Tipping Point Action: Citizen Participation in Times of Unprecedented Challenges by Tipping Point Action

Thank you, doronbracha. I appreciate your kind thoughts and encouragement--and your reinforcing the need for further curriculum development at all levels to assist with environmental literacy and applied sustainability. I also appreciate that you affirm the need for culture change. Once the needed changes are integrated into various cultures and communities around the world, it will be clear how much of a change was needed from "business as usual". Community Visioning Initiatives can provide a “trellis” by which a careful transformation could “grow”, over a long period of time, and be carefully monitored and evaluated as it proceeded.

Hi Paulo, Thanks for your kind comments, and thanks for the question. Discovering many answers to your question is critical to resolving the challenge of global warming—since a) “Avoiding the unprecedented threats posed by dangerous climate change will require an unparalleled collective exercise in international cooperation” (UN Human Development Report 2007/2008) b) “The principal threats to our future are no longer armed aggression but instead climate change, population growth, water shortages, spreading hunger, and failing states. What we now need is a mobilization to reverse these trends on the scale and urgency of the U.S. mobilization for World War II.’” (“World on the Edge”—Lester R. Brown; January, 2011) c) “…the energy industry’s ability to boost production of oil, coal, and natural gas in North America is feeding a global surge in demand for these commodities, ensuring ever higher levels of carbon emissions. “ (article “World Energy Report 2012: The Good, The Bad, and The Really, Truly, Ugly” by Michael T. Klare; November 27, 2012) (p.293) d) “Some might assume that bond markets are shielded from the effects of climate change, ecosystem degradation, and water scarcity. With more than $40 trillion of sovereign debt in global markets at any given time, that is a very high-risk game.” [article titled “Sovereign Environmental Risk” by Achim Steiner (under-Sectetary General, United Nations and Executive Director of United Nations Environmental Programme) and Susan Burns (Founder of the Global Footprint Network); October 27, 2012] (p. 295) e) “(U.N.'s climate chief Christiana Figueres) urged an "urgent transformation" to greener production after top scientists warned on Monday that climate change would damage food supplies, slow economic growth and aggravate the underlying causes of armed conflicts. Limiting global warming to an agreed U.N. ceiling ‘means that three quarters of the fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground, and the fossil fuels we do use must be utilized sparingly and responsibly,’ she said.” (article “UN Climate Chief Figueres Urges 'Urgent Transformation' Of Oil And Gas Industry” by Alister Doyle in Huffington Post; April 3, 2014) And the Tipping Point Action Campaign has been created to help people discover many answers to your question. So I’ll try to provide a clear and concise 5 point “recap” of what the Tipping Point Action Campaign has to offer in response to your question “this project does require a lot of organization to manage all those stakeholders you're talking about. How are you going to put all the pieces together?” 1) Why would we not try to do 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives, until we learned how to do it? First, if you are in agreement with the urgency suggested by the above quoted passages, and in agreement that resolutions to the global warming challenge will require “a demographic shift from megacities to more ecologically sustainable villages, towns, and small cities”, we are already talking about the need for “a lot of organization”. And many pieces are being put together (as the resources described in Point #2 illustrate)by countless numbers of organizations and practitioners. What Community Visioning Initiatives, supported by many Neighborhood Learning Centers, can provide is an organized way of accelerating local affordable learning networks (workshops, and what is passed on in informal learning among neighbors)—AND accelerating local efforts at collaborative problem solving. Since every community will have different learning curves—and different ones for each of many critical challenges related to global warming (i.e. indiscriminate consumption spurred by $300+ billion in advertising dollars worldwide per year)—the main idea is to help citizens become familiar with a collaborative problem solving approach which focuses on identifying challenges, and identifying solution-oriented activity. Some nations are framing the discussion of resolving the global warming challenge by suggesting that a 50% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is sufficient. I believe that if there were 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives, around the world, focusing on identifying challenges and solution-oriented activity, there would be many, many more people who believe that greater reductions can take place in a shorter amount of time. Part of my response to your question then, would be: regardless of the organizational challenges, why would we not try to carry out 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives, until we learned how to do it? Even further: another key advantage of advocating for and supporting the implementation of many Community Visioning Initiatives is that some of the 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives will discover building blocks and processes which work better than others. Thus, the value of a Community Visioning Initiatives Clearinghouse. 