Post by Stefan Pasti on May 2, 2012 6:26:07 GMT -5
A new one page introduction to The IPCR Initiative will be featured in the "IPCR Outreach 2012" postmailing packages, when postmailings resume in June, 2012. Title: "A Brief Introduction to The IPCR Initiative".
The text of that new introduction is below. There is also a pdf file of the document accessible at the webpage for "IPCR Outreach 2012" (at www.ipcri.net/IPCR-Outreach-2012.html )
"A Brief Introduction to The IPCR Initiative"
The beliefs that there is a critical need for an exponential increase in compassion for our fellow human beings—and that at no other time in history has there been more potential for such an increase—have urged and inspired The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative (www.ipcri.net ) to explore how such potential might be realized. This exploration has identified a set of critical challenges which require problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before, and a “constellations of initiatives” approach to resolving the critical challenges identified. The IPCR Initiative advocates for a combination of preliminary surveys to 150 local leaders, time-intensive Community Visioning Initiatives supported by many “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (offering workshops suggested by the preliminary surveys), and “sister community” relationships as a way of creating local community specific and regional specific “constellations of initiatives”.
Four Glimpses into the “Inner Life” of The IPCR Initiative
1) One of the most persistent ironies in life is that with so many opportunities to provide real assistance to fellow human beings—and with the potential for such assistance to result in happiness “to those who extend help as well as to those who receive it”—there are still many, many people in this world who cannot find a “way to earn a living” providing such assistance.
2) There can be much very useful public discourse on how to create effective local Community Visioning Initiatives, of the kind which can succeed in turning polarizing circumstances into collaborative efforts (and thus make best use of the knowledge and skills each one of us has), and which can create, develop, and accelerate a full array of solution-oriented activity.
3) People with faith can be patient, because they believe that eventually the majority of people, through pathways specific to their strengths and capacities, will find their way to solutions which are specific to their identities, cultures, and resource limitations…. And if people are trusted and respected enough to be allowed to find their own way, the result will be much more trust in the systems (such as preliminary surveys, Community Visioning Initiatives,“Community Teaching and Learning Centers”, “sister community” relationships, etc) which helped them to collaborate on identifying challenges, maximize participation in solution-oriented activity, and create more and more opportunities to encourage and support each other towards their chosen goals.
4) 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. In many ways, all of us are Stakeholders, and People Needing Assistance, and most of us are going to need to become Experienced Practitioners of some kind. There can be some consolation in the fact that if most of us become Experienced Practitioners in the art of being compassionate towards our fellow human beings, we will all have a better chance of accomplishing what no civilization has accomplished before.
Key IPCR Documents and Webpages (Note: All IPCR documents are accessible for free)
1) The webpage for the project “IPCR Critical Challenges Assessment 2011-2012” (4 draft pdfs accessible)
2) “Calling ‘the better angels of our nature’: A Multi-Angle View of the Debt Crises” (Jan. 2012; 398 pages) (Includes summaries of the evidence for most of the critical challenges identified by the above assessment project, a wide-ranging “Solutions” section, and many detailed ideas for creating a “constellation of initiatives” approach)
3) The webpage for “IPCR Outreach 2012”—outreach package includes “Sample Cover Letter B” (2 pages), “The Potential of Community Visioning Initiatives (in 500 words)”, and “Much Unrealized Potential for Community Service” (2 pages) (and this webpage has pdf files of all documents in the outreach package).
4) “A 15 Step Outline for a Community Visioning Initiative” (28 pages) (with many details which will help readers to appreciate the potential of Community Visioning Initiatives and “Community Teachings and Learning Centers”)
5) “Brief Descriptions of The Eight IPCR Concepts” (26 pages) (There could be workshops on these concepts….)
6) “A Four Page Summary of The IPCR Initiative” (key document for “IPCR Outreach 2011”)
The text of that new introduction is below. There is also a pdf file of the document accessible at the webpage for "IPCR Outreach 2012" (at www.ipcri.net/IPCR-Outreach-2012.html )
"A Brief Introduction to The IPCR Initiative"
The beliefs that there is a critical need for an exponential increase in compassion for our fellow human beings—and that at no other time in history has there been more potential for such an increase—have urged and inspired The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative (www.ipcri.net ) to explore how such potential might be realized. This exploration has identified a set of critical challenges which require problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before, and a “constellations of initiatives” approach to resolving the critical challenges identified. The IPCR Initiative advocates for a combination of preliminary surveys to 150 local leaders, time-intensive Community Visioning Initiatives supported by many “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (offering workshops suggested by the preliminary surveys), and “sister community” relationships as a way of creating local community specific and regional specific “constellations of initiatives”.
Four Glimpses into the “Inner Life” of The IPCR Initiative
1) One of the most persistent ironies in life is that with so many opportunities to provide real assistance to fellow human beings—and with the potential for such assistance to result in happiness “to those who extend help as well as to those who receive it”—there are still many, many people in this world who cannot find a “way to earn a living” providing such assistance.
2) There can be much very useful public discourse on how to create effective local Community Visioning Initiatives, of the kind which can succeed in turning polarizing circumstances into collaborative efforts (and thus make best use of the knowledge and skills each one of us has), and which can create, develop, and accelerate a full array of solution-oriented activity.
3) People with faith can be patient, because they believe that eventually the majority of people, through pathways specific to their strengths and capacities, will find their way to solutions which are specific to their identities, cultures, and resource limitations…. And if people are trusted and respected enough to be allowed to find their own way, the result will be much more trust in the systems (such as preliminary surveys, Community Visioning Initiatives,“Community Teaching and Learning Centers”, “sister community” relationships, etc) which helped them to collaborate on identifying challenges, maximize participation in solution-oriented activity, and create more and more opportunities to encourage and support each other towards their chosen goals.
4) 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. In many ways, all of us are Stakeholders, and People Needing Assistance, and most of us are going to need to become Experienced Practitioners of some kind. There can be some consolation in the fact that if most of us become Experienced Practitioners in the art of being compassionate towards our fellow human beings, we will all have a better chance of accomplishing what no civilization has accomplished before.
Key IPCR Documents and Webpages (Note: All IPCR documents are accessible for free)
1) The webpage for the project “IPCR Critical Challenges Assessment 2011-2012” (4 draft pdfs accessible)
2) “Calling ‘the better angels of our nature’: A Multi-Angle View of the Debt Crises” (Jan. 2012; 398 pages) (Includes summaries of the evidence for most of the critical challenges identified by the above assessment project, a wide-ranging “Solutions” section, and many detailed ideas for creating a “constellation of initiatives” approach)
3) The webpage for “IPCR Outreach 2012”—outreach package includes “Sample Cover Letter B” (2 pages), “The Potential of Community Visioning Initiatives (in 500 words)”, and “Much Unrealized Potential for Community Service” (2 pages) (and this webpage has pdf files of all documents in the outreach package).
4) “A 15 Step Outline for a Community Visioning Initiative” (28 pages) (with many details which will help readers to appreciate the potential of Community Visioning Initiatives and “Community Teachings and Learning Centers”)
5) “Brief Descriptions of The Eight IPCR Concepts” (26 pages) (There could be workshops on these concepts….)
6) “A Four Page Summary of The IPCR Initiative” (key document for “IPCR Outreach 2011”)