It is certainly not today's run of the mill athletes, models, performers, jet setters, and various light weight social miscreants who dominate the media who are going to provide the inspiring examples that we so desperately need. Nor those politicians whose hypocrisy is all too evident, the administrators and bureaucrats who are hardly what one would call activist agents of change, nor the stars of business and finance whose compassion and selflessness are not among their most outstanding attributes.

The rub goes further. Take for example what you find if you go to a big international congress on sustainability. Are the people gathered in that pubilc conference hall real role models for our youth? Are they offering the example of the personal choices in their daily lives (will they even agree to take the Personal Sustainability Test?) and selfless long-term commitment (would they be there if nobody was paying them to so?) that we need to inspire tomorrow's leaders and responsible citizens? Let me now try to answer this, but rather leave you to sift through the evidence for yourself if you happen to be at one of these fine goings-on.

So where to look for our models? The purpose of this component of The Commons is not so much to try to answer this tough question, as to ask it in a way that may inspire more people to think about it and share their ideas and reactions.

To initiate this public dialogue we open with three sample profiles, starting with Luud Schimmelpennink, to which we are inviting others who know him and his work to comment and add. We also, to get things going, link to the first role mode whom we chose as an example for The Commons and what we were trying to stand for, Kenneth Boulding. And, to close out this first group, a profile of David Schweidenback, founder of "Pedals for Progress". Even with nothing more than a sample of three, we can already spot some of the most important traits we are looking for: nobility of purpose, effectiveness, staying power. Hmmm. Not a bad start. We also provide a link here to the My Hero site in California that takes this quest from their angle.

Finally, we hope to be able to offer in the two months ahead a "Personal Sustainability Indicator", a short selfsameness test which we plan to place on this site, take ourselves and perhaps invite public discussion (and self-testing). And while we are waiting for Meyer Hillman to finish his work on that, let us point you to the very interesting Compendium of Sustainable Development Indicator Initiatives which is being developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Food for thought.

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