““When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.” Quote by Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize-winning chemist. From March 15 to 17, 2023, a group of about 80 leaders gathered at the Garrison Institute for a Pathways to Planetary Health Symposium focused on the commons. Systems change was a recurrent theme at this meeting. One participant mentioned Ilya Prigogine’s quote above about “islands of coherence” as a way to think about shifting social systems.
The Garrison Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Posner as the new Director of our Pathways to Planetary Health initiative.
“We are thrilled to have Stephen on board and look forward to working together towards our shared goal of promoting the health and well-being of our planet and all its inhabitants,” says Karen Doyle Grossman, the new executive director of the Institute. “His expertise and experience in the field of planetary health will be invaluable in advancing our mission, and we are excited to see the positive impact that we’ll all make together.”
The Garrison Institute was honored to welcome the work of Paz Perlman and artists from the Think About Water collective into the ensemble of contributors at our recent Pathways to Planetary Health Symposium in March. These critically acclaimed artists are known for their powerful bodies of work that grapple with today’s most profound societal and environmental challenges.
On March 31, Leah Penniman joined Garrison Institute co-founder Jonathan P. Rose for a conversation about how farming and living in deep connection with land can heal and fortify the planet and ourselves.
According to Harvard University professor Rebecca Henderson, capitalism is the most successful economic system in history, yet it’s in danger of destroying itself – and our world. While some may be paralyzed by the enormity of the task facing humanity, Henderson’s 2020 book Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire offers hope: if you, as an individual, can make even a single company a better place to work, you can change lives and be part of a driving the larger social and political changes that are needed.
According to the World Economic Forum, Bhutan has considerably and measurably improved its economic, environmental, social and governance situation in the last four decades, and is on the verge of graduating from “Least Developed Country” status this year. The Bhutan Foundation is an independent and objective partner to the King of Bhutan and its government.
In this discussion, Nero cautioned against “fortress conservation,” in which local communities are excluded from the conservation efforts and do not reap any benefits. He highlighted that conservation is most successful when done in concert with indigenous and first nations – in fact, that partnership can be a pathway to reconciliation and more resilient local communities and economies.
On October 6, Garrison Institute Co-Founder Jonathan F.P. Rose joined Jamie Bristow, a leading expert on completive practice and public life, for a discussion on the “inner dimension” of addressing climate change. Jamie is also the Co-Director of the Mindfulness Initiative, a policy institute based in the United Kingdom that is focused on mindfulness and compassion training that grew out of a program of mindfulness teaching for members of the British Parliament.
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