I really enjoyed reading Kickstarter’s Year of 2011 summary not least before it is beautifully designed. Such a treat for a business to indulge its fans in this way.

It is such a flourishing and joyous success story because it involves much more than the business’ own success. Indeed Kickstarter could not be a success story without the success of those people using for their enterprise: their incredible ideas; their inspiring and often stunning videos; their investment wins and product successes.

It’s a business that was created to enable other people to flourish, while it flourishes. It’s a business that has created enterprise in all of its glory and it has unlocked the potential of a vast pool of everyday people.

It is, in my view, a Shared Value business model because its customers gain value and flourish while it does. They actually depend on each other. And its customers are actually not customers, or consumers; they are creators, investors and active participants.

It’s a joy to see Kickstarter’s exponential growth in the last year and the attention it has received. Its success sends a clear signal to capitalism that the corporation of the future is not built on concentrated ownership, consumerism and shareholder wealth only. It is built on Shared Value business models and prosperity for all stakeholders.

I was lucky to get over an hour of time with Ricardo Young the ex Founder and President of Ethos Institute, Brazil’s leading sustainability think tank, and now leader of Instituto Democracia e Sustentabilidade. Ricardo himself ran for Senate representing the Green Party in São Paulo. As I understand it he gained 4 million votes [unconfirmed] on the promise of prosperity and sustainable growth for all. He is a key advisor to Marina Silva, Brazil’s ex Environment Minister, who ran for presidential elections in the 2010 elections winning 19% of the first round votes (nearly 20 millions Brazilians). Together they are championing a new political movement in Brazil.

Ricardo is straight talking; he’s tight on time and he’s a man with a mission to make Brazil a true 21^st Century economic leader, building a sustainable economy working and championing capitalism 2.0. Yes, now is certainly the BRICS’ time. Europe and America have run into the ground on free market capitalism, industrialization of everything, and debt-driven consumer culture. The evidence is apparent; the ‘old way’ is no longer serving society or planet well. The future, which we are in already, needs to be different not least because the old paradigm is not financially sustainable, as we have seen with European and US market collapse. Nor is it environmentally viable over the longer term.

Ricardo talked of a Brazilian government that had for the last 30 years aimed to be one of the worlds leading economies; with the ambition that Brazil would indeed be the future economy. Brazil’s time has now indeed come. But, as Ricardo observed, much like other BRIC countries Brazil is building its leadership on an outdated model of capitalism and the majority current world view. There is nothing ‘future’ about the dominant approach to growth in Brazil despite how successful it may appear by building on the new middle classes spending power.

In Ricardo’s words “Brazil has all the conditions to evolve in the new world” but he believes that the country is divided in two on this opportunity to ‘evolve’. Many are fighting to preserve the right to grow a material-based consumer-economy and to feed the rest of the world’s appetite for consumption using up its vast natural resource reserves to do so. While others want a new way for Brazil and an identity that does not follow the ‘American Dream’ (or ‘European way’) but that shapes something that will work harmoniously with Brazil’s wealth natural capital and will unlock the vast potential of the so called “Expanding Middle” classes. Many share the vision of a more equitable and decentralized economy with an empowered and competent civil society; vast investment in the wealth of renewable energy available to Brazil and evolving and disruptive business models that create prosperity for all.

This is such an interesting macro challenge. The power is shifting in the world. New economies and future leaders are emerging, yet leadership and economic power is being built in the very same way that has shown to fail Europe and the US in this century. This is a pivotal time for leadership. The opportunity is now to redirect these ‘future’ economies, to develop a new identity and new economic models that will serve the new powers over the long term. BRICS have an identity but do they have the leadership to preserve this identity and ensure the power remains theirs in the long-term. Not if they follow our way!

Successful advertising entrepreneur Nick Hanauer suggests that it is not the 1% of wealth generating and low tax paying entrepreneurs that drive economic value. It is the gigantic mass of middle classes, the customer base of which enterprise depends on, which bring the vast economic power. But these guys have been pummeled, all over the world, by taxes that reward the 1% at their expense. I would add that the middle classes have also been pummeled by the fallacy of debt-driven consumerism. This group have been encouraged to overspend by spending money that is not actually theirs, in order to keep the economy growing and the 1% getting richer.

