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PARTICIPATION
PATHWAYS
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UNDERSTAND

Understand

​On this page you’ll find resources to help you explore Ecocivilization—what it means, why it matters, and how we can work toward creating it together. Here’s what you’ll find:
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Start wherever your interest takes you, dig as deeply as you like, and explore the other Participation Pathways to continue your journey.​

Learning Resources from Across the Movement 

Learning resouces from across the movement
Capra Course
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An online course with Fritjof Capra based on The Systems View of Life, exploring how a systemic understanding of life can inform responses to our interconnected crises.
Earth4All (Club of Rome)
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A science-based exploration of how humanity could thrive within planetary limits this century, organized around five “extraordinary turnarounds”: poverty, inequality, empowerment, food, and energy. Includes accessible summaries, videos, and national initiatives.
Planetary Health Check
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An annual scientific assessment of the nine planetary boundaries, the Earth-system processes that keep our planet habitable. A clear, visual way to grasp the scale of what we face and why systemic change matters.
Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll)
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A global collaboration working to transform economies so they serve people and planet. The resource library offers short explainers, policy guides, and stories from WEAll hubs in countries around the world.
Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
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Nonprofit focused on "Education for Sustainability" curriculum; their list leans academic/systems-thinking.
Great Transition Initiative
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An online forum of essays and dialogues exploring visions and pathways toward a just, sustainable planetary civilization, with contributions from thinkers across disciplines and continents.
Resilience.org: Moving Beyond Growth
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Long-running sustainability publication; this list focuses on degrowth and post-growth economics, mixing books, journals, and podcasts.
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
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An academic hub connecting religion, ecology, and ethics; this page lists books specifically framing ecological civilization as a spiritual and philosophical project.
Deep Transformation Network: EcoCiv Study Group
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Join others exploring Ecocivilization together through shared reading and conversation in an online community.
Journey of the Universe
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A film, book, and set of free online courses telling the story of cosmic and Earth evolution, and exploring how the world’s religious and cultural traditions can help us find our place within it.
Resources from the EcoCiv Coalition
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A list of key publications by the EcoCiv Coalition’s team which may be used as starting point for exploring the intellectual foundations behind the ecological civilization movement.
Degrowth Institute — Research
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A research organization dedicated to degrowth; their resources page collects papers and readings on economic alternatives to growth-based systems.
Pachamama Alliance Courses
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Online courses that help people respond to the ecological and social crises of our time, from the 90-minute Awakening the Dreamer to the eight-module Game Changer Intensive on climate, democracy, and justice.
Think Resilience (Post Carbon Institute)
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A free, self-paced online course on making sense of today’s complex, interconnected challenges and building resilience in our communities.

