A New Year's Request for Feedback
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Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year. Sorry, no Podcasts this month. We’ll be back in Feb.
We’re taking some time off from the show for the holidays but the work goes on…
Being environmentally conscious, active members of the green community, I am writing to ask for your feedback from the streets, and for your input.
While we did not end 2009 with the decisive treaty we were all hoping for from Copenhagen, if nothing else we should draw motivation from the failure, approaching 2010 with greater vigor in crafting new strategies and tactics that inspire a more carbon neutral culture. To this ends…
This Sunday 1/10/10 Connie and I will be attending the Northeast Regional Roundtable for The Climate Project in NYC. We will be meeting with the directors of TCP to discuss the direction of the organization and how we can be of the most service in 2010 and beyond. I’m asking for your feedback so that we can make good use of this opportunity to refine the organization’s strategy.
TCP has been an informational organization coordinating lectures on the realities of Climate Change and the underlying science. To date more than 5 million people have seen our lectures, the question is, is this enough? Since we are not yet living sustainably, I’d argue no, it is not enough.
Please consider the following questions.
How could your organization benefit from TCP resources?
What services can we provide businesses, schools, municipalities and individuals?
Is there a way to apply TCP manpower and connections to facilitate action and implement solutions as opposed to just heralding the problems?
In your observations, what specifically is missing for people in tackling this issue?
What barriers do people have to implementing carbon reduction modifications?
Who should we be going after with our educational campaign, how do we reach them, how do we frame the discussion so they will hear the message?
We welcome any input you may have about how to apply our network of 3000 worldwide volunteers backed by Mr. Gore and world scientists to the challenge of changing the way we consume, provide energy, farm, eat, build, live, grow… In short, exist. Please be as specific and candid as you can, I look forward to hearing from you all. ***RESPOND HERE***
Thanks for Listening, Keep Thinkin’ Green.
Greg & Connie
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick note to thank those of you who took a minute to comment on my request for how The Climate Project might be of assistance going forward. Knowing what many of the challenges are, we can go about addressing them. You’ll be happy to know that we had ample opportunity to discuss your comments at the World Cafe.
Something I found really encouraging was that there were few real “Shockers”, but your comments did move things out of the clouds and into conscious discussion. Regardless of the varied backgrounds of you whom I asked for comment and those at the meeting, the observations were largely met as something familiar, perhaps not really considered, but something we had each seen in one form or another personally. More of an “Oh yea, I know what you mean, that’s so true.” as opposed to “Really?!?” . That tells me we are on the right track and pluged into the current realities.
One thing I find to be great about the organization is that we have a broad base of career expertise reflected in our members, so whether the concern is on industrial practices or education, parenting, mobilizing opposition, communicating, or political lobbying, there are presenters with professional experience in those areas. Much of the discussion centered on how to more effectively get that human expertise to where it would do the most good, most quickly. How do we let people do-what-they-do-well for the cause of preserving life on this planet in a unified, efficient way? The systems of the organization are now under scrutiny for how to best accomplish this.
As an aside, something else that I will mention because I find it really amazing. This is a volunteer organization where people are expected to give some of their personal time to the cause of promoting sustainability. Of the hundreds of presenters I have met personally over the last 3 years, in addition to their personal time, regardless of what they did before, virtually every individual has either left their professions, or modified their professional pursuits to dedicate themselves more fully to this issue. I mention it because it is something I also notice in all of you. I just want to draw attention to this fact for a second because I think that is truly remarkable and reflective of the changes taking place all around us that we do not often take time to appreciate.
In the next month or so we expect to hear how things might start to coalesce between TCP and our sister organizations Repower America, The Alliance for Climate Protection, and We Can Solve It and how we might more accurately define the roles that we can play in implementing sustainable practices.
Thank you sincerely for your comments, and for paying attention to this issue and how people around you are responding to it. If you think of anything else please feel free to contact me any time I welcome your valuable input.
Be well