Are you chaordic enough to be fossil-free?! by Cüneyt Pala

KaosPilots World Internship 2010 Written Report “Are you chaordic enough to be fossil-free?”

School: KaosPilots

Host organization name: Samso Energy Academy

Student Name: Cüneyt Pala Team #15

Mentor: Malene Lundén (ML)

Internship period: 1/11 - 17/12 - 2010

Introduction

Welcome to my World Internship report. The purpose of putting all these black stains on white paper is to learn, understand and to make sense of the 7 weeks I’ve spent at the Samsø Energy Academy. I’d like to open the learning space by the awareness of the coming quote: “What we see depends mainly upon what we look for” - John Lubbock

So what was i looking for? What did I learn? My search for an internship was not very structured. It was a good combination of information, research, curiosity, openness, some luck and a lot of soul searching. It was in a way very chaordic (on the edge of chaos and order). I sought personal contact with the few places I considered and applied for two of them and only one replied and it was positive. The other institution I applied being the Royal Family I’m quite happy with what I ended up with. Now the question of ‘where do I want to do my internship?’ was answered. There was one more question to be answered before I could rest my mind.

What do I want to learn? To answer that I had to go through the painful process of Proactive Planning. And the indicators showed that I wanted to work with storytelling. So when i put Samsø Energy Academy (from now on referred shortly as EA), which I found very meaningful to work with and story telling together I could suddenly see a pattern. As I’ve been consciously and on some level unconsciously working with peace for the last two years where narratives are a big part of teachings I received. I want to explore the option of societal change through (positive) story telling. But before we get to that I’d like to tell a little about how I landed on Samsø: A thursday in august 2010, I happened to be on the island to give a keynote speech on Spirituality and Climate. During the afterchat of my presentation they mentioned the visit they had the day before at the EA. It sounded really interesting and suddenly I could hear the internship bells ringing. I just had to check it out before I leave for Bus 1hr Århus, so I sent a mail telling I’d be visiting them in the morning, not considering maybe I had to make an appointment. It was summertime and they were busy. Luckily Malene (from now on ML), my mentor to be could spare the lunch hour so we could have a little chat about what they do and what I Ferry 1hr do. I also mentioned that I was looking for a place I could intern. It may not be the best possible way to approach an organization. But on the bright side I would probably not want to intern in an organization that cannot cope with a little spontaneity? All I can say right now is : I’m glad it worked. Happy reading.....................................................................................................June8

Background The Samsø Story starts in 1997, at least the story I’m about to tell. (Samsø’s real story goes way back to the Vikings, where the island was a strategic and an important gathering spot.) In 1997 Samsø wins a competition and was chosen to become Denmarks Renewable Energy Island using only the proven technologies available at that time, almost no government funding and on the basis of local engagement. It was a challenge but they’ve already made the masterplan. It’s around that time Søren Hermansen (from now on referred to as SH), a returning islander is hired to work part time on the project. He takes literally every opportunity to inform the residents of Samsø about the Renewable Energy Island project while my mentor ML starts working on a supporting project and starts up processes with unemployed people and green jobs.

How and why the Samsø dwellers changed their attitude from NIMBY(Not in my backyard) to OIIOI(Only if I own it)? All change takes time and it often meets resistance in different forms. So it took couple of years and certain amount of free beers to change some islander’s Don Quichotte-like behaviour. “They might be giants!” they shouted just like him, “I don’t want them in my backyard!”. What made the difference was that agreements was made with the local banks to make it easier for locals to invest in the new project. All they had to do was, to walk down to the bank and say they were interested in buying a share on the wind turbines. Even though they didn’t have any savings. The bank would lend them the money and keep their shares as a security for the loan. The islanders (and danes for that matter) are familiar with joint ownership models and cooperatives are a part of the nordic culture. Energy (Greek ἐνέργεια :"activity, operation") : the ability a physical system has to produce changes on another physical system. Academy is Plato's school for advanced education and the first institutional school of philosophy. Also called worlds first university. So Energy Academy can be described as a “active and operational learning space” and that’s how it felt like to be there. It changes from day to day how many is using the office space physically. As they are connected to different projects and different organizations. When there is full house there are 8-9 at the office but some days there could be only two. The director SH is a very popular keynote speaker all over the world and spends a lot of time traveling and telling the story of Samsø which he calls: Catching the spirit of Energy Island.

