Category Archives: Inquiry

Fake News vs Media Freedom and Alternative Truths

Media freedom houses the implied agreement to freedom of speech not only enshrined in Constitutions, but as a birthright.  Below I have provided a range of links to articles to awaken awareness to the reasons why freedom of speech underlined by truth is critical for humanity’s development.  The last article is the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s critique of Donald Trump.  I have just checkout out their board, and I am confident, they are bonifide journalists.  So I take on board their critique but remain open to questions in respect of Trump’s critiques.  

https://freedom.press/about/board/

The key is to keep an open mind and trust yourself, as you have inner guidance that will show you what is true and what is not. If you are still enough you will recognise a lie spun sprouting great principles as often the wolf comes in sheep’s clothing offering a good but underneath that is another agenda. So stay discerning of information but do not become cynical as the world is full of good intentions and negative and it is the yin/yang of life. It creates the clash of ideas, religions, civilisations and ideologies. This clash shakes up truth, as is its job.  In the future there will be inquiries into mass deception and mind control.

This blog is in the public interest.  

As you independently research you come to realise how much is not told in the so-called free press.  On the other hand there are shining lights in the media who risk life and limb to bring the story to the public’s attention.  However, media freedom can be caught up in the propaganda to justify restricting freedom of speech.  On the other hand the media have to be accountable for not revealing important information in the public interest. Compounding this issue is the online reality that is being forced on every person on the planet due to the ambitions of Silicon Valley partnering with equity financiers, like the Rothschilds, who have a vested interest in power and control given their lineage. Is this in the public interest to have an IT industry empowered by financiers to maximise profits of world business and at the same time remove privacy given influence in governments? There are also major questions around radiation and biological impacts (e.g. cancer, DNA), depopulation, targeting individuals, restricting information (them and us, type of information), rule by algorithms (filtering news and educational content), mind control (repeated messages), access to iPhones (private conversations), 5G mm waves and health impacts and the loss of felt humanity? 

What I have found is when money is NOT involved we have a chance at finding some light in the darkness of vested interest, politics, egoic defence and brand image risk management protection.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is a truism. Money is power in our world (so it is believed) and people will obey when money talks. Yet the real power in this world is love of truth and each other.  Community bonds are powerful as well but minimised. Truth is the real gold in our world and it is the real liberator from falsehood and deception. Truth, when accurate, empowers people to make their own decisions. The real leadership is within every person when they decide for themselves. That is what life gave them from birth, the power of self determination. This is inherent within human rights or what I tend to say, the right to be human.

I personally found the Guardian here in Australia a good source and investigative journalists from the ABC. However, the ABC is likely to be sold off by the Liberal Party as a leak revealed at their national conference. I noted that Nine Entertainment now owns The Age.  Peter Costello, former Liberal Treasurer is the Chairman of the Board.  If that is not a conflict of interest, I don’t know what is!  We have Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and subsidiaries owning the majority of the media in key markets across the world. It is evident it has a right wing leaning. As a US citizen he is supportive of US interests not the Australian people. Yet he is the unannounced king maker to whom many make pilgrimages to in order to be validated for power.  Where is the media critique and community action around this clear bias. 

No-one should have any concentration in the media. They definitely should not have political affiliations or biases as a group.  Media must be absolutely clear of bias and constructed in the format of peace journalism, where both sides are shown and questions asked, so the community learns to think for themselves.  A profile of Rupert’s empire is as follows:

Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch

Peter Costello is the Chairman of Nine Entertainment. The question for the public is, should ex-political figures still aligned with politics be able to have control over media given vested interests?

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/unbelievably-sad-fears-for-fairfax-legacy-as-183yearold-firm-bought-by-nine-entertainment/news-story/fe7db7b5f5d1ef1940e2cd10ac93cf93

This story below I just found which features Tim Costello, brother of Peter Costello. Tim and Peter were often at logger heads as he is a priest and Peter, a former Treasurer.  One speaking morals the other speaking money. This article talks to the corruption of Crown Casino. I note a little media item where the current Victorian government are looking into this. 