2) The descriptions and biographical sketches of 29 organizations and 272 practitioners [in the key CPCS document “Invitation Package for Possible Board of Advisors”(589 pages)] are provided to help readers see how it would be possible to “assist with creating 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives”. What I’m proposing has many elements in it which have been done before (Community Visioning, Neighborhood Learning Centers, conference and training related workshops, etc). Even the scaling up of training to build up the number of practitioners to implement this proposal can draw on the example of the beginnings of the Peace Corps. Further, in the most comprehensive summation of resources associated with this proposal—the document “Invitation Package for Possible Board of Advisors” [for the Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative](589 pages)—there are over 180 pages dedicated to identifying, and providing descriptions and biographical sketches for, 29 organizations and 272 practitioners who could be associated with this kind of project (especially if this project was judged to have much potential by the judges of this contest). These descriptions and biographical sketches are provided to help readers see how it would be possible to “assist with creating 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives”. The descriptions and biographical sketches illustrate how much potential there is for problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before. Here are some examples of the value of those descriptions and biographical sketches: a) The “Stakeholder Engagement” section (of the “Invitation Package…” document) provides biographical sketches of 20 practitioners associated with 13 different organizations—including Dialogue by Design; Stakeholder Forum; University of California Extension’s Center for Cooperative Solutions; and D3 Associates. As one example, Philip Thomas of D3 Associates has “designed and facilitated hundreds of training programs across five continents and is recognized globally for his work in democratic dialogue and multi-stakeholder engagement processes”. b) Regarding Preliminary Surveys which would lead up to Community Visioning Initiatives, the “Surveys/Questionnaires” section (of the “Invitation Package…” document) provides biographical sketches of 16 practitioners associated with the Pew Research Center and the Joint Program in Survey Methodology (University of Maryland--University of Michigan—Westat). c) Regarding “Neighborhood Learning Centers”, there are five organizations (described in the “Invitation Package…” document) which could provide working models and teacher/facilitator training: British Columbia’s “Neighborhood Learning Centres” program; The Hunger Project’s “Community Centers for Meeting Basic Human Needs”; Teachers Without Borders; the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education; and Rotary International. d) As I have said in my proposal here at the MIT Climate CoLab “Shifting Behavior..” contest, educational institutions, and other organizations, could increase their existing efforts, or take up the call, to develop educational curriculum and training in response to the increasing need for survey specialists, resource coordinators for Neighborhood Learning Centers, and organizers/facilitators for Community Visioning Initiatives (and other stakeholder engagement/collaborative problem solving approaches)—and provide such training in modules similar to the kind used when the Peace Corps was scaled up. e) And there are numerous international organizations which could be involved in the delivery of teams and educational materials to assist and support communities of people who are interested in carrying out a Community Visioning Initiative in their community or region—including Gaia Education; Global Ecovillage Network; ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability; Oxfam International; UN Habitat (UN Human Settlements Program)—and many of the organizations, educational institutions, etc referred to above. Thus, one of the most important goals of the campaign “Tipping Point Action: Citizen Participation in Times of Unprecedented Challenges” is to help people become aware that we have the experience, educational materials, and financial resources to carry out problem solving on this kind of unprecedented scale… to help people visualize that it is possible. 3) We are all responsible for the multitude of critical challenges which has led to the critical challenge of global warming Another one of the most important goals of the campaign “Tipping Point Action: Citizen Participation in Times of Unprecedented Challenges” is to emphasize (which I will continue to do, over and over again), that while we need more enlightened leaders (there is a need for leaders in strategic positions to do much more than they are doing now), it is not just a matter of “them” doing more, or the corporations and countries most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to become more responsible….we are all responsible for the multitude of critical challenges which has led to the critical challenge of global warming, and we all need to be more aware of, and more responsible about, the consequences of our actions. Thus (again): “Through workshops at Neighborhood Learning Centers, and other associated local learning networks, citizens can gain greater awareness of how the investments of time, energy, and money (the ‘votes’) each of us make in our everyday circumstances become the larger economy. Wisely directed, such ‘votes’ can result in countless ways of earning a living which contribute to the peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability efforts necessary to drastically reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and minimize other related challenges. Citizens from every variety of