Project Leadership Theory and Methods Chaos Theory Story telling 4 listening levels Small interventions Working hypothesis

Title: Chaos Theory by Jim Robertson, 2010 (InterWeb#10)

My assignment as it was agreed upon in the internship contract: 1. Approximately 3 presentations - DONE 2.Finding a scandinavian publisher for the SamsĂ¸ Comic Book - Gathering Info 3.Concept development for the project FIRE for Ministry of Education - DONE 4.Planning and facilitating an intern process with the personnel based on the learning objectives - Part 1 DONE -Part 2 planned and booked in week 50

So what did I actually do in those 7 weeks ? Here is a list of tasks I solved single handedly : 1. Made an half hour presentation of EA for the personnel on my first day: I was asked to put together a presentation for the personnel on my first day at work. Although it was a challenging I saw this as an opportunity to gather information about the organization. It would be a great value for them to see what information is available online and how an outsider can present them. It was also a great opportunity for me to have a chance to present myself once and for all and start working on breaking the ice on an early stage. I planned an inspirational presentation using different techniques, story telling and none the less a very new presentation tool called Prezi. The presentation included the sad story of the Easter Island and then I compared the 3 islands : Easter Island-Manhattan-SamsĂ¸ and discussed the status symbols humans tend to build.(see picture)

(picture) I got a good constructive feedback from them and some of them even started using Prezi on their presentations short time after. 2. Started and visually coordinated 4 blogs for the different projects 3. I also kept a blog on my own: http://energyisland.wordpress.com/ 4. Started a You Tube Channel for the EA and collected related videos :http://www.youtube.com/samsoenergyacademy

5. Did a short warm up presentation : This I did together with SS and before his presentation for 30+ teachers from northern jutland. 6. Did a Story Telling/Prezi workshop: The wish came from the personnel as they were planning to have a course on PowerPointing. But inspired by my presentation we agreed to take 2 hrs to introduce them the Prezi tool. I also had in mind to talk a little about digital story telling and different story telling techniques. The workshop didn’t exactly go as I planned as the story telling part, which I thought was important seemed unimportant or unnecessary to some and this caused unnecessary noise in the room. I have then cut the 1/3rd of the planned program and went directly to presenting the Prezi tool. This got them started and last week they asked me to do a follow up workshop. Now the day is set for next wednesday and I’m in the process of planning the one an a half hour workshop. 7. Joined the concept development meetings and writing process together with ML+PC: This was one of my main tasks and I found it very inspiring and meaningful as it was right up my alley. It was about creating a new learning space outside EA for people of all ages to reflect upon very existential matters, thus creating a holistic group learning and making them stronger individuals. 8. Composed and designed invitation letters for extern experts, who are to be invited next year 9. Idea developed a tool/dice to be used that goes with the concept. This was a side project that I thought could be interesting to look at. Primarily inspired by the Rory’s Story Cubes but more to be used as a talking stick around a fire. Very probably to be taken up in the business component. 10.Assisted and helped ML on a Nordic Conference about Sustainable Education. This was particularly a fun day. A whole day together with people who want to revolutionize the nordic education system, keynote speakers and workshops. 11.Planned and executed a 2 hour presentation together with BG. An Energy Camp process for 23 4th class students. Actually it was ML and I was going to do this but due to practicalities she couldn’t be there so we planned it together and BG and I executed the presentation together. It was very learningful and enjoyable experience. An email feedback from the school said both the teachers and kids had a good day and wouldn’t like to do more mind doing more hands on activities next time.

A platform/report that can help future interns Team15 ML EA personnel

3 presentat ions

Fire project

Samso Comic Book

Prezi workshops Exploring usage of storytelling in organizational context

What do I want to use story telling for? - more knowledge about EA and renewable energy - 3 presentations - platform for sharing intern stories - WI report

Time constrains, other processes EA has planned,

12.Graphic recorded EAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intern vision follow-up meeting (6 hrs). A long and intense day I was glad to be a part of as a fly on the wall. A fly that draws. This follow-up meeting was planned and scheduled long before I came and had the purpose of following up a vision workshop EA did couple of weeks before together with kadaver (kadaver.dk) consisting of 4 KaosPilots from Copenhagen and known with their out of the box viral marketing solutions.

My mentor and I chose to evaluate on the main activities I have done with a SWOT each and I did a Game Plan for the internship period to be sure to plan ahead. The SWOTs were easy to do. Game Plan showed to be a little more challenging but the challenge was met the same amount of persistence and with a little help from ML it was finished before it was too late.

Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi, screencapture (InterWeb#8)

“Intern-vention” I see my whole internship period as a long process where I have been listening, sensing and entering the room. Asking and receiving powerful questions, giving and receiving feedback, giving a helping hand and being helped and last but not least learning and then deepening it. First couple of days I felt very tired and energized at the same time. It was like my head got bigger and bigger. Both trying to find my place in the organization and absorbing all the interesting information on every form of media from all over the world. Most of the time it felt a lot like what Mihalyi (InterWeb#8) talks about; the Flow. It’s funny how now I look at the chart again. In the past I often find myself on the Worry and Apathy slice feeling I don’t have the skills to do what I’m supposed to do or I just don’t want to do it because of some other reason. Procrastinating too...but my internship period has been 99% on the flow slice. I felt both challenged, supported, trusted and feedbacked. That gave a good spiral effect on my learning curve.

Organizational Context Samsø Energy Academy is a fairly young organization and the rules and the roles are still in the defining. The Academy was, so to say, “the crown” of the 10 year (1997-2007) project to tell the story of an island going green. Although the low energy house that houses the Academy was built in 2006 and opened in 2007 the idea of gathering all the experience/knowledge came quite early in the process. Today EA functions as a “project house” or gathering place. Academy also functions as a conference centre where companies, scientists and politicians can discuss renewable energy, energy savings and new technologies. Samsø Energy and Environment Office, Samsø Energy Agency and the Samsø branch office of the Danish Energy Service reside in the Energy Academy. From this common domicile, they run a broad spectrum of energy counselling services for commercial and private customers, organize guided energy tours, workshops and seminars and generally promote ‘energy tourism’ for energy professionals.

Leadership What is leadership? Margaret Wheatley describes the leader as “anyone willing to help” on an interview (InterWeb #4, 19m30s). So a leader must in fact be a helper. Like Santa’s Little Helper, well maybe not quite.. Leadership is one of the main issues at the EA and if you ask me certainly also in the world. There is a massive attention right now on how we make things happen or said in another way how do we make better things happen. Furthermore it is interesting to investigate the following question: “What would happen if we stop seeking control and seriously start seeking order?” Margaret Wheatley (InterWeb#1)

What kind of leadership the personnel has at EA? I had a chance to interview the new manager who had only been there since september 2010. Søren Stensgård’s (from now on referred as SS) job description includes project coordinator and daily leadership. As he puts it “Leadership is many things, but more than anything else, leadership is personal. It’s about personal leadership, even if you have only yourself to lead. Leader is not the expert. Leader’s role is to coach and help the expert to solve the assignment.”

The following quote as I see it explains in many ways the state EA is in right now: "I believe that cultures begin with leaders who impose their own values and assumptions on a group. If that group is successful and the assumptions come to be taken for granted, we then have a culture that will define for later generations of members what kinds of leadership are acceptable. The culture now defines leadership. But as the group runs into adaptive difficulties, as its environment changes to the point where some of its assumptions are no longer valid, leadership comes to play once more. Leadership is now the ability to step outside the culture that created the leader and to start evolutionary change processes that are more adaptive." (Schein, 2004. p.2)

What different approaches to leadership, both articulated and practiced, did you encounter in the organization? The answer to that question is many, but most interesting ones are SH the visionary leader, SS manager and project coordinator who’s interested in narrative leadership and last but not least JRK who just started for two weeks ago as business development manager. So the roles are still in the defining both in the organization level and in project management.

My personal leadership within EA When we talk about leadership certainly one of the most influential and interesting persons for me is Margaret Wheatley. Her quote I mentioned before stuck with me since I read it shortly after I started my internship. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve read all the books I’m supposed to and understood the ones I’ve read during the education. What I’m really curious about is how can I learn from the system and systems around it that are constantly unfolding around us all the time.

What does a flock of geese can teach me about leadership ? How can patterns on a snowflake can become a model for a sustainable organizational structure?

Company strategy EA is a very dynamic organization and the time between decisions and action is not long. EA is in a transition period where the organization is in the process of redefining itself to Version 2.0. This state is often referred to and consists mainly development and innovation in 3 focus areas: 1. Fossil free island by 2030 2. Education / dissemination 3. Satellite islands

Fossil free island by 2030

Education

Satellite islands

Source: Samsø EA

SAMSØ 2.0

I personally don’t know so much about numbers 1 and 3 (Fossil free island by 2030 & Satellite islands) as I worked mainly on the Education / dissemination part together with ML. Samsø Municipality and Samsø EA has signed a pact that commits the island together with other peers all over the world to achieve -among other things- an overall objective of more than 20% CO2 emissions reduction by 2020. It’s called The Isle-Pact Project. I think the education bubble is going to mean a lot for the EA in the near future as they’re planning to expand their capacity to meet the growing amount of visitors EA receives every year. They are also considering expanding the processes so the visitors can stay on the island for deeper understanding of the project and processes. During the Education for sustainable development Conference in Odense I heard someone say: “Experience is information that someone ascribe a value” - Anonymous quote I think EA have a lot of that and furthermore they have been transforming this knowledge / knowhow to money that can support other projects.

