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Monday, May 26, 2008

Does the Earth Need Us?

That's the question I'll be exploring in two talks on two successive nights, June 5 & 6th, for the prestigious Collegiate Peaks Forum Series here in Salida, Colorado. I'm honored and a bit intimidated to be the first-ever local to be asked to speak in a series that has included Nobel laureates and the like.

Here's the teaser:

Does the Earth Need People?
June 5: No—unless. . . .
Unless we learn to live more generously. Looking at Earth as a natural system, no species is indispensable, even humans. (Turns out it isn't all about us!) If we aren't essential to life on this unique blue planet—the only home we've ever known, who is? And where do we fit? The pluses and minuses of Homo sapiens as members of this complex global system.

June 6: . . .Getting to Yes
What do we do that no other species does? How can our lives contribute to life on Earth so that we belong in what Aldo Leopold called the "community of the land"? A personal look at an "accidental" land restoration project and what it teaches about staying connected and having a positive impact on the planet we share.

If you're in south-central Colorado June 5 & 6, come to the historic Salida SteamPlant Event Center on the banks of the Arkansas River in downtown Salida at seven each evening. The Series is free, thanks to the foundation that sponsors the talks every summer.

Susan Tweit
susanjtweit.com

2 comments:

Janet Grace Riehl said...

Susan, this is just plain cool. I so wish we could all hear you speak at this event, but we'll have to content ourselves with podcasts and the like.

All good wishes for a stirring talk in answering such an important question.

Janet Riehl
www.riehlife.com

Donna D said...

Very cool. I won't be able to make it but please post a recap afterwards!