As we announced yesterday in our newsletter, we are very excited to release the newest section of our website: Ecological Civilization. We at the Forum feel this subject is of crucial importance at this stage in our global evolution.
This is a term that emerged 25 years ago in China and is now being discussed in the West. It is a fundamental paradigm shift toward an ecocentric worldview, rather than an anthropocentric one—an ecological civilization that provides a basis for the well-being and health of both people and the planet. This involves drawing on philosophical and religious traditions for shaping a broader environmental ethics and transformative action. This was the assumption of the 10 Harvard conferences and books on World Religions and Ecology (1996-2007). The Chinese are reviving their own traditions of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism for ecological ethics. We honor the efforts of those in both the East and West, who have been writing and speaking on this topic for many years, and we look forward to lifting up their work in this section.
We have curated a selection of resources to enhance your exploration of this important topic, including:
- Mary Evelyn Tucker’s introduction on the main page
- Information on the books that are available in English, including a feature page on the Process Century Press Toward Ecological Civilization series
- A wealth of articles in English, from both academic journals and news sources
- Journals and periodicals publishing in this area, including special issues
- Multimedia listings of both videos and podcasts. This is a curated selection, but for even more content see the playlists at the top of this page and the Forum YouTube channel Ecological Civilization playlist
- A listing of the important reports and statements that have emerged
- A living, evolving timeline of global milestones toward this effort
- And additional related resources for further exploration
You'll find the new section here on the Forum site:
Our Publications section no longer appears in the main menu, but don't worry! You can still find it all right here:
This new section will be growing over the months and years to come, as the Ecological Civilization movement and expansion of this concept continues to take root in more places and evolve. We hope this new section will help spread the word and help all of us to understand it further and learn how to help seed this important syntropic shift.