I have suggested a need for a Shared Value Academy that makes use of the vast economic and human capital that is the ‘expanding middle class’. Nick Hanauer is right to suggest that it is this segment of society that economies depend. It is very evident here in Brazil. But there is a third way that does not only depend only on the purchasing power of middle classes but that includes them in the value chain, so that they too can share the value created through enterprise. Apple has been hugely successful at enabling this with the iPhone/IPad application revolution, albeit to a wealthy / upper middle class base who can afford its products and to invest in the application development cycle. IBM have recognised the need to integrate its customers within its supply chain. It is incubating ‘customer-entrepreneurs’ all over the world working on clean tech solutions that align with IBM’s Smater Planet vision. IBM ensure their technology is embedding within their customer’s solutions, so that overtime, both parties share the value together. On a completely different scale AirBnB has created a platform that enables its customers to become entrepreneurs – renting our spare capacity in the home and connecting people all over the world.

There are four years between now and the Brazil Olympics in 2016, which is enough time to prototype and then scale at least 10 new social ventures with shared value potential…

I have talked a lot (below) about the need for business to shift from the current economic paradigm – corporate-consumer-capitalism – to one that seeks to create shared value through solving social/environmental/economic problems together with untapped ‘entrepreneurs’ or the new generations of ‘leaders’ in the communities that face them. I believe that global business, and in particular consumer brands, are a strong platform to enable this shared value approach because of their vast and sophisticated supply and value chains and their wide consumer reach. In this context, corporate-consumer business becomes a template to unlock value in others and share the benefits. There are, after all, a lot of people – and a lot of changemakers – on this planet.

There are increasing examples of this model framed as ‘Inclusive Business’, ‘Enterprise Development’ and ‘Hybrid Value Chain’. All of these approaches were on the basis of a blended value chain, enabling collaborative entrepreneurship and value to be shared between producer and consumer. But more evidence is needed. As global consumer businesses seek growth in emerging markets where planetary, social challenges and corrupt government is most felt, this new frontier of wealth creation needs to expand and be legitimised within the global economy.

In talks with the world’s largest consumer goods company this week in response to Paul Polman’s latest rhetoric on long-term growth in emerging markets, I suggested the need for an ‘academy’ for social business and shared value models. The ‘Shared Value Academy’ would be run and placed geographically in an area where there are social challenges to address and innovation and human potential to unlock. The objective would be produce a number of shared value businesses opportunities and prototype these in the communities, much like a ventures accelerator, possibly run from within a Favela. There are four years between now and the Brazil Olympics in 2016, which is enough time to prototype and then scale at least 10 new social ventures with shared value potential. A glimpse at the sponsor page for the London Olympics shows the amount of brand interest in this event and the potential to work on true legacy initiatives with four years worth of marketing value.

Acumen Fund, a successful social ventures organization, is a philanthropic venture capital fund according to Forbes’s recent piece on social business. Investor’s returns don’t go back into their pockets; instead all returns are reinvested in Acumen – progress is measured not in ROI but rather against the good that could have been done by simply giving the money away.

The Shared Value Academy would work with a different model but a similar ambition to Acumen, recognizing that its social venture capital is tied to profit-driven shareholders in the global brand. Investment returns would need to be ‘shared’, over time, to ensure long-term revenue streams for the branded business as well as prosperity for the community. But other ROI models will need to be conceived because as well as creating new revenue streams, shared value ventures will open new market opportunities and serve as powerful marketing tool for the brand.

I’ve spent five weeks exploring the country of Brazil and its people and undertaking meetings with key social business and sustainability leaders. The core purpose of my meetings with leaders was to uncover insights about Brazil and business, sustainability leadership, and impact ventures; it was also to make business connections and to develop a Brazil-UK ‘bridge’ on sustainable business and social ventures. With the support of Lucy O’Shea, CEO of Futerra, and Jimmy Greer, sustainability leader and new economics thinker, both from the UK, I was able to connect to the following Brazil leaders:

Rio de Janeiro

Anderson Fraça, Founder Dharma Comunicaçao, and Jessica Lagotta

Amy Casterton, Culture and Innovation, British Consul, Rio

Carlos Alberto Messeder, Academic Director, ESPM (school of marketing, advertising, design)

Damian Platt, MBE and Founder of Culture Is Your Weapon

Florencia Estrade, Founding Partner, Cria Global

Isa and Paolo Giordino, Founders and Partners of Cielo Ambiental

Marcelo Alexander, Sustainability Director, Isolux Corsan

Salvador

Leticia Menger, Host of TEDxPelourinho (Salvador)

