A good case study of a sustainability public awareness/public education (PAPE) program may be the Seafood Watch program  headed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This may be a good role model for students to use in developing their own PAPE programs.

Perhaps we could even arrange a visit to the MBA.

Is there a Chinese language equivalent?

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

The Seafood Watch-Whole Foods seafood labeling program is a good example of a partnership to expand information utility.

This is a useful reference (but really reflects business trends as opposed to individual traits)…

http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/innovative_companies_2010.html?chan=magazine+channel_special+report

Apple is ranked #1. Google is #2. (Surprisingly) Microsoft is #3.

Amazon’s ranking at #6 is informative in that it is more challenging to distinguish innovative processes (Amazon’s forté) as opposed to innovative products (eg, Apple’s and Google’s forté).

Interestingly, if you compare this list with this article about Singapore having “government policies and corporate performance most encouraging to innovation”, no Singapore company is on the top 50 innovative companies list. Again, this reinforces the notion that if you focus on companies for innovation, you miss (and forget about) a lot of other innovation activity that is happening from personal levels. This supports the thought that youth are a tremendous innovation resource and largely un-recognized/un-respected.

It is useful to define (and distinguish) the terms “invention” and “innovation.” It would also be useful to help clarify that “invention” tends to be absolute whereas there are many grades of “innovation” – false (just not widely known or previously failed), incremental vs whole.

invent (in·vent)

verb

create or design (something that has not existed before ); be the originator of

innovate (in·no·vate)

verb

make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products

An interesting exercise might be to put up an innovation scale and stick up images of various inventions and innovations – the aim is to scope the scale. Does an environment that achieves 100 small innovations (locally adopted) compare with that which achieves a single 1-in-a-hundred years (global shifting) innovation?

Definitions obtained from oxforddictionaries.com.

This article by Elizabeth Landau actually describes children who already possess the gift of a thirst for knowledge and application thereof. However, it reminds us about not stifling creativity [by imposing a rigid rate and measuring by a universal scale of knowledge growth] as a blanket approach.

These are the essential suggestions of the article:

Sparking curiosity (aka motivation)

Setting up challenges (aka setting goals)

Being open-minded (aka encourage)

Making ‘teaching moments’ (aka mentor)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/22/motivation.kids/index.html?hpt=C2

This is an idea for situational exercises related to youth leadership (pertains to leadership at all ages but will try to keep the contexts within appropriate youth age range).

One is dealing with (leadership) opportunities. Create a basket with slips of paper with the following situations. Have students vote (gut reaction) or act out in a small group.

How do you behave if an opportunity presents itself?

How do you behave if several opportunities present themselves at the same time?

How do you behave if a new opportunity presents itself after you’ve just started to seize another?

How do you behave if no opportunities seem to be presenting themselves?

How do you behave if it seems that every opportunity you seize ends in failure or turns out not be what you expected?

How do you behave if an opportunity changes direction?

How do you behave if an opportunity vanishes?

How do you behave if an opportunity you want has been seized by another person?

How do you evaluate opportunities in personal terms (eg, matching your goals, interests and skillset)?

How do you evaluate opportunities by project terms (eg, risks, chance of success, support, resources, beneficial outcomes)?

[Edited out prospective schools – 4/27/11]

[This program is no longer current but maintained for planning future programs 4/27/11]

Brochure Design Complete ~November 15, 2010

Beijing Office Open for Enquiries ~November 20, 2010

Preliminary Program Rollout ~December 1, 2010

Web Page Rollout ~January 1, 2011

Application Deadline ~February 8, 2011

Chaperone Confirmation ~February 15, 2011

Reserve Facilities at Stanford ~March 1, 2011

Confirm speakers and site visits ~March 5, 2011

Admission Decision ~March 8, 2011

Acceptance of Offer ~by March 22, 2011

Deposit Due ~by March 22, 2011 (with acceptance)

Visa Application ~March 29, 2011

Send Welcome Letter ~April 5, 2011

Content Drafts Submitted ~April 16, 2011

Content Drafts Reviewed ~by April 23, 2011

Balance due ~May 1, 2011

Welcome Presentation (in China) ~May 2, 2011

Content Finalized & Documents Sent to Printer ~May 31, 2011

Pre-Orientation (in China) ~June 28, 2011

Departure to US ~ June 29, 2011

[Stanford Summer Session begins June 20, 2011]

Wednesday June 29, 2011 Arrival

Thursday June 30, 2011 Day 1: Orientation & Ice-breakers

Friday July 1, 2011 Day 2: Creativity & Idea Development

Saturday July 2, 2011 Day 3: Teamwork

Sunday July 3, 2011 Day 4: Computer History & Youth Leadership

Monday July 4 2011 Day 5: Free day (Stanford holiday)

Tuesday July 5, 2011 Day 6: Sustainability & Jasper Ridge

Wednesday July 6, 2011 Day 7: Open Forum & Demo Day

Thursday July 7, 2011 Day 8: Photo Blog (recount) & Wrap-up

Friday July 8, 2011 Day 9: Free day (SF Giants Baseball vs NYM)

Saturday July 9, 2011 Day 10: Departure day