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About the 4D Network

Dream, Drive, Develop, Deliver

The 4D Network is an interconnected group of internationally-minded people who are dedicated to working towards a common vision of a secure, peaceful, sustainable and just world, where all humans have universal rights and adequate quality of life, in which humanity is free to create, push back the boundaries of knowledge and understanding, and realize its full potential.

Goals

Taking a long term and global perspective we wish to ensure that there is:

  1. Adequate Security of Humanity
  2. Adequate Welfare (quality of life including personal security, health care, education, physical liberty, intellectual liberty, personal justice and basic human rights) for all Humans
  3. Environmental Sustainability and Little adverse effect on Other Life
  4. Maximal Rate of Acquisition of Knowledge and Truth

Discuss and help to develop the mission of the 4D Network here.

What needs to be done?

We need to make changes that enable us to move towards the world as we desire it according to the above goals, from the world as it is today. We believe that the most fruitful way that we can effect that change will be through the formation or reform of institutions (governance systems, law) -- the boundary conditions of human actions -- in addition to policy level changes.

It is our belief that the following measures are of the kind that would help toward this end:

  • Power being more evenly distributed (that is a more just world order)
  • An increase in global prosperity
  • Greater cooperation within regions
  • The reduction of global inequality
  • The recognition of the basic rights of humans
  • The recognition of the value of diversity
  • A universal right of equality of opportunity in education, including not just knowledge and skills, but also training in free thinking
  • The abolition of weapons of mass destruction
  • Promotion of the rule of law
  • The UN being strengthened

What are the aims of the 4D Network?

The purpose of the 4D Network is to share motivation and to coordinate and leverage our various organisations, careers, projects, actions and resources in order to maximise our collective output towards our common vision and goals.

Our aim is to provide a platform where ambitious people from a range of backgrounds can come together to develop shared conceptual frameworks, common strategic approaches, trust and cooperation, innovative solutions, and joint projects. The 4D Network will bring together a broad coalition of driven and talented people who share similar apparitions and is intended to produce broad, cross-boarder participation and identify a common set of international objectives while maintaining an extensive level of flexibility to achieve those objectives.

How does it do this?

4D will provide a web-based platform for members to meet, discuss, exchange ideas and opinions, coordinate efforts to achieve the common vision, and learn from and guide each other. 4D is a searchable, cross-referenced collection of information that allows members to contact and cooperate with others over long distance and across boarders.

This is achieved through several functions that are facilitated by the Network:

  1. Motivation and Accountability. Through keeping one another motivated about, and accountable on tasks towards, these ends. Many people become less motivated towards their end goals because of (a) dislocation from kindred spirits and (b) the burden of institutional conservatism that can hinder progress – making it hard to stick to more idealistic end goals. Many people have the intention of doing good projects but do not hold themselves accountable to that task to ensure that it is done.
    → The Network pairs members, the sole purpose of the partnership being to maintain motivation and direction, and ensure accountability of each other to our stated goals.
  2. Coordinating Projects so that they build on each other and do not overlap, including the coordination of resources of multiple organisations
    → The website allows members to share information about what projects people are working on so that those in similar areas can at least ensure that there is less duplication of efforts, and at best full coordination of them to maximise output toward the common end.
  3. Developing Strategies that are efficient to reach the vision and goals.
    → The website allows the development of strategies to allow better direction of people’s efforts towards their ends.
  4. We consider the Network to be of use if and only if we have a bigger output towards/impact upon our vision and goals by being connected with the Network than would be achieved without.

Why a Network compared to other means of achieving goals?

Given the above goals, what does one do to have the greatest impact upon them? An analysis performed by some members of the Network prior to its formation indicated that of all the different ways to maximise our impact on the common vision that we had, the best was forming a network.

The other broad type of projects considered in the analysis were:

  • Starting an international political party
  • Starting a new national political party
  • Joining and leading an existing political party
  • Forming a think tank to change the course of existing powers
  • Starting a business
  • Doing grass roots efforts
  • Having the greatest impact on our shared vision and goals.

Why 4D?

Dream-Drive-Develop-Deliver → This symbolises a

  1. philosophy of “being idealistic when we set our vision whilst pragmatic when we plan how to achieve them” -- i.e. a belief that being idealistic when setting one;s goals is not incompatible with being pragmatic when going about their implementation
  2. desire to be systematic, and logical in our approach
  3. a high degree of motivation, being ‘driven’
  4. Delivering on our promise

Who are the members?

There are several features about our membership base that makes the network unique. Our members are in general:

  • Young and young at heart
  • Internationally minded
  • Very driven/energetic/enthusiastic
  • People who care about the long-term.

What is its organisational basis?

The 4D Network is an operation of la Choza del Munda, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the United States (application pending). Donations to la Choza del Munda and the 4D Network are tax deductible in the United States. 

The 4D Network is facilitated by the Oxford Council on Good Governance (OCGG), a think tank for students and young professionals and a registered non profit organisation in the UK (www.oxford-governance.org)

Who are the Partner Organisations?

The 4D Network has several partner organisations including the International Student Young Pugwash (ISYP) (www.student-pugwash.org)
[Discussion: what other organisations should we partner with? General criteria: international in scope and membership, broadly align with our goals. E.g. Harvard World Model United Nations.]

How do I join?

To become a member you must

  1. Share the vision and goals
  2. Be motivated to do something pro-active in your life about them

To join the 4D Network click here.

 

Decision Making Process

To facilitate the discussion on how to make decisions in an open, unbiased way, we have devised a four phase process whereby the network identifies the need to make a decision and forms a council made up of a subset of the network.  To learn more about the decision making process click here.