Projects now on the table…
• Black Carbon Project. Black carbon, as the Wikipedia says, “was the first pollutant to be recognized as having significant environmental impact yet one of the last to be studied by the contemporary atmospheric research community.” Black carbon warms the Earth in part by reducing albedo, the ability to reflect sunlight, when deposited on snow and ice, and so is of particular concern in the Arctic region, which is already under tremendous environmental stress. We will be working next year with a local partner to highlight this growing problem, measure its impact, and reduce or offset its effect locally. Although small in the global scale of things, this project could have high visibility, and therefore real symbolic value in catalyzing greater awareness of this little-known issue.
• The Big Picture Project. The thing that’s really missing from most discussions of the environmental crisis is the Big Picture, and without that, it’s pretty hard to develop the kind of insight that leads to good decisions. The Big Picture we’re talking about includes not only a review of the actual state of the Earth’s subsystems — atmosphere, ocean, fresh water, soil, forests, biodiversity — it also includes historic, aesthetic, psychological, and spiritual perspectives on the problem, as well as a thorough grounding in systems science and evolution. The idea is to make the Big Picture so clear that it saves future activists from having to recreate the research, while unlocking and releasing their passion, courage, creativity and energy. To be presented in white paper, ebook, and online video formats.
• Rebalancing the World Project: Yin, Yang and the Return of the Feminine. There’s nothing better than a good map when you need to know where you are and where you’re going. We’re all used to cartographic maps, but there are other kinds: histomaps, timelines, and, especially in the sciences, time-variable graphs, which chart change in one or more variables over time, making quick visual sense of complex mountains of data (think of the global population curve, or Keeling’s Curve). We’re combining histomaps, timelines and graphs in presentations that explore the patterns of environmental and social change over time, with particular emphasis on the evolving role of women as “conservators.” To be presented in white paper, ebook, and online video formats.
• Organizing the Organization. The least glamorous, but absolutely essential tasks of internal organization and external outreach, including setting up bookkeeping and other office systems, shepherding our 501(c)3 application through the IRS, developing a fundraising program and collateral material, and developing a permanent website, YouTube channel, FaceBook presence, and Twitter feed.
Luminous Ground 