This is year 2024.

Earth is now on the pathway. Earth has chosen its future and has made the evolutionary leap. The Global Community concepts were successful in bringing together the billions of people on Earth. Everyone is now responsible in the management of Earth.

With the coming of the millennium, the affairs of humanity appeared to be unfolding in more profound ways. Cause and effect was more apparent and happening more quickly. Global link-ups were already happening at a fast rate. People have found themselves urgently called upon to action for the good of all humanity. All peoples on Earth have joined forces to bring forth a sustainable global society embracing universal values related to human rights, economic and social justice, respect of nature, peace, responsibility to one another, and the protection and management of the Earth. Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of life within The Global Community. We have developed a sustainable way of life locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Cultural diversity and preservation of the cultures were essential elements of the new vision.

The World Congress on Managing and Measuring Sustainable Development held on the Internet in August 2000 has established a permanent new global dialogue on measuring and assessing sustainable development, and on providing sound management policy solutions to The Global Community. It was a grassroots process involving everyone as part of  The Global Community. The World Congress was unique because it has established :

 1.      a Benchmark  for the 21st Century;
 2.      a Scale of values for assessment;
 3.      a new global dialogue on the management of Earth;
 4.      local/global indicators for the measurement of sustainable development;
 5.      The Global Community concepts to sustain Earth;
 6.      The Global Community organization; and
 7.      The Global Community Assessment Center (GCAC).

The scale of values was about establishing what was very important to ensure a sound future for Earth, what was important, what was not so important, and what should be let go. From this scale, agreed upon by all members of The Global Community, the assessment of sustainable development was conducted. The benchmark was the scale established in year 2000 along with the first evaluation of sustainable development conducted with respect to the four interacting systems: social, economic, environmental and in the wise husbanding of natural resources.

New standards, goals and objectives were defined along with firm universal guidelines to keep the world healthy. New ways of thinking were embraced, new behaviors and attitudes adopted. Sound solutions to our problems and concerns were researched and developed and made available to everyone on the Internet. This was  la raison d’être of  The Global Community organization as established in year 2000. Millions of people around the world have joined the ranks of the organization. Their common goals is to sustain Earth, the survival of the ones closer to themselves, and the protection of life on Earth. The Earth Charter was adopted by the organization. The charter is a declaration by every human being to the commitment of responsibility to themselves and to one another, and to sustaining Earth. The human spirit has  made the evolutionary leap. We all have a sense of universal responsibility, the local has linked with the global, and human compassion and solidarity and kinship with all life were strengthened. We are humble peoples and we have the greatest respect of Nature. The Earth Charter is an acceptance and commitment  about peace, freedom, social and economic well-being, and ecological protection; it also recognizes the interactions between aspects included in the major quality systems such as: economic, environmental, social, availability of  resources, ethics, spiritual values.

One of the most important factors in our lives is the inter-connection we now have to others, to other countries. Through these connections we are able to create changes for good on a global scale. We are all  linked to others in faraway places on a much deeper level and we are working together to keep our planet healthy, productive and hospitable for all people and living things.

Indeed, we have become The Global Community. Every human being now lives within "a Global Community." This is his (her) global private community. One imagines he is inside a glass bubble ~ everything he can see from this glass bubble is his own "global community." Wherever we go, we are inside "a Global Community." Everything, every living creature there, interacts one upon the other. Influences inter-weave and are responsible for causes and effects. We are worlds within worlds orbiting in and out of one another's space.

Every single human being must deal responsibly with the affairs going on in his own "glass bubble" ~ when a person takes personal responsibility for his own affairs ~ he becomes empowered as a person. Over the past centuries, the human species has given control to leaders to govern their affairs anyway they wish. War, conflicts and human miseries, and destruction of the environment resulted. Now control has been given back to the individual. Survival has forced the issue. The individual can deal with his own affairs, reach beyond his own property and family, and help to work with others living in and around, even a part of the local community he lives in ~ the villages, the town community, the surrounding territory, and so on. When the 'individual' is a  local community, it becomes possible for its people to influence the political chain of power to the national level and to The Global Community. Politicians have now to deal with communities and their needs to sustain themselves. People have become conscious of the power and control they have and are no longer subject to the wishes of an unfit governing body. Socio-political-economic reconstruction was achieved, and it is successful in sustainaing the Earth.

