From now until September 24, we each have a critical opportunity to spread the message that #NatureCools in cities throughout the world, on social media, and in the mainstream media.
Join us in showing people that restoring and protecting nature cools the climate, hydrates the land to prevent wildfires, drought and flooding, and reduces extreme weather. Read more and take action here.
This worldwide mobilization is taking place during the Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels – Sept 15-17, the March to End Fossil Fuels – Sept 17, and during Climate Week in NYC – Sept 17-24.
These activities occur just before and during the UN Climate Ambition Summit on September 20 in New York City, where world leaders will gather to commit to phasing out fossil fuels.
On Wednesday, September 27 at 6pm ET, John Feldman will share his perspective on Regenerating Life – an ecosystems perspective on the climate crisis. He will be joined in conversation by environmental journalist and author Judith D. Schwartz to explore regenerative solutions to climate disruption, global warming, and food insecurity. Read more and register now to join this essential discussion live.
As many interconnected climate crises escalate, we are challenged to see what we have overlooked in our understanding of the causes – and of what the best path forward might be. John Feldman’s film, Regenerating Life, proposes that it is humankind’s destruction of nature that has been a primary cause of the climate crisis and that it is in nature we find crucial solutions.
Feldman traveled widely to meet people who are working on solutions, innovative ways to repair the damage done to our extraordinary home. By working with nature, they are restoring the forests, fields, wetlands, and oceans, and are regenerating soils to grow healthy food and build healthy communities.
This is the latest installment in our Life Saves the Planet lecture series in partnership with GBH Forum Network, and it will be recorded and made available online to registrants after the webinar.
On Friday, September 15, join us at the Cambridge Public Library for an afternoon of art, music, and the transformative power of community. This book reading, performance, and fundraiser is open to all. Come for songs and refreshments, and stay for lively discussion with open-hearted people.
Lark Ascending by Meleth Delia (Lark) Batteau is a beautiful coming-of-age story set in the spiritual community of Findhorn, Scotland. Through this captivating tale, readers are led through essential questions of our time — of how we relate to one another and to our living environment.
This event will be held at the Main Branch of the Cambridge Public Library, at 449 Broadway, in the basement auditorium. No registration is required.
This event is free, but please bring the spirit of generosity with you as we collect contributions to support our work at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate.
Are you ready to transform your understanding of how life on the planet works and how we can play a role? Join us as we follow the transformation of two leading writers and thinkers to a deeper understanding of natural systems, our role, and the ability of nature to cool the planet. Register now to claim your seat.
On Saturday, October 14 from 12:30 to 4:30pm from we are hosting the world premiere of John Feldman’s remarkable documentary, Regenerating Life. Held at Tufts University, this symposium will feature a screening of the film, a panel discussion involving the director and experts from the film, and local organizations sharing ways for people to get involved in their own community eco-restoration.
Jim Laurie, our staff scientist, restoration ecologist, and teacher of several Biodiversity Deepdive courses, will hold a field trip for students and community members at our Danehy Park Miyawaki Forest. Join us on Sunday, September 3 to gather with fellow budding eco-restorers and enjoy the mini-forest’s growth.
The Danehy Park Miyawaki Forest was planted in September 2021, and is the first forest of this kind in the Northeast US. We have been stewarding its growth with enthusiasm with the help of the Cambridge community, and welcome you to get involved!
We had a beautiful gathering on August 16 with community members, and many folks are eager to come back for more. Bring your friends, your questions, and your curiosity!
More details on the gathering to come. Make sure you are on our mailing list and stay tuned.
On Thursday July 27 at 1 pm ET, we welcomed Dr. Ousmane Pame, Katrina Jeffries, and Dr. Marie Nazon to our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to discuss the Ecovillage movement and their work with REDES, a Network for Ecovillage Emergence and Development in the Sahel region of Africa. They shared their experience and insights into the grassroots networks and regenerative transformations that can help fortify communities even in times of increasing pressure from desertification, resource scarcity, and conflict.
We will explore the cultural roots of our current ecological emergency, and the deep changes Western society will need to make to save the Earth and our species. Using SceneOn Radio’s production The Repair as a foundation, we will discuss issues of racial and environmental justice, and how we build a truly regenerative future.
