5 Page Introduction to Three Part Series (introducing new website "Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability")

7/29/2019 5 Page Introduction to Three Part Series (introducing new website "Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustain

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An Introduction to Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability

I am making this post to share with readers a new website: Community Peacebuilding and Cultural

Sustainability (at www.cpcsc.info ).

The new website consolidates four websites (which have been archived), and thus includes

homebases for The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative,

Community Visioning Initiatives Clearinghouse, Community Teaching and Learning Centers

Clearinghouse, and my Collected Writings. The new website also includes a homebase for my

Returning to College Coursework project, two Discussion Forums, and a Key Links section.

While it seems that I have been working outside the boxes of many different fields for some time

(interfaith peacebuilding, community development, citizen engagement, affordable education, violence

prevention, community sustainability, etc)there are common threads running through all of my

Projects and Writings. I am now describing those common threads by grouping them under the heading

Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability.

I am introducing this new website with a Three Part Series, which consists of the following documents:

A List of Ten Critical Challenges (Part 1) (5 pages)

A Constellation of Initiatives Approach to Overcoming the Ten Critical Challenges (Part 2) (9 pages)

The Treasured Wisdom of Religious, Spiritual, and Moral Traditionsis it is the tool box? (Part 3) (27

pages)

All 3 documents in the series (and this 5 page introduction to the series) are accessible at

http://cpcsc.info/about-this-website/

About A List of Ten Critical Challenges (Part 1)

Often we hear that the most important issues on our minds are the economy, or jobs. The List of

Ten Critical Challenges is more specific. The list includes 1) Global warming and reducing carbon

emissions 2) Cultures of violence, greed, corruption, and overindulgence 3) The end of the era of

cheap energy 4) The increasing world population and its implications relating to widespread resource

depletion 5) Current trends indicate we are creating more and more urban agglomerations 6) The

U.S. and many other countries will enter the next 15 to 20 years burdened by substantial public debt

and 7) A marginalization of the treasured wisdom associated with religious, spiritual, and moral

traditions. Also included are some quotes from longer compilations of evidence (by this writer), quotes

which support my assessment of these issues as critical challenges of our times. (Note: the actual List

of Ten Critical Challenges, with supporting evidence, is also accessible in a one page document version.]

We must be honest with ourselves: we are in uncharted territory, for there is no culture or association

of societies that ever existed on planet Earth which has had to resolve the kind of challenges the next

few generations of people will have to resolve. And yetpeople who are not sufficiently informed about

the challenges of our times are everywhere, and they are investing their time, energy, and money

votingall the time. I am hoping that the List of Ten Critical Challenges piece can help facilitate more

meaningful discussions on the subject of the most pressing challenges of our times.
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About A Constellation of Initiatives Approach to Overcoming the Ten Critical Challenges (Part 2)

The Constellations of Initiatives piece is an effort to describe collaborative problem solving and citizen

peacebuilding processes which might represent problem solving on a scale most of us have never

known before. This writer advocates for a combination of preliminary surveys, Community Visioning

Initiatives, Community Teaching and Learning Centers, sister community relationships, local currency,

and local community newspapers (contributing community service) as a starting point for accelerating

solution-oriented activity, and creating more close-knit communitiescommunities with a healthy

appreciation for each others strengths, communities with a well-developed capacity to resolve even the

most difficult challengesand communities which demonstrate a high level of compassion for their

fellow human beings.

Community Visioning Initiatives can be described as a series of community meetings designed to

facilitate the process of brainstorming ideas, organizing the ideas into goals, prioritizing the goals, and

identifying doable steps towards those goals. One of the main goals of Community Visioning Initiatives is

to maximize citizen participation in identifying challenges, and in solution-oriented activity. [Note: For a

detailed look at the kind of Community Visioning Initiatives I advocate for, see A 15 Step Outline for aCommunity Visioning Initiative (28 pages) (2008).]