Sao Paulo

Ana Maria Melo, ex Ethos Institute, social innovator and connector

Chris Hori, Science and Innovation, British Consul

Fabio Interaminense, Founding Partner, Grupo Eco

Fernando Monteiro, LEAD and founder of Evoluir – sustainability education

Lincoln Paiva, Green Mobility

Marcelo Pedro, Head of Operations Latam, Olam International

Mark Hillary and Angelica Mari, IT Decisions

Renato Raposo, Head of Communication, Ethos Institute

Rodrigo Bandeira, founder of Cicade Democratica

Ricardo Young, Diretor of Instituto Democracia e Sustentabilidade, leader on sustainable development

Shigueo Watanabe, Director, IBOPE Ambiental – measuring ecosystem services and carbon impacts

José Bueno, Founder Rios e Ruas, Rivers and Streets (experiential learning working with the hidden rivers of São Paulo)

I have met and connected to some extraordinary people on my five week exploration of Brazil. I came to Brazil to uncover insights about the country, its economy, society, culture and history; and insights on sustainable business and social innovation. I also of course came to enjoy Brazil’s diverse culture and stunning landscape. The following posts are my reflections on what I’ve come to understand about the country; my words are just one lens on this country from someone who is new to it.

This is a country that welcomes people without prejudice but with pleasure in ones interest in it. Without much effort I have met, spent time with, and made important connections with social entrepreneurs, heads of sustainability think tanks, corporate leaders, ex NGO people now working in the Favelas on enterprise models for solving social issues, consultancies, agencies and academia. I have stayed with families, friends of friends, or those who are now my friends. Wherever I have been I have been helped and supported along my journey – largely by Brazilians but sometimes expats. (See the full list here).

A spirit of enterprise and of passion sits within the heart of the people of Brazil. This is coupled with extraordinary warmth and a deep-rooted creative culture – the music, dance, Capoeira, Afro-influence, the food, and the colour of beach life etc. Brazil is like nowhere and everywhere mixed together. It has a taste of the American values of acceptance and freedom; but it has humanity and passion and a strong sense of community rooted in the Latin culture. It is happily multicultural, diverse and integrated, yet socially divided by class. The class divisions are made of fences not brick walls – there is both curiousity and in some directions aspirations with the other class but there is also a fear of each other. The rich are terrified of the poor and the poor live under the command and by the pocket of the rich. Some describe this as a ‘C21st slave trade society’ and talked of the motivation to keep the poor uneducated in order to maintain low cost labour and a seemingly apathetic (to corruption) society.

There is the embedded political and other corruption within Brazil that is inferred in every conversation. I heard about police corruption coupled with drug warfare within Favelas; ‘earning’ your drivers license– apparently more expensive to take your test than it is to buy your license; or passing the planning laws to build property which can of course be negotiated.

There is a certain resignation to the corruption and ill justice that this inflicts on a society at large. Some described it as apathy. I’m not used to this. I probed more. Then I understood that apathy is tied to education, which in turn is tied to class. As I have said there is perhaps a deep motivation to keep parts of society uneducated.

Of course, this is a society in flux like every society in this century. An increasingly autonomous and globally networked generation is emerging, enabled by networked and social technologies. A generation that is hungry to learn, to speak and to connect to the English language and the global economy is emerging.

On top of the legacy challenges – education, class divide, corruption – there are challenging future scenarios ahead, which are somewhat hard to appreciate as Brazil rises and rises economically today. Brazil has built its economic power on large-scale (sugar-based) agriculture and biofuels, and oil and mining industries, and more recently debt-based consumerism amid the rapid rise of the expanding middle class.

There is growing but still limited recognition that natural resources are finite and that a transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy is required here too. It is a big country with what feels like an endless supply of natural capital (very similar sense of vast natural resource in America). Degradation of natural systems and biodiversity continues; unresolved issues with consumer waste (evident on the streets and public realm across Brazil); large social challenges and hugely uneducated society; and a path towards a debt-based consumer driven society hungry to acquire more and ‘stuff’ at the expense of prosperity and happiness (following Global North’s economically and sustainably flawed path).

These are challenges that rich countries like the UK and US are struggling to come to terms with in this century, so it’s difficult to imagine a country that is being lifted out of poverty through its economic power will fast embrace them. These challenges cannot really be seen or are barely reflected in conversation by the wealthy, middle classes or the poor in Brazil, aside from those dedicating their livelihoods to them (not insignificant I might add).

