Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
There is no “if we all just did x” solution, shorn of local context, to the unravelling of the high-energy global economy. This kind of contextless thinking exemplifies what I call in my forthcoming book the ‘world environmental problems’ framework. It signally fails to provide plausible solutions.
Joanna, a shining being, even in her absence, becomes more present. This was her final gift—to reveal the ambiguity of being/not-being, the forever fragile home of the deepest grief, the greatest love and the most profound compassion. To live in that ambiguity with the same compassion that flowed from the heart of her being becomes our charge to go forth now.
An unparalleled eco-philosopher, Buddhist scholar, systems theorist, and activist, Joanna dedicated her life to illuminating the interconnectedness of all life and empowering individuals and groups to confront the ecological and social crises of our time with courage and compassion.
Joanna asked the most pertinent of questions: How can I live so as to minimize suffering during this perilous moment? How can I maintain sanity, and help others to do so? What is my responsibility to future generations and other species? The answers she arrived at proved inspiring to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
Situated within a bioregion populated by a multitude of small-scale nested ecosystems that grow food and create useful materials alongside textile fibres the fashion farm will require integration into wider production systems and seasons. It will require learning to be we not I. This dream is too big for one person and a single farm, it is something we must manifest together.
We need better places. And those places don’t emerge from assembly-line development on the edge. They come from communities that are built to rapidly adapt, mature, and endure.
fantasies of perpetual economic growth have lulled us into thinking we are entitled to perpetual financial gains. I believe those fantasies are about to be tested in the near future.
My time at QVdL reinforced everything I believe about ERC’s approach to restoration. We’re not just planting trees or improving soil – we’re building resilient communities that can adapt, learn, and scale their impact.
This manifesto is a call for constructive defiance. We cannot wait for top-down solutions. The future must be built from below—by cultivating water, restoring land, training youth, and constructing homes that regenerate rather than consume.
The great challenge, then, is to learn how to see, name, and reclaim the commons as significant forces in life – a powerful social phenomenon that is not just at play in the Global South, but everywhere.
What if the Kogi story could help all of us – anywhere in the world – be more discerning in our relative processes of acculturation, helping us distinguish what is worth holding on to (or recuperating), as globalization comes knocking at our door (or screen)? With the hope of finding some answers, I set off to northern Colombia, to see what I might find.
Is land – which to some cultures is the original mother, to be revered and cared for – just another commodity which can and should be exploited in the interests of human ‘progress’? Is energy another such commodity as well?
