Speaking Out

“The intersection of cultural, social, economic, and environmental issues is what defines the Berkshires region,” states Susan Witt, executive director of the E.F. Schumacher Society, which is hosting its thirty-ninth annual lecture series on October 17. “To build community, you need all of those sectors to be healthy and active.”

 

Such is the mission of the Schumacher Lectures, a much-anticipated, all-day intellectual affair that draws illustrious activists and experts to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for a series of carefully prepared speeches and vigorous Q&A sessions with area residents.

 

Headlining the event this year is acclaimed environmentalist Bill McKibben, who is nearing the culmination of a year-long campaign to spread awareness about climate change, 350.org, named for what he hopes to set as the universal ceiling of atmospheric carbon, in parts per million, to help reverse global warming. “We’re very lucky to have him just a week before his global day of action on October 24,” Witt says. 

 

Also on deck: Alisa Gravitz, a leader in the social investment movement driving a sustainable economy and the founder of Green America, a nonprofit consumer organization that urges citizens, among other things, not only to buy recycled products, but to buy them from local sources. And political theorist (and Berkshire second-home owner) Benjamin Barber will offer his insight into how advertising has negatively influenced our decisions as consumers, hoping to shed light on our shaky economic situation and how we may overcome it.

 

Witt credits Berkshirites for the success of the Schumacher Lectures. “The conversation just continues to spill out at the coffee breaks and the lunch,” Witt marvels. “Because of the quality of the audience, and the resonance of the audience with the subjects, the Schumacher lecture program has become a favorite venue for really great speakers,” she says. “They love to be here.” [OCTOBER 2009]

 

THE GOODS

29th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures
Oct 17 at 10-5
$25 or $25 BerkShares
First Congregational Church

Stockbridge, Mass.

 

 

Photos, top to bottom: Bill McKibben, Alisa Gravitz, Benjamin Barber. (Courtesy E.F. Schumacher Society)