My first sense here is that I can’t help feeling that these challenges, if embraced, are not insurmountable. Indeed they are opportunities for the country. The spirit of acceptance and openness, and the passion in Brazil and pride in the country at this time, are the basis for a nation that could embrace a new type of enterprise and new economic models that will work with the challenges of today and the future.

I arrived in Brazil with very little knowledge of the language but a huge appetite to learn it. I have been taking lessons (now over Skype) with a teacher in Rio. Contrary to a Brit’s usual experience abroad most Brazilians speak very little English, which is tough but good news when you are trying to learn a language. As a culture the Brazilians are fantastically open-minded and accepting, so even a poor attempt to speak in their language is welcomed and celebrated – think the total opposite to the experience of attempting to speak French as a novice speaker visiting France.

But I noticed a real hunger here for people to learn English. As Brazil has become an emerging economic power and visible global player, its people yearn to be able to connect more globally and to be able to attract the sort of talent Brazil requires while it struggles to overcome the challenges of an under-skilled population. My friends at IT Decs have written extensively on the need to skill-up and import talent into the IT industry. Their recommendation is that that the IT industry needs to embrace the English language. Note that I also think English speakers need to embrace a wider language set, now more than ever before due to the shifting economic powers and globally connected cultures.

Contrary to what I had been informed about, quite a few professionals in São Paulo and Rio speak English. But the appetite to connect with my work, my language and me has been overwhelming and very flattering.

I expected Brazil to be big. I’ve read about Brazil’s economic power, its vast natural resource capacity and its mega cities; and I’ve read about the super power businesses in Brazil such as Petrobas, Vale, Itau, and Brandesco, and their regularly quoted sustainability stories.

Brazil feels big. It is big. It is the fifth largest countries in the world by population and geography according to Wikipedia. And it is blessed with huge amounts of natural capital, not least the ‘Pre-Salt region’ of oil reserve that has gained so much publicity recently

What is lesser known or understood to the outside world at large (myself included) is that Brazil’s wealth creation is of course beyond the preserve of few powerful businesses. 95% of Brazil’s economy is made up of SMEs (Microempresa (microbusiness); Empresa de Pequeno Porte (small business)). In a country with a population of 192 million, that is a vast scale of enterprise. I’m assuming then that many of the Expanding Middle classes in Brazil and other emerging markets make up this vast portion of the business community.

I stayed with a Brazilian-Italian family for eight nights in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro. Their business, run from the home, is a great illustration of the 95% and it is sustainable enterprise.

Ciclo Ambiental was founded by Isabele who grew up with a mission to work with recycling and to help solve Brazil’s consumer waste and landfill issue (a very visible issue across Brazil). She is from a modest income family background. Through her mission to address waste, rewrite the rules of the clothing supply chain and build an enterprise for herself and her son, she tirelessly worked her way into the material and fashion industry to learn about material production. In 2002 she founded Ciclo Ambiental, with a mission to reuse waste and to drive social impact through the fashion supply chain. Today, together with her husband and partner Paolo Giordino, the business, which is run from the home, turns waste into beach wear and business wear (the B2B market) under the label. The business is profitable and is gradually building a name for itself as a leading social enterprise and ‘up-cycling’ brand.

My sense is that there are many stories of (impact) ventures like Ciclo Ambiental, other groundbreaking ventures and small businesses that are little known outside of Brazil. The global economic identity of this country rests on the success of a few large, commodities-based players but there are many more pieces to the pie and more potential to ‘export’ small social enterprise successes.

Could Brazil identify and champion 200 sustainability champions – microbusiness, small, or large – and present to them world between now and Rio +20?

I spoke at length with Renato Raposo who is Head of Communication for the Ethos Institute – Brazil’s leading sustainability think tank – about the need to communicate an identity for Brazil business in the global economy that goes beyond mining, oil and big agriculture.

Renato’s position at Ethos is fairly new; his task is to communicate the Institute’s work (internally and to the world) and present a picture to the world of sustainable business leadership coming from Brazil. The challenge is also to communicate Brazil’s point of view on the future of business in the C21st and in particular sustainable business.

