Eighteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Given current data on climate change, humanity is put in a position to pivot its way of life if we are to continue to flourish. Our institutions, on an international level, are maladapted to dealing with the current circumstances. Any adjustments discussed, proposed, or put into action, are often limited to material suggestions and are empirically bound. In this paper, I invite friends and colleagues to an open discussion as per the nature of societal reconstruction– if there is to be any chance in achieving adaptive success, i.e. a genuine paradigmatic shift, it cannot be achieved in an incremental fashion and by solely focusing on the external. As with any paradigm shift, the mindset must shift with it, if not first. I offer up Erich Fromm’s work in the field of psychology as a framework for understanding human motivation so that, in our time of ‘the great transition’, our intended destination is a place that is structured in such a way that we achieve a measure of Biophilic compatibility with the environment.