Last Wednesday, the 24th of October, the 2008 POWER Summit planning committee met for the second time this year. The meeting was full of ideas and insight, and those who attended felt the energy that is already building for this year's POWER Summit.
After a large group discussion that included a push to add art for social change as a separate value, we separated into smaller groups and discussed possible focuses both for the sustainability and the global citizenship concentrations of POWER Summit. We compared the pros and cons of utilizing separate topics, combining topics, and relating distinct topics to each other through two separate days. Each group contributed plenty of interesting topics, and some common themes began to emerge.
In large group, we discussed the importance of certain topics to the target POWER Summit audience, especially regarding voting for the first time, including issues like immigration and war.
Building on the group's responses, a theme of peace as the new energy emerged.
The content we produced included a commitment for POWER Summit to address peace in the three capacities of spirituality/art, global citizenship, and sustainability. This includes examining peace and conflict within our own lives, taking a look at the world's economy without war, especially in regards to the UN Charter, and exploring the environment of a war-free planet.
We also aimed to conduct a waste-free POWER Summit, and Megan got us started on this value with a compostable container to get most of our waste (including the pizza boxes!) into the compost.
The meeting gave us much to think about, as well as great momentum as we make POWER Summit of 2008 a reality.
We look forward to seeing everyone back for the next planning meeting to continue the progress we made. Mark January 9th on your calendars and plan to attend!