It is important to remember that such significant, and often discouraging, issues can be approached with creativity and spirit. Creativity is necessary. It is how we keep our momentum to pursue change. It is also the best way to reach out to people from all backgrounds, particularly those who feel overpowered by the breadth of this challenge. Focus the Nation has a special approach that encourages campuses and institutions to find the best way to engage all audiences in the topic of climate change, and what's more, prepare them to put in their two cents about it.

Focus the Nation's academic, interdisciplinary, and solution oriented approach is what has made this educational initiative so successful and empowering for the over 1700 colleges and institutions that have signed on to hold events. Focus the Nation draws involvement from a wide audience, and prepares them to discuss practical applications for solutions to climate change. Because of this our events will be attended by over 50 US Senators and Representatives and countless local government officials.

Focus the Nation is a "feel good event," not only because we have found fun and creative ways to draw people in, but also because it inspires, empowers, and educates the coming generations to effectively shape the world they will inherit. Your right that does "Feel Good."

As the UC Santa Cruz organizer, I feel the need to brag about what's going on here!

We have over 35 professors speaking in their classes about climate change this week. That means that over 4,000 students will hear learn about the issue from different perspectives. The professors span many different departments, for a truly interdisciplinary event.

We are hosting an all day event and expecting about  300 people to come listen to local climate speakers, eat locally produced organic food, take workshops on reducing their climate footprint and finally discuss  their visions for campus sustainability.

The main environmental group on campus will be hosting a screening of the 2% Solution the night before.

For more info, visit sustainability.ucsc.edu

Focus the Nation on January 31st 2008

When Dr. Eban Goodstein thought up Focus the Nation in the fall of 2006, his colleagues said, "you must be crazy!"

Then, when Focus the Nation hit the 1,000 event mark in November of 2007, they thought, "maybe he wasn't so crazy after all" and took notice.

But now, with the 1,700 Focus the Nation events just one day away, they must be scratching their heads thinking, "looks like that idea was just crazy enough to make the difference."  

With the participation of IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri, 50 U.S. Senators and Congresspeople including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, thousands of local student, faculty, faith, community, business and political leaders, and lest we forget, Edward Norton, Focus the Nation will engage MILLIONS of Americans in the neccessary conversation on the steps we must take to address climate change in a just, economically viable and environmentally sound way.  

And that, my friends, is going to feel great.