I’ve had inspiration around Crown Casino.  I note the word ‘Crown’ these days and the shields, symbols that reflect power, I feel the links to established power and endorsement. Interestingly, I interviewed Edward de Bono (famous Lateral Thinking expert) at the hotel at Crown. He was quick to say to me he wasn’t at the Casino, just staying at the hotel. Back then I had no idea, I am slowly waking up now.  

This article highlights why media freedom is essential and the importance of reporting on corruption as the public outcry does have power and is heard, alone we are ignored. The public has to find the truth if they want to be empowered to create change in its image not other’s with vested interests. This grows more important as our ecology collapses reminding us of our own imbalance.  It is true that knowledge with wisdom empowers.   Here is the article on the Crown Casino: https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/the-troubled-birth-of-crown-casino-we-were-warned-20190808-p52fa1.html

The links below will definitely not appear in the mainstream media. This provides insights into the different styles of reporting. Independent reporting is revealing what has been hidden by information control in the mainstream media. However, the internet freedom (whilst we still have it) is essential to being out the truth so that people can make balanced decisions, given their money is spent in ways they have no idea about. Those in positions of power must be held to account and those orchestrating false information must be tried.  Deception, PR spin, falsifying media items (video, written) in order to influence public opinion undermines democratic principles and freedoms (real freedom). The purpose of democracy is underlined by the implied ‘We the People’ and it is to represent not enslave the world community. I recall giving my poem ‘We the People’ to Kristine Keneally (shadow Minister Home Affairs). Later that day I recall her saying there would never be a Charter of Rights for the people. That is etched into my mind.  MP Andrew Wilkie tried to pass a Bill of Rights for Australians on 24 March 2020.  This was not passed. Questions should be asked.  Rights arise when values decline this is why democracy (in its true sense) is under threat with increasing secrecy, non disclosure, changes to discrimination laws, weakening of regulators, costly legal action and most notably media ownership – buying up the press by those seeking to ‘shape’ views rather than respecting diversity and allowing the publics differences to shape the future on the basis of debate, informed discussion, critiques and real needs in order to understand what is true and what is not and what is needed and what is not. As public money is channeled in the direction of influence not the greatest need. Critical thinking is essential if people are to be led out of the infotainment, electronic addictions, distractors and mainlining cultivated information to fulfil the needs of specific economic and financial interests.  

It is real freedom from fear that enables discernment. I turn off the television, I don’t listen much to radio and I inform myself using instinct, intuition, intellect, feeling and the love of truth to guide my words and actions.  My only interest is peace as harmony. I dreamed I was teaching peace and this changed my life from a market analyst to peace maker.  I was a community journalist in public radio for a few years. I was seeking to find my voice and allow other voices to be heard. Surveillance happened after I aired Scott Ritter (senior weapons inspector, Iraq) and Major Douglas Rokke (depleted uranium expert, Pentagon). I had no knowledge of the murky, smoke and dagger world of intelligence. Today I have become wiser. 

Peace will only arise from inner peace which resolves inner conflict (untruth) as realisation (ah ha) informs as the real shape changer.  This is how personal growth happens, you awaken bit by bit to the truth of what is really going on. You cannot go back to the uninformed unconscious life that just believes what it hears, reads and sees.  I no longer believe in most of it.  I am disillusioned but in a good way. I refer to my life similar to the ‘philosophers stone’ where questions open pathways to truth, intent is important. As I reach for truth I find myself changing as I grow in awareness.   I am open to being wrong, but ultimately I have felt the awakening and I come into a feeling of  ‘knowing’. This knowing is ‘I know I don’t know’ which opens my mind. It is the real wisdom, which is no about knowing it all but awakening to the illusion of it.  Below is further links I found by following a gentle search for truth.