Podcasts

Podcasts
Accidental Gods
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The Accidental Gods podcast is the place where we find ways through to the future we’d be proud to leave behind. This is where we introduce listeners to people and ideas that are at the leading edge of regenerative change.
Deep Dive with Shaun Chavis
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NPR's thematic episodes built around TED talks and new interviews.
For The Wild
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Slow media on land protection, decolonial thought and ecological knowledge.
How to Save a Planet
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Archived narrative journalism on climate solutions, from Gimlet.
Money on the Left
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A scholarly look at monetary theory, political economy and money itself.
Radio Semilla
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Run by the Red de Guardianes de Semillas (Seed Guardians Network), in Spanish. Stories of ecological and social regeneration — agroecology, permaculture, bioconstruction — mostly from Ecuador and across Latin America.
Team Human
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Douglas Rushkoff on who really benefits from the way we've built the world.
The Ezra Klein Show
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Long-form interviews on economics, technology and social change.
The Response
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Documentary series on how communities self-organise after disaster.
Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature
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Decades of voices on ecological restoration, Indigenous leadership and justice.
Doomer Optimism
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Doomer Optimism is a podcast and collective dedicated to discovering regenerative paths forward, highlighting people working for a better world, and connecting seekers to doers. Rather than promoting a single vision of the future, it’s an orientation: seeing the world clearly as it is, then moving forward with a practical, positive outlook despite the challenges. Fittingly, its initials spell “DO,” which doubles as a mantra: do!
Frontiers of Commoning
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David Bollier talks with practitioners building real-world commons.
Living on Earth
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Weekly public radio news and features on the environment since 1991.
On Being
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Krista Tippett on meaning, moral imagination and the inner life of change.
Regenerative Skills
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Practical interviews on regenerative farming, building and land restoration.
Tech Won't Save Us
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Paris Marx's critical look at the tech industry and its political economy.
The Great Simplification
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The Great Simplification is a sensemaking platform for global conversations about where we’re headed as a species. We look at how energy, the economy, society, and the environment all connect—and what that means for our future on Earth. It’s a chance to better understand our role in the bigger picture, so we can help arrive at futures better than the default.
This Machine Kills
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Sharp political economy analysis of technology, data and capital.https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts114/v4/bc/eb/58/bceb584e-a6a4-883b-9de9-f214ff314450/mza_7846736439266137376.jpg/1500x1500bb.jpg
Conversations with Tyler
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Tyler Cowen's wide-ranging interviews on economics, culture and ideas.
Emergence Magazine Podcast
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Interviews and narrated essays on ecology, culture and spirituality.
Future Ecologies Podcast
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A documentary-style, narrative-driven show (not just interviews) exploring ecology, climate, and regenerative land practices with strong production values.
Local Futures
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Audio from Local Futures on localisation and the case against globalisation.
Outrage + Optimism
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Paris Agreement architects on climate politics with a constructive stance.
Sustainable Asia
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Hosted by Marcy Trent Long, partnering with chinadialogue and regional NGOs. Deep-dive conversations on environmental issues across China and Asia
The Climate Conscious
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The Climate Conscious Podcast amplifies the Caribbean perspective on climate change and sustainable development. Hosted by Derval Barzey, we feature insightful conversations with guests as we advocate for inclusive, resilient, sustainable development through dialogue.
The Guardian's Today in Focus
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A daily deep dive into one story from the Guardian's journalism.
Upstream
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Conversations and documentaries on degrowth, the commons and new economics.
Crazy Town
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Humour meets serious analysis of overshoot, growth and civilizational risk.
Farmerama Radio
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Voices of small-scale UK farmers on regenerative practice and land access.
Green Dreamer
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Questioning dominant ideas of sustainability, development and progress.
Making Sense
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Sam Harris on philosophy, consciousness and moral reasoning.
Planet Critical
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Rachel Donald interviews scientists and thinkers on the polycrisis.
Sustainably Speaking Africa
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Produced by the Kenya Climate Innovation Center. Reframes sustainability and climate narratives for an African context, talking to frontline communities and local innovators rather than international NGOs.
The Emerald
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Layered audio essays on myth, animism and embodied ways of knowing.
The Regenerative Future Podcast (EcoHubs)
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Explores building actual regenerative communities/"ecohubs" — governance, land design, contribution economies — as prototypes for a new civilization model.
Your Undivided Attention
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The Center for Humane Technology on tech, attention and humane futures.

Our Reading List

Our Reading List

We’ve organized key resources on Ecocivilization by subject, so you can easily find and expore topics that interest you most. Each resource on our list meets two criteria: 

 

  • It’s focused on Third Horizon ideas—visions of, and pathways toward, a life-affirming world, and

 

  • It’s aligned with our core values.​

New Paradigm

The third-horizon vision arising from ecological imagination and a relational worldview. What a transformed, life-affirming world might look and feel like.  Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life: A unifying vision. Cambridge University Press. Clayton, P., & Schwartz, W. A. (2019). What is ecological civilization? Crisis, hope, and the future of the planet. Process Century Press. Earth Charter Commission. (2000). The Earth Charter. Korten, D. C. (2006). The great turning: From empire to Earth community. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Korten, D. C. (2021). Ecological civilization: From emergency to emergence [Report]. Club of Rome. Kothari, A., Salleh, A., Escobar, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta, A. (Eds.). (2019). Pluriverse: A post-development dictionary. Tulika Books. Lent, J. (2021). The web of meaning: Integrating science and traditional wisdom to find our place in the universe. New Society Publishers. Lent, J. (2026). Ecocivilization: Making a world that works for all. Melville House. Raskin, P. (2016). Journey to Earthland: The great transition to planetary civilization. Tellus Institute. Topa, W. (Four Arrows), & Narvaez, D. (2022). Restoring the kinship worldview: Indigenous voices introduce 28 precepts for rebalancing life on planet Earth. North Atlantic Books.

