We address the complex and urgent problems facing our world today: climate changes, social and economic inequality, environmental degradation, the raise of political divides, land and territorial rights at risk.
As Humans, the fate of our species is intimately connected to our ability to cooperate and imagine new realities. Ecotopias brings together innovative and effective approaches to solve these challenges, building with diverse organizations and individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives, united in common vision and purposes. As scientists and researchers, we are informed about the impact of human activities on the natural world, and our aim is show that it is not too late to act, and by coming together and mobilizing for change, we can enhance earth’s natural capacity to resilience and ecological restoration. We draw inspiration from partners across the globe who have explored and got involved.
Living together in the planet is a challenge that we face daily. There is space to rethink our relationship with each other, with institutions and governments, with money and resources, while grow our awareness about the possibilities and dangers of the new rule of digital era, where our personal data is harvested and exploited for profit, once we have almost no power to reclaim our privacy and autonomy. It is necessary to rebuild our relationship with companies, governments and institutions, creating together a more democratic and ethical use of technology.
At Ecotopias, we engage with the insights and wisdom of our contemporary thinkers, artists, doers, teachers, authors and deep connected dwellers, as we work to create a world that is more sustainable, just, and equitable. We believe that by coming together, sharing knowledge and resources, and taking bold and innovative action, we can overcome the challenges that confront us and build a better future for all.
Vision, Mission & Objectives
Vision: mosaicking landscapes across continents
Mission: nurture strategic partnerships to restore and rebuild livelihoods in the mountains and ranges, with biodiverse forests and agroforests, to influence and interact with climate in regional and continental scale
Primary Objectives:
1- Build a coalition to deploy the Climate Design Project
2- Engage networks and commissions to build a positive narrative about the close connection between territories and climate
3- Build a cross multisectorial platform to develop the needed tools for the primary objectives
History
Ecotopias starts at the year 2008 in Brazil, as a continuation of a trajectory that comes from applied research of the ecological, economical, social, cultural and political effects of the development of large scale cross-continent biodiverse agroforests. At the beginning Ecotopias was focused on courses and consultancies, attending mostly students from various fields, as well as farmers and institutions. After some time, and with the constant and difficult to grasp updates from the experts in climate, geopolitics and global economy, arose the understanding that the speed and the scale of the work should be different, much different.
Many years have been spent visiting places, sharing perspectives, classes, conferences, asking difficult questions and having important feedbacks from those who also commit their lives in perform a deep connection with the earth, listening the others, observing societal mistakes and achievements with the same disobliged attention. After this time, Ecotopias have been transformed, now focused in build together a platform for learning and development necessary to participate in the decisions for healthier livelihoods, in the proper scale.
How we act
We bring an awareness about the mosaic of cultures that shapes us, identifying what is prevalent and more relevant to take in consideration, combining the capacity of understanding and choosing criteria before applying them.
In practical terms, we offer a range of publications, events, courses and training programs related to ecological based technologies, as well a structured database of funds currently available for organizations.