Natural Intelligence Worldwide

Balancing Our Account with Nature By Design and Not Disaster

Mathis Wackernagel, Founder and President, Global Footprint Network

How can we live well within nature’s planetary boundaries? Arguably, this is one of the most important questions for our world to answer today.

The Global Footprint Network was founded over 30 years ago by Mathis Wackernagel, currently the President, to help individuals, communities and countries calculate their global consumption of natural resources.

According to Mathis, once we understand our Global Footprint and how we are extracting natural resources; then we can better budget and manage our resource use to ensure that we both live high quality lives; but don’t overshoot our annual natural budget by more than 1 Planet worth of resources.  Let’s listen to Mathis and learn how we can better adapt our lives to get to a sustainable world by innovative design; and not disaster.

Title: Trust is the Foundation Upon Which We Must Build our AI Future to Benefit Society

Kay Firth Butterfield, Director of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, WEF

Unless society comes with us on the journey of evolving Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine-learning technology, AI will not fulfill its purpose to benefit humanity. According to Kay Firth Butterfield, the director of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the World Economic Forum, building trust with society must be a foundation for the development and utilization of AI technology in our lives.

In my interview with Kay, we discuss how to engage society in designing our AI future. We talk about best practices for governments to incorporate AI education in to our primary schools through high school, to future-proof our children for living and thriving in an AI future. We discuss what new skills and traits may be important for humans to develop- compassion and empathy seeming to be central to our healthy future evolution. Of course, heavy on most people’s mind is what and where will the jobs be in a new AI-enabled workplace. We’ll share some of our insights, and leave the rest up to your imagination.

Join us in listening to Kay’s thoughts on unlocking the incredible potential of humanity with AI and what it will take to shape our future toward that goal.

New Digital Doors to HealthCare that Are Ethical, Human-centric, and Inspired by Lifelong Wellness

Jeff Dean, Google Senior Fellow in Artificial Intelligence at Google

Sangita Reddy, Chair of the Apollo Health City

Frans van Houten, CEO, Royal Philips

When discussions on healthcare include AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning; many people raise their guard and advocate immediately for protecting our healthcare information from exploitation. As someone also concerned with cyber-security issues around digital financial, health, and personal information; I can relate to this fear. And that said, I am inspired by the incredible advances in lifelong wellness that are possible when—as Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, says- vast amounts of health data are unlocked and available for AI analysis and machine learning.

Essentially, when health data- anonymously labeled, are entered into a database and queried for certain conditions and analyzed for particular correlations; new health information arises that could benefit the entire health community. How? Unique profiles and patterns of health can be identified, cause-effect relationships between pre-conditions and disease can be more robustly defined with higher confidence intervals—when given more, relevant, high quality data.

Thus, more high quality data actually helps lead to disease prevention, so we can create a positive feedback loop to the healthcare community when more people contribute to the database. So, the first question becomes: Does sharing healthcare data with our providers in a digitally-accessible, secure (heavily encrypted) environment with specific conditions on who has access to this information (e.g. just our personal physicians, healthcare providers, and families) catalyze greater health in society?

Does building a robust health database allow the healthcare community to shift roles from curative care providers to lifelong partners on the journey toward greater health and wellness?

The next question for me is: How does creating digital health identities for individuals and a digital platform for exchange between healthcare providers and patients open up “tele-medicine” opportunities for those who have not been able to access healthcare in the past?

This is NOT a small issue. In the US alone, 44 million people have no health insurance, and another 38 million people have inadequate health insurance. (PBS, Healthcare Crisis, 2019) Globally, 3.5 billion people (50% of the world’s population in 2017) do not have access to basic healthcare. (WHO, 12/2017) True, many of these people do not have access to the internet as well…so we have to solve a two-pronged problem.

But let’s imagine that as Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of ITU (the International Telecomunication Union) suggested in another NIW interview that we can cover the other 50% in the next decade — then all of the sudden digital healthcare and tele-medicine opens up for the entire world.

