Our civilization is careening at an accelerating pace toward a precipice of climate breakdown, ecological destruction, and gaping inequality. Redirecting humanity’s trajectory will require transformation at a foundational level: moving from a wealth-based, extractive civilization to one that is life-affirming—an Ecological Civilization.

The idea of an Ecological Civilization envisages a beneficial potential future of human flourishing on a regenerated Earth. It would require a transformation of our current economy, politics, and mainstream culture, leading to a fundamentally different civilization based of different values, goals, and collective behavior.

In this presentation, author Jeremy Lent will explore the concept of an ecological civilization: why we need it, its underlying principles, and a glimpse of what it might look like in practice. Beginning with fundamental principles of life, expanding to general principles of ecosystems and human flourishing, then exploring specifics of what an Ecocivilization might entail, Lent will show how it’s possible to envisage a robust foundation on which a coherent civilizational framework could be established to set the conditions for all human beings to thrive on a healthy, vibrant planet.

About the Presenter(s)

Jeremy Lent is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His award-winning book, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity’s Search for Meaning, examines the way humans have made meaning from the cosmos from hunter-gatherer times to the present day. His more recent award-winning The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe offers a solid foundation for an integrative worldview that could lead humanity to a sustainable, flourishing future.

 

He has written extensively about the vision and specifics of an ecological civilization, and is the founder of the Deep Transformation Network, a global community exploring pathways toward a life-affirming future on a regenerated Earth. His upcoming book, Ecocivilization: Making a World that Works for All, will be published by Melville House in May 2026.

 

Author website: jeremylent.com