circumstances can learn how to wisely cast such ‘votes’.” Again: Citizens from every variety of circumstances can learn how to wisely cast such ‘votes’.” And thus: It is not so much a question of “managing stakeholders” at this point, but inviting people to “become stakeholders”. People who are not sufficiently informed about critical issues are everywhere, and they are investing their time, energy, and money—voting—all the time. These are people who are unaware that there are critical problems which are getting worse, and which will almost certainly affect their ability to be disengaged from understanding what their responsibilities are as citizens—and stakeholders in a peaceful and sustainable future. While there are times when a confrontation approach is appropriate and will be constructive, what we need more of now is to greatly accelerate our capacity for collaboration. And achieving the level of collaboration needed to overcome global warming will, I believe, require a kind of faith and flexibility of agenda (a flexibility which certainly seems possible when there are so many challenges to overcome!). Herein is the value of Community Visioning Initiatives: to help people “become stakeholders”, with the faith that as they do so, and become involved in the education at the level of Neighborhood Learning Centers (and “voting” on priority challenges and priority solutions), they will discover for themselves (instead of being preached at or scolded like children gone astray) just how much we all need to learn to make this transition, and how much we need each and every one of us to contribute their skills and resources towards solutions. 4) The constellation of initiatives approach to collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding—this combination of preliminary surveys, Neighborhood Learning Centers, Community Visioning Initiatives, “sister community” relationships, etc—is a way in which “narratives” can be grown… and by participating in such collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding processes, citizens become stakeholders in “that which is being grown”. The “constellations of initiatives” approach this writer advocates for is not a narrative or agenda hidden as a problem solving approach—it is a way in which “narratives” can be grown… with no preconceived idea of “which ideas will attract consensus, and which will not”, and in contrast to a competitive match, with winners and losers. This kind of “organic growth process” is what the combination of preliminary surveys, Neighborhood Learning Centers, Community Visioning Initiatives, “sister community” relationships, etc can offer, and it is appropriate to call such activity collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding. Both the challenges to be addressed, and the solutions preferred, are grown from within the community—and by participating in such collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding processes, citizens become stakeholders in “that which is being grown”. 5) We have the experience, educational materials, and financial resources to build these kind of collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding processes in our communities. Why would not want to discover what realizing this potential would be like? My interest in Community Visioning Initiatives was inspired instantly when, in 1994, I watched a video documentary titled “Chattanooga: A Community With A Vision” (13 minutes)(see http://vimeo.com/9653090 ). The video includes many interviews and how-to details, and documents two very successful Community Visioning Initiatives organized by the non-profit organization Chattanooga Venture (Chattanooga, Tennessee USA)—one in 1984, and a follow-up in 1993. The 1984 Chattanooga Community Visioning Project (“Vision 2000”) attracted more than 1,700 participants, and produced 40 community goals—which resulted in the implementation of 223 projects and programs, the creation of 1,300 permanent jobs, and a total financial investment of 793 million dollars. What I saw in the documentary was a way of revitalizing the sense of working together with our neighbors for the greater good, so that there would be an electrifying feeling about what going to happen next—a collective revitalization of the belief that many good things would be happening in the community, and that many people who lived in the same community would have a part in it. We can have that kind of feeling in our communities, and with our fellow citizens. Even if there wasn’t a multitude of critical challenges converging at this time, we have the experience, educational materials, and financial resources to build these kind of collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding processes in our communities. Why would not want to discover what realizing this potential would be like?

Hi Stefan, The idea here is really amazing to start influencing people at grass root and generate tremendous transformation to have impact on climate change. I thought of pushing these agenda would be why not involve the key decision maker, bureacrats who attend climate negotiation meeting like COP and the participant to these events. They are already people who have been sold the idea that action is required to manage the challenge of climate change to humanity. Why not make them change agent in every domain & geography they represent and insist them to drive the community visioning initiative. Of course I agree with Robert here that CoLabs itself is biggest platform to kick start actions. I would also suggest if in timeline and costing if you could at the moment focus more on how to engage and make people initiate these discussion and the next phase of actual community initiatives and its impact capture. Wishing you all the best for the contest!