This excerpt is from an article I believe is in the public interest and is the basis of control in our world. I remember Fiona Barnett saying once paedophilia is solved and those involved brought to justice much of the evils of our world will disappear. I felt truth in that. However, having said that by all means you critique the article and find your own truth, as I believe we all have to work it out ourselves. This article provides an insight as a contrast to the mainstream media. You would never find this article on the front page of a popular newspaper. I present it with a noteworthy quote which awakens to the underbelly of power:

“The ‘mass hysteria’ and ‘false memory’ bromides disseminated by the establishment press obscure federal and academic connections to the mind control cults, which are defended largely by organized pedophiles, cultists and hired guns of psychiatry.”

Refer: https://constantinereport.com/mass-media-concealment-of-the-nazi-style-mind-control-atrocities/

I suspect this is the main driver of misinformation embedded in the intelligence community.  I have concerns about Home Affairs or Homeland Security, the latter called ‘shadow government’ by former CIA Kevin Shipp. When intelligence is blended with an internal intelligence capability it raises real concerns about false flag operations, fake stunts to cause terror, holographic imagery and the very real concern of cults in positions of power. The Bush Administration is a case in point and the links to the Skull and Bones, KKK and CIA Whistleblower assertions of 911 as a CIA operation It further raises questions about COVID-19.

There has to be critical thinking. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the Trump narrative but I do think there is truth in what he is saying. It is not for the media to get defensive at the critiques but investigate as intelligence merges with the media as part of information control (counter=terrorism techniques).

Whistleblowers are coming out and revealing what the mainstream media is not revealing. For example ex CIA whistleblower:

Montgomery maintains that the data on the hard drives prove the existence of THE HAMMER and prove that Brennan and Clapper engaged in illegal domestic surveillance, despite the existence of safeguards that were already in place.

MONTGOMERY, ‘THE HAMMER’ SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM WHISTLEBLOWER, BECAME THE DEEP STATE’S ENEMY NUMBER ONE AFTER EXPOSING THE TRUTH

 

The last article is from Freedom of the Press Foundation online.  It is a critique of Trump. However, I see some truth in his tweets. He is definitely taking on the established media and those infiltrated by vested interests. Yes he is crass, yes a misogynist, yes a deal maker, ball breaker, but interestingly, he is taking on the power elites.  Why? he is not in the club. He doesn’t give a toss what anyone thinks, he plays by his own rules. He is a leader as he makes his own decisions. Yet there would still be room for critique with him in that he hasn’t revealed the whole truth, yet he is leaking out questions, particularly about COVID-19.  The question is are people giving thought to what is the truth of COVID-19?

https://freedom.press/news/trump-crisis-mode-tweets-his-2000th-attack-press/

Freedom of the Press Foundation

 

Trump, in crisis mode, tweets his 2000th attack on the press

Stephanie_Sugars_Headshot

Reporter, U.S Press Freedom Tracker

KM

Managing Editor, US Press Freedom Tracker

PFT_2kTweets_Blog.jpg
 

Illustration/Kelsey Borch

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend daily life, President Donald Trump accelerated smearing the press on Twitter, reaching 2,000 negative tweets about the media in a string of insults and accusations on April 11, 2020.

According to our analysis of more than 19,400 of Trump’s tweets, 2,000 means that he has, on average, tweeted negatively about the press more than once a day for the past 4 ½ years. While the president’s rate of tweeting about the media has varied over those years, a noticeable uptick occurred as the severity of the new coronavirus progressed throughout the United States, and his administration’s handling of the global health crisis came under increased criticism.

The 2,000th tweet came on a Saturday, as part of a series of posted and deleted tweets, criticizing the coverage of no fewer than five outlets and accusing most of bias, if not outright corruption. The 2,000th tweet:

2000 Tweet PFT_2000

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker maintains a searchable database tracking Twitter posts in which Trump mentions media, individual journalists or news outlets in a negative tone since he declared his candidacy in June 2015.

In January, we wrote that Trump’s anti-press tweeting had begun ramping up last year around his official reelection campaign launch, and that he was following the same “playbook” of attacking the press on Twitter that he used during his first campaign. Those Twitter mentions, however, dropped dramatically after the impeachment inquiry began in September 2019 and stayed relatively low through the end of the year.

