Expanding "Public Participation" in Hard Times
I wrote an article "Expanding 'public participation' in hard times" for the International Journal of Public Participation which, although it did not meet their requirements, expressed something I...
View ArticleAre Disrupted Town Hall Meetings an Evolutionary Opportunity?
Disturbance represents diverse life energies trying to find their placein the next wave of Life.  Dear friends, We are watching some intense disturbances in the public debate over health care....
View ArticleAn Evolutionary Spiritual Activist Perspective
The blog entry below is a specific application of the principle of using crises to facilitate the life-affirming evolution of civilization. This perspective is part of a larger spiritual activist...
View ArticleDiverse apocalyptic sensibilities conversing...
Dear Matt, Â A number of people have sent me the apocalyptic Kingsnorth/Monbiot correspondence below and, now that you have sent it, I have read it. . Â It brought to mind one of my mentors,...
View ArticlePublic Conversation, the News Media, and Us
US media are abuzz with the controversy over health care reform and disruptions of so-called "town hall meetings". Â News media could contribute to the health of democracy far more by giving at least...
View ArticleUsing Crises to Build Community Capacity and Pursue New Opportunities
In my hometown of Eugene, Oregon, the City has chosen to explore the issues of climate change and energy challenges through the lens of six topics – * Buildings and Energy * Food and Agriculture *...
View ArticleCalifornia Democracy: Crisis meets opportunity
It seems the there's a hot proposal in California to convene a constitutional convention in the form of a randomly selected citizen deliberative council -- and to make the ability to do that, as...
View ArticleHaiti - There's so much more to the story...
The story about the Haiti earthquake is pretty clear: A horrible thing has happened to a lot of people. They need help, and the world is moving to help them. True enough, as far as it goes. But there...
View ArticleDemocracy in Crisis: Breakdown and Breakthrough
I'll talk about democracy in a minute. But first a note about crises and evolution.Evolutionary science tells us that crises and catastrophes are cauldrons of co-creativity, generating new...
View ArticleLearning from Haiti: Seven Ways to Respond to Crises
This article was written for a progressive magazine which asked for an updated version of my earlier essay on the Haitian crisis. http://bit.ly/7pJ0iF I decided that rather than updating it I would...
View ArticleAn insightful artlcle about the dynamics of civilizational transition
Check out this website... particularly its critique of "traditional" sustainability activism and the need for "greatly enhanced capacity for rapid adaptive social learning" -- which is largely what my...
View ArticleParticipatory Budgeting Practices, Places, Games and Resources
Recently I've seen a swirl of information (mostly on the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation listserv) about participatory budgeting. Below, you'll find a sampling of this info, in...
View ArticleWill powerful conversations solve state and local budget crises?
What would happen if professional organizers and facilitators of dialogue and deliberation decisively and publicly demonstrated their capacity to help cities and states solve their biggest problem --...
View ArticleUseful info on Japanese nuclear crisis
Probably virtually everyone reading this is already aware of the triple crises in Japan -- mega-earthquake, mega-tsunami, and mega-nuclear catastrophe. I have found it often difficult to find truly...
View ArticleInfo and Perspective on the Budget Crisis
So much is happening under the guise of "the budget crisis" that I thought it might be useful to deconstruct this issue a bit. I am concerned, in particular, because a number of efforts are emerging...
View ArticleMore good thinking about the "budget crisis"
The three articles below describe major approaches to addressing the deficit -- for health care, taxes and the military -- that would have a greater impact on America's budget woes than ANYTHING being...
View Articlethe visions we need for life
Searching through some old emails I ran across a letter I wrote eleven years ago to a friend, Barbara Shipka, about an article she wrote to articulate the transformational potential of a global threat...
View ArticleExploring #Occupy 2.0 - Part 1 - Brilliant #OWS foreclosure activism
During the next week I'll be reporting on a wide variety of initiatives and inquiries arising among Occupy activists in this transition phase of their movement. But first I want to share one of the...
View ArticleTransforming Occupy's challenge into transformation and innovative...
Two weeks ago I had an intense conversation with a colleague working with a local Occupy community. A small faction had recently done a protest that - although physically nonviolent - was not...
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