Korten, a veteran of development work in Asia, Africa and Latin America and Harvard Business School professor, will meet with community groups, politicians and religious groups to address sustainability issues and depleting natural resources, said Puanani Burgess, co-organizer for the visit.

"He takes the historic, economic and political approach and creates a framework to analyze our issues and figure out how we go forward," Burgess said. "David is piercing the old paradigm that holds us in prison."

Korten also authored "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community," which introduced the concepts of "Empire" and "Earth Community" as two contrasting models for organizing human affairs: Empires organize by domination and an earth community organizes by partnership.

He wrote: "Developments distinctive to our time are telling us that Empire has reached the limits of the exploitation that people and Earth will sustain. A mounting perfect economic storm born of a convergence of peak oil, climate change, and an imbalance U.S. economy dependent on debts it can never repay is poised to bring a dramatic restructuring of every aspect of modern life. We have the power to choose, however, whether the consequences play out as a terminal crisis or an epic opportunity. The Great Turning is not a prophecy. It is a possibility."

Richard Pezzulo, with Empower Oahu, which aims to help communities develop grass-roots sustainability planning, said "As we go through this process we have a tendency to focus too much on immediate, the very local problems."

Pezzulo added, "I think what David has to say is what's happening in the world is going to impact our communities at the local level and when we plan we should be looking at these bigger issues."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266

Events open to the public include: