On Sunday, January 27th we will be hosting a workshop in Dallas and would like to invite you to join us. Terms like “sustainability, LEED, ecology, carbon emissions” are becoming more and more central to the conversation throughout our country. Mainstream publications, such as Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and USA Today, continue to dedicate front-page coverage to the issue of global warming, environmental devastation and renewable energy innovations. But even as awareness builds, there is much left to be done!
If a time can be identified that the general public is becoming more aware of our environmental crisis, it is now. But now is also the ideal time to build upon the broad consensus that may be developing, and to foster awareness within our local communities and neighborhoods. What we cannot affect nationally, we can locally.
Since 1993, the Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) has utilized a series of six discussion courses to help build community awareness of environmental issues. From their introduction in a handful of Portland workplaces, they have since spread to all fifty states, and over 80,000 people have taken part in these discussions. Utilizing a national network of local discussion course organizers, discussion courses are being organized in new communities everyday. And that brings us back to why we are coming back to Dallas.
The NWEI discussion courses were first offered in Dallas beginning in January 2006, and following that first course, another five courses were quickly organized. From that initial group of discussion course participants, we have been building a grassroots network to help spread the word about the courses, and to help continue to build awareness of sustainability in Dallas. There are now hundreds of people in Dallas who have taken part in these courses and many are helping to grow this community as we speak. The January workshop will offer a chance to learn practical skills for organizing discussion courses, interact with kindred spirits, and to hear inspiring stories of personal and community transformation that have occurred as a result of the courses. You will also have a chance to help us envision a sustainable future for Dallas, take steps to build the network, and begin to “be the change you wish to see in the world.”
We live in a time of profound environmental crisis, and one of inspiring opportunity. We hope that you can join us to talk about building a sustainable world, one community at a time.
With gratitude for the Earth,
Martin Tull
National Outreach Coordinator
Northwest Earth Institute
