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Good news, then bad news, then good news again … the last couple of months have left me scratching my head at the world’s halting, jerky, one-step-forward, two-steps-back, one-step-forward progress towards global sustainability. I know I increasingly need “booster shots” of optimism, myself!  So maybe it’s a good time for Earthscan to be releasing my books in beautiful, new, revised editions. (Think, “holiday presents!” Think, “great resources for the classes I teach!” See below …)
On the one hand, biodiversity may have been saved by the newly minted agreement struck in Nagoya, Japan last month. This is a fantastic breakthrough, and proof that the world really can come to global consensus and address the big challenges of our time.

On the other hand, climate negotiations are looking bleak as the world moves toward a new “Conference of the Parties” in Cancún, Mexico next month. This meeting is at risk of proving just the opposite:  that the world cannot get it together to face reality and prevent catastrophe.

In my own practice there are amazing bright spots:  I get to watch as whole countries and companies undergo (or sometimes, begin seriously planning to undergo) major transformations in the way that they run themselves and/or do business. I am truly astonished at how fast things can change, once they start changing. These shining stars make the future seem anything but dark.

But on the other hand, there are also amazing “black holes” as well:  situations where the dialogue on sustainability has just cycled back around to where it was 20 years ago, without any real change happening during the intervening two decades. Human energy sometimes seems to get sucked into these vortices, the way light gets sucked into a cosmic black hole, never to emerge again.

Should we be optimistic, or pessimistic, or both at the same time? Well, pessimism doesn’t usually change the world, even when it’s the rational response to a seemingly impossible situation. So I continue to find reasons for optimism — reasons for dedication to creating change — in both the bleak and the hopeful, including …

• Bill McKibben’s assessment of where we are today on climate, and how his 350.org movement has defied the odds and made inspiring change
• The recent gloomy-yet-enlightening climate seminar in Sweden that updated me on the status of global negotiations
• The expansion of our ISIS Academy training program, the development of our Compass Education program for schools and universities, and the continuing spread of our AtKisson Group Affiliate program — including the upcoming launch of ISIS in Africa and in the French-speaking world (more on that in a future issue)

… and much more. And while I’m on the topic of finding one’s energy to make change, let me take the opportunity to note that we have just scheduled our next 6-day Master Class in Change for Sustainability to be held here, in Sweden, 22-28 May 2011. We expect this one to fill quickly, so if you are interested, click here and drop us a note.

Keep the fires of hope burning …

Alan AtKisson, Pres. & CEO

P.S. WaveFront has a new/old look:  we revived our original logo, and changed email providers. Be sure that we are properly added to your address book so that we don’t end up in your junk or spam folder!

Believing Cassandra – revised and updated for 2010 … and beyond

This month, Earthscan releases beautiful new paperback editions of both of Alan AtKisson’s books, Believing Cassandra and The Sustainability Transformation (formerly “The ISIS Agreement”).

If you happen to be in London on Nov. 23, 2010, you are welcome to join us for the launch event with a free public lecture at London School of Economics – LSE.

Click here for more information, directions, Facebook “Like” button, and all of that!

Please CLICK HERE help us to spread the word!

On being a troubadour at an international climate conference

As most readers of this newsletter know, Alan AtKisson works primarily as a consultant and communicator on sustainability, and leads the AtKisson Group. But he has a parallel life as a singer/guitarist and songwriter. Lately that parallel life has been re-emerging more strongly, most recently with Alan’s performance at the “Climate Existence” conference in Sweden. He blogged about it here …

Click to read the “troubadour” blog entry

If you’d like to invite Alan to speak, and/or to perform in connection with a conference or workshop (he has often done a keynote in the morning, a musical performance in the evening), just write to Cassandra Troy, our marketing and customer service avatar (she’s also Alan’s agent).

Noted while riding the wave …

“It’s so bleak, it’s very depressing. But we are activists.  When things are bleak, we don’t give up. We get busy.”