Hartford Public Library 
to Host First “Active Wisdom Dialogue” 
In the Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MAY 15, 2006  
For more information, contact:
Steve Dahlberg
860 450 1287
steve@appliedimagination.org

Aging and retirement will dominate American culture in the coming decades, yet people are burdened with obsolete concepts about aging. Everyone knows the statistics about the number of baby boomers. One is now turning 60 every seven seconds. People are healthier and better educated. They are living longer. After transitioning from full-time work to “retirement,” people may have up to 20 to 30 healthy years in which to engage in new activities. All of this requires imagination and wisdom – to create the future shape of one’s life.

The Hartford Public Library will host the nation’s first “Active Wisdom Dialogue: New Thinking About Aging and Creativity in the 21st Century” on Mondays, April 24, May 22 and June 19 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The dialogue will be facilitated by Steven Dahlberg from the Center on Aging and Human Development at the University of Connecticut.

“Wisdom is the most positive and acceptable trait of people who live long lives,” says Mary Catherine Bateson, the anthropologist and author who developed the active wisdom concept. “The challenge is to stimulate imaginations to combine that wisdom with activity and social engagement to make it meaningful in one’s life and in the world.”

The Active Wisdom Dialogue is designed to help people discover new ways of thinking about the future and influencing “what might be” in the new American life of aging. It will offer participants the opportunity to engage their creativity and understand the changes facing the aging society. People of all ages are welcome to participate in this dialogue, which will explore:

• What your age means to you – and whether your concept of age fits with society’s expectations about certain ages.
• What opportunities and challenges you see ahead for yourself – and for an increasingly older society.
• What role creativity might play in helping you explore transitions and live the second half of your life on purpose.
• How active wisdom might be applied to improve community well-being and the common good.

DETAILS: Mondays, April 24, May 22 and June 19, 5:30-7:00 p.m., Hartford Public Library, Third Floor Administrative Suite, 500 Main Street, Hartford. Event is free; registration is requested; and light refreshments will be served. Register by phone at 860-695-6295.

Future dialogues will explore related topics. Participants will help form on-going dialogues around aging-related themes that are important to them.

Read more about the Active Wisdom Dialogue project.

# # #

BACKGROUND ABOUT FACILITATOR AND HOST INSTITUTION:
Steven Dahlberg is principal of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination. Most recently, he was head of the Massachusetts-based Creative Education Foundation and director for its annual, international Creative Problem Solving Institute. He has 15 years of experience teaching creative thinking and problem solving, including helping two toy inventors launch a creativity consulting business. For more than nine years, he’s been exploring the intersection of creativity, aging, retirement, transitions, purpose and work. His articles have appeared in Training magazine, Knowledge Management News magazine, and Global Knowledge Review. He edits the ageing as exile? blog. He is currently is completing a graduate certificate in gerontology at the University of Connecticut.

Hartford Public Library ... seeks to promote and support literacy and learning; to provide free and open access to information and ideas; and to help people participate in our democratic society. Founded in 1774, the Library is now nearing completion of a major renovation and expansion under the leadership of Chief Librarian Louise Blalock.