What is EA’s development strategy and how can I analyze the innovation? EA is planning to become fossil-free by 2030, work on education projects and to have satellite island projects all over the world. As I see one of their core products in the Version 2.0 will be the education / dissemination part.

five product levels 1. Core product : A presentation / education process 2.Generic Product : Story of Samsø Renewable Energy Island 3.Expected Product : The good and inspiring story 4. Augmented Product : Down to earth practical info 5.Potential Product : Valuable info

by Philip Kotler, 1969 (InterWeb#11)

Emerging trends We need energy to move stuff from A to B, to travel, to produce, to cook, to eat, to work, to relax and last but not least to write reports about all that. 10 years ago the energy market was focused more on finding technological solutions to become more sustainable and there has been a great deal of technology development over the years. But the market forces had shown that the companies or countries are not willing to switch to or invest on these technologies as long as they are not cheaper than the existing fossil solutions. The tendency was to think more short term. Green technology only considered the return of investment is not profitable but if we look at the long term effects of creating new jobs and awareness about the renewable energy forms in the private sector the real value occurs. This is what’s happening in the world now.

What emerging trends is valid in the global in the context ? There is an emerging trend in our time in many countries. They are starting to see the value in community development by the means of ownership and the cooperative way of thinking. Instead of trying to find big investors for renewable energy projects, they’re exploring the possibilities in sponsoring them by selling shares in wind turbines, power plants etc. to the locals. I guess a good learning from the Samsø Renewable Energy Island project is that most people want to invest and want to be a part of something bigger when they’re given the opportunity. As long as the investment process is clear and easy...and to add : wind turbines are much prettier if you own them and make money.

How does this effect EA? Samsø and EA as a result of the “100% Renewable Energy in 10 years” project gathered a lot of experience and low practical know-how that is becoming more and more interesting for the rest of the world to hear about and be inspired. SH points out that no one should try this at home, meaning that the project as it is, was only possible on Samsø. They shouldn’t try to copy the project, instead people should try out the tools that has been used to achieve the project goals and be inspired by the overall project. So the business opportunity for EA is to expand their pallet of educational programs. This I think particularly important since one of the learnings mentioned in the conclusion of EA’s 10 year report (Reports>Samsø) is that we need a change of behavior. Meaning that we can produce renewable energy by investing in wind turbines, solar cells and biomass but we don’t need to produce as much energy if we could educate people to turn off the lights. This is one of the areas EA can make a difference as the academy is well visited by all sorts of people from all over the world. Last year approximately 7000 people visited the academy to see the low energy buildings and to learn about renewable energy.

Energy innovation!...or death by dinosaurs!

As I mentioned under Company Strategy EA is in the process of developing a Version 2.0, where they are planning to become fossil-free by 2030, work on education projects and to have satellite island projects all over the world. As I see it there lies great opportunities especially in the education sector. As Sir Ken Robinson so cheerfully tells us time and time again “It is time to change our way of thinking how we want to redesign our education system to fit the new paradigm” (InterWeb #7). There are some organizations that are already on the move to find ways to do that. Like UNESCO’s initiative: The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), for which UNESCO is the lead agency, seeks to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental problems we face in the 21st century. (InterWeb#9) Education for sustainable development aims to help people to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and in the future, and to act upon these decisions. Sustainable development is seeking to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. We have to learn our way out of current social and environmental problems and learn to live sustainably. Sustainable development is a vision of development that encompasses populations, animal and plant species, ecosystems, natural resources and that integrates concerns such as the fight against poverty, gender equality, human rights, education for all, health, human security, intercultural dialogue, etc. “Whatever is the problem, community is the answer ... Community gives us courage” - Margaret Wheatley (Nissén,2002)

Conclusion No man is an island some say. Then why does it feel so good to come to an island. You take the ferry from the nearest harbor and then it’s still. You calm down and in a way the water washes your worries away and gets you ready to embark on a new unknown but yet known territories. It’s the stillness before stillness. Nature has its ways if you have eyes to see. And the journey from Sælvig Harbor to Ballen where EA is located teaches you a lot more than all the good books trying to communicate through words and dots. Nature communicates by just being and manifesting the mystery of life force every second.