Liked the project and am going to support it. Best wishes Khalid

Some Final Thoughts [Note: Most of the following was included in a comment I made in the “Comments” section of the “Consumption Conundrum” proposal—in the contest “Consumption of Products and Services”. I include these comments here (with some comments added for emphasis) as they briefly summarize why I believe we need to work on many intertwined challenges at the same time, and why we (thus) need problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before.] …I believe this “reduce” piece can be described as a spiritual/moral issue related to climate change, and I have commented on this “reduce” piece, and another piece—“Entreprenuers” who prey on people’s fears, manipulate people’s trust, and/or encourage people to abandon hope in higher aspirations, and indulge in unhealthy, or immoral behavior—in a long commentary in the “Comments” section of my proposal “Tipping Point Action: Citizen Participation in Times of Unprecedented Challenges” (see Comment #9 above). One of the key questions I bring up, in the above mentioned long commentary is: How can the “reduce” piece be incorporated into the dominant values, social norms, and attitudes of communities around the world without somehow coming to terms with the fundamental inconsistencies between cultures which encourage indiscriminant consumption and the treasured wisdom of most religious, spiritual, and moral traditions, which emphasize a) sacrificing personal desires for the greater good of the whole b) finding contentment and quality of life while consuming less material goods and ecological services c) using resources carefully, so that there is surplus available for emergency assistance Continuing to take into account dominant values, social norms, and attitudes, consider the following challenges (3 of the 10 listed in the key Tipping Point Action document “A List of Ten Critical Challenges”—see link in “References” section of Tipping Point Action proposal): 2. “Cultures” of violence, greed, corruption, and overindulgence—which have become so common that many of us accept such as inevitable; which are a significant part of the current crises of confidence in financial markets; and which are in many ways slowing the restructuring of investment priorities needed to respond to an increasing number of other critical challenges 4. The increasing world population and its implications relating to widespread resource depletion—a) with special focus on the increasing number of people who are consuming material goods and ecological resources indiscriminately b) “More than half the world’s people live in countries where water tables are falling as aquifers are being depleted….“ 7. A marginalization of the treasured wisdom associated with religious, spiritual, and moral traditions—treasured wisdom which includes many teachings relating to sacrificing personal desires for the greater good of the whole, and finding contentment and quality of life while consuming less material goods and ecological services If we take into account the above challenges—and all the other intertwined challenges that are necessary to resolve the climate change challenge—we are talking about a degree of culture change which would seem unlikely to accomplish in a hundred years (i.e. some of these issues have been a part of human history since the beginning of time), but which we need to achieve significant progress on in about ten years. I advocate for culture change initiatives which can represent problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before --so that it is visible and accessible for those segments of communities which are ready for that kind of problem solving --so that it can be an example to others (who are not ready) of efforts to build towards communities with a healthy appreciation for each other’s strengths, communities with a well-developed capacity to resolve even the most difficult challenges—and communities which demonstrate a high level of compassion for their fellow human beings --to increase the likelihood that in the near future there will be examples of efforts comprehensive enough to keep momentum on the side of “We can do it” --with the faith that helping such communities learn a collaborative problem solving and citizen peacebuilding process (which, in itself, many people are not ready for) will help in the long run, when avoidance of many of these issues is no longer possible. I also advocate for collaborative problem solving processes which maximize citizen participation in identifying critical challenges, and identifying solutions—but have no predetermined agenda, so the process does not get bogged down on issues residents not ready for… and yet (again) does help citizens gain problem solving skill sets as preparation for when critical challenges which have not been adequately addressed must be addressed. I encourage readers of these comments to explore the “Tipping Point Action: Citizen Participation in Tiimes of Unprecedented Challenges” proposal (in the contest “Shifting Behavior in a Changing Climate”), and the comments I have made in Comment #9 (in the “Comments” section of the Tipping Point Action Proposal) on “Three Spiritual/Moral Issues Related to Climate Change”. Closing Comments If the “reduce” piece and the indiscriminant consumption piece are fully appreciated, and incorporated into many initiatives, it can provide a multiplier effect in the sense that there will be exponentially