I first met Christy George a couple of years back on the edge of a lovely lake outside Stockholm, where we spent two glorious days kicking around the joys and struggles of environmental storytelling. Christy is the former president of the Society of Environmental Journalists, a public broadcasting news veteran and a clever teller of stories. Which is why I’m entranced by her latest project (entranced enough to kick in some crowdfunding and plug it here). It’s called “My Vanishing Hometowns“:
Over my own lifetime, people have changed their attitudes and behavior in diverse and deeply contentious arenas: the civil rights movement, feminism, environmentalism, the tax revolt, globalization, attitudes about smoking, capital punishment, political party affiliations, and acceptance of different ethnicities, sexual orientations, genders and races….
I want to know why people made these sweeping changes: what were the catalysts and tipping points, how important were personal motivations versus the zeitgeist of society at large, and can the past can point to paths journalists, educators and scientists can follow when talking about climate change.