We Are in the Midst of a Fundamental Paradigm Shift

• We live in a transformation of history.
• Change in underlying assumptions requires a 2nd Enlightenment.
• Our culture is fragmenting and needs to be rethought.
• We are in dangerous historical time period:
  - Three economies are in churn requiring sustainability in new ways
  - Confrontations of philosophies and civilizations
  - Energy shift to hydrogen and alternative fuels
  - Environmental challenges which endanger humanity
  - Representative democracy has reached its limits of governance.
• We are split in ideology, culture and framework of thinking.

We Have Deep Social Concerns

• Lack of civility rampant as radical individualism explodes.
• We have pushed individualism to the detriment of community.
• Personal identity is too deeply connected to individual need for money, power and achievement.
• We often don't know that we don't know, and make decisions within a traditional and increasingly obsolete context.
• The US and world debt structure is fragile and on the verge of being unsustainable.
• Education is structured for an Industrial Age of hierarchies, standards and singular outcomes and not aligned with an emerging society that is constantly changing.

We Need a New Model for Leadership

• Leaders need to be able to identify trends and understand their impact.
• Without a passion for learning that emphasizes the need for vision, there can be no "futures context," with traditional strategies failing.
• The majority of local leaders put their needs first, not realizing that the very concept of leadership has transformed and requires them to emphasize the needs of the community first if community transformation is to occur.
• Older leaders who lack knowledge of trends and do not see the need for personal transformation are stuck in traditional thinking and don't know what to do.
• 21st Century leadership will focus on the art of building transformative capacities in others.
• Leaders will need to be willing to work in collaborative teams in order to take systemic risks for community transformation.

We Need Community Transformation

• Community transformation requires parallel, ongoing efforts.
• Networks and webs are to be utilized as fundamental mechanisms.
• Leadership needs to understand how to develop capacities for transformation.
• Citizens need to develop the capacity to think differently.
• 21st century workforce is needed that has the capacity to be continuously innovative.
• Need to introduce the idea of community transformation through the use of "process projects" in the areas of Transformational Learning, Creative Knowledge Economy & Knowledge Democracy.

The DNA of Community

COTF believes that principles such as the following will be seen as the DNA of community transformation within two decades:

• An openness to new ideas
• A balance of materialism and spirituality
• Integrity…emphasis on wholeness…and importance of family
• Interdependent focused, not independent
• A new concept of the common good….helping each other succeed
• Collaborative individualism and connective listening
• Parallel processes and choices, not singular standardization
• Self-organizing with constant feedback
• Futures Generative Dialogue
• Living systems as models for society
• Webs and networks as central structure of a dynamic society
• Transforming change more important than reforming change
• Focus on building relationships as a part of tasks
• Building capacities for transformation
• Emphasis on developing a futures context
• Understanding the mechanisms of complex adaptive systems
• Emerging truth that changes in context