The key is personal responsibility. Therefore the individual is the important element, one who takes responsibility for his community. An 'individual' here may be a person, a corporation, a NGO, a local community, a group of people, organizations, businesses, a nation, or governments.

As defined in the early 1990, the concepts of 'a Global Community', 'personal sustainable development' or 'personal sustainability', and that of 'well-being' have now become the basic building blocks of the new societies and of The Global Community. They assume quality relationships and responsibility to one-self and others, and dealing wisely with consumption, work, finances, health, resources, community, living, family, life purpose, wildlife and the Earth.

A mathematical model is now in placed to measure sustainable development locally and globally. Local/global indicators have been developed for assessing and measuring sustainable development. All peoples around the globe help theGlobal Community Assessment Centre (GCAC) to  measure, assess, and integrate the interactions and present results to The Global Community. A more balanced world has grown by insisting on societal checks and balances. Results lead to policies for the management of global changes and are the supporting scientific framework from which new decisions are made.

GCAC presents to The Global Community an annual assessment of the world changes which gives us a sense of direction as to ensure a sound future for Earth.

Since 1988, hundreds of indicators were measured and integrated into two overall expressions called the Gross Environmental Sustainable Development Index (GESDI) and the Gross Sustainable Development Product (GSDP). GESDI  measures sustainable development locally and globally. It expresses the quality of development. GSDP measures the costs of development.

The GSDP is the total value of production within a region over a specified period of time. It is measured using market prices for goods and services transactions in the economy. The GSDP has  replaced the Gross Development product (GDP) or the GNP as the primary indicator of the economic performance of a nation.

The GSDP takes into accounts:

· the well-being of a nation; consumption; family stability and healthy families; quality of life; social justice; human rights; living standards; and spiritual pathways;
· the economic impacts of environmental and health degradation or improvement, resource depletion or findings of new stocks, and depreciation or appreciation of stocks;
· the impact of people activity on the environment, the availability of resources, and economic development;
· the "quality" of the four major quality systems and the impacts of changes in these systems on national income and wealth;
· global concerns and their impacts on the economy;
· the welfare, economic development and quality of life of future generations;
· expenditures on pollution abatement and clean-ups, people health, floods, vehicle accidents, and on any negative impact costs;
· the status of each resource and the stocks and productive capacities of exploited populations and ecosystems, and make sure that those capacities are sustained and replenished after use; and
· the depreciation or appreciation of natural assets, the depletion and degradation of natural resources and the environment, ecological processes and biological diversity, the costs of rectifying unmitigated environmental damage, the values of natural resources, capital stocks, the impacts of degradation or improvement, social costs, health costs, environmental clean-up costs, and the costs of the environment, economic growth, and resources uses to current and future generations and to a nation’s income.

The measurement of GSDP shows that consumption levels can be maintained without depleting and depreciating the quality and quantity of services. It indicates the solutions to the problems as well as the directions to take, such as:

· invest in technology, R & D, to increase the end-use efficiency;
· increase productivity;
· modify social, educational programs and services;
· slow down or increase economic growth;
· remediate components of the four major quality systems; and
· rectify present shortcomings of income and wealth accounts.

The measurement of GSDP also gives a proper and sound signal to the public, government and industry about the rate and direction of economic growth; it identifies environmental, health, and social quality; it identifies sustainable and unsustainable levels of resource and environmental uses; it measures the success or failure of sustainable development policies and practices; and it identifies resource scarcity. Values obtained enable us to make meaningful comparisons of sustainable development between cities, provinces, nations over the entire planet.

