Awaken Your Consciousness

Yesterday I hurriedly purchased a bag of fair trade coffee beans.

At coffee time this morning I actually read the bag’s inscription, which reads “Awaken Your Consciousness.”

That inscription made me smile because I’ve recently been reviewing the sustainability and sustainable development literature with regard to the link, if any, between increased consciousness and behavior.

The jury is still out on this.

Does increasing the consciousness of what’s needed, as in “an awakening of awareness” lead to the all important well-defined behaviors that are most equitable with a sustainable global future?

For apparently a variety of reasons, the answer is still no.

An awareness of what is needed does not necessarily lead to the behaviors that are needed.

How then can we engage people in those needed behaviors?

The best answer I can see so far could be described as collaborative action networks.

These are groups that network in collaboration and action from the local to the global.

These groups are a made up of people.  Everyone, all citizens, together co-creating a sustainable global future: participation leads to action. That is how we awaken our consciousness and move that awareness into action.

EJ Wensing

US Virgin Islands

ejwensing@ecosphere.net