As concerns about the new coronavirus took hold in the U.S. in early 2020, Trump’s negative media tweet rate began accelerating to a pace not seen in the previous 5 months. It rose from 5.6% of his overall tweets in January to 11.2% in March. During the week of March 23 — when the U.S. began to lead the world in confirmed cases — Trump criticized the news media in nearly one in every five tweets.

2000 Tweet PFT_Graph1

The Nation’s First Virus Death, and an ‘Enemy of the People’ Tweet

On March 1, Trump referred to a sweeping number of print and broadcast news outlets as “The Enemy of the People,” a term he first used shortly after taking office but which had seen less use in the previous six months.

The tweet came one day after the U.S. recorded its first coronavirus death, that of a Washington state man in his 50s.

The Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC, ABC, CBS News and more, he tweeted, “headed” the “Fake News Media” and were a source of national disgust and embarrassment.

2000 Tweet PFT_EoP

A week later, on March 8, he used the term again, singling out only the Times. A few days later, on March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, or global epidemic. On March 13, Trump declared a national emergency.

Over the course of the month, Trump tweeted a total of 447 times. Of those, 50 tweets used a negative tone about the press — nearly the same amount as in January and February combined.

Trump’s anti-press tweets predominantly focused on the media’s coverage of the pandemic and his administration’s response. Trump repeatedly condemned the use of unnamed sources, alleged that the media was deliberately dramatizing the outbreak to hurt the economy and his reelection chances, and asserted that outlets should unite with him in the face of the crisis, rather than continue covering the outbreak and response critically.

Of the 50 tweets, half targeted the media as a whole, with terms like “Enemy of the People” and “LameStream Media,” and descriptions of the media as “corrupt,” “dishonest” and “hopeless.”

2000 Tweet PFT_LameStream

Twenty tweets targeted specific news outlets, with MSNBC and the Times attacked the most often, and used demeaning “nicknames” like “MSDNC” and “DeFace the Nation.” Five individual journalists — representing four outlets — were also targeted by name.

Rachel Maddow and Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, Chuck Todd of NBC, Maggie Haberman of the Times and Chris Cuomo of CNN, all familiar targets of the president on Twitter, were each singled out. Cuomo announced he tested positive for the coronavirus on March 31.

2000 Tweet PFT_Fredo

During his fourth year in office, 14.2% of Trump’s negative tweets about the media have targeted individuals, questioning their legitimacy, ethics and objectivity, as well as insulting their physical appearance or demeanor and assigning them demeaning nicknames.

By comparison, he targeted individual journalists in only 7.5% of tweets in his first year in office and 8.6% of tweets in his second year.

2000 Tweet PFT_Graph2

Press Briefings Return: In-Person Insults Mirror Those on Twitter

On Feb. 26, the same day White House press briefings resumed after a more than year-long hiatus, the president tweeted, “Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) & CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus [sic] look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible.”

Trump tweeted multiple assertions that the media was continuing in its “war” against him in spite of the virus, and that the press briefings — this time with Trump leading them instead of a press secretary — were “reaching millions of people that are not being told the truth.”

2000 Tweet PFT_Press Conferences

The president targeted ABC via tweet four times in 2020 — all in March and April — including calling the outlet an “Enemy of the People” and “Fake News.”

In the briefing room, the attacks on journalists were personal. When ABC’s Chief White House Correspondent, Jonathan Karl, asked during an April 6 briefing about a report from the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general, Trump quipped, “You’re a third-rate reporter.” Karl is also the president of the White House Correspondents Association.

Trump had used the same insult in a tweet targeting the Times’ Maggie Haberman on March 27, as well as in reference to Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman on March 11, though the president didn’t name him.

When PBS NewsHour reporter Yamiche Alcindor asked during a March 29 COVID-19 briefing about the president refuting governors’ needs for equipment, he replied that her question was “snarky” and her approach always “getcha, getcha, getcha.”

On April 5, Trump targeted Alcindor on Twitter, writing that she was “a very biased journalist.”

