Last month, Mike Purcell and I travelled to the Big Island of Hawai’i to deliver a series of public workshops and one two-and-a-half day capacity building session with representatives of various island businesses and organizations. Needless to say we took a lot of ribbing from colleagues and customs agents about going to Hawai’i to work, but the truth is, this was a hugely successful project that brought hope and enthusiasm to participants and advisors alike. Why?

In our work, people typically begin to deeply address the sustainability challenge for one or both of the following reasons: there is a fire in the room (to mitigate risk) and / or there is a pot of gold in another (to capture opportunity). This is bolstered by proof of possibility (examples of what others have successfully done) and for some, a sense of ‘doing the right thing’.