Coral reefs are vulnerable to rising global temperatures more than any other ecosystem. Marine and climate scientists are researching ways to protect coral reefs and the many ocean species that rely on them for food and shelter. Without coral reefs, ocean biodiversity remains at risk of decline and eventual extinction.
Join Bio4Climate’s Advisory Board member Tom Goreau, President and Founder of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, to learn ways to protect and restore reef ecosystems. Register here.
On Thursday May 25 at 6 pm ET, we welcome Coakí to our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to share his wisdom on Remembering Our Relationships With Forests – Modern And Ancient Agroforestry.
Coakí will discuss how he practices syntropic agroforestry to restore ecosystems and local economies, create food security and a diversity of nutrient dense foods, and protect cultures from globalization as we heal human relationships with the forests. Join Coakí and moderator Jessica Alvarez-Parfrey in this talk and Q&A.
On Wednesday April 26 at 6 pm ET, we are honored to present John Perlin and his book A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization. The first edition was recognized as a Harvard Classic in Science and World History and listed as one of the university’s One Hundred Great Books, and the 2023 edition of the book concludes with two new chapters on the importance of mature and old-growth forests for our survival. Register here to join this timely conversation.
This Earth Day, Boston-area folks are invited to gather at Bio4Climate’s Danehy Park Miyawaki Forest for a community picnic (99 Sherman Street, Cambridge MA). We will get together on Saturday, April 22 from 1 – 3pm to celebrate our beautiful home planet and the work to restore it. Please bring your lunch, your friends, and your stories of what motivates you toward regeneration.
Starting April 21, this 6-week course provides a broad overview of the multiple crises confronting humankind: climate change, peak oil, resource depletions, ecological deterioration, and societal collapse. It focuses on the current dilemmas in which humankind finds itself; how we have arrived at this moment; the resulting psycho-social-economic impacts; and several socio-economic-ecological regenerative strategies for mitigation. Read more and register here.
On Thursday, March 30 at 6pm ET, author Steve Hawley joins our Life Saves the Planet series to explore the ramifications of the extraordinary dam building boom of the last century that culminated in 800,000 dams worldwide today. In his book CRACKED: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World, Hawley examines the effect of these dams on biodiversity loss, heat buildup and aridification of the land. Author and essayist David James Duncan will join Hawley in conversation and Q&A from the audience. Register here to join live!
Starting Monday, April 3, 2023 (with an open preview session on Monday March 27), join us for an insightful excursion into our economic culture and why it is doing us so much harm. Understanding ecological economics will give you a different perspective on on our planetary crises and how alternative social organization can better promote a general sense of well-being for everyone in society. Classes will meet each Monday from 12 – 2pm ET for eight weeks, through May 22, 2023. Read more and register now.
On Saturday, March 25 at 1pm ET, catch our latest installment of Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels with national and local speakers from the Greater Cleveland area.
It’s time to scale way back, redesign how we’re living and roll up our sleeves to restore our ecosystems, biodiversity and connections with our neighbors. Join in on this event series to find your place in this transition.
We are happy to announce that our friends and colleagues are taking an active part in the first global conference on water. The United Nations Water Conference 2023 begins on March 22 in celebration of World Water Day.
Starting March 1, 2023, join Jim Laurie for a 12-week deep dive into the science, history, and cultural implications of how we understand evolution and interspecies relationships.
How has conventional interpretation of Darwin’s survival of the fittest shaped not only our understanding of science and extinction, but also economics and cultural values? Are we genetically doomed to compete with nature and with each other until our species joins the long list of other species headed for extinction? Read more and register.
On Thursday, January 26 at 6pm ET, Ridge Shinn and Lynne Pledger will join us to discuss their new book, Grass-Fed Beef for a Post-Pandemic World.
While the last few tumultuous years have heightened uncertainties about our food supplies, there’s some good news coming out of the regenerative agriculture movement. Regenerative practices restore degraded land, increase soil productivity, sequester carbon and store water. Join us to explore how regenerative grazing can help build resilience in our food systems. Read more and register here.
A series of virtual and in-person community events in 6 locations in the U.S. and Canada
Our next installment of Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels is on Saturday, January 21 with national and local speakers from Los Angeles.
