Fran Stallings Answers - What she would do with an hour...

 3) If you have only one hour of the time with the whole group of 15 to 20 people what would you do?

I'm still fretting that what often pass for "environmental" stories are either warm fuzzy Wonders of Nature tales, or else depressing Ain't It Awful stories of catastrophe past current and future. Therapists note that neither upbeat happy stories nor sagas of failure are as effective as "redemptive" stories which acknowledge suffering and struggle, but show a path to recovery. I think we need to develop more of those.

So I'd like to spend an hour discussing the parallels between the redemptive "healing stories" therapists find effective, and stories which might help heal humans' relationship with our planet. We could ask attendees to bring resources for developing such stories. Examples: species saved from extinction, whistleblowers finally heeded, new approaches to energy water etc conservation moving from garage invention to green-job-creating enterprises...

The Wonders tales are fine for Aware and Care levels, and mixed audiences usually appreciate more of that. The awful cautionary tales can help convince skeptics that we're in jeopardy, but too heavy a dose risks triggering revulsion and paralysis rather than action. I think redemptive tales may be the best models for action (Dare).