Photo by Ann KrajewskiWally Woods, of the Center for Environmental Sustainablity, outlines his new strategy for Earth Day in Ithaca.

Earth Day celebrates its 40th anniversary this week. In the 21st century, it is more important than ever to understand how our planet works. To this end, an Earth Day celebration taking place in Tompkins County on Saturday, April 24, will be hosted by Cornell’s Center for Environmental Sustainability (CES) at the Southside Community Center in downtown Ithaca.

Wally Woods, co-founder and cochair for CES, says this year’s event is a sharp contrast from the celebration the organization has sponsored in the past. “We’ve been doing this event for over a decade and for years we held it at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, filling the place with lots of vendors and music and we attracted a lot of people and that was great, but I noticed that with a festival-like atmosphere, people tend to stay in that [festival] mindset,” he says. “By that I mean people just milling about, sandwich in hand, and they weren’t really talking to each other. Sure, they spoke with the people they came to the event with, but not really with others.”

While he calls those events a success, Woods feels that the real message of Earth Day wasn’t getting across. “I’d been kicking around the idea for a few years that what we needed was a real dialogue between people about our world, the challenges we face and how to deal with them,” says Woods. “So CES sort of test-drove an entirely new concept of what Earth Day should be.We set up some hay bales and invited people to come and tell their stories and talk about what they were personally doing to make their homes and workplaces more earth-friendly.”

This year the focus is on collaboration, Woods says, in an effort to have a deeper conversation. “We won’t have any vendors; instead we’re having a big potluck lunch [bring your own place setting]. It is our hope that this way people can really connect in sharing their concerns about our only planet and home.”

Of course, the Earth Day celebration is meant to be fun, too. The day’s events will also include a parade at noon around the block of the Southside Community Center featuring people in costumes honoring creatures and elements of Earth, face-painting and music. Local musicians Fe Nunn and Friends will be leading a “drumming of the earth” and there will be a closing prayer.

“We need a shift in our consciousness from ‘I’ to ‘we’ and we need to understand that collaboration is the key here,” says Woods. “It’s very important for people to understand that collaboration is a process to better understand the complex aspects of the challenges we face in today’s world. And when we engage in conversation with each other in a compassionate and personal way, we have the opportunity to create effective solutions that strengthen the whole system. Potentially, it can be a transforming experience.”

Photo by Ann KrajewskiPaleontologist Trisha Smrecak at the Museum of the Earth's Global Change Project exhibit.

This year for Earth Day the Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institute (PRI) is focusing on global education with a special lecture by Peter Bardaglio on Thursday, and with a family-day on April 24. Both events will be held at the Museum of the Earth.

The lecture, titled “The Revolution in Sustainability Education” by former Ithaca College provost and Second Nature senior fellow Bardaglio will take place at 6 p.m. Wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served and a $10 admission will be charged. On Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon the museum will host fun Earth-centric activities and have a special Natural History at Noon lecture, “Climate Change: Past, Present & Future” by PRI’s Warren Allmon, Rob Ross and paleontologist Trisha Smrecak. The presentation will focus on the global climate crisis and is based on the new book of the same name published by PRI, with a book signing to follow.

According to Bardaglio, “The challenge of building a more sustainable civilization has far-reaching implications for those of us who are committed to educating the citizens, professionals, and leaders of tomorrow. Even as we acknowledge the demands of this challenge, we should recognize the opportunities that it affords.”

Bardaglio will discuss the latest developments in sustainability education at the secondary and postsecondary levels, exploring how these developments are leading to breakthroughs in more effective teaching and learning.

As Frank H. T. Rhodes, president emeritus of Cornell University contends, the concept of sustainability offers a new foundation for the liberal arts and sciences. “It provides a new focus, sense of urgency, and coherence at a time of drift, fragmentation and insularity,” what Rhodes calls “a new kind of global map.'"

Earth Day celebrations at the Museum of the Earth are part of the Institution's ongoing Global Change Project (GCP), which was developed to increase public understanding of how the Earth is changing and what role humans are playing in it. The GCP consists of a museum exhibit, comprehensive web site, lecture series, educational programming, and research projects.

For information on CES Earth Day activities contact earthdayithaca@yahoo.org, visit www.ces-ithaca.org/, or call 564- 9406 for parade information. For information regarding the Museum of the Earth’s activities call 273-6623 or visit www.museumoftheearth.org