It’s time to scale way back, redesign how we’re living and roll up our sleeves to restore our ecosystems, soil, biodiversity and connections with our neighbors. Join in on this event to find your place in this transition.
Stay tuned for Part 2 with virtual or in-person Community Engagement Events in and near Los Angeles
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and many local community groups to bring you a series of events on transitioning our communities to manage our ecological crises. In our first two events, we joined local community leaders in Montgomery County, Maryland and in Kansas City to share expertise, resources, and actionable solutions to build resilience for these rapidly changing times. We continue this work in January in Los Angeles, CA and in three more installments around the U.S. and Canada.
As we learn and take action on how to live within the Earth’s limits, it’s vital that we co-invent and redesign our new lifestyles together with all members of our communities, especially looking to those with expertise on how to be resilient. Let’s include everyone in the conversation, the plans, and the funding. We must move forward by coming together, learning from one another, and supporting each other as we strengthen our resilience and face the challenges ahead.
To become a partner or sponsor of the January 21st event, or all 4 upcoming events in this series, or to apply to lead a Breakout Discussion, email lifeafterfossilfuels@bio4climate.org or call 443-257-3209.
On Tuesday, December 13 at 6pm ET, join Kristin Ohlson and Jim Laurie for Sweet In Tooth And Claw: Cooperation And Generosity In The Natural World. They will discuss Ohlson’s latest book, in which she explores the way symbiotic relationships between individuals and species fundamentally shapes the planet we call home. In contrast to narratives of competition and dominance, understanding nature from a systems perspective can help us return to harmony and solidarity with other living beings that is crucial to restoring the Earth.
Join Jess Alvarez-Parfrey, Nathan Lou, and William Wildcat (Coakí) for an exploration of ancestral connections, and transformative opportunities to nurture a truly regenerative, just, joyful, and climate resilient future. On Thursday, November 17 at 6pm ET, join us for A New Generation of Change-makers – Reclaiming Ancestral Wisdom.
Bringing together diverse cultural backgrounds, skills, and experiences, our panel of practitioners will share their story, and explore the theme of “regeneration” as it relates to our connection to place, purpose, and community.
In a time of multiple converging and complex crises, a rising generation of change-makers are reclaiming connections to ancestral wisdoms and the critical skills needed to feed, heal, and nurture their communities. The panel will also delve into a powerful discussion around Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), “work”, “citizen science”, and share their visions for regenerative bioregional cultures and economies of care.
A series of virtual and in-person community events in 6 locations in the U.S. and Canada
Our next installment of Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels is on Saturday, November 12 with national and local speakers from Kansas City.
It’s time to scale way back, redesign how we’re living and roll up our sleeves to restore our ecosystems, soil, biodiversity and connections with our neighbors. Join in on this event to find your place in this transition. Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and many local community groups to bring you a series of events on transitioning our communities to manage our ecological crises. In our inaugural event in September, we joined local community hosts — the Montgomery County Racial Equity (MORE) Network and Impact Silver Spring, to share expertise, resources, and actionable solutions to build resilience for these rapidly changing times. We continue this work in November in Kansas City, MO and in four installments around the U.S. and Canada after that.
As we learn and take action on how to live within the Earth’s limits, it’s vital that we co-invent and redesign our new lifestyles together with all members of our communities, especially looking to those with expertise on how to be resilient. Let’s include everyone in the conversation, the plans, and the funding. We must move forward by coming together, learning from one another, and supporting each other as we strengthen our resilience and face the challenges ahead.
Here are the many ways you can participate right now:
Register for the next session of Redesigning Our Communitiesfor Life After Fossil Fuels on Saturday, November 12 on Zoom with hosts in Kansas City
Droughts and flash floods are becoming a new normal in our warming world. What changed? Our landscapes are losing water as people alter the environment, cut trees, drain wetlands, and use chemicals that destroy the soil.
And we’re feeling the heat.
On Friday, October 21 at 12:15pm ET, join Anastassia Makarieva, Jan Pokorny, Andrei Nefiodov, and Jon Schull to explore the ways we can support nature and a functioning water cycle to cool and rehydrate the Earth. Learn more and register here!
