It has been said that the world changes one conversation at a time. However some conversations have the capacity to support more change than others. I developed this Scale of Public Interactions to graphically show those differences.This helps facilitators design processes that match the outcomes they would like to create.See SPI Public Engagement
This paper addresses two questions: Why do we seem to be on a life-threatening path and yet appear unable to change our local and global behaviours to ones that are life enhancing? What is needed to socially construct a different path based on relationship and interdependence adequate to guide our collective choices? The paper suggests…
Aging in the Anthropocene Facilitated by Jan Inglis February 4- 25 There is so much to navigate in the aging process in terms of health issues, relationships, identities, purpose and spiritual beliefs while reconciling paths taken or not taken. But our generation now also has the legacy of climate and social instability to consider which brings…
This article summarizes the current situation and describes scenarios that support and challenge community and personal resilience. Grief. Grit. and Gratitude
Climate Change:No one is caring for the Atmosphere Commons and Ocean Commons They are “Commons”, shared by us all but are being used by corporations as a free dump, – an “externality” with no regard for costs to current and future generations and other species See Power Point on topic below One Planet commons
In 1988, while a volunteer director of the Calgary Eco Centre, I read this report put out by the World Watch Institute. It motivated me to fully take on the work of climate advocacy to attempt to deter the disastrous climate disruption it described as possible if we did not change course. Although the IPCC…
I was returning from a climate conference and was the only passenger in the airport shuttle. The driver, Greg, and I were making small talk about the weather, which had, in the time I was away, produced deluges of unseasonable rain and some flooding. As I often do, I framed this situation as possibly related…
Underlying climate change is an evolutionary challenge – our collective ability to make decisions which support sustainable systemic responses. As a novice filmmaker, I made this video a few years ago in an attempt to highlight a connection between the challenges of responding to climate change and the capacities needed to engage in effective democratic…
These two articles will frame human-created climate change, and our evolving capacities to escalate or de-escalate it, in terms of the universal and evolutionary dynamics of decision making. These articles are more academic than many blog posts on this site but offer a touchstone for ongoing reference. Part 1 describes these dynamics and uses personal…
Solstice 2015. In the northern hemisphere, during midwinter, we have a heightened awareness of dark and light as our planet tilts toward the sun reducing our time in the shadow. In the aftermath of the Paris climate talks, we are faced with another form of darkness and light. Like the storms that buffeted us in 2015, divergent…
I appreciate having met and worked with Joanna Macy several times, starting in the mid 1980’s. For decades, she has offered wisdom to help humanity reflect on and be present with ourselves, others, and the issues amongst us. Active Hope is not wishful thinking. Active Hope is not waiting to be rescued . . . …
Facing a Changing World 