 A status report of all physical accounts show the physical state and availability of resources and the state of the environment. Examples of the physical stock accounts are:

· minerals • oil, gas and coal • forests
· wildlife  • agricultural  • soils • fish
· protected wilderness areas • flow rate of water

Valuation in terms of money accounts is difficult for some non-market values such as:

 * aesthetic satisfaction          * air quality              *  water quality
* soil carrying capacity and productivity                  * acid rain deposition
* biodiversity         * wilderness and protected areas             *  land productivity

GESDI  were obtained for these quality indicators that are difficult to give a money value to. Both the GESDI and GSDP are measured together and tell us about the quality and cost of development, locally and globally.

Measurements of GESDI and GSDP provide insights for the discussion of issues such as :

· Has the well-being of a nation been brought to standards?
· Is the actual rate of development too slow or too fast?
· Are People aspects being stressed too far?
· Are resources and the environment managed in a sustainable manner?
· What forms of community and home designs promote sustainability?
· In what ways should social, educational, and health programs and services be modified?
· Is this generation leaving to the future generation a world that is at least as diverse and productive as the one it inherited?
· What improvements can be brought up to the quality of development?
 

Education has become a mean to train everyone of us in sustaining the Earth and in the skills of collaborating in the management of global change. Children throughout the world are now being educated in sustaining the Earth. We are all connected by this common goal. Each one of us is 'a Global Community' from birth. Each one of us also belongs to The Global Community.

In the same way the invention of the printed word awakened human consciousness in the last thousand years so the next thousand years of human evolution will reflect the new net-working around the globe, exchanging ideas, possibilities and opportunities.

There has been a rapid change toward the expansion of human consciousness. Spiritual growth has strengthened the connection between the higher self and Soul, and has helped the human intelligence in making wiser decisions for the proper management of Earth, and in bringing clarity of thinking, creative solutions, and useful insights. Thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of a lower nature have left humanity and have been replaced by those of a higher nature. To each thought we have learned to associate energy and an emotional state and it has become easier to the human mind to deal with the everyday life happenings by simply interacting with others on this basis. We can choose how we want to feel and the thought we want to think. It has become easier to let go of those things that no longer serve human survival and sustaining the Earth. We now create those things that do.

People have become aware of the inter-connectedness of all life-forms and have a growing bond and kinship with all life-forms. This can be observed in humanity's awakening consciousness of animal rights and the need to preserve wildlife.

People are experiencing a constant flood of new information and input from many sources. We have become more aware of other people's realities and have developed the quality of discernement.

Everyone has become more self-reliant, creative and attracts more opportunities to make a difference in the world. Everyone has a clearer vision of what to do to sustain Earth. Everyone has a stronger connection to The Global Community and its organization and this makes it easy to attract new opportunities.

The human mind has become more balanced, stable, creative, and clearheaded, and is now able to manage Earth.

New services are offered by universities all over the world. The international center of every university has been replaced by a branch of The Global Community organization.

Global services offered are:

 1.     Job possibilities
 2.     Business contacts and business links
 3.     Global Community Assessment Centre
 4.     Support Centre
 5.     Research assistance offered to all members
 6.     A meeting place on the Internet
 7.     Student exchanges
 8.     Students helping students all over the globe

Over the past two decades the Earth has experienced unprecedented growth in population, urban activity, community living, small businesses and in 'clean' high tech products and technologies used in communications, transportation, homes, and in the commercial and industrial sectors. New environmentally conscious technologies and strategies were developed to handle waste products. Most waste have been eliminated from production processes. A mix of economic policy instruments was introduced to render waste minimisation to an 'acceptable' level. There has been a major shift to a sun energy system. Global consumption and the productive capacities of Earth have been managed from the perspective of the global structure of production and ecological impacts.

Throughout the 20th Century, hard economic conditions and umemployment created by national politics, debt problems, global trade and concerns, have forced cities to evolve from the Functional Type of City Model, to a City Model based on sustainable development which integrates Land Use, Transportation, Urban Design, and all other aspects in our lives and sustainable development. Cities are successful in protecting their unique character and  setting; natural and past heritage setting; wildlife habitats, nature grasslands, riverine forests, whenever these were found within the city limits; cultural diversity; natural resources and their availability; quality of life; health and educational institutions; social equity; and dynamic economic growth.

