as separate issues; yet we know these issues are inter-related. We assert that to perceive the world accurately and create a world that works for everyone, we literally need to "see" these issues presented in the most comprehensive manner.

We asked ourselves, where is a place where we can all meet for an extended time to do comprehensive analysis of these issues, to propose strategies and rigorously test and verify implications? Where is the neutral ground, equipped with the latest, most sophisticated technology and the urgency to address peacefully and comprehensively the interrelated, interdependent, global issues of our times?

In 2006, GENI introduced The World Resources Simulation Center (WRSC) to be that place where comprehensive anticipatory design science flourishes in response to our current global challenges. Large scale simulation and visualization tools now allow us to layer information on multiple issues and test consequences and best practices. Using these tools, policy-makers and business leaders could foresee outcomes of their decisions and make optimal decisions affecting the whole.

The idea was conceived by Buckminster Fuller in the 1970s and inspires this current proposal. Today, the need for such a facility stands on its own and speaks to an essential missing aspect in our current approach to tackling complex global issues. The time has never been more critical for implementing such a project.

Fuller posed the following question that we think provides the foundation for any investigation of issues that affect us all. The context for the WRSC lives in this inquiry:

"How do we make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone?"

Background for Project Proposal
GENI was founded in 1987 and achieved non-profit status in 1991. Peter Meisen, BS in Engineering from UCSD, launched the GENI Initiative after studying Buckminster Fuller’s “highest priority objective” of the World Game – to interconnect electric grids around the world tapping abundant renewable energy resources. (Image 1)

With the “Trimtab Principle” in mind since inception, GENI coordinated a series of expert panel sessions at the IEEE Power Engineering Society to establish scientific and technological credibility. Initially, these sessions addressed electrical interconnections and benefits to each continent; these were followed by another series that reviewed the potential capacity of all six renewables. Over the course of a decade, these sessions led to supportive cover articles and technical reports in several power industry publications. (Images 2 & 3)

While the Initiative was technically sound, it became clear that for global energy policies to change and for the GENI strategy to be adopted, we needed to educate and persuade global decision makers. GENI has exhibited at every World Energy Conference and United Nations global meeting since 1992 and has communicated this strategy to the top 5 leaders of every nation repeatedly since that time. We have extended our reach even more with a website having 2,000+ pages of expert corroboration, global endorsements, a film library and monthly reporting. Updating the website with “trending information” is ongoing. (www.geni.org) (Image 4)

Educating the public has also been a focus of our work. In 1995, GENI hosted the Buckminster Fuller Centennial Symposium in San Diego, which helped develop the acclaimed one-man play by Doug Jacobs, “Buckminster Fuller: the History and Mystery of the Universe.” Additionally, GENI has hosted 10 World Game events and has supported the Design Science Labs. In 2006, it became clear from assessing our overall activities that more was needed. As a critical trimtab solution for having the world work, GENI initiated discussions on the WRSC. Participants in the initial planning meeting were Josh Arnow, Michael Ben-Eli, Kirk Bergstrom, Bonnie DeVarco, Ashley Gardner, Peter Meisen and Joe Sterling. As a beginning stage of this project, we are presently working with the San Diego State University Visualization Lab to create a visually impactful prototype - a layered graphic that shows global relationships and consequences of our development decisions.

The Solution: the World Resources Simulation Center
The World Resource Simulation Center is a large format, immersive visualization and simulation facility. With access to world resource inventory statistics, it is designed for world leaders and decision makers to experience deeply the interconnected nature of Earth’s living and non-living systems and understand the systemic problems and opportunities facing humanity. With the urgency of a ‘command-and-control’ center, the WRSC provides global leaders a unique resource for collaborating efficiently with others from business, governments, universities and NGOs for optimal outcomes for everyone. Using the latest in visualization and simulation technologies, users can experiment easily with a range of scenarios, creatively design answers to problems and find new commercial opportunities. It allows leaders to evaluate policies, strategies and plans quickly and make informed, sustainable choices benefiting humanity as a whole.

The WRSC has four major functions: (Image 5)
• Resource and demand assessment
• Long range forecasting and trend analysis
• Visualization and simulation to facilitate informed decision making
• Education and facilitation for decision makers in governments and business and for students

What is possible with advanced display and simulation capabilities?
• 4-D visual display of high resolution information to large groups
• Integration of environmental resource and geographic data from satellite images into your decision-making process
• Large-scale planning and development that is environmentally sustainable
• Market demand and resource forecasting
• Facilitated gaming and scenario planning for entire cultures, communities, and regions

How is the World Resource Simulation Center used? (Image 6)
The context of the WRSC is finding sustainable solutions to global challenges that work for everyone, while minimizing our impact on global systems. The WRSC is unique and powerful in its use of the large scale visualization and scenario simulations, in-person-interactive discussions, the group discovery process and the face-to-face research. Insights are gained; new levels of understanding are available when bright minds together have access to new ways of experiencing and seeing complex data and are creatively guided through vision, strategy and problem solving discussions in the context of workability for all. Multiple implications of decisions can be simulated and explored in the moment. “What ifs” can be examined until the optimal solution is reached. With this approach, strategies based on cooperation and tested through simulation find a path to action and implementation.

The issues that assault us daily are individual expressions of complex, inter-connected geophysical, economic and social/cultural conditions. The complexity of these inter-relationships demands that we deal with multiple issues simultaneously. Cutting edge visualization and simulation technologies along with geographic information system (GIS) technology, mapping software and other technologies provide a critically needed multi-dimensional view not previously available. Through collaborative design processes, users give meaning to what they discover at the WRSC. A paradigm shift can result that inspires breakthrough solutions to global and local problems. This is precisely the role of the World Resource Simulation Center.

Funding the WRSC
GENI has hosted a small group of social engineers to vision the WRSC and identify next steps. They have recommended that we first build key relationships with academic partners and thought leaders. We are now doing this. As a pilot, GENI is currently working with John Graham to develop a layered visualization of global energy issues and solutions at the SDSU Visualization Lab. This critical presentation will demonstrate what the WRSC will do and it’s value to policy-makers, business leaders and students. The BFI Challenge Grant would enable us to fund the full development of this demonstration more quickly and share this visualization with key partners. We have identified two dozen experts and institutions to enroll as prime partners, including universities, VIZ/GIS societies, global foundations, corporations, and several government agencies. Some have already offered their support and desire to participate.

While the optimal site for the WRSC could be the United Nations, we propose that a first facility be at a U.S. university that has recognized research excellence and a global reach. Several exist in California and on the East Coast.

Our business model takes a page from the collaborative work in public/private sector partnerships. Corporations would pay a significant fee to do strategic planning at the WRSC, while public and educational groups would be supported through grants and donors.

Once the technology is created and demonstrated, this model could be duplicated and linked on every continent and possibly in every nation as users continually seek to tackle their own global-local problems.