos.romero@itesm.mx  EDGE Site: www.communityzero.com/edgesite