Even if we can’t escape its consequences, it is not too late to escape the mindset that brought us here
Alice O’Keeffe, The Guardian, August 7 2019
The climate and ecological crisis, COVID-19 and the fragility of the global economic system are the tip of the iceberg of the systemic interconnected precariousness of our times.
Many of the systems upon which 'business as usual' depends appear to be either in incremental decline and facing likely collapse; or holding on ever-more tightly whilst approaching a cliff-edge.
Increasing numbers of people are seeking alternatives to the typical responses of denial/avoidance/believing in techno-fixes/attempting prevention. Another type of response is emerging.
This academic paper outlines a different kind of premise and response. It starts with the premise that the decline and collapse of multiple systems on which 'business as usual' depends is likely or inevitable. The response is that this requires us to adapt our ways of seeing, thinking, living, working and being together in deep and fundamental ways.
The paper went viral and catalysed a global movement around the Deep Adaptation agenda; which has a purpose of embodying and enabling loving responses to our predicament and reducing suffering, while saving more of society and the natural world.
Self-Organising Deep Adaptation
No single person/ committee/ group/ organisation/ country can control or direct how we deeply adapt; we need to figure out together our collective responses to the shared predicament we have co-created. And we need to be able to do this at all levels of scale: in our homes, communities, organisations, bioregions, nations, globally.
Understanding self-organisation and evolving the capacity to self-organise these explorations and responses is going to be essential. The knowledge, tools and resources on this website are offered in service of this.