PFT_2k_live briefing.jpg

President Donald Trump takes questions during an April 6 coronavirus task force briefing at the White House with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Vice President Mike Pence. In this briefing, Trump responded to a question by ABC’s Jonathan Karl, in the second row of seats on the far right, by calling him a ‘third-rate reporter,’ an insult he also uses on Twitter.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The 2000th Tweet: A Milestone of Attacking the Press

Through early April, Trump and the Coronavirus Task Force held press briefings almost every day, and by April 11, Trump had insulted or denigrated the press in nearly one in six of his tweets.

On Twitter, Trump referred to CNN as “a JOKE!,” the Wall Street Journal as “Fake News!” and singled out the Post and the Times, asserting that advertising is “WAY down” either because they are “Fake News” or because “the Virus is just plain beating them up.”

2000 Tweet PFT_Advertising

On April 11, as Trump posted his 2,000th negative tweet about the media, the U.S. led the world in confirmed COVID-19 deaths, surpassing 20,000.

Trump posted a burst of eight tweets that day, a single-day amount not reached since September 2019.

All but one of the tweets targeted specific outlets. The president repeated his refrains about “MSDNC,” the “failing” Times and the “Amazon” Post, and criticized the Journal’s Editorial Board. Trump also disparaged Fox News, tweeting that watching it on weekend afternoons is “a total waste of time.” The tweet followed a report about equipment shortages at the Department of Veterans Affairs and coronavirus-related veteran deaths.

2000 Tweet PFT_Fox

Three of the tweets targeting the Times were nearly identical, with the first two posted and deleted within minutes of each other. The third, which was the milestone-reaching tweet, was posted two hours later. In it, the president called the Times “Fake News,” “Failing,” and questioned its use of anonymous sources in an article linking New York coronavirus cases to Europe, not China.

The day’s string of tweets struck on multiple recent themes, with the president criticizing coverage of the pandemic and implying corruption in the newsroom.

Trump also delegitimized the standard news practice of granting sources anonymity, asserting on Twitter that anonymous sources are fabricated in order to hurt his administration. Nearly one in four of his anti-press tweets in early April — and one in ten in March — denigrated the media’s use of unnamed sources.

Undermining Coverage in a Time of Crisis

Language eroding public trust in the news media, while a hallmark of the president’s administration, has increased on Twitter in tandem with the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. and criticism of the government’s handling of it.

Trump complained about media bias in a majority of his 2,000 negative tweets, accusing the media of conspiring against him and refuting the accuracy of their reports.

From the first confirmed U.S. coronavirus case on Jan. 20, through reaching the milestone tweet on April 11, Trump tweeted negatively about the media 113 times. In those 83 days, at a time when the public increasingly sought news from established outlets, Trump intensified his criticism of individual reporters and the media’s coverage.


Explore the database

As the president continues to communicate through Twitter, The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker continues to track the rhetoric using this live database.

Read more about Coronavirus

Here’s how to share sensitive leaks with the press

Thinking about securely leaking information to news organizations? This guide will show you how.

How journalists can work from home securely

Both the newsroom and individual journalists must make some changes to work from home securely.

Government transparency cannot be a coronavirus casualty

Government agencies from the local to federal level are failing to live up to their legal transparency obligations even as the stakes for access to relevant information are at an all-time high.

Appreciative Inquiry: Visioning Hawaii’s Adaptation to Climate Change

 Dr. Donna Ching presented on Appreciative Inquiry at the Rotary Peace Forum in Hawaii.  It was a very stimulating discussion. 

Here is a paper produced by the University of Hawai’i looking at Climate Change entitled Visioning Hawai‘i’s Adaptation to Climate Change.

The Executive Summary is as follows and then the link is provided below to the paper.
 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

In the course of implementing the legislatively-mandated Ocean Resources Management Plan
(ORMP), the multi-stakeholder ORMP policy group and working group recognized a need for
policy guidance to frame and effectuate a coordinated effort to adapt to the expected impacts of
climate change. In 2009, the ORMP working group partnered with the Center for Island Climate
Adaptation and Policy (ICAP) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa to develop A Framework
for Climate Change Adaptation in Hawaii. The desired outcome of the process outlined in the
Framework is for Hawaiʻi to adapt successfully to the impacts of climate change.