My interest in Community Visioning Initiatives was inspired instantly when, in 1994, I watched a

documentary titled Chattanooga: A Community With A Vision (13 minutes). The video documents two

very successful Community Visioning Initiatives organized by the non-profit organization

Chattanooga Venture (Chattanooga, Tennessee USA)one in 1984, and a follow-up in 1993. The 1984

Chattanooga Community Visioning Project (Vision 2000), attracted more than 1,700 participants, and

produced 40 community goalswhich resulted in the implementation of 223 projects and programs,

the creation of 1,300 permanent jobs, and a total financial investment of 793 million dollars. For more

about Community Visioning Initiatives, see The Potential of Community Visioning Initiatives (in 500

words).]

Community Teaching and Learning Centers have the potential to be

1) a multi-purpose support center for implementing Community Visioning Initiatives

2) a neighborhood meeting place and workshop center and

3) a critical part of a low cost lifelong learning education system (which would include questionnaires

and surveys, neighborhood learning centers and neighborhood learning networks, and Community

Visioning Initiatives).

Creating the knowledge base and skill sets necessary to resolve the challenges of our times will require

encouraging as much formal and informal meetings as possible between neighborsand people living in

the same local community. Creating many Community Teaching and Learning Centers can provide

placesin local neighborhoodsfor discussion, information sharing, mutual support and

encouragement, fellowship and friendshipso that the exchanging of information and resources will

also include further development of the kind of close-knit communities described above (in paragraph 1

on this page). [For more about Community Teaching and Learning Centers, see The Potential of

Community Teaching and Learning Centers (in 500 words).]
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About The Treasured Wisdom of Religious, Spiritual, and Moral Traditionsis it is the tool box? (Part

3)

The Treasured Wisdomis it in the tool box? piece is an effort to give special attention and emphasis

to the need for an exponential increase in compassion for our fellow human beings. The 27 page

Treasured Wisdom document offers 13 observations/insights (excerpts from a variety of sources)

which provide evidence that we are a critical point in the history of life on Earthand 8 questions which

illustrate that we are ill prepared to overcome the challenges ahead, and have far to go to avoid a

disastrous future. This writer believes we cannot afford to exclude from our tool box (needed to

overcome the challenges of our times) the time-tested sources which have helped people learn

compassion over many centuries. What we need to do instead is learn how to cultivate the time-tested

sources so that the sources yield the treasured wisdom. Thus, in the Treasured Wisdom piece, I also

share some ideas and commentary on the theme of integrating spiritual wisdom into the everyday

circumstances of community life (i.e. realistic and practical ways for making best use of the wisdom

human beings have accumulated over 5,000 years of human history).

The Treasured Wisdom piece begins with the following quote:

there are truths which none can be free to ignore, if one is to have that wisdom through which life

can become useful. These are the truths concerning the structures of the good life and concerning the

factual conditions by which it may be achieved.

How many of us know what is possible along the lines of wisdom and compassion?

Many of us could be much more familiar with what is possible along the lines of wisdom and

compassion. Unfortunately, much of the real treasured wisdom of religious, spiritual, and moral

traditions now seems to be hiddenand thus in need of being re-discovered. These hidden resources

include teachings which inspire and encourage people to

a) place a high priority on the development of truth, virtue, love, and peace; and on living disciplined

lives for the purpose of adhering to truth, cultivating virtue and love, and maintaining the pathways to

enduring peace

b) sacrifice personal desires for the greater good of the whole

c) find contentment and quality of life while consuming less material goods and ecological services

d) prefer peacebuilding which supports and actualizes mutually beneficial understandings, forgiveness,

and reconciliationand which abstains from violent conflict resolutionas a way of bringing cycles of

violence to an end

e) use resources carefully, so that there is surplus available for emergency assistance

f) support community life and cultural traditions which bring to the fore what is often hidden: how

many good people there are, how many ways there are to do good, and how much happiness comes to

those who extend help, as well as to those who receive it.

Here are four key points which are emphasized in this Treasured Wisdom piece:

1) Human morality is not a constantit is not something which is the same throughout the centuries of

human existence; and thus it is something which can become degraded or raised up, depending on the

leanings of human aspirations.


