Wisdom from the Community

A Bioneers conference showcases creative solutions to solve human problems

May 22, 2022

multicolored abstract painting — Photo by USGS on Unsplash

You’re at Mother E, a free newsletter about our connections to nature and other species in a climate-changing world. If you missed the last article, it’s here: Mother Trees that Nurture Forests

If this newsletter gets shortened by an email program or the images don’t show, you can read it on the website here.

DO YOU EVER WONDER HOW we humans will dig ourselves out from under the problems we’ve created? Yeah, me too.

Some of the answers arrived recently in the form of creative individuals who have dedicated their lives to solutions, speaking out at the Bioneers 2022 conference. It was held in San Francisco, but I attended for three days virtually last week (May 13-15). Here is a bird’s eye view of some the parts I attended. I’ve highlighted topics in bold so you can skim to what’s of interest to you if you want a quick read.

The motto for Bioneers is “Revolution from the heart of nature.” The theme this year is “Looking for breakthrough solutions for people and planet.”

The conference was full of inspirational speakers, wise elders, and passionate young people. The presenters included:

Architects designing living buildings
Urban farmers claiming empty lots for gardens to feed communities
Indigenous attorneys bringing Rights of Nature campaigns
Thought-leading authors
Social justice and climate activists
Amazonian land and water protectors
Scientists
Artists and performers

Art leading the way

Artistic expression was sprinkled between the keynotes and panel discussions. Drummers, a choir, poets, and visual artists showcased their talents. Jason Nious, the founder of Molodi, an “extreme body percussion” ensemble, told the story of the resourcefulness of slaves who had their drums banned after the slave rebellion of 1739 but instead shifted to forms of body percussion. His performance of “stepping” while storytelling was masterful.

Poet Alixa Garcia brought a scroll that unrolled down to the floor and read her piece about being “born in the age of consequence.” She drew a correlation between the imaginal cells of the caterpillar that contain the code to be a butterfly with our ability as keepers of imagination to create the new stories that can lead us out of the current life-threatening climate crisis.

Throughout the conference, there were frequent references to creating a new story for our human race—one which places our values on life, inclusivity, connectedness, and preserving the foundations of nature that support us.

Ocean and land protection

Enric Sala, a National Geographic explorer and Pristine Seas ocean advocate, spoke about the economic value of protecting nature. “The economy is subservient to the natural world.” He added that nature provides us with benefits of about $125 trillion. It would only take a fraction of that, about $140 billion, to protect 30% of the planet as natural zones. He says only 17% of the land is protected now and less than 8% of the ocean. He reminded us that protecting and restoring nature gives us more oxygen, more rainfall, and absorbs more of the CO2 greenhouse warming gas, plus it offers space for all the other species to live.

Learning from other species

Primatologist, professor, and author Franz de Wahl spoke about the difference between sex and gender among hominids. Sex is a physical, biological term, and gender is cultural. He educated us about “alpha males” in the ape world. They hold that position because the other animals have put them in power due to their ability to promote harmony, break up fights, and build connections and support within the group. Compare that to the human concept of alpha males. Perhaps we have something to learn from our ape relatives?

Rights of Nature

This topic is gaining prominence, with a growing number of Native American tribes leading the way to protect species, bodies of water (rivers and lakes), and other places that are threatened by extractive industries or toxic pollution. It’s a movement to build legal systems that recognize, respect, and enforce nature’s right to live and exist on its terms, rather than just be seen as a “thing” to be used by humans. It’s taking us back to an older story where nature had agency over itself.

Justice, equity and belonging

Social justice issues were highlighted as intertwined with everything else. Angela Glover Blackwell of Policy Link challenged us to understand our U.S. history to bridge the divide between black and white communities and create a democracy that works for all. “Everything is on the table,” she said, and our future is dependent upon all of us reaching our full potential.

John A. Powell is Director of the University of California, Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute. (Yes, that sounds like a California topic, doesn’t it?) Belonging is self-explanatory, where everyone feels connected and power is more circular than hierarchical. “Othering” means setting someone or something apart and treating them or it as less than oneself. We do this in race relations, politics, and with the natural world when we assume human exceptionalism/ dominance over all other species.

