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Below is the “preface” and Table of Contents of the paper “The Twilight of One Era, and the Dawning of Another”.

Brief Description

There are countless number of “things people can do in the everyday circumstances of their lives” which will contribute to peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability in their own communities and regions—and in other parts of the world.  Unfortunately, many of these “things”—in the forms of actions and initiatives (solution-oriented activity)—are not quite “coming through the mist as much as they should be”.  This paper—“The Twilight of One Era, and the Dawning of Another”—provides both an introduction to the potential of Community Visioning Initiatives, and an introduction to the potential of The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative.  These two approaches can inspire, support, and integrate many different initiatives at the same time, and thus create “constellations” of initiatives which can bring many of the countless numbers of “things” mentioned above “through the mist” and into the light.

This paper has been written, and is being shared, at a time when more and more people are coming to the conclusion that there is a need for problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before.  Even if much disagreement remains about the nature of the challenges ahead, the potential described in this paper—associated with Community Visioning Initiatives, and The IPCR Initiative—can be actualized to such a degree that significant gains can be made in many fields of activity.  Thus, while we—collectively—may not know for sure what era is coming to an end, and what era is dawning, for some time yet to come, this writer believes that there are ideas and resources enough for such a dawning to occur—and this paper is an effort to provide evidence in support of that belief.

                                                                                                                                                Stefan Pasti

                                                                                                                                                Leesburg, Virginia (USA)

                                                                                                                                                October 25, 2009

Table of Contents

Introduction             

Needed:  Problem Solving on a Scale Most of Us Have Never Known Before

The “1000Communities²” Proposal

Community Visioning Initiatives—maximizing “citizen participation in identifying

challenges, and in solution-oriented activity”

“Community Teaching and Learning Centers”—A Special Form of Community Education

“Sister Community” Relationships—“… common ground associated with increasing

compassion for our fellow human beings….”

Education Systems in Times of Crises

Community Visioning Initiatives, Job Fairs, and the “Just Transition” to More

Solution-Oriented Employment

Problems That May Arise (in preparing for, and implementing, Community Visioning

Initiatives)

On the Importance of Preliminary Surveys

The Treasured Wisdom of Religious, Spiritual, and Moral Traditions—is it in

the “tool box”?

The IPCR Initiative—Creating a Multiplier Effect of a Positive Nature

Opportunities for Local Newspapers to Contribute Valuable Community Services

Concluding Comments

Notes and Source References

[End of Post]