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The Evolution of Consciousness is nothing short of the evolution of everything we experience on the gross and subtle planes. Biological evolution is not separate from this. For it is the nucleus (governing center of consciousness) of any sentient holon that dictates the *use of resources* of that holon thus altering the structural landscape of its matter-energy composition irrevocably. Mind and matter are but the interior and exterior of a single unfolding. (Leo Marrs)
As our world stumbles to the brink of ecological collapse -- the "tipping point" of irreversible climate change -- sustainability has become a vital issue. Which world are we trying to sustain: a resource to fulfill our desires of material prosperity, or an Earth of wonder, beauty and sacred meaning? To quote Thomas Berry: There is now a single issue before us: survival. Not merely physical survival, but survival in a world of fulfillment, survival in a living world, where the violets bloom in the springtime, where the stars shine down in all their mystery, survival in a world of meaning.
If we are to sustain this world of wonder, what is essential in our response is not just action but a shift in consciousness, a shift away from seeing the Earth as something separate from ourselves, as a resource to be used and abused. Real sustainability is not the sustainability of our present lifestyle -- our image of progress and economic growth -- but the sustainability of a sacred Earth, rich in biodiversity and wonder.
This one-day intensive workshop will lead participants into experiencing transformative processes first hand and head-on. It focuses on the mechanisms of change, including how our individual and collective beliefs can create ...
The awareness of the sacred reconnects our consciousness to the primal structure of life which was known to our ancestors. For them the world was sacred and whole—they could not conceive of it being other. The greatest tragedy of modern man is that we have lost this primal awareness, this knowing of the sacred. The most needed work is to reconnect with the sacred in our outer and inner life. Through this simple act of remembrance we can regain the balance we have so dangerously lost. Then we can see how we are a part of the interconnected web of life and know the work that needs to be done. Our outer actions, rather than reconstellating the patterns of separation, will naturally come from oneness and help life’s unity to unfold. We will again be a part of the evolving organic interdependence of life. Without this simple key of awareness of the sacred we could remain lost in the wasteland world we are creating.
When some cancers are hypothesized to begin in people suffering recent loss, what loss? Is it only personal? Or does a personal loss open the gates to that less conscious but overwhelming loss--the slow disappearance of the natural world, a loss endemic to our entire civilization? In that case, the idea that depth psychology merges with ecology translates to mean that to understand the ills of the soul today we turn to the world, to its suffering. The most radical deconstruction of subjectivity, called "displacing the subject", today would be re-placing the subject back into the world, or re-placing the subject altogether with the world.
…we want you to consider design on all scales, from something as small as elemental carbon to something as big as the future; from something as basic as soil to something as extravagant as caviar; from not only how we design our world but how we power it. This is upcycling: taking Cradle to Cradle and applying it not just to how people design a carpet but how they design a home, a workplace, an industry, a city. Using the Cradle to Cradle framework, we can upcycle to talk about designing not just for health but for abundance, proliferation, delight. We can upcycle to talk about not how human industry can be just “less bad,” but how it can be more good, an extraordinary positive in our world.
In honor of Earth Day, I wanted to share an article written by my former colleague Ross Robertson for EnlightenNext magazine called “A Brighter Shade of Green: Rebooting Environmentalism for the 21stCentury.” His brilliant insights about this...
When you think of nature as it applies to building design, however, there is a new “nature” within a building. It is a concept termed biomimicry, which literally means to mimic life. Applied biomimicry can be utilized in three ways or in a combination of these three ways: Form - such as mimicking dragonfly wings to create lightweight structures; Processes -such as mimicking photosynthesis to capture solar energy; Systems-such as building wall systems that mimic the homeostasis in organisms which allows them to regulate their internal conditions such as temperature
So I studied biology, in search of the pattern of thriving living systems. And at the same, I studied all the theories about what makes organizations thrive, or succeed. Now, for some reason, every biologist tells a different and very complicated story about how life works. And the same is true in organizational theory. But when you step back and look at them all together, you see that they're all telling the same basic story. At every level of human activity, it’s the same simple pattern. And this pattern suggests a very different guiding story.