Movement Strategy & System Transformation

Pathways and theory of change: how we get from here to there; approaches for sociopolitical transformation and large systems change; strategies for shifting the narrative. Albert, M. J. (2024). Navigating the polycrisis: Mapping the futures of capitalism and the Earth. MIT Press. Centola, D. (2021). Change: How to make big things happen. Little, Brown Spark. Chenoweth, E. (2021). Civil resistance: What everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press. Homer-Dixon, T. (2020). Commanding hope: The power we have to renew a world in peril. Knopf Canada. Korten, D. C. (2015). Change the story, change the future: A living economy for a living Earth. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Krznaric, R. (2024). History for tomorrow: Inspiration from the past for the future of humanity. WH Allen. Meadows, D. H. (1999). Leverage points: Places to intervene in a system. The Sustainability Institute. Scharmer, C. O., & Kaufer, K. (2013). Leading from the emerging future: From ego-system to eco-system economies. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Sharpe, B. (2013). Three horizons: The patterning of hope. Triarchy Press. Waddock, S. (2024). Catalyzing transformation: Making system change happen. Business Expert Press.

Regenerative Economics

Commons-based and cooperative ownership, solidarity, well-being, and post-growth economics; wealth and finance reimagined. Bollier, D. (2025). Think like a commoner: A short introduction to the life of the commons (2nd ed.). New Society Publishers. Fullerton, J. (2025). Regenerative economics: Revolutionary thinking for a world in crisis. New Society Publishers. Hickel, J. (2020). Less is more: How degrowth will save the world. William Heinemann. Kelly, M. (2023). Wealth supremacy: How the extractive economy and the biased rules of capitalism drive today’s crises. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Korten, D. C. (2024). Eco-nomics for an ecological civilization [Report]. Club of Rome. Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist. Chelsea Green Publishing. Restakis, J. (2010). Humanizing the economy: Co-operatives in the age of capital. New Society Publishers. Romeo, N. (2024). The alternative: How to build a just economy. PublicAffairs. Schmelzer, M., Vetter, A., & Vansintjan, A. (2022). The future is degrowth: A guide to a world beyond capitalism. Verso. Wellbeing Economy Alliance. (2021). Wellbeing economy policy design guide.

Democratic Renewal & Governance

Deliberative democracy, commoning, subsidiarity; laws, rights, and responsibilities at every level. Adnan, I. (2021). The politics of waking up: Power and possibility in the fractal age. Perspectiva Press. Blake, J. S., & Gilman, N. (2024). Children of a modest star: Planetary thinking for an age of crises. W. W. Norton. Bollier, D., & Helfrich, S. (2019). Free, fair and alive: The insurgent power of the commons. New Society Publishers. Capra, F., & Mattei, U. (2015). The ecology of law: Toward a legal system in tune with nature and community. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Gilad, O., & Freeman, D. (2022). Global democracy: The key to global justice. Democracy Without Borders. Krznaric, R. (2020). The good ancestor: A radical prescription for long-term thinking. WH Allen. Landemore, H. (2020). Open democracy: Reinventing popular rule for the twenty-first century. Princeton University Press. Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press. Restakis, J. (2022). Civilizing the state: Reclaiming politics for the common good. New Society Publishers. Van Reybrouck, D. (2016). Against elections: The case for democracy (L. Waters, Trans.). The Bodley Head.

Justice and Equity

Human rights, decolonization, climate justice, peacebuilding, undoing systemic inequality and structural violence. Ghosh, A. (2021). The nutmeg’s curse: Parables for a planet in crisis. University of Chicago Press. Hickel, J. (2017). The divide: Global inequality from conquest to free markets. William Heinemann. Korten, D. C. (1995). When corporations rule the world. Kumarian Press; Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Lake, O. O. (2024). The story is in our bones: How worldviews and climate justice can remake a world in crisis. New Society Publishers. Machado de Oliveira, V. (2021). Hospicing modernity: Facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. North Atlantic Books. Patel, R., & Moore, J. W. (2017). A history of the world in seven cheap things: A guide to capitalism, nature, and the future of the planet. University of California Press. Pilisuk, M., & Rountree, J. A. (2015). The hidden structure of violence: Who benefits from global violence and war. Monthly Review Press. Shrivastava, A., & Kothari, A. (2012). Churning the earth: The making of global India. Viking. Táíwò, O. O. (2022). Reconsidering reparations. Oxford University Press. Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2009). The spirit level: Why greater equality makes societies stronger. Allen Lane.

