In January 2024, I learned I would need open heart surgery to address a heart defect I was born with 63 years ago. Swirling with the unknowns and stresses of upcoming surgery, I found it hard to concentrate on other things in my life. Of course, I thought about what dangling matters needed tending in case I didn’t survive—like oversight of my book, Empowered: One Planet at a Time.
Empowered, available globally, had been making a difference in developing the next generation of activists. How would I keep it alive if I wasn’t around to shepherd it?
That’s when I received one of the greatest gifts of seeing beyond my pending surgery: I would let it go. I would empower the next generation to see it through.
For a fourth semester, Empowered is being used by Dr. Rebecca Franzen for NR478, Environmental Issues Investigation and Action at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources (UWSP CNR). Would Becca, one of my mentees as a former student in an environmental education course I used to teach at UWSP, be willing to play a role in engaging her students in developing future editions of Empowered? It would be a practical way they could take action during the class and give the students a strong role in mentoring those following them up the ranks.
Becca’s answer was YES! My mentee and those she is mentoring would “own” the future of Empowered: One Planet at a Time when I put the development of future editions of the book in their hands.
We have since set the process in motion: This semester, 25 students in NR478 are providing section-by-section evaluations of the book. We will do the same for an anticipated 25 more students taking the course in the Spring Semester 2025. Further, we are inviting environmental educators across North America through the North American Association for Environmental Education to read Empowered and use it in their own programs, then provide feedback. Becca and I will assimilate all the input and publish the second edition of Empowered: One Planet at a Time in the summer of 2025. This will widen the circle of empowerment significantly!
Without Empowered: One Planet at a Time, Becca says she would be searching out various handouts to support course content. That’s the way it was when I took the course in the late 1980’s, too.
There wasn’t a student-friendly resource under one cover to teach this important content. That’s why I wrote one.
Dr. Franzen is seeking to make this book revision part of the future of NR478 beyond 2025. Students will recommend revisions of the content every few years to ensure its relevance to the next generation. All the while the current generation will have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact. Empowered will live on for years to come as an ever-fresh resource to inspire readers to take action on social and/or environmental issues they are concerned about and equip them to be more successful when they take those actions individually or as a member of a team.
A German colleague, Helmer Vogel who co-wrote the Afterword of Empowered, emailed me an Earth Day 2024 message which included this quote: Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt. He says we can translate it to read: Hope is the last (thing) to die.
I’m recovering from my heart surgery now, grateful to have my life extended to empower future generations to stand up for their planet and their future. This is my life’s work. I have new hope for tomorrow as Empowered: One Planet at a Time will continue to live as a relevant resource to inspire future generations and equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to make a positive difference for people and our planet. Now, my heart is full of hope.