Peacebuilding and the “Triple Threat”

The two questions below will be more meaningful for readers with some familiarity of the range and depth of the challenges associated with the “triple threat” of widespread resource depletion, climate change, and the “peaking” of our finite supplies of oil. Even so, I do believe that most readers will understand this writer’s intention is to affirm his belief in the serious nature of the challenges of our times, and suggest some fields of activity which need to be much more developed than they are now.

The two questions:

1) Consider the goal of reducing the incidence of violence, and all the costs associated with war. How are we going to do better at that in a post peak oil era, than we did in the pre-peak oil era?

2) Consider the goal of increasing emergency assistance to people with basic human needs. How are we going to do better at that in a post peak oil era, than we did in the pre-peak oil era?

There are serious challenges ahead.

Can We Do It?

This is a message from The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative. The Eight IPCR Concepts (“Community Good News Networks,” “Community Faith Mentoring Networks,” “Spiritual Friendships,” “Questionnaires That Help Build Caring Communities,” “Community Visioning Initiatives for Peace,” “Spiritually Responsible Investing,” “Ecological Sustainability,” and “IPCR Journal/Newsletters”) can contribute to the creation and mobilization of resources necessary to arrive at local community and regional specific resolutions to the above questions. The IPCR Initiative can help make every contribution count for as much as it possible can. And we will be needing every contribution to count for as much as it possibly can.

We will need not only the resources which innovators can prove the existence of by scientific method; we will also need the resources which people of faith believe exist as a result of inner experience. We have both the need—and the potential—to be much more multifaceted and participation-friendly in our approaches to peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability. Can we do it? The IPCR Initiative is dedicated to increasing the numbers of people who are confident that we can do it.

The Spring 2007 Issue of The IPCR Journal/Newsletter

The IPCR Initiative is now offering the Spring 2007 issue of The IPCR Journal/Newsletter (36 pages), which includes:

1) 16 observations and statistics from authoritative sources, offered as evidence of the depth and range of the challenges of our times

2) The IPCR Spring 2007 “Building Caring Communities” Questionnaire—60 questions which, I believe, need to be asked more often so that communities can both understand the depth and range of the challenges of our times, and respond with appropriate compassion, skill, and urgency (Note: All responses will be compiled and organized, a summary and conclusions will be formulated, and the resulting document will be available 3 weeks after November 15, 2007.)

3) A list of 37 well-established service-oriented initiatives (whose expertise may not as yet be fully utilized by local community and regional efforts)

4) A “List of 105 Related Fields of Activity”—provided as evidence of the countless numbers of ‘things people can do in the everyday circumstances of their lives’ which will contribute to peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability efforts, in their own communities and regions—and in other parts of the world.

This Spring 2007 issue of The IPCR Journal/Newsletter demonstrates that it is possible for local and regional initiatives to assist with outreach, partnership formation, consensus building and development of service capacity associated with a significant number of peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability efforts, all at the same time.

This Spring 2007 issue of The IPCR Journal/Newsletter is free. To request a copy (as an attachment to an e-mail, or by post mail) please use the following contact information:

Contact Information

Stefan Pasti, Founder and Outreach Coordinator
The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative
P.O. Box 223561 Chantilly, VA 20153 (USA)
(703) 209-2093 stefanpasti@ipcri.net

[Note: The website for The IPCR Initiative is located at www.ipcri.net. While the IPCR website does provide much useful information (including descriptions of six of The Eight IPCR Concepts), there are many recently created documents and already outlined modifications which have not yet been incorporated into the website.]

With Kind Regards,

Stefan Pasti
The IPCR Initiative