Greetings,

My name is Stefan Pasti. I have a partially finished 184 page manuscript titled "Billions of Bridges: An Introduction to The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative (in light of Ecological Footprint Analysis and the Implications of Peak Oil)." As a way of sorting out what are the real challenges of our times, and sorting out what are sound and practical solutions to those challenges, this book can provide a very valuable workbook outline for similar collaborative workbook creation projects at the regional level. I am willing to share the contents of this manuscript, such as it is, (or the Table of Contents and the 9 page introduction) with anyone—as part of my search to find people interested in helping the book project along its way to completion.

What I have:

Some chapters of the book are nearly complete; others are notes in outline form. The manuscript includes: A 9 page introduction-- the following is an excerpt: "David Holmgren, who was a co-creator (with Bill Mollison) of the first major publications in the field of permaculture, has said "The transition from an unsustainable fossil fuel based economy back to a solar-based (agriculture and forestry) economy will involve the application of the embodied energy that we inherit from industrial culture. This embodied energy is contained within a vast array of things, infrastructure, cultural process and ideas, mostly inappropriately configured for the "solar" economy. It is the task of our age to take this great wealth, reconfigure it, and apply it to the development of sustainable systems" (from "Energy and Permaculture" by David Holmgren). This book "Billions of Bridges"-- as an introduction to The IPCR Initiative-- is an effort to identify social systems which will aid in both recognizing the challenges of our times, and recognizing the "embodied energy" we have for meeting and overcoming such challenges."

(Chpt. 2)-- a list of 98 relevant statistics (numbers incomplete since footnotes still needed);

(Chpt. 3)—The IPCR Mission Statement…”….an effort to facilitate the practical application of The Eight IPCR Concepts (“Community Good News Networks,” “Community Faith Mentoring Networks,” “Spiritual Friendships,” “Community Queries,” “Community Visioning Initiatives for Peace,” “Spiritually Responsible Investing,” Ecological Sustainability,” and “IPCR Journal/Newsletters’) as a way of contributing to the following goals….” (One of the ten goals: “… bring to the fore what is often hidden: how many good people there are, how many ways there are to do good, and how much happiness comes to those who extend help as well as to those who receive it.”)

(Chpt. 4)— That which will help us to get there (“The guiding question of The IPCR Initiative: how can the good people of different faith communities and cultural traditions work together towards the highest ideals each faith community and cultural tradition has to offer? I believe in That which will help us to get there.”) (A seed statement from which much of The IPCR Initiative follows: “At no other time in the course of history has so many people had access to so much in the way of time-tested guidelines, inspiring role models, and service-oriented initiatives relevant to peace, prosperity, and happiness.”) Examples of time-tested guidelines (including excerpts from the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba; an overview of the spiritual, moral, and cultural history of the "I Ching"; and an overview of the spiritual, moral, and cultural history of yoga); excerpts from writings by or about 75 inspiring role models (section somewhat complete); list of 67 examples of service-oriented initiatives (including Ecovillage Training at Findhorn);

(Chpt. 5)-- detailed discussion of ecological footprint analysis (“Consider: the increasing world population, and the increasing number of people who are consuming material goods and ecological services indiscriminately….”); detailed references to peak oil discussions; descriptions of a number of practical responses to the challenges of sustainability and the implications of peak oil (including ecovillages, permaculture, spiritually responsible investing, relocalizing, and powerdown projects);

(Chpt. 6)-- discussion of the word "interfaith" in light of excerpts from the discourses of Sri Sathya Sai Baba; a wide exploration of basic elements of peacebuilding (many points drawn from beyondintractability.org); an appreciation of individual spiritual formation as peacebuilding; extensive discussion of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement; some difficulties which might challenge us a) “cultures” of violence, greed, corruption, and overindulgence which have become so common that many of us accept such as inevitable b) what is perceived as irreconcilable differences among religious, spiritual, moral, and cultural traditions; and the conflicts which arise from “what is perceived as irreconcilable differences” resulting in many, many people who are so disaffected, discouraged, and alienated by religious, spiritual, and moral traditions that the real treasured wisdom of such traditions remains mostly hidden-- and thus remains mostly just potential c) any shortages of goodwill in times of unprecedented transition could tilt already precarious systems into further disarray— and thus erode established systems in even the most stable communities and regions and d) sorting out what are real challenges and what are sound and practical solutions is becoming more and more difficult, as there is now, in many parts of thee world, a multitude of ideas of all kinds coming to the fore in personal, family, community, and cultural life—all at the same time e) the reluctance of investors to experiment with ideas involving complex social and experiential transformations which often cannot be evaluated by statistics. (Note: In light of the “ingrained” nature of difficulties such as the ones mentioned above, it seems essential to incorporate as much of the wisdom and resources we have access to as we possibly can, so that our efforts will be sufficient to overcome the challenges of our times. The Eight IPCR Concepts will be especially useful to the process of assessing and incorporating varieties of wisdom and resources….)

