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The Media & Policy Center has received a significant grant to begin work on America's Family Farmers. Production of the series will begin in the summer of 2008.

Harry Wiland's 1969 film production Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music will be broadcast as part of PBS's P.O.V. series on August 5, 2008. More on Harry's work with Johnny Cash can be found here.

Harry Wiland and Dale Bell have received California Greenworks' Environmental Leaders Award for their "...outstanding work in raising awareness for environmental sustainability through the PBS series Edens Lost & Found."

The first in a series of Edens Lost & Found Town Hall Meetings was held in Philadelphia early in 2008, and was broadcast by WHYY (Philadelphia PBS) in April. More details and excerpts from the broadcast are available here.

Harry Wiland and Dale Bell have been elected Ashoka Fellows and Purpose Prize Fellows.

Harry Wiland and Dale Bell win First and Third Prizes in NAAEE Environmental Film Festival.

Media & Policy Center: Edens Town Hall Meetings

In Development

Edens Lost & Found, a four-hour PBS series that premiered on PBS in May 2006, showcases extraordinary stories of environmental rebirth in four very different American cities. Each one-hour program examines the unique environmental, economic and social issues and the innovative solutions that have helped to turn problems around. Interviews with citizen activists, politicians, urban planners, and just plain folks who have labored long and hard to contribute to their city's urban renaissance reveal how passion combined with innovative strategies can address the widespread problems facing many of America's urban environments today.

To continue and extend the ideas presented in the PBS broadcast, we are planning for a new series of high-profile, non-partisan Edens Lost & Found Town Hall Meetings in conjunction with local PBS stations in major markets over the next several years. The first of these meetings was held in Philadelphia in February 2008, and will be broadcast in April 2008.

The purpose of the Town Hall Meeting series is to provide local solutions, to enlighten and motivate the public, and to elicit audience testimony for the national policy debate of the issue. The meetings are objective forums to air diverse views and concerns about the issues of sustainability and are staged in varying multi-cultural and geographic settings. The goal is to identify "best practices" in each community and the "next steps" to achieve greater public awareness and implementation of sustainable principles to create a pathway towards better public health. Such measure of broad public attitude toward environmental sustainability would be of immeasurable value to policy makers and to industry leaders as they deliberate towards greener solutions. Further, a Town Hall Meeting is an opportunity for stakeholders to be highly visible as market leaders in their communities. Our effort is non-partisan.

"The Philadelphia Town Hall Meeting was a wonderful opportunity to bring together the region’s environmental groups and share their message and mission with the public television audience. It was very exciting to be part of the broad community of organizations and individuals committed to a green Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, through its urban revitalization program, Philadelphia Green, was proud to join in this continuing effort to find sustainable solutions to the challenges faced by American cities."
J. Blaine Bonham Jr., executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Each forum is designed to enlighten, empower, and encourage activism among communities. We also seek to alert them to services, providers, and policies available in their communities. In each Town Hall Meeting, a moderator will seek answers and provoke solutions from a group of sixteen diverse experts and community "thought leaders." The panelists will be surrounded by an audience of 100-150 people, capable of adding their responses to the content. The two-to-three hour live ad-lib discussions will be videotaped with five cameras, then edited to 60-90 minutes, and distributed to the regional public television network through local PBS stations. It will be supported by aftermarket outreach activities that extend the life of the event.

Opportunities will also be available to underwriters and partners to customize aftermarket materials to meet their individual goals. Repeat broadcasts of the PBS series, in conjunction with the Town Hall Meetings, on-air and print promotion, will help to stimulate community dialogue for months and years. Be part of the Edens Lost & Found effort to lead communities on a new, grassroots, national journey towards education, enlightenment, and empowerment through PBS. Let the restoration of our cities continue through the creation of sustainable urban ecosystems.

Other resources for Edens Town Hall meetings:

From the Media & Policy Center: Edens Lost & Found DVDs and books
Reviews of
Edens Lost & Found:

"The ordinary Americans profiled in this PBS series, book, and Web site aren't just improving their own neighborhoods by building parks, cleaning up rivers, and installing public art. Inspiring examples from Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle show how people can rediscover the natural attributes that made their cities desirable to settle in the first place." — Jennifer Hattam, Sierra Magazine

"The inspiring story of ordinary citizens in four great American cities — Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Seattle — who have stepped forward to improve the quality of life in their communities. Filmmakers and authors Harry Wiland and Dave Bell highlight practical solutions and models for urban transformation that go beyond pollution prevention to tackle the challenge of improving the quality of life in cities for ourselves and future generations." — Chelsea Green Publishing

"Ordinary people cooperating to re-green city streets, oversee eco-friendly watershed management, create rooftop and urban gardens, and restore parks. There's hope yet!" — Nathalie Jordi, Plenty Magazine

"They might be small acts of do-goods but together America's citizens are making a difference. Reading the enthusiastic and refreshing stories may inspire you to knock on your neighbours' doors and get them to join you to grow a vegetable garden and cover your building with solar panels." — Treehugger