May 13, 2010 Brian McConnell

'Bridging' Community Connection

"The urgent message for economics from nature is that the monoculture of national currencies,
justified on the basis of market efficiency,generates structural instability in our global financial
system." . . . "The end of the Industrial Era is coinciding with a convergence of unprecedented
challenges. Global issues such as climate change, energy and resource supply squeezes, rising
underemployment and a rapidly aging population come to mind." quoted from Lietaer's, "Is Our
Monetary Structure a Systemic Cause for Financial Instability"

Meeting Date: Friday, February 19th, 1pm

Creative Community Leadership Project: "The team’s task will involve working with the
community to build a more authentic and prosperous region through the creation of sustainable
projects. Furthermore, this group will encourage the entire community to support these projects,
which will be aimed at fostering a 'creative base' for Roanoke." quoted from, Can the Creative
Class Rise in Roanoke (some punctuation added)

Attending: Lisa Soltis - Coordinator, Roanoke Creative Connectors; Rob Ledger - Roanoke
Economic Development Manager; Joe Cobb - S.T.A.R. Coordinator; Brian McConnell - City of
Peace Coordinator

An Overview: Brian initiated the meeting's dialogue, citing a theoretical breakthrough in

'sustainability' from the study of ecological flow systems by Bernard Lietaer (see, "Quantifying
sustainability: Resilience, efficiency and the return of information theory"). Brian
further described the possibility of this 'breakthrough' representing the onset of a radical shift
in an overall knowledge paradigm, thus reflecting a significant change in the way we view
political, religious, educational, and societal relations.

"Many economists urge endless growth in size (GDP) because they assume that growth in size is a
sufficient measure of health. GDP and TST, however, are both poor measures of sustainable
viability because they ignore network structure. They cannot, for example, distinguish between a
resilient economy and a bubble that is doomed to burst; or between healthy "development," as
Herman Daly (1997) describes it, or explosive growth in monetary exchanges simply due to
runaway speculation." quoted from, "Is Our Monetary Structure a Systemic Cause for Financial
Instability"

Notes from Discussion:

* Brian asked 'how' or 'why', in this time of economic crisis, Government would endeavor to

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expand its 'sphere of influence' geographically to outlaying areas of Roanoke rather than focus
efforts more specifically on urban recovery/sustainability. Similarly, but from Richard Florida's
account, he notes:

"Many regions that have lost manufacturing jobs have rebuilt their economies around education
and health-care. In former manufacturing hubs like Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh,
the largest employers are colleges, universities, and hospitals. This is seemingly good news - it
means, at least, that residents of these cities find work. (But) according to my team's analysis, high
concentrations of these sectors ultimately do not bode well for cities' economies. Although they may
employ many people and provide great services, education and health-care add relatively little to
regional income.7 That is even truer when we look at education and health-care jobs as a share of a
region's creative economy. As the share of education and health-care jobs rises, regional earnings
fall. The more creative class members take jobs in education and health-care, the lower their
regions' wages tend to be." quoted from pg. 110 of, Who's Your City

* Also citing Florida's reference (search 'Charlottesville' of "The University and the Creative
Economy") to UoVA's patenting support Brian suggested exploring greater collaboration between
these innovators, (local) venture capitalists, and city development in affording opportunities for
(small) business incubation.

1) This stimulus to the local economy would be further assisted by acceptance of an

'electronic' business-to-business generated currency for "payments of fees and taxes" (see
"A Financial Innovation to Structurally Address Unemployment").

* Additionally, Brian proposed the following ideas utilizing various forms of complementary
currencies:

1) to facilitate 'green behavior'. Advised that 'CNR 2030' conduct further study on the
UK's crediting of individuals for carbon-reducing activities (see "Personal Carbon
Trading: Lessons from Complementary Currencies").

2) to reintegrate the homeless into community life while energizing the downtown
(business) district (e.g. through Arts & Theatre) using the Roanoke TimeBank.

3) to rehabilitate and facilitate personal ownership of residential property (re: 'Habitat for
Humanity'). A project to eliminate homeless by 2016 would facilitate efforts between
Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Roanoke Regional Housing
Network.

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* Hold an economic summit similar to that originally slated by '81 Reasons to Connect' to report,
review, plan and further support 'sustainability' task groups and projects. This summit would be
greatly benefited by including the creative input of visionaries like Richard C. Cook (see "We
Hold These Truths").

* Coordinate a video production project involving creative input and contribution from all four
initiatives documenting how the Creative Community Leadership Project (CCLP) is
advancing a Creative Class here in Roanoke.

Upcoming Events:

S.T.A.R. hosts the Roanoke Bridgewalk (an 'interfaith event') on Sunday, March 28 at 3pm.
Down by Downtown - 'A celebration of music and culture in downtown Roanoke, April 28th -
May 1'.

Respectfully submitted,

Brian McConnell

Bcc: Richard Cook, Tim Harvey, Daniel Merenda, Dan Smith, Brian McConnell