In order to move implementation of the Framework forward, the ORMP partners agreed that a multistakeholder workshop focused on developing a collective vision to inform policy related to climate change adaptation was a logical next step. This report, and the accompanying report titled, Hawai‘i 2060: Visioning Hawai‘i’s Adaptation to Climate Change; A Final Report of the Alternative Futures Exercise at the 2011 Planning Meeting with the Hawai‘i Ocean Resources Management Plan
Partners, detail the results of this effort.

Process

On August 22-23, 2011, the State of Hawai‘i Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Army Corps of
Engineer’s Honolulu District’s (USACE) Silver Jackets initiative sponsored a workshop to
facilitate the development of the foundation for a statewide climate change policy. Sixty
participants engaged in the unique workshop, which combined a futures approach with
appreciative inquiry to think “outside the box” and develop a common vision for moving
forward.

Participants were selected by identifying representative stakeholders from larger constituencies,
thus resulting in a group that was not so large as to compromise the effectiveness of small group
participation but still include the broadest scope of interests. Participants represented a wide
array of interests, including federal, state and county agencies, academia, Native Hawaiians,
environmental non-profits, community organizations, business associates, insurance companies,
and youth. The list of participants is attached as Appendix A.

First, the workshop co-sponsors wanted to help participants get outside of their day-to-day budget
constraints, time pressures, staff shortages, and vast to-do lists so that they could think bigger and for a larger purpose: re-framing climate change as an opportunity rather than an overwhelming problem for Hawai‘i. In order to achieve this goal, the State of Hawai‘i Office of Planning (OP) contracted the Hawai‘i Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa under Jim Dator, Ph.D., to lead the group through an Alternative Futures Exercise.

This approach is uniquely suited to developing resilient and adaptive policy guidance in the face
of high uncertainty. Among other things, it allowed participants to test their normative
understanding of the present, under alternative future constructs that account for various multisector climate change impacts under various political, cultural, and physical constructs. Dr.
Dator and his team transported participants into the year 2060 to experience four different futures
based on archetypes of continued growth, discipline, collapse, and transformed societies. The participants were asked to “live” within these scenarios, accept them as their reality, and evaluate
the pros and cons. These experiences enabled participants to articulate aspects of the futures
they wished to retain or prevent. Broadly, this process encourages participants to think
creatively when developing policies.

For a complete description of the methodology, the alternative futures experienced and discussed, and reactions and results, please see the accompanying report titled, Hawai‘i 2060: Visioning Hawai‘i’s Adaptation to Climate Change; A Final Report of the Alternative Futures Exercise at the 2011 Planning Meeting with the Hawai‘i Ocean Resources Management Plan Partners.

After the participants experienced the alternative futures for Hawai‘i in 2060, Donna Ching,
Ph.D., from the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources,
led the group through an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) session in order to focus attention on how we
would like climate change to be addressed in Hawai‘i. Rather than focusing on problems and
gaps, which can inadvertently create more problems, AI searches for what is working in order to
lead the group to success and generate new possibilities from a foundation of priorities
articulated through a process of collective agreement. The complete AI process followed and
outputs from the workshop are included in this report immediately after this Executive Summary,
under Meeting Summary: Group Memory.

Workshop Results

Participants first worked together to conduct an “environmental scan” of the trends, stakeholders,
contributors, competitors, and collaborators that may influence climate change adaptation in the
state. Then Dr. Ching facilitated a discussion on the group’s values. The group collectively
agreed upon the importance of the following value clusters:

A. Equity, Diversity, Justice, Socio-Cultural
B. Innovative, Resourceful, Adaptive, Progressive, Bold
C. Collaborative, Community, Cooperation, Inspiration
D. Don’t waste, Efficiency, Pragmatic, Discipline, Achievable
E. Economics, Value Ownership, Maximum Economic Value
F. Responsible, Stewardship
G. Sustainable
H. Knowledge, Science-based, Education, Wisdom

