New from cpcsc.info---Planetary Distress Signal Campaign and 1000 Community Visioning Initiatives Campaign

The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative provides research for critical challenge alerts, and support for collaborative problem solving initiatives which seek to maximize citizen participation.

The CPCS Initiative is introducing two new information and advocacy campaigns for 2014: the “Planetary Distress Signal” Campaign and the “1000 Community Visioning Initiatives” Campaign.

The primary goal of these campaigns is to encourage citizens from every variety of circumstances to help create, become involved, contribute to, and participate in one or more of the thousands of Community Visioning Initiatives (or similar stakeholder engagement/collaborative problem solving processes designed to maximize citizen participation) which will be needed to exponentially accelerate solution-oriented activity at this critical time.

Special Note: All documents and resources at the CPCS Initiative website (at www.cpcsc.info) can be accessed for free, and used in any way (with or without attribution) to contribute to the goals of these two campaigns, or the goals of any other organizations working along similar lines.

Key Documents of The CPCS Initiative

“Invitation Package to Possible Board of Advisors (at www.cpcsc.info )” (589 pages; 3.65 MB)

—and the following supporting documents (most of which are included in the “Invitation Package” document):

1 page introduction
5 page introduction
20 page Introduction
1 page short version Table of Contents
27 page long version Table of Contents
“A List of Ten Critical Challenges” (1 page)
“The Potential of Community Visioning Initiatives (in 500 words)”

“Planetary Distress Signal: Many Danger Signs Flashing Red” [7 pages) (Excerpts from “Long Version Table of Contents” includes 28 point timeline of warnings about Global Warming (1988-2013)]

“Two New Campaigns from The CPCS Initiative” (6 pages) (An introduction to the “Planetary Distress Signal” Campaign, and the “1000 Community Visioning Initiatives” Campaign—and an overview of outreach efforts the CPCS Initiative will use to begin these campaigns. Includes 1 page assessment of the urgent necessity for unprecedented culture change.)

“An Invitation to Participate in Community Visioning Initiatives--as a way of carefully examining our options at this critical time” (6 pages) (part personal journey, part advocacy; includes 1 page assessment of the urgent necessity for unprecedented culture change; being offered to local newspapers and news weeklies)

All of the above documents are accessible at http://cpcsc.info/invitation-package/ .

The hoped for outcomes of the “Invitation Package” document, which are described on its title page:

“This ‘Invitation Package’ document is a compilation of observations from a wide range of vantage points, which provides both a “big picture” assessment of the critical point we are at, and more than enough evidence that we have the resources to overcome the challenges of our times. Never before in the history of life on planet Earth has there been so many opportunities for redemption.

“This 589 page document is an invitation to the 272 people listed in Section III ‘List of People Being Formally Invited to Join CPCS Initiative Board of Advisors’—and to citizens from every variety of circumstances who might read this—

to help create, become involved, contribute to, and participate in

a) 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 exponentially accelerate solution-oriented activity at this critical time

b) clearinghouse websites for both Community Visioning Initiatives (or community wide collaborative problem solving/stakeholder engagement processes) and Community Teaching and Learning Centers (Neighborhood Learning Centers).

and to

c) find what inspiration you can from the ‘Invitation Package’ resource, and use it to make a positive contribution somewhere. No association of societies ever on planet Earth has had to resolve the kind of challenges the next few generations of people will have to resolve. We are going to need all the resources, knowledge, and skills each one of us has, and we are going to need to make the best efforts we can at working together, if we are going to succeed at resolving the challenges ahead of us. If there are readers who have not yet been invited to become a part of the unprecedented effort that is needed, such readers are in every way encouraged to consider this document as their invitation.

“We have the resources to overcome the challenges of our times.

“Many hands make much work light.”

More About the Two New Campaigns

The primary goal of the “Planetary Distress Signal” Campaign (at http://cpcsc.info/planetary-distress-signal-campaign/ ) is to provide, and encourage the creation of, critical challenge assessment alerts, executive summaries, and longer compilations of evidence—which can be used as resources in the Neighborhood Learning Centers (and other educational contexts). There are currently 8 supporting documents for this campaign.

The primary goal of the “1000 Community Visioning Initiatives” Campaign (at http://cpcsc.info/1000cvi-campaign/ ) is to provide outlines for, encourage the creation of, and assist with carrying out stakeholder engagement/collaborative problem solving processes which are designed to maximize citizen participation—and which citizens from every variety of circumstances (every variety of differences in language, cultural background, economic circumstances, and belief systems) can trust, and believe in… (i.e. trust and believe that such processes will make best use of the knowledge and skills each person has to contribute). There are currently 6 supporting documents for this campaign.

These campaigns will begin through efforts in many different areas, including Twitter Outreach, and the offering of this document to many news sources.

The CPCS Campaigns Discussion Forum (at http://cpcs.proboards.com/) offers the following categories for people who are working on these campaigns to share resources and ideas: “Twitter Outreach”, “Letters and Other Contributions to Local Newspapers”, “CPCS Campaigns Discussion Forum”, “Documents for Inviting People to Serve on a Board of Advisors”, “Community Visioning Initiatives Clearinghouse, “Neighborhood Learning Centers Clearinghouse”, “Related Crowdsourcing Campaigns”, “Related Crowdfunding Campaigns”. These categories can be added to or modified as the need arises.

Concluding Comments

Readers of this message are invited to share their thoughts with this writer (and through the above mentioned CPCS Campaigns Discussion Form) on how these campaigns could be improved. Readers are also plainly and simply invited to participate and contribute to these campaigns in any way that seems to them like it might be helpful… in other words, to explore, and to experiment—so they can find out what contributions they can make, what organizations and initiatives they can support, and what resources are most valuable.

We are going to need all the resources, knowledge, and skills each one of us has, and we are going to need to make the best efforts we can at working together, if we are going to succeed at resolving the challenges ahead of us. If there are readers who have not yet been invited to become a part of the unprecedented effort that is needed, such readers are in every way encouraged to consider this document as their invitation.

Stefan Pasti, Resource Coordinator
Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability (CPCS) Initiative
www.cpcsc.info
stefanpasti@gmx.com
Rockville, MD (USA)
December, 2013

[Note: More information about Stefan Pasti is provided at http://cpcsc.info/about-stefan-pasti/ ]