The Project

The Choosing Earth Project recognizes the world confronts much more than a climate crisis; we face a whole systems crisis that includes the mass extinction of species, growing shortages of fresh water, extreme inequities of wealth and well-being, and much more. A greatly expanded view is essential if we are to understand and respond to these global crises. Here are the four perspectives the Choosing Earth Project brings together:

1. LOOK WIDE — A WHOLE SYSTEMS VIEW: We bring together a range of interdependent trends including climate disruption, water scarcity, food shortages, the extinction of animals and plants, unsustainable population growth, inequities of well-being, and more. Viewed together, they bring an Earth-systems crisis into sharp focus.
2. LOOK DEEP — WISDOM FROM BOTH SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY: We bring together insights from both spirituality and science to understand the Earth as a living system. Instead of regarding the Earth as dead at its foundations and a resource for humans to exploit, we see the Earth as a living system to care for.
3. LOOK LONG — EXPLORE THE DEEP FUTURE: We look 50 years ahead where the long-run impact of critical trends becomes much more apparent. This project does not offer a “prediction” but a scholarly estimation of the three, most likely pathways ahead for humanity: 1) functional extinction, 2) authoritarianism, and 3) transformation.
4. LOOK UP — MOBILIZE UPLIFTING FORCES: Assembling forces for uplift is vital if we are to rise above breakdown and collapse and move onto a path of collective renewal. Seven powerful uplifts are included: reconciliation, communication, maturation, paradigm change, community, consciousness, and simplicity.

Combining these four perspectives reveals approaches that can help clarify, transform, and guide our pathway of collapse into one of transformation.