Category: Sustainability Education Forum

Citizens for Sustainability: Transition Forum—Helping Our Community Transition To A Sustainable Future, Sat., July 8, 3-4:30 p.m., St. Anthony Village City Hall Council Chambers 3301 Silver Lake Rd. Leslie McKenzie, presenter, with panelists Tim Jordan and Michael Russelle. Free! Contact: warex001@umn.edu

SEF News-Views Digest No. 173 (6-28-17)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

How do you envision the ideal city of the future? Many conscientious city planners worldwide are debating this issue, and some bold projections are surfacing. The latest issue of Scientific American (July ’17) includes three articles of special interest about future city life.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 172 (6-21-17)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

These are extraordinary times. More and more world citizens are awakening to the reality of profound life-changing challenges ahead. If there’s one saving grace with the outcome of the upset election that produced our current U.S. president—along with his appointed associates—it’s the acceleration of oppositional activism by a majority of the American population, to what may be interpreted as irresponsible, misguided, misinformed, and irrational political leadership. Not surprisingly, this accumulating backlash is also indirectly aimed at his incorrigible supporters, including radical conservative politicians and their zealous partisan agendas. It’s hard to accept the fact that these supporters comprise approximately 30 percent of the U.S. population.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 171 (6-7-17)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

Two questions: “What is your assessment of the current worldwide state of socio-economic-political conditions?” and “How hopeful are you that humanity—and the planet—will survive the accumulating impact of 7.5 billion consumers (and growing at an annual rate of 80,000 new citizens, births minus deaths)?” I think you’ll agree that the scope of all converging crises presents us with the single greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 170 (5-24-17)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins –Benjamin Franklin

As a career-long educator, I’m convinced that life-affirming and life-enhancing education holds the motivational key for world citizens to create a sustainable existence on Earth—for all flora and fauna. This belief undergirds the 2014 founding of “Sustainability Education Forum”. The term “forum” represents the original intent of the five citizens who co-founded the precursor, “Insight Forum”, the intent of which was to explore together relevant sustainability topics and issues.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 169 (5-10-17)
Clifton Ware, Editor-Publisher

My original commentary-rant (enclosed at the bottom) is longer than usual, but worth reading—if you share my deep concern about the egregious wealth chasm that separates the super rich from the rest of us.

Many experts agree that the super rich are largely using their wealth and power to transform our democracy into a plutocracy-oligarchy. I suspect most readers deplore the rapid gains in income by the super rich, far outpacing gains made by most hard-working citizens. For an elite faction of citizens, annual incomes in several fields—business, entertainment, sports, etc.—have skyrocketed obscenely. Meanwhile, most people in these fields struggle desperately to make ends meet.