"When millions of people can use their intelligence in their own households and municipalities to wage a grassroots "war" on waste, environmental degradation, over-consumption, inefficiency, local unemployment, etc., we will all be part of the sustainability, peace and global justice movement. Register for the Spring Master lecture series to find out about this opportunity; consult the master lecture series webpage at.....

Since the Earth Summit in 1992 the world's nations have been committed to reconciling economic growth with environmental preservation by promoting "sustainable development". A strong program for sustainability is maintaining economic growth within the regenerative and absorptive capacities of the earth; not to do so diminishes the capacity of the planet to support living communities.

Ultimately sustainability is a new historical insight because we need to understand how we have become trapped in ever-higher levels of material consumption that correlates with a growing polarization of rich and poor. Only then will we be able to motivate people to experiment with new life-styles and act to implement the more efficient and self-reliant socioeconomic forms that already exist. A strong program for sustainability means we transform our own levels of over-consumption and shrink our demands on other nation's environmental resources so that there is a just balance in international equity.

After September 11th, our lecture series has taken on a more serious mission. Our focus on "world sustainability" signals that we aspire to inform people about the sustainability option to the current "war on terrorism", which we think will only deepen world conflicts. When millions of people can use their intelligence in their own households and municipalities to wage a grassroots "war" on waste, environmental degradation, overconsumption, inefficiency, local unemployment, etc., we will all be part of the sustainability, peace and global justice movement.

Through the lecture series process we also aspire to demonstrate that democratic discourse can include more citizen participation, which is essential on a world scale to counter the envy and hate of those who have been marginalized, excluded and trapped in despotic regimes. Thus, local citizen's organization representatives will form question panels for every lecture and indicate how local actions are ongoing and are open to wider participation