Bioneers is a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. Bioneers are social and scientific innovators from all walks of life and disciplines who have peered deep into the heart of living systems to understand how nature operates, and to mimic “nature’s operating instructions” to serve human ends without harming the web of life. Nature’s principles—kinship, cooperation, diversity, symbiosis and cycles of continuous creation absent of waste—can also serve as metaphoric guideposts for organizing an equitable, compassionate and democratic society. A 501c3 nonprofit organization, Bioneers provides a forum and social hub for education about solutions.
Climate Change / Economy / Energy / Food / Justice / Sustainability
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest non-government general science membership organization and the publisher of the Science family of journals. Its mission is “advance science for the benefit of all people.” Its goals include providing a voice for science on societal issues and promoting the responsible use of science in public policy. There may be no more pressing issue intersecting science and society than climate change and the What We Know initiative was born in response to that reality. The What We Know initiative is dedicated to ensuring that three “R’s” of climate change are communicated to the public: Reality, Risk, and Response.
To date, the full range and impact of climate solutions have not been explained in a way that bridges the divide between urgency and agency. Thus the aspirations of people who want to enact meaningful solutions remain largely untapped. Dr. Leon Clark, one of the lead authors of the IPCC 5th Assessment, wrote, "We have the technologies, but we really have no sense of what it would take to deploy them at scale." Together, let’s figure it out. Project Drawdown is facilitating a broad coalition of researchers, scientists, graduate students, PhDs, post-docs, policy makers, business leaders and activists to assemble and present the best available information on climate solutions in order to describe their beneficial financial, social and environmental impact over the next thirty years.
Climate Change / Energy / Food / Justice / Water
Climate Wisconsin is an educational multimedia project featuring stories of climate change. All stories are supported by research conducted in collaboration with the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts. Through a series of nine video shorts, the Climate Wisconsin team explores how climate has already changed in the state, and how these changes are affecting people. Ice fishing, maple syrup, Great Lakes shipping, and the iconic Birkebeiner nordic ski race are among the topics. The site also includes compelling visualizations.
Our mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.
Climate Change / Food / Water
The Next System Project is an initiative of The Democracy Collaborative aimed at bold thinking and action to address the systemic challenges the United States faces now and in coming decades. Deep crises of economic inequality, racial injustice and climate change – to name but three – are upon us, and systemic problems require systemic solutions. Working with a broad group of researchers, theorists and activists, we are using the best research, understanding and strategic thinking, on the one hand, and on-the-ground organizing and development experience, on the other, to promote visions, models and pathways that point to a “next system” radically different in fundamental ways from the failed systems of the past and present and capable of delivering superior social, economic and ecological outcomes.
Tellus Institute strives to advance a planetary civilization rooted in justice, well-being, and sustainability. Our work addresses key dimensions of a transformative global praxis—understanding, vision, and action—by fostering scholarship, developing scenarios, and mobilizing networks for change. At this perilous juncture in human affairs, Tellus now more than ever joins engaged thinkers and thinking activists the world over in shaping a global transition, the great challenge of our time.
Climate Change / Energy / Sustainability / Justice / Economy
CASSE is an organization that explores economic growth in earnest, including its downsides. We refuse to ignore the costs of economic growth, and our position sets the record straight. We recognize the conflict between economic growth and various goals for society, and we stand up for rational macroeconomic policies. Continuous economic growth on a finite planet is wishful thinking. We confront the truth that there are limits to growth, and we examine other possibilities for managing our economic affairs.
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) transforms global energy use to create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future. RMI engages businesses, communities, institutions, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables. We employ rigorous research, analysis, and whole-systems expertise to develop breakthrough insights. We then convene and collaborate with diverse partners—business, government, academic, nonprofit, philanthropic, and military—to accelerate and scale solutions.