Six ways to bring people & planet back into balance

In a world where the rate of change is increasing exponentially and where the shelf life of solutions is diminishing rapidly, we, at Ashoka, are aware that we must investigate a whole spectrum of insights across fields and geographies to tackle the Planet & Climate crisis. With these in mind, on Earth Day 2021, after scrutinizing the models and work of our hundreds of fellows, we published a knowledge report summing up the trends, insights and broader patterns we were starting to see for the field: Thinking Differently: Ideas for Action on Planet & Climate. To read the whole report click here.

Between April and June 2021 we organized a series of ten closed-door global dialogues on the most important insights in the report. We were joined in these precious moments of Socratic conversation by over 50 Ashoka fellows, partners, friends and experts in the field. This briefing sums up what we learnt from our core constituencies when calling upon them to test, refine and update our emerging ideas and insights.

Without any doubt, the challenge in front of us is enormous. This is not a moment to give up. This is a call to action. We’re looking for people who understand that if we are to win this fight, we’re going to need everyone. We’re looking for people who see nature as a collaboration partner, not a resource to be optimized. We’re looking for people who see that climate change isn’t just an environmental issue – it’s a whole system issue, encompassing the economy, power, social norms, identity.