In this issue: Last Chances / Results of the Optimist-Pessimist Survey / Training Opportunities
When the Secretary-General of the United Nations says we only have “ten years left” to save civilization from planetary eco-catastrophe and related dangers, then of course, we really should listen. The problem is, sometimes we don’t. After all, the first such warning from a UN Secretary-General came in 1969, from U Thant. We have had “ten years left” for forty years now.
Forty years of global warnings does not mean the warnings have been wrong. Some things we were warned about losing, we’ve lost (I think now of many species, for example). But as I write in The ISIS Agreement, some of those warnings, we actually responded to, as a world. For example, awareness of the population explosion drove the Green Revolution, which undoubtedly rescued untold millions from famine (though it caused other problems along the way).
This fall will see the publication of a new such warning, this time from a large global team of scientists, writing in the prestigious British journal Nature. Called informally the “planetary boundaries paper” (it is not yet released but is being talked about everywhere I go lately), it will detail, to the best of science’s ability, how close we actually are to reaching the “tipping points” in various global ecosystems such as the Himalayan Plateau (melting), the Amazon Rain Forest (turning from forest to savannah), and the world’s Oceans (acidifying). It is not a general “ten years left” call; it will be much more specific than that, system by system.
This has got me thinking about how we relate to time generally, and to global “deadlines” specifically. (Here’s a “global deadline” of a different kind: your last chance to register for our international Master Class in Sustainability Change Agentry, here in Stockholm, is 14 July. Click here or see below.)
Sometimes, we act just in time, and save the day — and maybe even civilization. Think Montreal Protocol. Other times, we squabble and fret and just don’t get it. Think Kyoto Protocol … and worry about Copenhagen.
I spent a few days at the Tällberg Forum, an annual event in Sweden, bringing together hundreds of sustainability afficianados from every sector and every corner of the globe, from Micronesia’s President to a foundation head from Paraguay. The high point, for me, was when the whole assembly played a climate game, using climate model and process developed by several of my Balaton Group friends. (See link below.)
In that game, we saved civilization just in time — but only by doing everything, absolutely everything, that needed to be done, starting right now.
You can read my six-part series, “Camping at Tällberg,” which documents the whole Forum experience, at my personal log site (I’m trying to get people to switch from “blog” to “log”). You can try the climate change negotiations model — which is now being used by US State Department officials, Chinese government officials, and many others — at www.climateinteractive.org.
You can sign up for our Master Class from this newsletter, and you can also read the results of last month’s survey on whether people considered themselves Optimists, Pessimists, or Something Else. (Hint: very few of you are Pessimists … but only half the rest were Optimists.) Can’t make the Master Class? Check out our new online training partner, ISSP (see below).
Meanwhile … pay attention to those deadlines. When they are set by the laws of nature, they are always non-negotiable.
- Alan AtKisson
Last Chance to Register for the Master Class in Sustainability Change Agentry
This special six-day experience in intensive learning, practice, and reflection on sustainability and change will refresh you and inspire you. It will also equip you with a wealth of knowledge and new tools to use in leading groups, doing analyses, training colleagues … and much more. Registration closes 14 July!
There are still spaces available in this relatively small group, and you will get intensive personal attention. Come expand and deepen your understanding of sustainability strategy and practice. Download the brochure to get the details on the first annual Master Class … and join us in Stockholm!
Click to download the brochure … or
Click here to go straight to our online registration center
Questions? Please click here to send us an email.
Survey Results: Optimist, Pessimist, and Something Else?
Last month, we asked readers to complete a very short survey that consisted of two questions: (1) Regarding the global transition to sustainability, are you an optimist, or a pessimist, or something else? (2) Why?
We received over 40 very thoughtful answers, from a fascinating array of people, most of whom gave us permission to republish their answers. So, we’ve decided to publish them all online, together with the overall results.
Curious how the answers broke down? Click here …
Online Course to be Offered in October 2009
ISIS Academy is collaborating with the International Society for Sustainability Professionals in providing online training in the ISIS Method and Accelerator and other tools. Alan AtKisson will be offering one of the core courses in the training program offered by ISSP this October.
More details will follow, or click over to ISSP to check out their offerings: www.sustainabilityprofessionals.org
Summer Break in Sweden!
In honor of our summer break in Sweden, this newsletter is a little shorter than usual. Even sustainability workers need a vacation! We hope you too are enjoying fine days, wherever you are, and rest from your labor as well as success in your efforts.
Noted While Riding the Wave …
“None of [the great advances of the 20th Century] would have happened if there had not been high quality educational opportunities … for the world’s men. Imagine where we would be now if women had had the same opportunities.”
- Nyamko Sabuni, Minister of Integration and Gender Equality, Sweden, speaking at the Tällberg Forum
(For more on what was said and done at the 2009 Tällberg Forum, read Alan’s personal log … http://alanatkisson.wordpress.com)
Thank you for reading this issue of WaveFront. Please write to us with ideas, suggestions, comments.
© 2009 AtKisson Inc.
