Dear John,
 In this moment of global urgency, I’m excited to share that we’re transforming Circle of Blue to meet water's dynamic challenges. More stories, more data, more context, more convenings, more partnerships, more solutions, more connections. Circle of Blue is more than original, trusted news. We connect the dots. We’ll be sharing details of our plans in the coming months. Meantime, here's some of what our amazing team has been up to. What’s your biggest vision for Circle of Blue as we design our transformation? What do you need most to do your job, stay informed, get involved? I’d love to hear your big ideas to meet this moment. |
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J. Carl Ganter
Managing Director
Circle of Blue |
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| * You can join the transformation. We count on you to support trusted, independent journalism and we're getting closer to receiving an exciting challenge/matching grant offered by a major philanthropy that will kick us into high gear. Contact me to learn how you can participate. |
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Catalyzing Systems Change for Water
Dalberg Catalyst, a leading global consultancy that takes on the "toughest problems of today," has identified Circle of Blue as having “a tangible and durable impact on the pressing societal and planetary challenges of our time.”
Dalberg is working closely with the Circle of Blue team and partners to design a unique systems change news lab and ways to grow impact across the Great Lakes, U.S., and the world. "We've entered an era of converging crises. Siloed and short-term efforts will not result in the impact we urgently need on a global scale. Converging crises require  — and also create urgency for — an integrated systems approach." |
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Systems change for water
What is “systems change” and why is it essential for solving the world’s most intractable problems?
In an era of polycrises, when global challenges are intersecting, it takes a systemic approach to untangle the complexities and find interconnected solutions for multiple problems. Solve water and you start to solve food security and famine, climate change and adaptation, and energy production. In March, the Villars Institute in Switzerland hosted systems change leaders from around the world for the annual Villars Summit. J. Carl Ganter joined Johan Rockstrom, Nik Gowing, Alexa Firmenich, and others to design ways to shift the world’s dangerous course. |
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Exploring Water’s Future
With support from Suntory, APCO Worldwide and Cherry Republic, Circle of Blue hosted leaders in water, climate change, sustainability, art, and communications for “Exploring Water’s Future,” a special dinner at the Explorers Club March 21 on the eve of the UN Water Conference.Â
We gathered in the storied Clark Room at the Explorers Club where Carl Sagan, Sylvia Earle, James Cameron, Edmund Hillary, and visionary explorers began expeditions that have shaped humanity's relationship with the Earth, the Moon, and the stars.
In a time of almost unimaginable peril and possibility, we are each an adventurer at a moment of water transformation. The UN Water Conference has helped recalibrate for higher expectations and results, and sets in motion an historic calendar toward the UN General Assembly, G20 Summit, and COP climate conference |
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Taking the World's Pulse with Circle of Blue, GlobeScan and WWF
Before the world’s water leaders and others gathered in New York, Circle of Blue, Globescan and WWF took the pulse of public opinion about water challenges and climate change. It revealed important trends about public opinion, water, and climate change as the world faces an extraordinary moment in human history.
Fifty-eight percent of people around the world are very concerned about fresh water shortages, while 30 percent say they have personally been “greatly” impacted by a lack of fresh water.
"We are seeing a rare convergence, when public opinion is aligning with profound realities as the world faces compounding water challenges that are affecting how we grow our food, generate our power, and support a sustainable economy and environment. The survey of some 30,000 people definitively shows that citizens around the world are feeling and talking about the effects of water and climate stress. The poll is a crucial barometer that reveals increasing public demand for action from political and corporate leaders."
Read the results and watch the online press event here.
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Live from the UN Water Conference
Read Circle of Blue Senior Reporter Brett Walton's coverage from the UN Water Conference. |
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Water, War and Peace
How can water become the blue thread... a unifying force for peacemaking?
Where are water conflicts now and how can we resolve them?
J. Carl Ganter moderated and joined fellow panelists Dr. Peter Gleick, Irina Patrahau, and Liz Saccoccia in this official UN Water Conference session, "Water, War and Peace." See the full event and summary here and learn more from the Pacific Institute, World Resources Institute and HCSS - The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies plus ongoing coverage of global water issues from Circle of Blue. |
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Building a Water Innovation Ecosystem with the World Economic Forum
During the UN Water Conference, Circle of Blue participated in the World Economic Forum and Global Commons Alliance all-day session, “Bursting the Water Bubble,” an event designed to map systemic change for water.
With interconnected tools and understandings, the Global Commons Alliance mission is to empower citizens, companies and countries to become effective stewards of the global commons: the environmental systems in the biosphere and climate system that regulate the state of the planet. Circle of Blue is a founding member along with other organizations that include IUCN, BSR, GEF, Conservation International, Ceres, the Pacific Institute, and Oak Foundation. |
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Explorers Club Names J. Carl Ganter a Fellow, Recognizing Contributions to Freshwater Research, Conservation and Journalism
Circle of Blue's co-founder J. Carl Ganter joins a roster of explorers who have “inspired many of the world’s greatest discoveries” as water stress becomes a serious threat to people, business, the environment and political stability across the world. Read the full announcement here. |
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Water: Systemic Views with Circle of Blue and the World Economic Forum
Systems change requires a systemic view of intersections, and obvious and non-obvious relationships. In partnership with the World Economic Forum, Circle of Blue curates the Forum's Water Intelligence Transformation Maps, which reveal connections between water and local-to-global issues. Click to experience the water systems maps (free with registration). |
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About Circle of Blue
For more than a decade, Circle of Blue has reported from the front lines of the global competition between water, food and energy in a changing climate. Circle of Blue received the Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Innovation Award for implementing a new model of systems change and convening for solutions. |
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