Ecological Civilization

August 28, 2025, from 4:00 - 5:15 p.m. PDT - Garrison Institute Pathways to Planetary Health Forum and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, are presenting Why Ecological Civilization, and Why Now? with Mary Evelyn Tucker, Peter Senge, Stephen Posner, and Yan Zhu. The program is designed to explore - and activate - the guiding philosophy and policy framework of an Ecological Civilization. Click HERE for more information and to register.

The webinar will explore these questions:

• How can economic growth be reconciled with ecological limits?

• How do contemporary expressions of very old ideas in Chinese cultural history contribute to Ecological Civilization?

The speakers will discuss China’s Ecological Civilization vision – including human development, sustainable development, and practical implications such as reforestation, regeneration, and the Great Green Wall. They will also describe communitarian models of service, social harmony, ethics, and education at the heart of Confucianism, and what this means for society and cultural resilience.

For more on this important series, check out a previous conversation - "The Ecological Turn: Bridging Wisdom from Contemplative Traditions with Ecological Ways of Life" - held on March 18 2025, which laid the groundwork for the upcoming forum. Watch or read about it HERE... 

Additional events in this series are scheduled for October 6, 2025 and November 5, 2025,

"This is not just another climate discussion. It’s about reimagining what civilization itself can be — and how each of us can participate in building it."

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In 2021, David Korten wrote a paper Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence. where he talks about the "reality that the current economic system is far better suited to growing the financial assets of billionaires than to securing for all access to food, water, healthcare, vaccines, and other necessities. Living far beyond the means of a finite living Earth, we face a monumental civilizational challenge. A viable human future depends on three inseparably interconnected steps:

1. Acknowledge the limits of the regenerative capacities of Earth’s community of life.

2. Commit ourselves to the equitable sharing of what remains, and

3. Join in a shared commitment to restore Earth to full health while reconnecting us with one another and nature to secure a good life for all people for all generations to come."

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The Living Earth Movement is "a collection of leaders in the fields of theology, business, science, activism, and academia who are passionate about combating climate change and preserving life as we know it on this planet." They ask: "What can all of us do to inspire the United States, China, and other nations to reduce conflicts and work together to address the ecological crisis urgently and dramatically?"