Powell said the stories that explain our current behavior are relatively new. Five hundred years ago, nature was treated with more awe and respect, not considered simply a storehouse of resources for humans to harvest and plunder. The goal is “belonging for everyone and othering for no one.”

With the wisdom of their 10,000 plus years-old cultures, Indigenous people were well-represented through Bioneers’s Indigeneity program. They led panels, shared their art, and offered a new/ancient perspective.

Iraqi-born Zainab Salbi is an engaging and passionate women’s rights activist, author, and speaker who introduced her new organization, Daughters for Earth. She made the case that the world needs more female leadership, as it tends to focus on “relational intelligence,” putting the relationship before the task, and emphasizing empathy and compassion.

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
From a Thrive Choir song, Bioneers 2022

Solving the dominance of the fossil fuel industry

Kate Aronoff, an investigative reporter, and staff at The New Republic talked about the greenwashing going on in fossil fuel companies. Exxon and Shell advertise big efforts to increase carbon capture, but that investment is tiny compared to their main expenditures to extract oil and gas. Aronoff said oil and gas production should be declining by 6% every year to meet climate goals to preserve a livable future. The non-cooperation of the fossil fuel companies and their continuing harm has a possible solution— public ownership. Suppose our government took a 51% ownership of these companies for the benefit of the public? In that case, the government could create incentives to meet climate goals, using the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that flow to the oil and gas industries every year without any accountability.

Beautiful buildings that are net-zero energy users

Jason McLennan is an award-winning architect of “living buildings” who uses biomimicry and regenerative practices to design eco-friendly human spaces. He also talks about the tension between love and fear in this liminal time. He said all decisions now “are either degenerative or regenerative.” He suggested that as a species, we need to move from Homo sapiens (meaning “wise man” in Latin) to Homo regenesis (regenerating).

An interesting exchange took place in a panel on stage, where a black social justice woman told him she’d like to see a “living building” inside an inner-city black community. McLennan agreed, “Let’s do it!” It was an example of what happens when you get open-minded change-makers together.

All that can save us is a sustained awakening of the human heart.
Jason McLennan, Living Buildings architect

Sponge Cities

How do you remake cities so that the torrential rains or flooding of climate change don’t harm the people and ecosystems? Kongjian Yu of China is an award-winning designer of urban landscapes who takes rain and floodwaters and channels them into productive and beautiful wetland spaces in partnership with nature’s design. He works on a large scale and has transformed 250 cities in China. We need more of this worldwide. Here’s a 4.5-minute video about sponge cities.

Food security on a climate-changing planet

Sam Meyers MD. is a Harvard and Yale-trained public health expert focusing on the intersection of planetary and human health. He spoke about the emerging global health crisis around food security as the climate worsens. We’re facing the loss of pollinators, food that’s lower in nutrition and protein, and more crop failures. After conversations with Terry Tempest Williams, Meyers helped found the Planetary Health Alliance. He serves as Director and scientist for a consortium of over 300 universities, NGOs, and research centers focusing on our health.

Words of wisdom from the Bioneers co-founders

Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons (husband and wife team), spoke of the gravity of our changing times, yet reminded us that joy can be an extension of our actions to make a better world.

Kenny Ausubel noted that we are in a “vortex moment” where we risk losing “the living treasure of our home” if we don’t stand up for it. He said the most destructive actions came from a trifecta of groups that need pushback.

Big Oil
Big Tech
Natural Asset Companies “NACs” which are companies monetizing nature

Nina Simons, whose title at Bioneers is “Chief Relationship Strategist,” addressed the emotional aspect of our changing world and how she anchors herself in troubled times. She focuses on “what’s small, dear, and close to me.” For her, that’s taking walks in nature, noticing spiritual connections, cultivating family and a “beloved community” of people, and assisting nature in preserving our “life support systems.”

These times call for creative, compassionate action, and the Bioneers organization inspires learning, healing, and restoration. It’s time to lead from the heart and create brave spaces for the conversations and connections that improve our world. All of us are needed as we sit on the margin of something different, as yet unknown.

As Nina Simons reminds us, the goal is simple—“Take care of the land and each other.”

Mother E