While here I have heard a lot that ‘Brazil’s time is now’. Brazil’s time now is also an opportunity to take a leadership role in shaping what business looks like in this century, given the planetary challenges and technological revolution underway. Other emerging markets are vying for a position here (e.g. China’s clean energy revolution; mobile tech and empowerment in parts of Africa; technology and social change in India etc.). And all eyes are on the emerging markets. The World Economic Forum states that by 2025, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and South Korea, will account for 50% of the world’s economic growth.

The World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group recently produced a report on the ‘New Sustainability Champions’ specifically indentified as originating from emerging markets.  16 players were selected from over 1,000 on the basis of their innovative practices and sustainable growth. The report suggests that they are becoming “inspirational models for emerging market peers and companies worldwide”. Two of Brazil’s businesses, Natura (beauty car brand) and Grupo Balbo (agriculture), were featured in the report.

I suggest there is an exciting opportunity for all emerging markets, including Brazil, to push forward new economic models and business leadership at a time when developed world is suffering the pain of the current Capitalist and industrial model of business.  Today (12/02) there is exactly 200 days left until Rio +20. Could Brazil identify and champion 200 sustainability champions – microbusiness, small, or large – and present to them world between now and Rio +20?

Could one brand commit to the success of 10 new radically innovative social ventures, in market and delivering high impact results, by 2016 Olympics?

‘Social prosperity’ and ‘growth’ in Brazil are two concepts that don’t currently sit well amid the Capitalist economy. Indeed they are two things that don’t sit that well together in large parts of the global economy, which of we are seeing today. There is considerable buzz in Brazil, in almost every conversation I have had, about the ‘consumption potential’ of the Expanding Middle (as classified by Goldman Sachs) in Brazil. In other words Brazil’s classified “E” and “D” consumer segments moving up through the class hierarchy with more potential to purchase (in many cases debt-based purchases).

Nor does the term ‘Green Economy’ sit well with social prosperity. A term that is being bandied around with Rio +20, the World Cup, Rio Olympics 2016, Brazil’s growth in sugarcane ethanol production in mind. All eyes are on Brazil in the next few years. NGOs and world leaders are gathering here next year in 2012 to present their concepts and push the ‘Clean Revolution’ (the Climate Group’s key message) or ‘Green Economy’ (Rio +20 official message) i.e., environment and green growth at the intersection of economies and job creation.

But amongst some I’ve talked to in Brazil there is a sense that an environmental economy and a shiny green Olympics will not bring about social prosperity for the people nor will it tackle long-term environmental challenges and a sustainable economy. Of course without tackling social and economic issues it is very difficult to address market failures linked to environmental issues.

I have thus far seen little evidence of the green or social impact plans for Rio Olympics or Rio +20. Possibly it is too early. I have heard that the Olympics 2016 aims to be ‘more sustainable’ than London’s plans for 2012. And that there is a great deal of shared learning and participation going on between Brazil-UK governments on Olympic development with this in mind. I also sense an Olympics ‘gold rush’ by UK’s finest creative talent, driven by the opportunity to promote brands and sell the fine creative marketing concepts.

But what does a sustainable Olympics, with the wealth creation and a marketing frenzy around it, mean for a city with limited public service infrastructure, 50% of its population living in Favelas and a legacy of corruption. What really can be the legacy of the Olympics in a city and country that needs to address vast social challenges?

Could a percentage of the soon to be spent marketing dollars be invested in social innovation, social leaders and entrepreneurs to address large scale challenges within the city that are ‘owned’ by the people of the city? Could an Olympics legacy focus on people as well as infrastructure, working with inclusive models that turnaround the prosperity for many by including them the wealth creation?

The Favelas need power, education, infrastructure, services and enterprise; there is plenty of opportunity to build a brand around these needs together with the communities that need them. Could one brand commit to the success of 10 new radically innovative social ventures, in market and delivering high impact results, by 2016?

Interesting. The Favelas, certainly in Rio anyway, have a sort of mystique and value to them that is rarely portrayed to the outside world. Nor is it portrayed in the Brazilian media. There is an element of pride that Rio holds about these communities as well as the obvious fear and prejudice held amongst the extreme wealthy segments. I met many people who talked about the music, the creative output, the community, the parties, the art and more produced by communities living in Faveles. Indeed the Saturday night I was in Rio was the night of the third anniversary of one of Rio’s best ‘Favela parties’ in Rochinha which has recently been ‘pacified’ by the police. I heard about this party from my Portuguese language teacher; I heard about it from my AirBnB hosts; I heard about it from my Brit / ex-Pat friends in Rio – all of them the ‘upper middle classes’.