Land use encourage higher residential densities throughout the urban area and especially in areas closer to transit services. We see more mixed uses of property and mixed land uses. Rigid zoning of land has been abolished. A Sustainable Community Development Code keeps contractors in line and is a complement to the Building Code. Sustainable suburbs render development along city's edges affordable, environmentally friendly, and are the sites of interactive and diverses neighborhoods. Building designs make it easier for people to work at home. Community designs make it easier for residents to start up a small business, and carry on their trades. The local community organization itself finds it easy to start up a small business, and carry on their trades. Communities are more stable, self-reliant, and self-sufficient in all areas such as energy, garbage and sewage disposal, and food. People have taken responsibility of their built environment, and communities are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Urban indicators show a continuation of this well established trend of dynamic growth and prosperity.

We now see a widespread use of alternative fuels and 'clean' products. Privatization of public services to small and medium size businesses has had the effect of increasing quality and quantity of services. Small and medium size businesses are more common, and socially acceptable by The Global Community, and they are driven by  global business ethics everyone has agreed upon. Business leaders are much more sensitive to the greater, wider needs for their expertise and are already in the process of creating a new kind of civilization.

Transportation has deeply changed the cultural melting pot of cities and community living. Transport of passengers and goods were made more efficient, safe, and economical through a "use pay" system to cover costs of the transportation networks and pollution abatement. Cities require an environmental impact assessment and public review to be conducted whenever there is a need for new transportation links, development or river crossings. Transit is critical in mitigating environmental degradation so, today, ridership levels are high; services are closer to people and their work places; 'clean' technologies and alternative fuels are well in use; and policies and strategies are in place to discourage the use of the car and need to communte, and encourage the use of transit, walking and cycling. Transit and other Public Services are contracted out to smal and medium size businesses to increase quality and quantity of services.

Crop genetic engineering has help farmers to adapt crops to their own ecological settings, make farming sustainable, and be more self-reliant. Biotechnology has also been used and is successful in other areas. There are more actions conducted to genetically alter our species and help it toward a new evolutionary path to improve its chances of survival.

Global Corporate Ethics are now well established and have become the ways to do things when conducting finances, business deals, business transactions, and dealing with labour, customers, consumers, partners, shareholders, suppliers, community issues, human rights, ecology, safety and health issues in the workplace, social justice, and all related women, children and minorities issues.

New business performance indicators were developed and are now in use to assess business conduct. These indicators were designed to be integrated within the framework for the measurement of sustainable development. Each company now has corporate statements (along with policies and practices statements) in place which stipulate that the company actions will be responsible. A 'good corporate individual' was defined to include all social and environmental expectations within the framework of sustainable development. Corporate social and environmental performance standards must be met. Corporations themselves have taken their responsibilities by becoming involved in designing and implementing social and environmental responsibility performance. The monitoring of corporate codes of conduct is also done by corporations themselves. Measuring corporate responsibility has had the effect of improving business performance.

Globalization has opened many new opportunities for millions of people. New technologies, global trades, market expansions, foreign investments, widespread Internet access are some of the aspects that have fuelled economic growth and social advances.

Because globalization affects us all in significant ways, your Vision of Earth in Year 2024 should include that topic as well.

Global problems call for:
                                        a Global Community ethics
                                        Global Community values
                                        a Global Community way of conducting business
                                        a Global Community Code of Ethics

More brainstorming exercises on globalization are required here. Keep in mind the concepts of "a Global Community" and of "The Global Community", follow the Guidelines and Criteria, and conduct brainstorming exercises on globalization. This is the only way to find sound solutions to global problems. Globalization is directly related to sustainable development and the management of Earth. We want you to submit more Papers on the issue of globalization as it affects all the other issues in significant ways.

We ask everyone who considers him(or her)self a member of The Global Community, to take part in all local consultation processes, and to make known his idea for a sustainable solution to the community issue at hand. Such action will have positive results for Earth.