Sustainability Archives – Integral Life

SALT for Climate: Redefining Urgency and Transformation in Climate Leadership

Josh Leonard — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 21:07:16 +0000

Josh Leonard sits down with Gail Hochachka and Lisa Gibson, leaders of the SALT for Climate initiative, to explore their pioneering approach to climate action. They discuss the often-overlooked psychological and social dimensions of climate work, share insights from their work on collective sensemaking and leadership training, and explain why a focus on human dynamics may be the missing piece in our response to the climate crisis.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

Overflowing Purpose: An Inside Look

Integral Life — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 19:44:31 +0000

In this short 14-minute video, we give you an exclusive inside look at Overflowing Purpose, a transformative new course that brings together renowned thinkers like Ken Wilber, John Vervaeke, Robb Smith, Cindy Wigglesworth, Gail Hochachka, Peter Merry, Greg Thomas, and others to address the complex challenges of our time — and your unique role in meeting those challenges.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

The Psychology of Climate Change

Gail Hochachka — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:48:31 +0000

Climate change researcher, sustainable development expert, and activist Gail Hochachka works on the front lines of climate change research, asking—and answering—questions like: How does the way we make meaning, at all our different stages of development, relate to the ways we act on climate change? How can we foster more engagement with climate change? Is climate action scalable? And how are we going to show up for the people who are facing the greatest impacts?

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

Grappling with the Metacrisis

Sean Esbjörn-Hargens — Mon, 01 May 2023 18:35:40 +0000

In this dialogue, the world of metatheories comes alive with urgent, purposeful meaning, because as Sean and Nick point out, integrative metatheories like Ken Wilber’s integral theory and Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism are the only tools that provide a useful framework for us to talk about and confront the vast web of interrelated and wicked problems we face on every level at this time.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

From Bodhisattva to Ecosattva: Integrating Personal Practice and Global Activism

David Loy — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 20:44:00 +0000

David Loy, Zen teacher, scholar, and prolific author, reveals his acute understanding of the crises we face today, the psychology at the root of the problems, and how we can make our way forward in this in-depth discussion. He has adopted the term ecodharma to focus attention on the challenge Buddhism faces now: integrating personal transformation with global activism and social transformation. As David points out, the focus needs to be on this world, with transcendence being a metaphorical understanding but not an excuse to abandon the problems we and our planet face today.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

Defending the Importance of the Holarchical-Developmental Scheme for Environmentalism

Michael E. Zimmerman — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 20:33:49 +0000

According to the late ecologist, Stan Rowe, Ken Wilber’s holarchical scheme confuses important issues in the part-whole relationships belonging to organisms and ecosystems, and Wilber’s developmental ideas echo the anthropocentrism found in the work of many other modernists. In the process of articulating and defending Wilber’s views, I argue that Rowe’s alternative flirts with ecofascism, insofar as Rowe depicts human beings as mere “parts” of Gaia, which considers everything smaller than Gaia as functional units. Despite my disagreements with Rowe, I admire him for grappling with these important and highly complex issues.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

Integral Sustainable Development

Barrett Brown — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 21:58:59 +0000

This is a two-part paper that offers an overview of Integral Sustainable Development, explaining the rudiments of a practical framework that integrates the crowded conceptual and operational landscape of sustainable development and enables practitioners to 1) identify the full-range of needs and capabilities of individuals and groups, and 2) tailor the specific developmental response that fits each unique situation.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

Integral Ecology: A Post-Metaphysical Approach to Environmental Phenomena

Sean Esbjörn-Hargens — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 23:56:00 +0000

Integral Theory provides a distinct and participatory approach to Ecology. This article introduces Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory, distinguishes the Integral approach from other methods, and applies some key concepts to Ecology. The ontology, epistemology, and methodology of environmental phenomena are examined in light of Wilber’s framework and the framework is applied to multidimensional examples of recycling. Finally, an Integral Ecology platform is presented.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

Integral Ecology: An Ecology of Perspectives

Sean Esbjörn-Hargens — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 23:50:00 +0000

There are many competing approaches available for responding to environmental problems and dealing with ecological issues. This article provides an introduction to Integral Ecology, an approach that takes the valuable insights from all the major schools of ecological thought and unites them in a comprehensive framework. First, the difficulty of defining “ecology” is explored. Next, the twenty-five major approaches to ecology are introduced. Finally, Integral Ecology is defined in such a way that it honors the importance of all these approaches.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.

The Transformation Age: America Burning

Robb Smith — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 16:33:00 +0000

America has been on fire these past few weeks. A nation struggling with its racist past, its contemporary racial shadow, its deep political and cultural polarization, and a divisive president who will never be capable of leading a nation, we continue to find ourselves in the heart of The Great Release (and this time, not from an economic depression or disease pandemic, but from our deep and terrible racist heritage). In this brief article, I want to use a few lenses of integral metatheory—concepts you’ll be familiar with, but applied in ways you’ve never seen before—to see if we can get a broader view of what’s happening.

This post was originally published on Integral Life.