In light of the ongoing response to the covid-19 pandemic, this June’s Breakthrough Dialogue has been postponed. We hope and expect that most of the programming we have planned for the Dialogue will take place at our annual east coast gathering at the Salamander Resort in Northern Virginia, October 11-13.

This was a painful decision for us to make, but it was ultimately an easy one. In postponing this event we follow the example of countless other organizations and individuals who are acting with prudence and solidarity to slow the spread of this dangerous disease.

The Breakthrough Dialogue is the most important three days of our year. Every year, we gather the global ecomodernist community in one place to discuss ongoing questions and disputes in environmental policy, science, philosophy, politics, and culture. For this, our tenth Dialogue, we are looking forward to reflecting on the theme “Intended Consequences,” an inversion of the notion of unintended consequences that so often obstructs progress in innovation and policymaking. We are looking forward to hosting plenary sessions on climate risk, environmental justice, the American food system, and other important subjects. And we are looking forward to celebrating the life and career of Steve Rayner, this year’s Paradigm Award winner, whose ideas infuse everything we do at Breakthrough and who sadly passed away late last year.

We hope to return to our regular business as soon as possible but, like all of you, we cannot be sure when that will be. Please follow our newsletter and our social media for updates on our events and research. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email our director of events Thia Bonadies at thia@thebreakthrough.org or our deputy director Alex Trembath at alex@thebreakthrough.org.

Thank you for your continued interest and support for our work and please stay safe out there.