Living Earth: Regenerative Ecologies & Food Systems

Protection and restoration of ecosystems; planetary health, Earth justice and rights of nature; agroecology, rewilding, food, water, and agriculture. Altieri, M. A. (1995). Agroecology: The science of sustainable agriculture (2nd ed.). Westview Press. Anderson, M. K. (2005). Tending the wild: Native American knowledge and the management of California’s natural resources. University of California Press. Boyd, D. R. (2017). The rights of nature: A legal revolution that could save the world. ECW Press. Crist, E. (2019). Abundant Earth: Toward an ecological civilization. University of Chicago Press. Cullinan, C. (2002). Wild law: A manifesto for Earth justice. Siber Ink. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2018). The 10 elements of agroecology: Guiding the transition to sustainable food and agricultural systems. Forum for Food Sovereignty. (2007). Declaration of Nyéléni. Monbiot, G. (2022). Regenesis: Feeding the world without devouring the planet. Allen Lane. Negowetti, N. (2026). Feeding the future: Restoring the planet and healing ourselves. Georgetown University Press. Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed and starved: The hidden battle for the world food system. Portobello Books.

Technology and AI

Data, internet, AI, VR, the Internet of Things, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). The Consilience Project. (2022). Technology is not values neutral: Ending the reign of nihilistic design. De Filippi, P., & Wright, A. (2018). Blockchain and the law: The rule of code. Harvard University Press. Hanna, T. M., Lawrence, M., & Peters, N. (2020). A common platform: Reimagining data and platforms [Report]. Common Wealth; The Democracy Collaborative. Illich, I. (1973). Tools for conviviality. Harper & Row. Pollock, R. (2018). The open revolution: Rewriting the rules of the information age. Unbound. Rushkoff, D. (2019). Team human. W. W. Norton. Schneider, N. (2024). Governable spaces: Democratic design for online life. University of California Press. Scholz, T. (2023). Own this! How platform cooperatives help workers build a democratic internet. Verso. Vetter, A. (2018). The matrix of convivial technology – Assessing technologies for degrowth. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197(Part 2), 1778–1786. Weyl, E. G., Tang, A., & ⿻ Community. (2024). Plurality: The future of collaborative technology and democracy.

Regenerative Design, Circularity & the Built Environment

Urban design, architecture, circular economy, energy infrastructure and democratizing energy access. Benyus, J. M. (1997). Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature. William Morrow. Chatterton, P. (2019). Unlocking sustainable cities: A manifesto for real change. Pluto Press. Escobar, A. (2018). Designs for the pluriverse: Radical interdependence, autonomy, and the making of worlds. Duke University Press. Foster, S. R., & Iaione, C. (2022). Co-cities: Innovative transitions toward just and self-sustaining communities. MIT Press. Ichioka, S., & Pawlyn, M. (2021). Flourish: Design paradigms for our planetary emergency. Triarchy Press. McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2002). Cradle to cradle: Remaking the way we make things. North Point Press. Register, R. (2006). Ecocities: Rebuilding cities in balance with nature (Rev. ed.). New Society Publishers. Rose, J. F. P. (2016). The well-tempered city: What modern science, ancient civilizations, and human nature teach us about the future of urban life. Harper Wave. Van der Ryn, S., & Cowan, S. (1996). Ecological design. Island Press. Wahl, D. C. (2016). Designing regenerative cultures. Triarchy Press.

Learning, Education & Ecoliteracy

Formal and informal learning, from early-childhood nature connection through ecoversities and academic transformation. Ecoversities Alliance. (n.d.). Ecoversities Alliance [Website]. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Herder and Herder. (Original work published 1968) Goleman, D., Bennett, L., & Barlow, Z. (2012). Ecoliterate: How educators are cultivating emotional, social, and ecological intelligence. Jossey-Bass. Gray, P. (2017). Self-directed education—Unschooling and democratic schooling. In Oxford research encyclopedia of education. Oxford University Press. Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling society. Harper & Row. Narvaez, D., & Bradshaw, G. A. (2023). The evolved nest: Nature’s way of raising children and creating community. North Atlantic Books. Orr, D. W. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition to a postmodern world. State University of New York Press. Orr, D. W. (1994). Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human prospect. Island Press. Sampson, S. D. (2015). How to raise a wild child: The art and science of falling in love with nature. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Stein, Z. (2019). Education in a time between worlds: Essays on the future of schools, technology, and society. Bright Alliance.

