1st Edition

Believing Cassandra How to be an Optimist in a Pessimist's World

By Alan AtKisson Copyright 2011
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    A bestseller on Amazon.com within months of its first release, Alan AtKisson's debut book quickly became a modern classic of sustainability literature. Global companies, grassroots groups, university courses, government agencies, and even the US Army ordered it by the box. Now fully revised and updated, Believing Cassandra: How to be an Optimist in a Pessimist's World is even more relevant, fresh, and motivating than when it first appeared in 1999.
    In a style that's refreshingly candid and vivid, with unforgettable personal anecdotes, AtKisson provides us with a bridge over the sea of despair, and shows us how to catch the wave to an enticing, sustainable future. He empowers the reader to join the pioneers who created the ideas, techniques and practices of sustainable living - the people who prove Cassandra's warnings wrong, by believing in them, and taking strategic action.

    Foreword by Paul Hawken.  Preface to the Second Edition.  A Note on Usage.  Prologue.  Part I CASSANDRA'S DILEMMA  1. When Worlds Collapse  2. A Brief History of Cassandra's Dilemma  3. In the Gallery of Global Trends  4. It's the System  5. Cassandra's Laughter, Cassandra's Tears  6. Armageddon, Utopia, or Both?  Part II REINVENTING THE WORLD  7. The Future in a Word  8. The Proof of the Possible  9. The Innovation Diffusion Game  10. Accelerate to Survive  Coda.  Notes.  Sources.  Index

    Biography

    Alan AtKisson is President and CEO of The AtKisson Group, an international sustainability consultancy to business and government (see www.AtKisson.com). Known around the world for his inspiring keynotes and workshops, he is also the author of The ISIS Agreement (Earthscan 2008) and co-author of The Natural Advantage of Nations (Earthscan, 2006).

    'Exceptionally readable and erudite ... I see Believing Cassandra as more than a book. I see it as a neurotransmitter that signals to humanity what to do and what not to do....As rigorous as this book is with respect to science and facts, I see it as a blessing, not a warning, a benediction rather than an omen, because the information we need to make the transition from a culture of unimpeded growth to one of humane development is the same information that describes our demise, if it is ignored.'From the Foreword by Paul Hawken

    'AtKisson's lively book seeks to encourage its readers to similarly believe in and act to achieve a sustainable future.'Bryan Walker, hot-topic.co.nz