So I can’t help thinking there is massive potential within these communities to be unlocked and importantly to be celebrated. There seems to be a space for the Favelas in the heart of many Cariocas (Rio people) and Brazilians. And clearly the Fevalas are a part of the identity of Rio and Brazil.

How can businesses help citizens across the globe bridge challenges posed by environmental, economic and social pressures to become responsible consumers? (Paul Polman, CEO Unilever)

I spent the day with Anderson França otherwise know as Dinho (@Dinho_Rio), who I was introduced to by Jimmy Greer – the man behind a lot of great knowledge about Brazil, social business and currently writing a book with Umair Haque on post-consumerism.

Anderson and his smart and sassy colleague Jessica took first took me to the infamous Café Columbo in Centro Rio, and then to a Favela, where we spent hours discussing the next model of enterprise for Brazil and behind-NGO models. Anderson spent five plus years working with Afro Reggae in the Favelas; before that he spent time teaching music in the Favela communities. He talks of the ‘myth of Favelas’, referring to the untouchable and helpless image of the Favelas portrayed to the outside world, which he feels the many NGOs play to.

Today he is the founder of Dharma Comunicação (@DharmaAgencia). Dharma’s mission is to leapfrog government and NGO intervention in the Favelas and to champion social change agents inside the communities. He wants to create a social venture accelerator inside the Fevalas and to promote a true image of the human potential within these communities.

Dharma’s core asset is the relationships Anderson has with the communities and his ability to mobilize members of Favela, civil society and brands, to get to truly understood needs and opportunities. Dharma recently brought together a significant group of stakeholders for Telefonica to explore the role of mobile tech and social innovation. He says brands struggle to understand these communities too; they just do not have the embedded relationships required to understand the needs and arrive at high impact solutions that will be embraced and owned.

Anderson and Jessica took me to Complexo do Alemão, one of Rio’s many Favelas, with nearing 100,000 inhabitants.

Riding high over the mountainous terrain that juts out of the geography of Rio is a cable car system that was built (presumably) with the purpose of providing mobility for Favela communities in the area. Interestingly there were next to no people using it, aside from the occasional voyeur, which illustrated quite how disconnected these communities are from the economics of the city. It also put some perspective on the poverty within this mass of people. Rather incongruously classical music was played throughout the system.

The day we were at Complexo do Alemão the cable cars had just been completely plastered in a red an ice-cream brand ad; literally hundreds of red cable car ice-cream adverts hanging above communities who don’t need advertising, ice-creams, or cable cars it seems, to improve the quality of their lives. Their needs have been poorly understood. Jessica was visibly upset by this marketing incongruity. I felt a large hole in my stomach at the cost and loss of potential to build real value.

Of course this is no different to the business-as-usual-model of advertising that sets out to ‘consumerize’ targeted audiences. This is a highly ‘targeted’ audience. It is just that I believe marketing money could be a lot better spent by developing new, needs-based solutions, and enabling platforms and enterprise that would address vast social issues as well as create revenue and build brand reputation. There is also a moral imperative to start spending this sort of money differently. We simply cannot grow these economies and lift people out of poverty through consumerism. It has already proven to fail society and planet.

With ice-cream in mind, instead of advertising a global brand of ice-cream top-down from a cable car that no one is using, could we localize ice-cream production and hand it to the communities to sell and produce (much like Coke production)? Maybe too radical but my point is that the least helpful approach to addressing social, environmental and economic challenges has got to be the same consumer-driven approach that has proven to fail people and planet to date. The Favela communities are a truly powerful canvas for radical innovation because they represent tight community, with clear needs and challenges and strongly held points of view.

My views might seem a bit idealistic to some, particularly when the world’s economies are measured on how much we consume. But just this week (11/24), Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, the world’s second-largest maker of branded household products hosted a televised debate on sustainability to tackle a fundamental question: how can businesses help citizens across the globe bridge challenges posed by environmental, economic and social pressures to become responsible consumers? I think he’s asking the same question as I am in this piece. Holding his question one can clearly see that advertising ice-cream on cable cars that swing across hundreds of thousands of humans living with massive social and environmental challenges does not sit well.

