This outreach program seeks to educate the general public about environmental issues in Southern Appalachia and the Upper Tennessee Valley. We at the Foundation for Global Sustainability who work to defend and heal have long been frustrated at our inability to communicate the depth, breadth, and multiplicity of the assaults our region faces. Legislators, policymakers, educators, citizens have a fragmentary awareness of some of the problems, but few have the interest or patience to develop a long-term synoptic ecological understanding. Yet ecological deterioration is systematic; a piecemeal approach misses the interrelations and cumulative impacts that give it urgency. What is needed is a deep, broad, long-term, multidimensional, multidisciplinary understanding-an understanding large enough to match our predicament.

The State of the Bioregion Program attempts to bridge this gap by providing educational information. The program focuses on three components:

What Have We Done? The State of the Bioregion Report - This one-volume narrative compiles information from academic researchers, environmental organizations, and government agencies. Released on Earth Day, 1997, What Have We Done is a comprehensive guide to understanding the social and environmental issues and efforts currently faced by the Bioregion.  FGS is currently awaiting word from potential publisher of an updated, expanded version of "What Have We Done."  The first volume has been well-received in academic and scientific circles around the country.

• The State of the Bioregion Speakers Bureau - A slide show presentation is available for groups, schools, communties, etc.
• State of the Bioregion Teachers Resources - Providing fact sheets and curricular materials to teachers and students, tailored to the bioregion.
• An Educational Homepage has been set up to provide easy access to a rich source of information based on the 1997 State of the Bioregion Report and other materials.

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