less issues to resolve—including (and especially) those related to climate change. If many people can learn to find contentment and quality of life while consuming much less, this limiting of desires at the ‘root’ will save much trouble trying to respond to the symptoms as they materialize worldwide. This is part of the ‘spiritual teachings’ element which often gets overlooked. If many “spiritual teachings” elements become incorporated (thru workshops in Neighborhood Learning Centers, as part of recurring Community Visioning Initiatives) into local community responses to the multiple challenges we face, the positive multiplier effects on all other solution-oriented initiatives would exponentially accelerate our capacity to resolve the challenges of our times. If the goal is to resolve the unprecedented challenges ahead, then it would seem necessary to exponentially increase the number of actively engaged citizens—citizens who (thus) have a much more comprehensive sense of civic duty. It's not like mobilizing for war, where there will be drill sergeants and basic training, but people should begin to realize: problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before means there is a lot of work to do. One of the keys to appreciating the value of this Tipping Point Action proposal: Community Visioning Initiatives can help people “become stakeholders”, with the faith that as they do so, and become involved in the education at the level of Neighborhood Learning Centers (and “voting” on priority challenges and priority solutions), they will discover for themselves just how much we all need to be learning to make this transition, and how much we need each and every one of us to contribute our skills and resources towards solutions.

Additional Closing Comments Re-emphasizing Two Key Questions There are three key questions I’d like to re-emphasize as part of these closing comments summarizing the benefits of my proposal “Tipping Point Action: Citizen Participation in Times of Unprecedented Challenges”. The first question has to do with what many commentators refer to as a most difficult subject, in relation to mitigating global warming/climate change: the moral and spiritual questions. The kind of questions most people do not seem to be ready for… yet. One of my questions in this category is: 1) “How can the ‘reduce’ piece be incorporated into the dominant values, social norms, and attitudes of communities around the world without somehow coming to terms with the fundamental inconsistencies between cultures which encourage indiscriminant consumption and the treasured wisdom of most religious, spiritual, and moral traditions, which emphasize a) sacrificing personal desires for the greater good of the whole b) finding contentment and quality of life while consuming less material goods and ecological services c) using resources carefully, so that there is surplus available for emergency assistance?” The two other key questions I’d like to re-emphasize focus on the potential, in universities and colleges, to explore areas of curriculum change which would be needed during a time of unprecedented culture change: 2) “What would an educational curriculum look like—for preparing survey specialists, resource coordinators for Neighborhood Learning Centers, and organizers/facilitators for Community Visioning Initiatives (and other stakeholder engagement/collaborative problem solving approaches)—if it was to be delivered in training modules similar to the kind used when the Peace Corps was scaled up?” 3) “What if there needed to be a reversal of the urbanization trend, and a demographic shift from megacities to more ecologically sustainable and villages, towns, and small cities (with much more potential to achieve carbon neutral economies)? What kind of curriculum (in colleges, other learning institutions, and in Neighborhood Learning Centers) would be most appropriate to create the knowledge base and skill sets necessary to make such a transition?” I am re-emphasizing the above three questions because they show how wide a range of challenges can be addressed by very comprehensive and well-thought Community Visioning Initiatives (preceded by preliminary surveys, and supported by many Neighborhood Learning Centers). And it should not be surprising to see proposals which advocate for problem solving and culture change on a scale most of us have never known before. After all, it took a lot of being confused about the cardinal directions on our “moral compasses” to get where we are (global warming can be understood as the cumulative result of many other unresolved issues which have, in themselves become critical challenges)—and many of the unresolved issues contributing to global warming have been around since the dawn of civilization (Ex: cultures of violence, greed, corruption, and overindulgence). So the Tipping Point Action Proposal (“Assisting with creating 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives to maximize citizen participation and accelerate solution-oriented activity”) is offered as way to help as many people as possible to “become stakeholders”—and at the same time increase their capacity to think clearly about challenges, solutions, and what they can do in their everyday behavior to accelerate solution-oriented activity (across a broad range of critical challenges). This kind of collaborative problem solving is comprehensive enough to take on difficult questions like “Where does the ‘reduce’ piece fit