He goes on to suggest that it is branded products (and corporate business), perhaps more than governments that are and will be the driving force for change in consumptions trends. I would argue that he is right, especially in emerging markets where oftentimes governments have and continue to fail civil society, the environment and economy. But I would push his statement further to suggest that along with changing consumption behaviours (e.g. consuming less, washing in cold water, using less energy, sharing resources, banking responsibly etc.) there is an opportunity to take a role in empowering communities to solve social problems and drive enterprise from the ground-up – with business models that create shared value opportunities. Apple pioneered this model for wannabe tech entrepreneurs through the application revolution. Many business models are emerging based on enabling others to create value, such as AirBnB, which has enabled millions of people to be hospitality entrepreneurs; others are doing this with franchising and open source models of development.

Please note that I have not spent enough time yet working with the people of the Favelas to understand the emotional and aspirational as well as core needs of these communities. What I understand comes from limited experience shadowing partners who are working within the communities. Andréa Novais writes about the assumptions made about these communities with some authority at The Brazil Business.

Brazil usually relies on social demographic to segment the market, classified as classes A, B, C, D, and E. A classification referenced a lot in general conversation in Brazil.

In Brazil, the ‘Expanding Middle’, as defined by Goldman Sachs, might be described as classes E and D moving into C. These are people who typically have not finished high school (often semi-educated) and in low paid jobs such as housemaids, bartenders etc. but are increasingly moving out of this situation. Andréa Novais has written a clear definition on Brazil’s social classes in The Brazil Business. (It is striking to me how much class, and these distinct classifications, are used to describe civil society in every conversation). READ MORE…

I heard time and time again the need for products and services to serve the needs of Brazil’s ‘expanding middle’ market. For instance the need for affordable fridges, freezers, oven, cookers or other kitchen goods to replace old and inefficient ones in most kitchens. However these stated needs where not often reconciled with the need to grow a sustainable economy. Many kitchens in Brazil exist with very basic amenities and not just for the so-called poorer E and D classes.

But the lower classes do not want ‘low-end’ products and services to replace their goods, which is a common misconception according to Andrés Novais. This got me thinking about IKEA and it original mission to bring affordable design to the masses, which it has done so successfully if at the expense of fueling the throwaway consumer economy.

So, how could an affordable but aspirational brand like IKEA solve the dilemma of consumption in a market desperate for solutions home solutions? Could IKEA launch its plans for a service-based business model in Brazil i.e. leasing kitchen appliances and home goods, working with affordable services fees that do not encourage debt but do enable people to upscale their lives? Going behind furniture, IKEA could offer solutions to other needs such as communication services, utilities, waste and education, with the same principle – affordable service models coupled with an aspirational global brand and strong design?

After a couple of hours walking and talking to community members and feeling my way through the Favela, with Anderson França Dharma Comunicação, he asked me “What are you feeling?” We were hanging above the community in the red cable car I describe above when he asked me this question.

What did I feel? I felt that the community is a community of people, of humans, and of potential. And that in some respects, drug problems aside, it functions well as a community given the extreme lack of resource and support provided to it and the totally inadequate access to education. These are resilient and resourceful people, working hard to function. I said that I felt like I was hanging over 100,000 people’s worth of untapped human potential and that I could feel the potential. This is only one of the many other communities in Rio and then beyond, across Brazil. The UN predict that by 2020 55 million people will be living in Favelas in Brazil according to the Rio Times. The potential is absolutely vast.

Okay, so government is too corrupt or self-motivated to truly empower and work with these people. And many NGOs compete with each other for funding and have failed to empower and unlock the potential. But the potential is still there; it is there and it is highly concentrated in geographic areas, which to me increases the potential. Much like a network – the effect is stronger the tighter the network or community is. Things spread rapidly though a network. So my feelings were about human potential and networks. I felt like I was hanging over a vast network of potential. The next challenge is to work with this potential to drive innovation and unlock the value.

This is a feeling that I felt in a lot of places I traveled in Brazil. I heard from many people that the economic challenge this country faces is one of a largely uneducated population. Hence there are not enough skilled people to cope with economic transformation in the C21st. So, there is an opportunity to create an education system (or mean of learning) that is delivered outside government channels with economic models associated. Where I am staying on a remote Peninsula in Bahia, as I write this piece, the Portuguese-Norwegian couple that founded the pousada are intent on educating their staff and investing in people for the longer term. Their incentive is to retain staff and to deliver a high standard of service to a global customer base. So what kind of learning service, provided at a low coast, could hotel owners access?

I have faced this question three or four times recently.

