Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The major development underpinning the prospect for an early-century peak in human population and even earlier peak in civilizational power is a rapid and seemingly unexpected decline in fertility rates across the world. All regions except Africa are now below the replacement rate, and still falling.
Hurried pursuit of a liquefied natural gas windfall in B.C. and Alberta will squander a key component of Canada’s long-term energy security while causing environmental devastation, according to a new report.
The Indonesian government intends to release a total of 13 million hectares (32 million acres) from the national forest estate for leasehold management by local communities, a policy known as social forestry. Prior to the community forestry license, people’s relationship with the land was determined by an Indigenous Dayak system of customary rules and norms, known here as handil.
Ultimately, the question of democratic and ecological cities is a deeply political one, as it requires the collective deliberation of the future we want.
The present global meta-crisis seems certain to affect not just global politics but also the underlying structure of global politics in the existing system of nation-states. What’s the outlook for modern nation-states as the crisis unfolds?
Hopefully, the unexpected – yet welcome – success of seagrass in the Maldives is a cause for conservation optimism.
With the biggest election year in history underway — and threats to democracy facing the United States and many other countries — I decided to ask Ivan about the many practical lessons he learned from Otpor’s success. Here, in Ivan’s own words, is the story of bringing down a dictator.
Members don’t just receive food; they gain a voice, a role, and a support network that extends far beyond the distribution line. This approach challenges the traditional food charity model and offers a blueprint for building stronger, more resilient communities grounded in cooperation and shared responsibility.
But insofar as it is possible to confront, confound and supercede capitalism, a future in which electricity is used less wastefully, more equitably, and within bounds set collectively with a view to avoiding catastrophic climate change, is surely plausible.
In the case of renewable energy, given that renewable electricity generation facilities are so cheap, why isn’t the global energy system switching rapidly to renewables? Because, Christophers shows, the economics of energy (like the economics of everything else in the modern world) isn’t driven by price, but by profit.
I don’t know whether there is an H5N1 “bird flu” pandemic in our future. We humans think we can build moats around our modern way of life that protect us from the natural world. All the while we have actually been building the equivalent of superhighways into the heart of human society everywhere due to our dense living arrangements and global travel and trade.
Tompkins County plays a crucial role in establishing a systems approach to the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the region. It serves as the region’s sustainability hub, from which activities, planning, and policies radiate into surrounding counties like the spokes of a wheel.
