Getting from Here to There

Stewart, G. (2015). Getting from Here to There. Solutions 6(1): 82-83. https://thesolutionsjournal.com/article/getting-from-here-to-there/

Reviews Book Review

Getting from Here to There

by Gord Stewart REVIEWING Insights from 45 global thought leaders Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future: Insights from 45 Global Thought Leaders Edited by Robert Costanza and Ida Kubiszewski

The ever-pressing challenge for the current generation of mankind is to develop a shared vision that is both desirable to the vast majority of humanity and ecologically sustainable.

Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future offers a broad, critical discussion on what such a future should or can be, with global perspectives written by some of the world's leading thinkers, namely Wendell Berry, Van Jones, Frances Moore Lappe, Peggy Liu, Hunter Lovins and Gus Speth.

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today. This vision must be of a world that we all want, a world that provides permanent prosperity within the Earth’s biophysical constraints in a fair and equitable way to all of humanity, to other species, and to future generations.”

WorldThe Scientific book is divided into four parts www.worldscientific.com and takes a step-by-step approach. Part one, ‘Introduction,’ includes four chapters on visions and visioning. I have been involved in my share of visioning exercises over the years and admit that sometimes my eyes glazed over. But there is a convincing case here for the value of the process.

Chapter Two is a timeless piece— drawn from a talk given by Donella Meadows at the 1994 meeting of the International Society for Ecological Economics in San José, Costa Rica. “We need clarity about our goals,” she said.

“We need to know where we are going.

We need to have vision. And that vision has to be articulated, it has to be socially shared, and discussed, and formulated.”

She went on to advise: “Remember, when you envision, that you are trying to state, articulate, or see what you really want, not what you think you can get.”

Part two, titled ‘Future Histories: Descriptions of a Sustainable and Desirable Future and How We Got There,’ includes nine chapters, all assuming that we are in the future and have already created the world we want. They describe this future and reflect on how we achieved it.

Contributors in this section include

Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future Insights from 45 global thought leaders Editors

Robert Costanza Ida Kubiszewski

Costanza Kubiszewski

usiness-as-usual is sure to deliver us a future that is both unsustainable and undesirable, with climate change arguably our most pressing problem. Had we begun to tackle it when first identified, incremental changes and modest actions along the way might have done it. With all the procrastinating, transformative change is now necessary.

The same goes for other issues, from biodiversity loss and species extinction to air pollution and declining water quality. With the range and magnitude of environmental challenges we face, it’s easy to become discouraged.

That’s why we need a focus and a plan. The focus is a clear vision of the kind of future we want. The plan is how to get there from here. This book offers both. It is a compilation of thoughtful articles (essays, really) from a broad range of academics, research scientists, policy specialists, politicians, and others—thinkers all.

Readers of this journal will find familiar thoughts here, as most of the chapters are versions of articles previously published in these pages. But the book isn’t just a bunch of ‘reprints’— there is great value in having them all between two covers. Together, they weave a compelling vision of the future and suggest multiple and complementary routes to getting there.

The opening paragraph says quite simply, “Creating a shared vision of a sustainable and desirable future is the most critical task facing humanity

Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future

Creating a Sustainable and Desirable Future

ISBN 978-981-4546-88-1

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World Scientific

World Scientific Publishing Co., 2014

Herman Daly, Joshua Farley, Tim Jackson, and Juliet Schor.

Part three, ‘Pieces of the Puzzle: Elements of the World We Want’ ranges over 12 chapters. Wendell Berry’s short piece, ‘What Else?,’ describes his wish for the coal economy of Eastern Kentucky to be transformed into a sustainable local economy. It will ring true with others concerned about long-term reliance on our extractive industries.

Another chapter, ‘The Future of Roads: No Driving, No Emissions, Nature Reconnected,’ is authored by what would seem an unlikely pair—a landscape ecologist and a civil engineer.

Part four, ‘Getting There’ focuses on practical solutions and is my favorite section of the book. Included in the 21 chapters are ones on sustainable shrinkage, millennium consumption goals, building bridges between science and policy, and how to apply resilience thinking. Contributors here include Van Jones, Hunter Lovins, Bill McKibben, David Orr, and William Rees.

Reviews Book Review To achieve the vision of a different and better future, policy makers and business leaders among others will have to buy into it. To this end, it would be very helpful if elected officials at every level had to study and pass a course we’ll call “Sustainability 101” before taking office. The same should go for all business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs. In fact, it should be universally required—to

help provide the knowledge, skills, and understanding needed for thoughtful and appropriate living in the 21st century. This book could surely serve as a core text for the course. It’s both a good read and a great reference.

The book’s last chapter (by Peggy Liu) provides a fitting conclusion to a wide ranging discussion. It includes details of the China Dream campaign, with a goal no less than to reimagine

prosperity arising from a healthy and fulfilling way of life. She notes that it can tap into traditional Chinese values closely aligned with sustainability— personal health, respect, harmony with nature, and avoiding waste. Not a bad idea, given that chasing the American Dream, an activity widely embraced in the developed world, is a big part of what has got us into this predicament in the first place.

Media Reviews Syrian Refugee Women Put on their Own Antigone

by Audrey Pence Syrian refugee women put on their own version of Sophocles’ play, Antigone, from December 10 to 12, 2014 at Al Madina Theatre in Beirut, Lebanon.

Antigone is about a young woman who buries her beloved brother, even though to bury him goes against the ruler’s decree that he lie in public shame because he died fighting for the throne in a civil war in Thebes. It is the story of a resilient and strong-willed woman, Antigone, who is led by what she believes to be right—the story of an individual struggling against the state.

Not only did the play’s director Omar Abu Saada work with the women to produce the powerful production, he also spent time with them in workshops discussing the meaning of the play and helped them wrestle with difficult moral questions, such as loss and moving forward.

In an interview with The Guardian, Saada said, “The main theme of this text is a very important one for these women—insurgency, rebellion, disobedience—did they do right or wrong in deciding to ask for freedom?”

UK Department for International Development

Syrian refugee women in Lebanon worked together to put on a production of Antigone, using the play to discuss greater themes of war and loss.

Since the revolution against Syrian president Bashar al Assad began in 2011, an estimated 200,000 Syrians have died, and the country is in ruins.

Many Syrian women related to the strong character of Antigone. Still others related to her sister, Ismene, who was too fearful to join Antigone in the choices that she made. One woman said, “I see myself in Ismene; she wants to be strong, but she can’t be.”

The production provided a space for these refugee women to come

together for laughter, tears, dialogue, and a chance to express themselves and the strife of their homeland through theatre. The final line was spoken

by Sokari, a refugee from Damascus, and speaks to the daily struggle these women face: “We didn’t realize how weak we were in front of the machine of war, that we kept feeding it until it came and swallowed everything. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, all we know is that the Thebes that we used to know is finished.”

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