The art of applied hope

David Orr has recently published an excellent essay, 'On Climate Change and Applied Hope' on the Centre for Ecoliteracy's website, which makes an important contribution to the call for action. Orr advocates a new rigour of leadership:

"that those who purport to lead us, and all of us who are concerned about climate change, environmental quality, and equity, treat the public as intelligent adults who are capable of understanding the truth and acting creatively and courageously in the face of necessity — much as a doctor talking to a patient with a potentially terminal disease. Faced with a life-threatening illness, people more often than not respond heroically. Every day, soldiers, parents, citizens, and strangers do heroic and improbable things in the full knowledge of the price they will pay. Much depends on how and how well people are led. Robert Greenleaf, one of the great students of leadership, put it this way: "It is part of the enigma of human nature that the 'typical' person — immature, stumbling, inept, lazy — is capable of great dedication and heroism if wisely led."

The Do Lectures and our work at EcoSapiens is centered on the principle of sharing enough contextual information with people in communities, business and government for them to know whats happening, then support the development of the quiet, strong leadership that's needed to make change.