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Cittaslow receives first grant

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Cittaslow Sonoma Valley has received a $5,500 grant by a national organization focused on finding new ways to address climate change and ecological health. Invoking the Pause is a national grant-making program that fosters creative thinking in local communities, according to Cittaslow Sonoma Valley Director Virginia Hubbell.

Here in the Sonoma Valley, the award will be used to convene a diverse team of community leaders as catalysts for creative ideas in climate change.

This is the first grant for the local Cittaslow group.

“Invoking the Pause is a perfect partner for Cittaslow’s first climate change program and for its models of sustainability across the United States,” said Hubbell.

City Council member Laurie Gallian, sculptor Jim Callahan, and farmer/vintner Will Bucklin and Hubbell will meet August 27-29 to share diverse perspectives and develop new ideas and a possible template for Cittaslow towns.

In October, Gallian and Hubbell will meet with more than 30 of the Invoking the Pause program’s recent grantees, to learn about other dynamic grassroots work addressing climate change around the country. In turn, these ideas will be shared with the community.
“Using the power of positive thinking and individual contribution, solutions are aimed at being a force for good in a world frequently bombarded by what’s wrong,” Hubbell said.

According to Hubbell, the program parallels the early stages of venture capital funding, granting a “pause” in busy lives to allow reflection and collaboration in a place of natural beauty. This fosters creativity as groups consider solutions for climate change and discover ways to make their ideas locally accessible, she said.

Maggie Kaplan, founder of Invoking the Pause, said its goal is to inspire slowing down to savor natural beauty and open portals to creativity and collaboration. The goal is to foster creativity and “out-of-the-box” thinking for new, innovative and potentially scalable ideas.

Previous grantees have included artists, writers, scientists, social media groups, community activists and organizers, college educators mobilizing youth in the political arena, and developers of home food-growing solutions.




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