The list identifies the values participants agreed to specify with concrete actions because of their
importance in a preferred vision for Hawai‘i. These values are detailed in the group memory.
Participants then developed climate change adaption “visions” built upon these shared values.
Common themes from the visions included the following:

• Educated, informed, and aware public that initiated movement;
• Hawai‘i as a leader in adaptation technology and practice;
• Adopted ecological-based land use;
• Cross-jurisdictional collaboration;
• Resilient communities and economy;
• Sustainability and self-reliance (related to agriculture, energy, water, waste, etc.);
• Adaptive management and implementation;
• Involvement of research and education system to adapt and capitalize on opportunities;
• Planning for the next “phase” in policy; and
• Removal of jurisdictional barriers.

These common themes provided the foundation for the draft climate change legislative bill that
the State of Hawai‘i Office of Planning drafted after this session, with continued input from
workshop participants and additional stakeholders.
The group then identified two priority strategic issues and developed action plans for each. They
are briefly described below.

1. Strategic Issue #1: Educated Public and Political Will

a. Goal: Influence political will regarding climate change through educational
efforts.i. Action Item/Result: A group formed to create a plan to implement the
various objectives developed to achieve the goal for this strategic issue.
2. Strategic Issue #2: Integrated Planning and Collaboration

a. Goal: Better integration of planning among all agencies—county, state, and
federal.
i. Action Item/Result: Group agreement for the ORMP working group to
determine who will be responsible for implementing this goal and the
associated activities identified.

b. Goal: Create a better balance of the built and natural (e.g., reforestation)
infrastructure to respond to the effects of climate change.
i. Action Item/Result: Group agreement for ORMP working group to
flush out this goal and associated objectives further. Volunteers
surfaced to join the ORMP working group to achieve this effort.

After the Workshop

Several next steps from the workshop were implemented immediately. Companion measures
Senate Bill 2745 and House Bill 2483 were introduced by the Twenty-Sixth Legislature of the
State of Hawai‘i 2012 as part of the governor’s legislative package. Based on the common
themes developed in the workshop, the bills add a priority guideline to the Hawai‘i State
Planning Act. If passed, climate change adaptation will be integrated into county-adopted
general and development plans and implemented through land use permitting and county zoning.
State agencies will be required to consider climate change adaptation as part of their decisionmaking
as it relates to programs, budget priorities, and land use actions. In addition to these
direct statutory requirements, this would be Hawai‘i’s first statute on climate change adaptation.
The policy supports further work in the area of climate change adaptation through
implementation strategies. Workshop participants as well as additional stakeholders were invited
to provide input on OP’s draft. At the completion of this report, one bill was still alive in the
State Legislature as SB2745 SD1 HD1.

Other next steps identified at the workshop for the ORMP working group to move forward have
also gained traction and are currently being implemented. These include the formation and
subsequent work of two subcommittees on integrated planning and outreach/education, which
were created to address the two priority strategic actions identified above. Meeting summaries of
the ORMP working group are available online at http://www.state.hi.us/dbedt/czm/ormp/working_group.php.

Conclusion

Overall, the two-day workshop allowed leaders to develop a shared understanding of the
inevitable impacts of climate change in Hawai‘i along with a common foundation for a desired
future for Hawai‘i’s people, systems, businesses, and resources. Strategies for adapting to the
adverse impacts of climate change require a multi-disciplinary, integrated planning approach that
takes into account other stressors such as population growth, economic realities, and Peak Oil.
The futures exercise allowed diverse stakeholders to experience alternative futures together,
which stimulated more comprehensive strategies to address future climate change impacts. The
appreciative inquiry approach enabled participants to reach collective agreement on a common
vision for Hawai‘i. The end results of the workshop provided a strong foundation for the
development of priority guidelines for climate change adaptation, which are being proposed by
the Governor of Hawai‘i as an addition to the Hawaii State Planning Act in the 2012 state
legislative session.

To learn more about this paper go to Visioning Hawai’i Adaptation to Climate Change link:  http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/czm/ormp/reports/visioning_hawaii_adaptation_to_climate_change_aug_2011.pdf