Joe Brewer: Managing the Global Collapse

k.kovacs Radio evolve

Joe Brewer talks a lot about the global collapse — not the collapse that is going to happen, but the global collapse that we are already in. As Joe says, one of the mistakes we make is that we think of the global collapse as a single catastrophic event when actually it is a long term process. For instance, it took the Roman Empire 300 years to collapse. We are in the midst, and how far we are in, we don’t know.

Joe is a complexity researcher and innovation strategist. He developed communication strategy for the UK World Wildlife Federation and Oxfam, Great Britain, among many other projects. Joe worked for several years at the Center for Complex Systems Research where he studied pattern formation in self-organizing systems

However, when Joe talks about managing the collapse, he means something very different than one would expect. He does not talk about technological answers but about how can we respond with our humanness to what is happening, about how we need to begin with remorse. He points us in a surprising and deep direction. Can we respond as human beings who are facing this collapse in relationship to each other and with nature? Is it possible that our of these crises a new life can be born?

This week on Radio evolve, Thomas Steininger speaks with Joe Brewer about bringing our full humanity to managing the global collapse.