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2) The challenges of our times are such that it is now critical for us to access the storehouses of wisdom

which have accumulated over the many centuries of human experience, and which have been confirmed

again and again as essential to individual well-being and social harmony by the saints, sages, spiritual

leaders, and sincere practitioners of all religious, spiritual, and moral traditions.

3) If many people can learn to find contentment and quality of life while consuming much less, this

limiting of desires at the root will save much trouble trying to respond to the symptoms as they

materialize worldwide. This is part of the spiritual teachings element which often gets overlooked.

4) One of the most persistent ironies in life is that with so many opportunities to provide real assistance

to fellow human beingsand with the potential for such assistance to result in happiness to those who

extend help as well as to those who receive itthere are still many, many people in this world who

cannot find a way to earn a living providing such assistance. I believe that there are many serious

challenges before us now, and that we will need to invest our time, energy, and money very wisely to

overcome these challenges. How can we do it? We must help each other.

There are 13 sections to this 27 page Treasured Wisdom document:

Introduction

Evidence of the serious nature of our collective circumstances (13 Observations)

Why the above 13 Observations are included in this document (commentary)

Are we prepared to resolve the challenges of our times? (8 Questions)

The Great Responsibility on Representatives of Religious, Spiritual, and Moral Traditions

6 propositions which I believe will become self-evident truths in the years and decades ahead

The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative

Some Excerpts from Brief Descriptions of The Eight IPCR Concepts

On the importance of surveys and questionnaires in determining workshop content

24/7 Peace Vigils

Three Additional Observations

Four short documents which summarize my work up to this point

The Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability Website (at www.cpcsc.info )

Concluding Comments (Note: The same Concluding Comments section have been included at the end

each part in this Three Part series. Thus, I am giving much emphasis to those comments.)

Who I am sharing this information with

I am sharing information about this new Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability website

with two specific communities of people:

1) professors and instructors teaching college level courses in the areas of peacebuilding, conflict

resolution, development, community education, and sustainability

2) discussion forums at websites serving people who are researchers, instructors, practitioners,

students, etc in the above fields, and in related fields.

I am hoping that this Three Part Series might generate some discussion among instructors, students,

practitioners, etc which would raise the quality of ideas, discussion, and application in many topic areas
http://www.cpcsc.info/http://www.cpcsc.info/


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including: critical challenges assessment, community assessment questionnaire design, collaborative

problem solving and citizen peacebuilding processes, participatory democracy, neighborhood learning

centers, curriculum design for neighborhood learning centers, low cost lifelong learning education,

violence prevention, realistic parameters for sustainable human habitats, the community service

component of local newspapers, sister community relationships, local currencies, workforce

development, and re-valuations of our individual, and collective, moral compasses. To facilitate the

exchange of ideas and best practices, two Discussion Forums have been created at the www.cpcsc.info

website:

1) Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability Discussion Foruma starting point for

discussing the webpage topics which make up the website, and whether or not they contribute to a

definition of Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability

2) Returning to College Coursework Discussion Foruma starting point for what an educational

curriculum for preparing survey specialists, resource coordinators for Community Teaching and Learning

Centers, organizers for Community Visioning Initiatives, etc would look like if it was to be college

coursework (and experiential learning)and what it would look like if it was to be delivered at the

neighborhood learning center level

Concluding Comments

I believe there is much that can be done to generate goodwill and promote peace that has not yet been

done. I am hoping this new website will provide one kind of clearinghouse for discussing, exploring, and

applying ideas, intuition, and insight in fields relating to Community Peacebuilding and Cultural

Sustainability.

I welcome and offer my best wishes to all who come to visit the Community Peacebuilding and Cultural

Sustainability website at www.cpcsc.info . I hope you find something there which is helpful to your

work, and I hope you share links and resources there which may be helpful to others.

For a Peaceful and Sustainable Future,

Stefan Pasti, Resource Coordinator

Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability

www.cpcsc.info
http://www.cpcsc.info/http://www.cpcsc.info/http://www.cpcsc.info/http://www.cpcsc.info/http://www.cpcsc.info/http://www.cpcsc.info/

Documents

5 Page Introduction to Three Part Series (introducing new website "Community Peacebuilding and Cultural Sustainability")