Blog Archives - Institute for Ecological Civilization

Granting Rights to Nature

The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that humans have integral rights that must be protected. However, where does nature stand? Does it have a legal basis to protect itself? Or is that duty placed onto humans, who may not always have nature’s best interests at heart? Environmental protection is a newer concept,…

Bringing Humanity Back to an Economy

In today’s society, the term ‘economy’ refers to people thinking individually to pursue capital gain. This removes a sense of community and partnership from current economic models, reducing the power and capacity of the community when making decisions concerning their local economy. At the Institute for Ecological Civilization, we attempt to maximize the sense of…

Refugees in the Climate Crisis

In a constantly changing climate, people must transform – whether that be by adapting to their new environment or finding another place that is better suited to their needs. Movement and migrations are a common theme in the world’s history. However, the primary cause of movement has rarely been due to a changing climate, as…

Agrifood Systems: Moving Beyond Binaries

The newly launched Agrifood Systems Program supports localized partners who are working at the intersection of socially equitable and ecologically-rich food and agriculture systems, and connecting them to global resources and knowledge. An intersectional approach to equity and ecology as well as food and agriculture is crucial in moving beyond traditionally binary thinking focused only…

Localization and Climate Adaptation: Different and Urgent Processes

Caption: Participants at the 2020 “Cities Facing Escalating Water Shortages” conference in Cape Town, hosted at the University of the Western Cape. The conference facilitated six teams to prioritize intervention areas related to water in the city. Teams covered natural sciences, the social sciences, politics and governance, economics, the technical sciences, and civil society. The…

Changing the Conservation Narrative

The dominant conservation narrative for centuries was fortress conservation, an approach that protects natural spaces by excluding human populations who are blamed for ecological degradation. This approach resulted in the displacement of local communities that have long had a deep, cultural, economic and ecological connection to this land. These millennia-old connections with the land have…

Systems Change vs Individual Change

It is the idea that true, definitive change can only be realized through solutions that address the root cause of an issue. Those in charge of establishing solutions must look at revolutionizing current perspectives that typically only address the symptoms of systemic issues by incorporating a holistic view when looking at solution-building. The issues we…

A Statement on COP26 from the Institute for Ecological Civilization

As we marched with protesters in Glasgow and featured emerging leaders on EcoCiv panels, it was only too clear how far we still need to go to achieve an ecological civilization. This month’s summit will count as a success only if leaders now act upon the updated climate plans promised for 2022: phasing out coal,…

참살이와 전지구적 번영을 위한 경제

클레어몬트 생태 포럼 (생태문명을 위한 국제포럼) 둘째날에 우리는 참살이와 전지구적 번영을 위한 경제 대하여 이야기 하였습니다. (www.claremontecoforum.org) 이코시브 코리아의 디렉터인 이동우 목사가 둘째날 세션의 좌장을 맡은 정건화 교수를 소개하며 세션을 시작했습니다. 정건화 교수는 한신대학교 경제학과 교수이며, Lab2050의 이사회 의장입니다. 그는 서울연구원, 서울50+재단, 희망제작소에서 이사로 재직했으며, 현재 사회적 경제, 사회 혁신, 지역 사회와 학계의 연결을 위해 일하고 있습니다.…

Economies for Wellbeing and Planetary Flourishing

On the second day of the International Claremont Eco Forum we had a session of Economies for Wellbeing and Planetary Flourishing. (www.claremontecoforum.org) Gunna Jung moderated the session. Gunna is a professor of Economics at Hanshin University, Seoul, Korea. He is a chair of a board of directors at Lab2050. He served as a director at…