About Natural Neighbors

A general introduction: This page

About the parent organization, InterEnvironment Institute: About

History, status, and future of the Natural Neighbors project: An evolving idea

Our current work in several regions: Ten Points of Inspiration 

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Sources of information about these regions: Learn more

Explaining the project's theme: Sustainability

The background: Global crises

Frequently asked questions: FAQ

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What we call NATURAL NEIGHBORS are national parks, historic sites, museums, zoos, botanic gardens, and similar places. We encourage those responsible for them to work together in engaging with the public — and we have specific purposes and reasons in mind.

There have always been good reasons for getting people to spend time in nature. It’s good for their physical and mental health. If they learn about the plants and animals, the rocks and the water, so much the better.

And there have always been good reasons for people to learn about the history of the place where they live and about what is going on around them now. Because if they have a sense of belonging to the place where they live, they are more likely to participate responsibly in public life.

But now there is another layer of reasons for connecting people to their natural and cultural heritage. We are faced with a set of unprecedented and interdependent global crises: climate change and biodiversity loss, and their effects on our security, prosperity, and health. All of us need to do whatever we can to move the world, or at least our own part of the world, toward greater justice and sustainability. 

For many of us these challenges seem insurmountable: we feel hopeless. Ten Points of Inspiration is meant to fill a need and make the most of an opportunity. The need is for true stories showing how individual people and small groups can make a difference. The opportunity is engaging with the many visitors to what we call Natural Neighbors.   WE SET EXAMPLE

https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/why-solutions-journalism-matters-too/

In Public Opinion, the  journalist Walter Lippmann commented, “The way in which the world is imagined determines at any particular moment what men will do.” The  media plays a big part in how people imagine                                         reality; journalists shape  perceptions by what they choose to highlight and what they overlook.  Reporters will always be needed to play the crucial watchdog role ―  uncovering malfeasance, corruption and betrayals                                         of trust. But increasingly,  there is a new problem that the press needs to be addressing as well ―  it’s not so much about people doing terrible things that are hidden from  view, it’s about people doing remarkable things that are  hidden from view. John Locke wrote, “It is one thing to show a man that  he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth.”

David Borenstein, Why solutions journalism matters, too."

NYT Dec 20, 2011. 

"Stories are the raw material of hope" - Orion magazine.

Solutions Journalism Network 

Across the world, more than 30% of the population admits to actively avoiding news.

Media scholars Karen McIntyre and Meghan Sobel explain that two major causes of news avoidance are psycho-social numbing (the phenomenon that makes it difficult to  feel like large-scale suffering in distant places is real) and  compassion fatigue (the idea that the more suffering we are exposed to,  the harder it is to feel the impact of it). But solutions journalism is  different from the problem-centric reporting that leads to these forms  of emotional burn-out.

Source: Code The Dream/Eric Atkinson   

In 2017, researchers at the Institute for Applied Positive Research found that solutions-oriented reporting made people feel less anxious  and more energized and increased their connection to the community. But  beyond just feeling “less upset” when they walk away from the news,  audiences reported a stronger willingness to talk about the issues,  collaborate with others, and hold officials in positions of power  accountable for change.

In 2021, we commissioned SmithGeiger, a leading media research firm, to study the impact of solutions journalism with some of our news partners. We learned that news consumers find  solutions journalism stories both more engaging (deeper and more  interesting than traditional problem-focused journalism) and more  relevant to their own lives; it helps audiences understand how solutions  are being implemented in their own communities. In other words, when we  see that positive change can occur, it helps us to see that our own  actions matter and  inspires us to become involved in efforts for social  change.