in?”; can be scaled up in the same way the Peace Corps was scaled up (through training modules designed and implemented by colleges and universities); and can mobilize and accelerate citizen participation and solution-oriented activity on a scale which would be sufficient to facilitate even a profound demographic shift from megacities to more ecologically sustainable and villages, towns, and small cities (with much more potential to achieve carbon neutral economies). Pilot projects—and keys to appreciating the Tipping Point Action Proposal Thus, to add to the sense of what a timeline for this proposal might look like, it seems very achievable to imagine a few colleges and universities as start up locations, and nearby communities (communities which express enough interest by way of results from preliminary surveys) to be sites for pilot projects. Most important, in these pilot projects, would be establishing a lead-in to the Community Visioning Initiatives which is a balance between citing references (in the introductions to preliminary surveys) regarding the urgency of critical challenges ahead, and allowing for the nature and character of each particular community to shape their own emphasis on challenges identified and solutions preferred. The main point always: this is collaborative problem solving for the long haul. Yes, it may be that the need for such a degree of problem solving has not yet become a well known fact… but is there anyone reading these closing comments who believes we will never need such a degree of problem solving to avoid 3 degrees C and above global warming? One of the keys to appreciating the value of this Tipping Point Action proposal: through workshops at many Neighborhood Learning Centers (support pieces for a local Community Visioning Initiative), citizens can gain greater awareness of how the investments of time, energy, and money—the “votes” each of us make in our everyday circumstances—become the larger economy. Wisely directed, such “votes” can result in countless ways of earning a living which contribute to the peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability efforts necessary to drastically reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and minimize other related challenges. Another key: Community Visioning Initiatives can help people “become stakeholders”, with the faith that as they do so, and become involved in the education at the level of Neighborhood Learning Centers (and “voting” on priority challenges and priority solutions), they will discover for themselves just how much we all need to be learning to make this transition, and how much we need each and every one of us to contribute our skills and resources towards solutions. Even if there is a “trial and error” phase during the first few years of scaling this proposal up, once the “aha” moment comes (for both organizers and community residents), there could easily be an acceleration of successes, and thus an acceleration in support for all manner of solution-oriented activity—which would assist with resolving many critical challenges at the same time. 1000 time-intensive Community Visioning Initiatives, in communities around the world, would create an exponential increase in solution-oriented investment, an exponential increase in solution-oriented employment, and an exponential increase in our collective capacity to overcome the challenges of our times. In addition, the nature of what is being proposed is such that the more collaborations and partnerships which carry out Community Visioning Initiatives as a response to the challenges of our times, the more best practices can accumulate at clearinghouse/hub websites. Part of the cultural treasures which communities pass along from generation to generation To believe that we could do this—that we have more than enough people who could implement this idea, that we have more than enough financial resources to do it, and that it could provide such a comprehensive form of collaborative problem solving—at a time when we are at the most critical point in the evolution of life on Planet Earth…should give readers a glimpse into what kind of positive and constructive solution-oriented activity could be taking place at this critical time. To get more than a glimpse, communities of people need to take the time to learn how to carry out these kind of Community Visioning Initiatives. This is a collective experience which could become part of the cultural treasures which communities pass along from generation to generation. If we should bypass learning how to do these kind of Community Visioning Initiatives in favor of learning how to do some other kind of collective experience—which will do a better job of maximizing citizen participation and accelerating solution-oriented activity at this critical time—I would like to know what that other kind of collective experience is. Here is your invitation Sometime, within the next five to ten years, each of us will need to decide, based on the information we have--and the life experiences we have had--what kind of good life we want for ourselves, and future generations, and what we are willing to do—or risk—to get it. Here is your invitation--to help create, contribute to, and participate in one or more of the thousands of Community Visioning Initiatives (or some similar stakeholder engagement/collaborative problem solving process designed to maximize citizen participation) needed to overcome the challenges of our times.