The purpose of the journey is not seeing new places but having new eyes. Samsø managed to create a positive buzz in the world by showing an example on how the renewable energy solutions could be implemented to become less dependent on fossil fuels and to become energy self sufficient. Both Margaret Wheatley and SH seem to agree if

we all think local and act local the global challenges will be taken care of. As for me I need a little more convincing. In my belief system there are still some issues that need a wider involvement of the masses and some political will. I know the last matter is overused but I don’t know what else to call it right now. Every human should start acting the way they think the others should act and start locally very locally with (like Michael Jackson would have said) the Man on the Mirror. And then expand that mindset to gradually to cover all living. Understanding that we are all connected and part of a bigger system and that being part of a even bigger system. So from what I learned on Samsø, my advice would be as simple as find or plan sustainable projects that could make a difference in a local community either by lowering carbon footprint, harvesting renewable energy or some other activity that could support them in being a better community by story telling or just having a laugh. Find the stakeholders on the street plan, involve them in the process and activate them. And remember the free beer.

To conclude also my internship period: My initial thought when i started looking for an internship was that I wanted to find the best World Internship in Denmark and learn something I find meaningful and valuable. And it seems that i managed to find that spot. The greenest spot on earth (as some foreign media puts it). The place where I can just sit in the office thinking about new ways to pass on information and watching people from all over the world stopping by to see the island and have a cup of noodle soup with them. I dare to say that I probably had the most carbon free internship. All the electrical power I used came from the wind and at least in the beginning of the period I took the bike instead of car or bus or metro (not that there is one). I had the privilege to live in one of the oldest houses on the island. The rectory in Besser is more than 2,5 centuries old. And I worked in probably the youngest building on the island. I took great pleasure in biking pass the same roadside mushroom everyday and feeling the wind shake my windows at night. Now I will go out and enjoy more of that, I’ve been sitting here way too long.. So long and thanks for all the fish.. June8 signing out Samsø 9/12/2010, 12.15 EMT

Bibliography Books primary >Wheatley, Margaret J. : Leadership and New Science, Discovering the order in a Chaotic world. Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc., 2006 >Mihaly, Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the psycology of optimal experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1991, 1st edition >Flarup, Jane: Da manden ville lære dem at fortælle historier / Hvordan storytelling forandrer organisationer. Børsens Forlag, 2004, 1. udgave, 1. oplag >Fog,Klaus; Budtz Christian and Yakaboglu, Baris: Storytelling - branding i praksis. Samfundslitteratur, 2004, 3. oplag >Hasselbo, Gitte(Red.);Nielsen, Kit Sanne: Konsultation i organisationer/Hvordan mennesker skaber ny mening(Systems and Meaning), Dansk Psykologisk Forlag, 2004, 2. udgave, 2. oplag secondary >Schein, Edgar: Organizational culture and leadership. Jossey-Bass / A Wiley Imprint, 2004, 3rd edition >Penn, Mark J.: Microtrends, the small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes/Mark J. Penn with E.Kinney Zalesne. Twelve Publishing, 2007 >Hock, Dee: Birth of the Chaordic Age. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 1999. 1st edition >Semler, Ricardo: Maverick! - the success story behind the world’s most unusual workplace. Century Publishing, 1993, 1st edition >Muhl, Lars: Hjertets Stilhed - Samsøs Kraft. (The Stillness of the heart - The Force of Samsø). Hovedland 2001 >Smet, Mårdøn (frit efter H.C. Andersen): Klods-Hans.Forlaget Karlsen A/S, 2001 Reports >Samsø - a Renewable Energy Island / 10 years of Development and Evaluation by PlanEnergi and Samsø Energy Academy http://www.onlinepdf.dk/Books/onlinepdf.aspx?onlinepdf=24054 >Projektrapport / Mønsterbrydningsdiplomaten - et projekt der belyser mulighederne for social vækst og nye arbejdspladser på Samsø i kraft af øens status som Danmarks Vedvarende Energi - Ø. Januar 2002 (Eng. Project Report / Patternbreakerdiplomat - a project to illuminate the possibilities for social growth and new jobs on the island through the island's status as Denmark's Renewable Energy Island) >Nissén, Monica: Ledelse mellem kaos og orden (Leadership between chaos and order). 2002. http://www.interchange.dk/download.php/Ledelse%20mellem%20kaos%20og%20orden.doc?mid=573

InterWeb

1.http://www.interchange.dk 2.http://www.chaordic.org

17 3.http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html 4.Margaret Wheatley on World Talk Radio's program Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Leadership:http://www.margaretwheatley.com/podcasts.html 5.http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com 6.http://www.grove.com 7.Sir Ken Robinson on Changing Education Paradigms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U 8.Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi on Flow: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html 9.Education for sustainable development (ESD): http://www.unesco.org/en/esd/ 10.http://bodhilensphotography.com/ 11.http://www.provenmodels.com/16/five-product-levels/philip-kotler/

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