It is time
There could not be a more important time to imagine a better world. 

The theme of our first virtual meeting, Project Earthrise, takes inspiration from one of the most transcendent moments in modern history--when we first saw the Earth across the void of space. One planet. For all people. Igniting profound wonder and awe, it inspired a renewed desire for peace, unity, justice and appreciation and care for nature. We believe that this reveals that we are more aligned in our vision and desire for a better world than our current polarized social climate suggests—especially when we are inspired.

In an era of so many “broken systems” it is time to equally address the “broken spirit.” It is becoming clear how much we have neglected and devalued the power of “the best” of human nature—the very things that unite, empower and refocus priorities of individuals and societies—failing to see this as an underlying factor in all our challenges and our greatest asset in overcoming them. We must fundamentally question the way we choose to live on our planet. How we see ourselves. How we treat others. How we care for our place and our communities. Even the way that we approach our problems.

Our meeting will therefore extend the many discussions we had planned for “Rewilding Planet Earth” in Amsterdam, prior to the pandemic, and view them through this lens—recognising that to overcome our greatest challenges we must address the value systems that created them in the first place. 

Imagining the future is the first step to getting there. 
We might all begin by asking ourselves:
“What kind of world do we want to live in?”

Our agenda will continue to underscores the imperative for creative ecological solutions for the challenges we face in all systems and all scales with advancing global urbanization – for personal, environmental, economic and societal health alike. We aim to bring together diverse perspectives from across many dimensions of the arts and the sciences, as we explore novel solutions and new normative values. ​

This continues to reflect our focus on understanding and improving the complex relationships between human health and planetary health. We seek to emphasize the eco-biological interactions in our living environment (including urbanization, food systems, education, social inequity, climate change, biodiversity loss, and microbial ecology) impact physical, mental and spiritual well-being, together with the wider community and societal factors that govern these. We continue to have a long-range vision which includes trans-generational and ‘life-course’ approaches to disease prevention and environmental restoration.  

The meeting will bring together a tremendous network of like-minded people from diverse fields whose interests span from planetary/population/ environmental health to microbial ecology/ systems biology and the deep biological mechanisms—all aiming to work ‘symbiotically’ to connect traditional ‘silos’ through a more integrated systems framework as we seek to improve personal, environmental, economic and societal health alike. As always, our emphasis on meaningful collaborations and productive friendships as on the data and opportunities we generate.

Key dates

Sessions will take place between December 1-11 2020 in bite sized chunks to avoid zoom fatigue, and will accomodate as many time zones as possible. Schedule to follow once abstracts have closed!
 
WE INVITE LATE BREAKING ABSTRACTS, PARTICULARLY WORK THAT PERTAINS TO THE EVENTS OF 2020, INCLUDING THE DIVERSE ISSUES ARISING FROM THE PANDEMIC. 

Abstract deadline: October 15. Please submit via the link above.

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PROGRAM

ABSTRACTS

registration