Beyond Earth Day

Editor’s Note

I hope this note finds you in good health and good spirits as we collectively navigate a historic time period amid the coronavirus outbreak. The year 2020 will surely be remembered in the context of how COVID-19 changed our lives.

Yet 2020 marks another milestone moment that we hope will go down in the history books — organizing the largest global mobilization in human history to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The coronavirus may keep us from gathering for peaceful protests, physical volunteer efforts and conferences, but it is still poised to be a monumental display of much of humanity’s concern for the environment. It has gone from the largest global mobilization to the largest Digital Earth Day, the first of its kind.

As we gear up for Earth Day on April 22, I am excited to announce that Madison Magazine has partnered with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies to bring you Earth Day-related content from March to May. In the Beyond Earth Day section on our website, we will publish two to three stories weekly leading up to and following the Nelson Institute’s 14th annual Earth Day Conference on April 20. The Nelson Institute has had to drastically change programming for the conference, but its quick-moving leadership is in the process of launching alternative program details.

Through this partnership, and as a silver sponsor of the Earth Day Conference, Madison Magazine is prepared to help make this year’s Earth Day — a worldwide event founded right here in Wisconsin by former state governor and senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970 — one to be remembered. Our Beyond Earth Day section is meant to spotlight the legacy of Earth Day, which is one that extends well beyond a single day of observance.

Thank you, and we look forward to providing content and interacting with you online these next few months.

-Andrea Behling, Madison Magazine editor