"In 1960, the United States put its first Earth-observing environmental satellite into orbit around the planet. Over the decades, these satellites have provided invaluable information, and the vantage point of space has provided new perspectives on Earth. This book celebrates Earth’s aesthetic beauty in the
patterns, shapes, colors, and textures of the land, oceans, ice, and atmosphere. Earth-observing environmental satellites can measure outside the visible range of light, so these images show more than what is visible to the naked eye. The beauty of Earth is clear, and the artistry ranges from the surreal to the sublime. Truly, by escaping Earth’s gravity we discovered
its attraction." Lawrence Friedl, NASA Earth Science Available as a free 160-page ebook or as a free iPad App here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nasa-earth-as-art/id577527077?mt=8
Via Ignacio López Busón
just a few of my favourite pieces from my favourite artist (Land Art : Andy Goldsworthy: a little tribute: http://t.co/ftfBv8n42G via @youtube #Landart)...
"Inner realities are discovered through introspection. The seeds of new concepts can take root and grow there. As an artist, I attempt to cultivate the subconscious realm and reveal them for the public.
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DJ Spooky speaks with 350.org founder Bill McKibben about the perils of climate change and the critical role art can play in confronting it.
Learn about what the number 400 means for our future. On May 9th, for the first time ever, the world's most important CO2 monitoring station recorded daily CO2 concentrations above 400 parts per million -- the highest levels found on earth in over 5 million years.Already we're seeing the deadly effects of climate change in the form of rising seas, wildfires and extreme weather of all kinds, and passing 400 PPM is an ominous sign of what might come next.The safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmostphere is 350 parts per million, but the only way to get there is to immediately transition the global economy away from fossil fuels and into into renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable farming practices in all sectors (agriculture, transport, manufacturing, etc.). While the level fluctuates seasonally and varies across different latitudes, this is yet another sign that our dependence on fossil fuels is out of control.
Thirty participants explore issues like HIV/AIDS, climate change, rainforest conservation, governance, widow's rights and youth empowerment in the context of leadership development. The three-year program, involving 30 participants and a dozen facilitators from several different countries, was designed with an integral approach in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, coaching, and program design. The program resulted in seven Breakthrough Initiatives and the formation of the African Integral Development Network. The video may be of particular interest to development practitioners interested in integral theory and psycho-social models of leadership development, however it does not require prior knowledge of the integral model. Includes scenes of village life in Nigeria, including ceremonies with chiefs and traditional songs with women, and also gives the viewer a felt-sense of how the Nigerian leaders in One Sky's program are making sustainable changes throughout the South-East corner of this country. Note to educators: this would be an excellent resource for university, college or even high school students"
Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth, I believe. He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience, to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon it. He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it. He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind. He ought to recollect the glare of noon and all the colors of the dawn and dusk. (N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain, p.83)
Alliance for Wild Ethics is a consortium of individuals and organizations working to ease the spreading devastation of the animate earth through a rapid transformation of culture. We employ the arts, often in tandem with the natural sciences, to provoke deeply felt shifts in the human experience of nature. Motivated by a love for the more-than-human collective of life, and for human life as an integral part of that wider collective, we work to revitalize local, face-to-face community – and to integrate our communities perceptually, practically, and imaginatively into the earthly bioregions that surround and support them.
As humans we are remarkably good at conceiving the world as a collection of objects, their geometric attributes, and the ways they can be taken apart and re-assembled to do spectacular things (either perform marvelous tasks for us, or provide an aesthetic spectacle, or both). This way of designing underlies much of our powerful technology—yet as modern science reminds us, it’s an incomplete way. Critical systemic effects have to be integrated into the process of design, without which we are likely to trigger operational failures and even disasters. Today we are experiencing just these kinds of failures in large-scale systems like ecology. As designers (of any kind) we must learn to manage environments not just as collections of objects, but also as connected fields with essential features of geometric organization, extending dynamically through time as well as space. This is a key lesson from the relatively recent understanding of the dynamics of “complex adaptive systems,” and from applications in fields like biology and ecology.
9 basic principles of biomimicry J. Benyus
Created by Jason Silva in collaboration with CITIZEN. Follow Jason on twitter @JASONSILVA This video is a non-commercial work created to inspire, made for ed...
At his carpet company, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional "take / make / waste" industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce.
The Eiffel Tower, Houses of Parliament and Times Square were among the landmarks taking part in Earth Hour 2013 by extinguishing their lights for 60 minutes
More than 150 countries descended into darkness to raise awareness for the WWF's Earth Hour campaign to call on governments to pledge their commitment to tackling climate change.
One of Andy Goldsworthy's projects...
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