That’s exciting!!!

At the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, healthcare and technology designed for global good was a hot topic of discussion…. and remains important in the global dialogue. I was fortunate to have interviewed these leading voices, advocating for opening: “New Digital Doors to HealthCare that Are Ethical, Human-centric, and Inspired by Lifelong Wellness”.

How will the Lightning Fast Speed of Technology Strike Society?

Zvika Krieger, Head of Technology, Policy, and Partnership @ the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum

The world and the world of technology is changing so fast. And, the question is: Can society keep up? How? Do we have the governance infrastructure and the policy frameworks in place to ensure that technology serves the greatest common good?

The Center for the 4th Industrial Revolution was created (seemingly overnight) by the World Economic Forum to ensure that there is a global governance architecture in place; so technology developed around the world:

benefits all humans

supports all life in the biosphere

is unbiased

is non-destructive to the environment

is agile, adaptive, and inter-operable….

In our interview today, Zvika Krieger, the Head of Technology, Policy, and partnership at the Center for the 4th Industrial Revolution.. shares with us his thoughts about how the Center can create the right environment and necessary multi-stakeholder discussions to mitigate technology used for bad purpose; and inspire technology used for good purpose in agile, adaptive, and inter-operable ways. From AI to IOT and cyber-security, my conversation with Zvika is a fast and fascinating one.

David Nabarro is the Former Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change. He is currently the director of 4SD- Skills, Systems, and Synergies for Sustainable Development.

David has spent his professional life re-designing the present and re-imagining the future that is healthy and sustainable and in service to all of humanity, as well, the natural world.

He has one word to describe HOW we unlock the UN Global Goals and advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change. That word is Love. In our interview, he speaks to the human heart, which he (along with notable others, like EO Wilson) believes is hard-wired for altruism and concern for all of humanity. We want the best for those on the planet today and those who have yet to arrive tomorrow. Then the question becomes, how do we do that when we are 7.7 billion people, living in 193 nations, coming from different cultural backgrounds, environments, and socio-economic conditions.

The answer is that the work is work of a lifetime; and it is hard work.  The good news now is that we have a plan to serve as a compass for us, and world leaders in business, government, and society are planning for the future using this plan with 17 goals and 169 targets.

Let’s listen as David makes the case for integrated, systems-based, universal thinking as the design framework and love at the center of activating the UN Global Goals.

As we are “all entire oceans in a drop, not merely drops in an ocean,” Rumi; then let’s go make some waves.

On Dispelling Dark Psychic Forces- Creating Mindfulness and Joy

Laurie Santos, Professor of psychology and cognitive sciences at Yale University

Hedy Kober, Expert on Mindfulness @ the Clinical and Effective Neuroscience Lab, Yale University

Molly Crockett, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Cambridge University

How can we become more mindful of our actions and compassionate with our speech?

How can we dispel those “dark psychic forces” Marianne Williamson called out in the US Democratic Debates, alive in our world today; in order to create a more just, peaceful, brilliant world tomorrow? It’s crystal clear that citizens of the US and the world are hungry for moral leadership. We are seeking guidance to transform future fears about climate change, the unraveling of our biosphere, personal prosperity, and dignity lost… into fruitful actions with positive outcomes for all.

I am grateful to have with us today on our Natural Intelligence Worldwide podcast  three world experts on mindfulness and joy- Laurie Santos, Hedy Kober, and Molly Crockett. Together, they ran the hugely popular Ideas Lab on the Science of Happiness at Davos where we met this year. And, today we dive into a variety of important health and wellness topics; answering questions, like:

What’s the recipe for healthy life balance in order to optimize good decision-making and positive, productive dialogue?

How are we most effective in getting people on board the Climate Action and New Deal for Nature train in meaningful, transformative ways?

How do we create true empathy among world leaders for people vulnerable to the affects of war, climate change, environmental degradation; so abundant investment goes toward building resilience and positively impacting underdeveloped communities?

Aerofarms- Pesticide-Free Food Production for Everyone, Everywhere 360-days of the Year

David Rosenberg, Co Founder and CEO, Aerofarms

How are we going to solve the world’s food and water security problem?

We’ve lost 30% of earth’s arable land over the last 40 years.

We’ve contaminated 70% of our freshwater with agricultural contaminants from herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers.

AND, given the UN’s population growth trajectory for the next 20 years;

we will need to grow 50% more food by 2050.

David Rosenberg, Founder and CEO of Aerofarms has a revolutionary, zero-pesticide, zero-herbicide solution that is truly transformative for local and global agriculture. In our interview, he shares with us how Aerofarms is helping solve the food desert problem in developed countries, like the United States.

He shares with us how he is solving the food waste problem within the supply chain.

And, he shares with us how his plant whispering botanists are optimizing plant growth in a soil-less, sun-less environment, everywhere, 360- days of the year.

Amazing. This podcast you have to hear.

Title: Tectonic Plates Shifting on World Commitment to A Circular Economy

Leanne Kemp, CEO Everledger

While it is true that blockchain technology is in an embryonic state, world leaders are still seriously evaluating the core provenance of their products, rethinking their value chains of trust, and seeking greater efficiencies in their manufacturing, operations, and distribution.

This year especially, we have seen a lot of real progress.

The circular economy has been at the heart of global trade discussions.   

Tech companies and global consumer brands are innovating products and labeling to put a transparent price tag on waste, but also to convert waste into wealth again and again in their supply chains… or even in the supply chains of other companies in other industries.

In my interview with Leanne Kemp, Founder and CEO of Everledger,

she shared with me how companies are re-thinking their products, re-thinking their supply chains, and even re-thinking how they can recycle resources among companion supply chains outside their industries to optimize the circularity of their products.

Leanne is in the center of that Loop conversation on what a circular world looks like in the future. Let’s tune in to hear what she has to say.

Creating a World that Genuinely Works for Everyone and Respects Nature's Boundaries

Aron Cramer

President and CEO, Business for Social Responsibility

The world is changing very fast. Businesses are building technologies at lightning speed that enable connection and agency; but it’s really important for development teams to engage social scientists and experts in cultural transformation to understand better the entire social picture of a technology before it goes to market. The problem is that institutional understanding and system’s thinking approaches to the deployment and use of technology lag well behind the pace, scale, and rate of change happening in technology. Imagine, there are 2.6 billion users now on Facebook. And, over 50% of the world is connected on the internet. Globalization and connection are good; when done right and when technologies provide a positive social, economic, or environmental benefit. Take for example, Indian rural dwellers using voice recognition to communicate more effectively to others in different languages and dialects. That’s a service. And even if we can’t remove 100% of the negative and false cyberbot activity on the internet; we can do a lot to remove much of the misinformation, Aron suggests. We just need to stay true and business accountable to developing a world forward the genuinely works for everyone and respects nature’s boundaries.

Nature is our Best Prescription for an Integrated Health Insurance Policy

Inger Andersen

Executive Director to the UN Environmental Program (UNEP)

Did you know that 9/10 people breath polluted air? Did you know the 90% of our food from the ocean is contaminated with micro-plastics? Did you know that we are today losing species at 1000 x greater the natural extinction rate? According to Inger Andersen, former Director of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and recently appointed Executive Director to the UNEP (UN Environmental Program); there is a direct correlation between our personal health and our planetary health… That means that sustainable living must translate into protecting not only our personal health, but the health of individual species, their communities, ecosystems, and the entire biosphere.

In our rich conversation, Inger and I explore what cities will look like in 2030 when they are green and biodiverse. We talk about what we to do in our personal lives to review our nature footprints. We talk about the need to have clear, measurable, science-based targets for evaluating our global nature footprint and framing a New Deal with Nature. Sustainability is the name of the game and none of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals can be delivered without investing in the integrity of nature and our earth systems. In Inger’s final words, there is no delaying this priority.