(Chpt. 7)—Descriptions of The Eight IPCR Concepts (the heart and spirit of The IPCR Initiative) (“Community Good News Networks,” “Community Faith Mentoring Networks,” “Spiritual Friendships,” “Community Queries,” “Community Visioning Initiatives for Peace,” “Spiritually Responsible Investing,” Ecological Sustainability,” and “IPCR Journal/Newsletters’) (Note: 300 word descriptions of Seven of the Eight IPCR Concepts can be accessed by going to “The Seven IPCR Concepts” section of The IPCR Website, at www.ipcri.net)

(Chpt. 9)-- Four Examples of “things people can do in the everyday circumstances of their lives, which will contribute to peacebuilding and community revitalization efforts, in their own communities and regions—and in other parts of the world.”

(Chpt. 10)— IPCR Concept Introduction Workshops

(Chpt. 11)-- Community Centers, Local Community Points of Entry, etc.

(Chpt. 12)—Suggestions for evaluating IPCR Initiatives, including standards used by the United States National Preparatory Committee (NPC) for Habitat II in association with the National Excellence Awards for the City Summit (Note: In June 1996, the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements-- Habitat II-- was convened in Istanbul, Turkey.)

and

(Appendix)-- Questionnaires That Help Build Caring Communities (66 sample questions, a starting point for brainstorming efforts to construct consensus building questionnaires) Example: a) Suppose a gentle and understanding, kindhearted and wise person who is a widely recognized and admired saint, sage, or spiritual leader requested to live with you for one month. What "things that you do in the everyday circumstances of your life" would you feel you would have to do differently while such a person was living with you-- and what "things..." would you feel you could continue to do the same as you have been doing? b) What everyday influences of community life and cultural traditions have been most important in creating and reinforcing your definition of "the good life"?

[Note associated with the title “Billions of Bridges-- Excerpt from introduction: “I see participants in initiatives like the IPCR Initiative as bridge builders between people focusing on living lightly and building eco-villages and agriculture-based communities and people focusing on spiritual discipline and inner development through religious, spiritual, and moral traditions; as bridge builders between religious, spiritual, moral and cultural traditions; as bridge builders between “developed” countries and “developing” countries; as bridge builders between rich people and poor people; as bridge builders between good ideas and financial support; as bridge builders between right livelihood and marginalized people everywhere; and as bridge builders between ideals and their practical realization.”]

[Additional Note: the manuscript is an expansion of material currently available on The IPCR website at www.ipcri.net You may also find short writings of mine at www.solvingdcproblems.org DC Appleseed has sponsored a contest seeking 250 words or less solutions to Washington DC's problems, and I have made 8 entries (see entries by locale; VA; between 4/10/06 and 4/22/06-- Community Good News Networks; The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative; Community Visioning Initiatives for Peace; Billions of Bridges; The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative (Version 2); IPCR Journal/Newsletters—Monthly local community and regional publications associated with The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative; Questionnaires That Build Caring Communities; and Community Good News Networks (version 2) ( I note this also because you might find the DC Appleseed approach to brainstorming solutions useful to problem solving efforts in your community or region.)]

Many Opportunities for Collaboration:

The manuscript still requires about a year of work (less if I can work on it full time with assistance) involving seeking permissions, seeking contributors for specific sections, expanding outline into text, building in footnotes, creating an index, etc. I include here 3 possible approaches to making this book project a collaborative community response to the challenges of our times: 1) This book can become a "community" project.... In other words, in the process of bringing this book to completion, members of a specific community would explore, research, and also experiment and gain experience with many of the relevant responses to the challenges of our times 2) The Eight IPCR Concepts suggest many possible approaches for developing collaboration and cooperation with people who are not currently associated with a peacebuilding project—or a specific way of responding to the implications of peak oil-- but might if given enough opportunities.... (even the notes above would be sufficient as a starting point for a clearinghouse of "'things people can do in the everyday circumstances of their lives' which will contribute to peacebuilding and community revitalization efforts in their own communities and regions-- and in others parts of the world") 3) Further outreach with this draft manuscript—or with a finished book—can be inspiration for similar collaborative workbook creation projects at the local community and/or regional level.

Possible Next Steps:

I am sharing information about the “Billions of Bridges” project—and about The IPCR Initiative—because I believe that this is information meant to be shared with others who can benefit from it. I am hoping to find people interested in helping the “Billions of Bridges” project along it way to completion, so if you share some of my belief in the service-oriented potential of the “Billions of Bridges” project (and/or The IPCR Initiative), I would very much like to hear from you. However, I also realize that there may be other ways this information can result in connections and collaboration. So I am most interested in your comments, suggestions, and recommendations. I believe there are billions of ways the good people of different faith communities and cultural traditions can work together towards the highest ideals each faith community and cultural tradition has to offer. I see myself as a facilitator of Concept Introduction Workshops associated with The IPCR Initiative. I am simply hoping to find a way to contribute what I have, and help others do the same.

With Kind Regards,

Stefan Pasti, Outreach Coordinator The IPCR Initiative P.O. Box 223561 Chantilly, VA 20153 (USA) (703) 209-2093

“… in a highly developed civilization… every person of good will can in some way or other succeed.” (from Richard Wilhelm’s interpretation of the “I Ching”)