In Brazil I met with Dharma Agencia, who work with this question everyday. It is also their strapline. We discussed purpose together. I was asked what my purpose here in Brazil is.

I spent at least three hours in conversation with the Ashoka Ireland team, covering my background and the meaning of being an entrepreneur. This question was at the heart of our conversation.

And before I left for Brazil I spent some time in talks with Leaders Quest. Unusually, both my meetings with LQ started with this question on purpose. I look forward to the founder of Leaders Quest Lindsay Levin’s book on her purpose and working with purpose.

So what is my purpose in life? And what is the significance of this question today, for myself and for others around me?

It is a question I have grappled with since being a child. I was uncomfortably obsessed with this question at a young age when most were content with what each day brought. It is a question that I’ve worked with through my twenties and early thirties – the latter triggered by a near death experience in a major house fire in London.

The last few months have brought me back to this question again.

I feel that my purpose is to ensure the world and the engine of economics evolves for the better. I am here to be a driving force for impact innovation and enterprise and the possibility that man can live happily and in harmony with nature.

I’m intent on enabling innovation as well as driving it myself because I believe that there is potential in every human to become a changemaker and to flourish in doing so. My sense is that the future of business and civil society will be built on ‘Shared Value’ models, where everyone benefits from co-owning the challenges and opportunity. I believe that autonomy and ownership of the world’s challenges – sharing the global commons – will unlock an abundance of value for many and address the issues.

Nothing less than the next industrial revolution is required to meet the needs of exponential growth in population with a finite amount of natural resource and climate capacity. This is already happening. Business-as-usual is being turned inside out by increasing autonomy and citizen power enable by social technology.

I am drawn to global challenges such as climate change, peak resources, market failure, social inequality and poverty. And I am fed each day by the enabling possibility of network technology. I am here to innovate and unlock innovation in others.

Last week was possibly the most inspiring and energising weeks of my entire consulting career working as a sustainable business strategist. Why? Because it was a week of open conversation, naked honesty, grace and humanity. All this happened at the European HQ of one the world’s largest, and most mechanized, consumer goods companies in the world. I was one of seven external advisers brought in for a 48 hour conversation around the unnamed consumer goods company’s sustainability effort and their role as a global business in the twenty first century.

I’m more than ever convinced that the world will be moved by leaders who allow themselves to be moved, which is what happened in the room last week. It was both catching and enabling. If you allow a generous amount of humanity into a conversation around massive challenges, whatever they are, you also bring empowerment. You are saying to people “Its okay to be hurt, sad or cross about a (global) issue. And it’s okay to be driven to address it because you feel passionately about it”. I watched the small slice of this enormous organisation take on huge business and social challenges with incredible bravery because they were allowed to be scared, to be moved, to be open and to be driven by their passions.

I’m even more convinced that leadership is not only the domain of individuals; it is also a collective power made up of people (the leaders) within a corporation or organisation. ‘Corporate citizenship’ is not then an abstract objective in an annual report but actually a deep commitment to ‘citizenship’ by the many leaders who make up the business. The corporate brand (which was discussed at length last week) then becomes an expression of this very human, collective citizenship. A citizen brand!

How on earth do you embed that type of collective citizenship when only a few people are in the collective, as was the case last week? Well, perhaps you don’t need the whole business on board to empower the rest of the business to be citizens? Perhaps you only need a small percent to be moved.

Meanwhile new research from YouGov shows that “42% of GB adults with investments want to ‘make money and make a difference’, with over one in three (34%) wanting at least 25% of their investments to include green and ethical considerations and a further one in ten (10%) wanting to ‘dip their toe in the water’”. This is a bubbling Clean Revolution if ever I saw one. The opportunity to address this need and to fuel new capital into impact investment is ripe.

My bet is with Kumi Naidoo. A truly powerful and global message on China’s significant investment in clean energy and the shift in power this is creating.

Renewable energy has much greater job creation potential overall than the dirty fossil fuel economy.

“The bottom line is for countries thinking long or even medium terms… the only race that is going to matter moving forward is the ‘green race’.”

China has become, in 2010, the largest investor in renewable technology globally. It’s clear that this is their strategy to surpass the US as the largest economy in the world.

The idea of growing the economy but doing it sustainability is not some kind of impossible dream but something people are doing in reality.

The reason we are embracing the clean revolution that is we are generating 90% of our energy with Hydro power, so with EV when can have a clean car and clean energy fueling the car.