Toward a Livable Future
To make the most of our actions, we need to be clear on the direction we must be heading toward--even as we cope with today's emergencies. We can best do that by integrating the solutions already emerging into a comprehensive whole. |
Regeneration is a response to the urgency of the climate crisis, a determined what-to-do manual for all levels of society, from individuals to national governments and everything and everyone in between. It describes a system of interlocking initiatives that can stem the climate crisis in one generation.
Regeneration puts life at the center of every action and decision. It applies to all of life—grasslands, farms, insects, forests, fish, wetlands, coastlands, and oceans—and it applies equally to family, communities, cities, schools, religion, commerce, and governments. And most spectacularly to climate.
Image and quote from regeneration.org Their integrated vision of what our future would look like if all of the Drawdown Project's proven solutions were implemented.
Is a livable future is possible for us and for the ecosystems we can still save? That is the question our hearts cannot help but ask. We can so readily imagine a world with connected communities, a resilient and equitable economy that puts the planet before profit, and an Earth restored. And we can see all the ways that we humans are capable of living together sustainably, and yet we do not. We know the planet would be far healthier if we could find our human way to such a future, but can we? Is there at least a direction we can head toward that makes a livable future more likely?
To answer yes to these queries is not to say that such a future is certain. But such a future is possible enough to justify our every effort towards it. Possible enough that we must seek, in faith, that which we are each led to do in service to such an end.
Much of this website and what we, as Friends, may be called to do, will be driven by the urgent, climate-related needs around us. But our best response to the climate crisis cannot, in the end, be determined by the needs of the moment. We must turn our attention not to just what we can and must do, but also to what we might do; to our vision of the world that is within our reach to achieve. In this part of the website we have gathered resources that help us answer in ways both profound and practical, "how is it possible for us as human beings to live?" Here we show some of the many ways already present or coming into being that, taken together, would result in a future more livable for all.
In the rest of this section, you will find links to resources that inspire, delight, and pique your imagination for what is actually possible as we envision a livable future. There are so many sustainable solutions truly within our reach upon which we may justifiably ground ourselves for manifesting the world we seek and an Earth restored.
To answer yes to these queries is not to say that such a future is certain. But such a future is possible enough to justify our every effort towards it. Possible enough that we must seek, in faith, that which we are each led to do in service to such an end.
Much of this website and what we, as Friends, may be called to do, will be driven by the urgent, climate-related needs around us. But our best response to the climate crisis cannot, in the end, be determined by the needs of the moment. We must turn our attention not to just what we can and must do, but also to what we might do; to our vision of the world that is within our reach to achieve. In this part of the website we have gathered resources that help us answer in ways both profound and practical, "how is it possible for us as human beings to live?" Here we show some of the many ways already present or coming into being that, taken together, would result in a future more livable for all.
In the rest of this section, you will find links to resources that inspire, delight, and pique your imagination for what is actually possible as we envision a livable future. There are so many sustainable solutions truly within our reach upon which we may justifiably ground ourselves for manifesting the world we seek and an Earth restored.
Queries
Aiming Us Toward a Livable Future
Might a livable future still be within our reach? What is still possible? What do we even meaning by a "livable future"? And how could we get there from here? Can we meet the needs of all by healing rather than harming Earth's biosystems--or each other? Might we transition to systems and structures and ways of treating each other that bring out the best, rather than the worst, in each other? How can we best use what power we do have as Friends--as activists, changemakers, truth-tellers, citizens, donors--in service of the future we do truly need? |
Connections, Inspiration and Solutions
Click on the items below to explore some well-considered responses to the practical questions of what a livable future could look like, based on combining and integrating the many solutions already well underway so as to suggest our best direction.
planet action compassTo help us get our bearings, this "compass" illustrates the four immediate survival goals (blue) as the "cornerstones" for a future we can all live with. The solutions now emerging in all eight "sectors of society" (sides of octagon) bring out the most sustainable practices for meeting the essential functions of our society. (Model developed by Friend, Nancy Glock-Grueneich, 2022) C40 Knowledge HubRecognizing that human futures will be mostly lived in cities, 40 of the largest cities in the world collaborate to share solutions with each other, and all other cities and peoples, to provide "Cutting edge insights and practical resources from leading climate [action] cities," including policy briefs, data, implementation guides, cases and stories. |
project regenerationA potent visualization combining sectors in a livable future starts the Regeneration site. "Regeneration puts life at the center of every action and decision. It applies to all of life—grasslands, farms, insects, forests, fish, wetlands, coastlands, and oceans—and it applies equally to family, communities, cities, schools, religion, commerce, and governments. And most spectacularly to climate." earth breakthrough effect |
project drawdownWorld’s Leading Resource for Climate Solutions "Our mission is to help the world reach “drawdown”—the point in the future when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline thus halting catastrophic climate change—as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible." The next systems projectAmong the deepest, most well-informed and systematic reflections from leading thinkers, developing over the last decade, and focused on the specific systems changes necessary for a livable future and how these are showing up as emerging solutions, new kinds of social relationships, and envisioned futures. |