Inner Development, Health & Well-Being

Includes emotional resilience, holistic health, and working with grief, alienation, and separation; active hope. Akomolafe, B. (2017). These wilds beyond our fences: Letters to my daughter on humanity’s search for home. North Atlantic Books. Albrecht, G. A. (2019). Earth emotions: New words for a new world. Cornell University Press. Bristow, J., Bell, R., & Wamsler, C. (2022). Reconnection: Meeting the climate crisis inside out [Report]. The Mindfulness Initiative; Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies. Eisler, R., & Fry, D. P. (2019). Nurturing our humanity: How domination and partnership shape our brains, lives, and future. Oxford University Press. Inner Development Goals. (2021). Inner Development Goals (IDG) framework. Macy, J., & Brown, M. Y. (2014). Coming back to life: The updated guide to the Work That Reconnects. New Society Publishers. Macy, J., & Johnstone, C. (2022). Active hope: How to face the mess we’re in with unexpected resilience and creative power (Rev. ed.). New World Library. Maté, G., & Maté, D. (2022). The myth of normal: Trauma, illness and healing in a toxic culture. Avery. Narvaez, D., & Witherington, D. C. (2018). Getting to baselines for human nature, development, and wellbeing. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 6(1), 205–213. Weller, F. (2015). The wild edge of sorrow: Rituals of renewal and the sacred work of grief. North Atlantic Books.

Eco-Spirituality and Wisdom Traditions

Indigenous and non-Indigenous wisdom traditions alike — Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Baha'i, and others. Al-Mizan: A covenant for the Earth. (2024). Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Berry, T. (1999). The great work: Our way into the future. Bell Tower. Francis. (2015). Laudato si’: On care for our common home [Encyclical letter]. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Kelly, S. (2021). Becoming Gaia: On the threshold of planetary initiation. Revelore Press. Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions. Korten, D. C. (2026). The living universe story: A participatory integral spirit cosmology for an ecological civilization [Report]. Rasmussen, L. L. (2013). Earth-honoring faith: Religious ethics in a new key. Oxford University Press. Swimme, B. T., & Tucker, M. E. (2011). Journey of the universe. Yale University Press. Taylor, B. (2010). Dark green religion: Nature spirituality and the planetary future. University of California Press. Yunkaporta, T. (2019). Sand talk: How Indigenous thinking can save the world. Text Publishing.

Community, Culture, and Belonging

Culture and communities transforming toward third-horizon forms of relating, with storytelling, media, and the arts as a mode of transformation. Atkins, P. W. B., Wilson, D. S., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). Prosocial: Using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable, and collaborative groups. Context Press. Bregman, R. (2020). Humankind: A hopeful history (E. Manton & E. Moore, Trans.). Little, Brown and Company. (Original work published 2019) Hopkins, R. (2008). The transition handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience. Green Books. Hopkins, R. (2019). From what is to what if: Unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want. Chelsea Green Publishing. Lake, O. O. (2010). Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting culture with nature. White Cloud Press. Norberg-Hodge, H. (1991). Ancient futures: Learning from Ladakh. Sierra Club Books. Robinson, K. S. (2020). The ministry for the future. Orbit. Scott, M. (2024). Any human power. September Publishing. Wheatley, M., & Frieze, D. (2011). Walk out walk on: A learning journey into communities daring to live the future now. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. YES! Magazine. (1996–present). Positive Futures Network.

The Ecocivilization Coalition is a strategic initiative of the Institute for Ecological Civilization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

UNDERSTAND

​On this page you’ll find resources to help you explore Ecocivilization—what it means, why it matters, and how we can work toward creating it together. Here’s what you’ll find:
​

  • Curated by others—reading and listening lists from respected organizations and thinkers.

​​

  • Podcasts—Discussions touching on Ecocivilization from a range of voices.

​​

  • Our reading list—books and articles we’ve selected.

​
Start wherever your interest takes you, dig as deeply as you like, and explore the other Participation Pathways to continue your journey.​

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