On a beautiful weekend in Carmel Valley, California, we came together to reflect on and discuss Change to Climate (C2C). With the inspiration of invoking the pause, the schedule of the weekend was a sound interplay of reflections, meditations, coffee, project visioning, nature walks and collective thinking.

The people involved were Bodhi Garrett, Erik Rogers, Lena Bumiller, Lilia Villa and Meghan Thomas. Together they formed a group of fellow visionaries with different backgrounds and skills, ready to face the challenges of our time. » Read More

Former ITP Grant Partner Britta Riley is featured in The Wall Street Journal.  Need the perfect Christmas gift for the urban farmer?  Look no further than Windowfarms!
Read the full WSJ article here.

In September, a group of us got together for a 'pause' to brainstorm about experimental research on climate change communications, see here.   Below, I have included some of the pictures from this retreat to share a bit more. What is on my mind though is Hurricane Sandy.  It's been mind blowing to see the images of the storm and hear about the tragic deaths and damages.  But the silver lining, if we can look for one, may be the shift the storm has produced in the conversation on climate change.  Amazingly, the topic did not enter the presidential debate.  But it has inserted itself now in the form of a giant, late season hurricane. » Read More

» Read More

Invoking The Pause (ITP) had the chance to speak with Joshua Fouts of  Science House Foundation regarding his recent ‘pause’ in Brazil: â€œScience, Imagination and the Art of Adaption: Understanding Climate Change Awareness Through the Prism of Brazil”.  Joshua and his team, consisting of biochemist Dr. Ana Carolina Zeri and documentarian Andre Blas, traveled to the westernmost area of the Brazilian Amazon.  » Read More

What a rich and fertile mix of 2012 Grant Partners (GPs) -- scientists, educators, filmmakers, documentarians, journalists, photographers, social activists, artists, and locavores.  Now six years into my vision for creating Invoking The Pause, I continue to be inspired by the variety of creative, collaborative projects GPs birth.

This year's crop run the gamut, including a look at how climate change is impacting our lives in "real time" - from indigenous tribes in Brazil's Amazon to California agriculture on both smaller, organic farms as well as larger agribusiness in the Central Valley.

One of my joys over the past 2 years has been to help amplify the GP's impact and enable greater connectivity -- with each other, myself, and the larger public. Recently, I heard from the current GPs on their "pauses" to date.  Here, in their own words, is the latest 'dirt':

C2C (Change 2 Climate) - Bodhi Garrett
Documentary Film "The Organic Life" -   Casey Beck
Science House Foundation - Joshua Fouts
Inner Transition - Trathen Heckman
Center For Investigative Reporting - Mark Schapiro
Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment - Nicole Heller

From her earliest memories, Nicole Heller has been attuned to the relationships we share with our environment and other living things. Professionally, she became an ecologist, and in the last five years  has focused on climate change and how best to communicate its complexities to a global audience.  Her interest and advocacy began at a young age with a spider. As a girl she recalls creating a stir in the neighborhood, protecting spiders from mistreatment by one of the local children. » Read More

In 2008, Britta Riley incubated the idea of growing fresh and nutritious food in her small, urban apartment in Brooklyn. By 2009, Windowfarms was born. Britta, an artist, designer, and entrepreneur, expanded her idea of a hydroponic garden to source knowledge and improve her design from a community of likeminded “do-it-yourselfers.” Fast-forward three years: an Invoking the Pause grant, an astounding $257,000 Kickstarter fundraising campaign, and 32,000 world-wide Windowfarmers later; now, the first “fully manufactured in the USA” Windowfarm kits are about to make their way to homes and apartments around the world.

We spoke with Britta about her new project, the risks she took in bringing her latest design to market, and her 18-foot Windowfarm installation/public garden in Louisville, Kentucky.

» Read More

“The overarching theme of this quest is sponsored in large part under the umbrella of Maggie Kaplan’s “Invoking the Pause” project, which provided the core funding for our journey. Invoking the Pause is part of Maggie’s philanthropic efforts to expand the awareness of the impact of climate change on our planet. Invoking the Pause supports a team to go to place of beauty to contemplate the challenge.

After one week in the Amazon among the Ashaninka people, today’s post will reflect on what I’ve learned so far from my Pause…”     Read more