Dear CEC members, colleagues, friends,

At a recent meeting held in IUCN headquarters - Exploring Deep Change Processes: Learning from what works around the world - I had the great privilege to meet and think with CEC member Junko Edahiro. 

Junko is the initiator of the wonderful Candle Night Campaign (www.candle-night.org) which started in Japan in Summer 2003. Turn off the lights; Take it slow - are the key messages of this campaign, for which more than five million people in Japan and around the world turn off their lights for two hours on the summer and winter solstices annually.

I would like to invite you to: (a) forward this message to your networks and (b) join more than five million people for the Candle Night Winter Solstice 2006 this Friday.

"Do something special. Read a book with your child by candlelight. Enjoy a quiet dinner with a special person. This night can mean many things for many people. A time to save energy, to think about peace, to think about people in distant lands who share your planet. By turning off lights for only two hours, we will be all loosely connected." (www.candle-night.org)

Turn out your lights; Take it slow on the evening of Winter solstice, Friday December 22nd, for two hours from 8 to 10 p.m. your local time.

With my best wishes and season's greetings!

Keith Wheeler
Chair of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication
(http://cec.wcln.org)