Creative Localization
A Community-Based Approach
to Ecological Civilization
in Practice and Theory
An ecological civilization is a living dream, an ideal, that is particularly relevant to this stage of history. The hope emerges from the hearts of people who are filled with wonder and concern. On the one hand they are troubled by the political dysfunction, community breakdown, violence, economic inequities, and debilitating effects of consumerism that now permeate the planet. They know that the world as it is, shaped by modernity and a legacy of colonialism, is not the world as it ought to be and can be. On the other hand they are awed by the sheer beauty of life on earth and the poignancy of life, human life much included. Concern and wonder, tragedy and beauty: these are the feelings that give rise to the hope for an ecological civilization.
One of the most influential articulations of ecological civilization is that of Pope Francis in Laudato Si. He speaks of it as an "integral ecology" that includes (1) human-to-human ecologies of love and kindness and (2) human-to-nature ecologies that include harmony with the more than human world: the hills and rivers, the trees and stars. This twofold ecology forms the bedrock of a civilization in which people life with respect and care for the community of life, people and other animals, and with special care for the vulnerable: the very old, the very young, and people who are otherwise marginalized.
For process-relational thinkers as for Pope Francis, the fundamental units of an ecological civilization are local communities that are creative, compassionate, participatory, humane to animals, good for the earth, and spiritually satisfying - with no one left behind. With help from education both formal and informal, the residents of these communities are inspired by the idea of living in harmony with the more than human world and with one another. In the language of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, they are inspired by the ideal of becoming a beloved community situated within the larger context of life on earth.
The great work of our time today is to use our time and energy to help create a world that is a community of communities of communities, all of them beloved in their ways. In the sections below - one on practice and one on theory - you will get a sense of what ecological civilization can mean in a local setting. For much more on ecological civilization, see the work of these partner institutions:
Institute for Ecological Civilization
Earth Charter
Pando Populus
The Cobb Institute
Center for Process Studies
Institute for the Postmodern Development of China
Jay McDaniel, January 2021
One of the most influential articulations of ecological civilization is that of Pope Francis in Laudato Si. He speaks of it as an "integral ecology" that includes (1) human-to-human ecologies of love and kindness and (2) human-to-nature ecologies that include harmony with the more than human world: the hills and rivers, the trees and stars. This twofold ecology forms the bedrock of a civilization in which people life with respect and care for the community of life, people and other animals, and with special care for the vulnerable: the very old, the very young, and people who are otherwise marginalized.
For process-relational thinkers as for Pope Francis, the fundamental units of an ecological civilization are local communities that are creative, compassionate, participatory, humane to animals, good for the earth, and spiritually satisfying - with no one left behind. With help from education both formal and informal, the residents of these communities are inspired by the idea of living in harmony with the more than human world and with one another. In the language of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, they are inspired by the ideal of becoming a beloved community situated within the larger context of life on earth.
The great work of our time today is to use our time and energy to help create a world that is a community of communities of communities, all of them beloved in their ways. In the sections below - one on practice and one on theory - you will get a sense of what ecological civilization can mean in a local setting. For much more on ecological civilization, see the work of these partner institutions:
Institute for Ecological Civilization
Earth Charter
Pando Populus
The Cobb Institute
Center for Process Studies
Institute for the Postmodern Development of China
Jay McDaniel, January 2021