On Thursday, October 6 at 3pm ET, we joined the Cambridge Science Festival’s climate hub to share insights on ecosystem restoration, urban rewilding, and Miyawaki Forests. Come by for Wholehearted Regeneration: Boosting Communal and Climate Resilience One Pocket Forest at a Time with Maya Dutta, Bio4Climate’s Assistant Director of Regenerative Projects.
She discussed the Miyawaki method of reforestation and the ways that forestscaping and integrating nature in urban environments can bolster ecological resilience as well as spreading hope and empowerment to local communities. Stay tuned for the event recording!
Course fee: $240; if you’re on a tight budget, a sliding scale is available at checkout.
In Biodiversity 7: Rewilding Half the Earth to Create a Future We Want, Jim Laurie will lead students in examining restorative possibilities such as protecting half the earth, creating mini-forests using the Miyawaki method, and increasing wetlands.
Beginning Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the course meets for two hours at 12pm and 7pm ET every Wednesday, to accommodate multiple time zones. Read more and register here!
Youth leaders across the globe are advocating for people and the planet in various ways including on-the-ground ecosystem restoration, artivism, and promotion of regenerative agriculture.
On September 17, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate hosted three youth leaders from Colombia, the United States, and Brazil to amplify their stories of regeneration and environmental advocacy. Stay tuned for the event recording to hear what inspired these leaders to join the climate movement and how they’re making a difference for their communities and the Earth.
It’s time to scale way back, redesign how we’re living and roll up our sleeves to restore our ecosystems, soil, biodiversity and connections with our neighbors.
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and many local community groups to bring you a series of events on transitioning our communities to manage our ecological crises. In our inaugural event in September, we joined local community hosts — the Montgomery County Racial Equity (MORE) Network and Impact Silver Spring, to share expertise, resources, and actionable solutions to build resilience for these rapidly changing times. We continue this work in November in Kansas City, MO and in four installments around the U.S. and Canada after that.
As we learn and take action on how to live within the Earth’s limits, it’s vital that we co-invent and redesign our new lifestyles together with all members of our communities, especially looking to those with expertise on how to be resilient. Let’s include everyone in the conversation, the plans, and the funding. We must move forward by coming together, learning from one another, and supporting each other as we strengthen our resilience and face the challenges ahead.
On Wednesday, August 17 at 6pm ET, agronomist Tony Rinaudo joined environmental journalist Judy Schwartz in conversation to share about a reforestation method called Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). More than an effective, low cost, rapid and scalable method of land and environmental restoration, FMNR is restoring livelihoods and food security across tens of thousands of communities and in the process, restoring hope.
Stay tuned for the recording here. The event is the latest installment in our Life Saves the Planet lecture series with GBH Forum Network.
Course fee: $240; if you’re on a tight budget, a sliding scale is available at checkout.
In Biodiversity 6: Systems Thinking & Scenarios – Tools for Creating Better Ecological Futures, Jim Laurie will lead students in taking on the question, “could humans be a global force for the reemergence of healthy ecosystems on a much faster timeline?” To answer this question, the course will look at systems thinking and scenario-writing as tools for examining the “Whole” and finding out what possibilities exist for the future.
Beginning Wednesday, June 22, 2022, the course meets for two hours at 12pm and 7pm ET every Wednesday, to accommodate multiple time zones. Read more and register here!
The Amazon Rainforest is known as the “lungs of the earth” because it draws in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. But it is also the biological heart of the planet’s hydroclimate system, the planet’s rain making machine. We have lost almost 20% of the forest and are close to reaching a tipping point where it will turn to grassland. What will that mean for us, and how can we prevent the dieback? Register here to catch this essential discussion on the restoration that can repair this critical system of planetary regulation.
Course fee: $200; if you’re on a tight budget, a sliding scale is available at checkout.
In Heat Planet: Restore Ecosystems – Restore Climate, Christopher Haines will lead students on an exploration of the sources of heat and climate disruption, and the ways that local action can significantly improve local climates. The course will empower us to take on the cooling and re-greening actions necessary to rebalance local, regional, and eventually global climate.
Beginning Wednesday, May 4, 2022, the course meets for two hours at 9am and 7pm ET every Wednesday, to accommodate multiple time zones. Read more and register here!
On Monday, March 28 at 6pm ET, our Life Saves the Planet speaker series continues with a panel on Introducing the EcoRestoration Alliance. Jon Schull, John D. Liu, Ilse Koehler-Rollefson and Valer Clark will describe the groundbreaking new alliance that aims to advance the global case for regeneration through cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary partnership.
This April, Fred Jennings will begin two new courses in ecological economics – Social Solutions: Making Systems More Resilient and Horizonal Thinking: Toward a New Economics. Students will explore the economic paradigms that make social and ecological problems so intractable and the alternatives that could sustain a future of ecological integrity and abundance.
On Monday, March 28 at 12pm ET, join us for a preview session on the courses’ content by registering here!
In Horizonal Thinking: Toward a New Economics, Fred Jennings will focus on planning horizons and explain his approach to an ecological economics based on favoring collaboration over competition. Students will examine why and how our society has evolved toward the destruction of our ecological life-support systems, and how we might change our economic culture to protect ourselves against this destruction.
Beginning Monday, April 4, 2022, the course meets from 1 – 2 pm ET every Monday and Thursday. Read more and register here!
In Social Solutions: Making Systems More Resilient, Fred Jennings will focus on developing a working group of people who are ready to engage in ecological economics and to address social problems creatively and intelligently. Students will develop their practical analytical skills by examining our failing democratic processes and our fisheries management systems.
Beginning Monday, April 4, 2022, the course meets from 12 – 1 pm ET every Monday and Thursday. Read more and register here!
On Saturday March 19 at 10 am ET we held the latest installment in our Nature’s Solutions as National Policy conference series, Code Red Water: Two Global Perspectives. Atossa Soltani and Michal Kravcik discussed how improved water management can support functioning water cycles to meet the needs of living systems and cool the planet.
Join us for this online course on the connections between human, animal, and planet health. The course will consist of 8 classes and be held live on Zoom, beginning March 2, 2022 and ending on April 27, 2022 (with no class on March 30th). Read more and register here.
This Fall, we are running our Cool the Earth: Green the Planet campaign to sponsor our upcoming courses, conferences, speaker series, and other education, advocacy, and rewilding work. Thanks to a generous matching grant for this time, all one-time donations will be doubled, and monthly donations will be tripled! There’s just one week left, so join in now!
Planting day for our first Miyawaki Forest in Cambridge (and the Northeast) on Saturday, September 25 went beautifully. On a day predicted to hold thunderstorms, the sun shone down as volunteers gathered to put this historic forest in the ground. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this project! Read more about the Miyawaki Forest and stay tuned for more photos, video footage of the planting, and updates on its progress.
This Fall, we are answering new questions about our transition to a more secure and abundant future with an Introduction to Ecological Economics course. Fred Jennings, our Ecological Economist at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, is offering this 8-week course on Thursdays, starting on Thursday October 14th. There will be two sessions each week, from 12 – 2 pm ET and 7 – 9 pm ET for students to join. Read more about the course and register here!
Biodiversity V, which takes a deeper dive into forest ecosystems, is starting on October 6, 2021. The course will focus on maximizing photosynthesis and balancing the carbon cycle to cool the climate.
It will run for twelve consecutive Wednesdays, with choice of afternoon (1-3 pm EST) or evening classes (7-9 pm EST). It builds his on past courses on Biodiversity and Symbiosis, but new folks of all levels are always welcome.
In this issue we focused on the ecological roles of native plants, and as well as including discussions of symbiosis, biophilia, and an Okanagan worldview of society.
Biodiversity IV: Fungi & Forests begins on June 16, 2021 and runs for twelve consecutive Wednesdays through September 1st, with choice of afternoon (12-2 pm EST) or evening classes (7-9 pm EST). You are welcome to join at any time during the course. Jim will send you class notes and home study opportunities every week. A certificate of completion will be available for those who want it. Details and link to register are here.
Biodiversity III: Mastering the Water Cycle begins on February 3, 2021 and runs for twelve consecutive Wednesdays through April 21st, with choice of afternoon (1-3 pm EST) or evening classes (7-9 pm EST). Jim will send you class notes and home study opportunities every week. A certificate of completion will be available for those who want it. Register here.
