social movement

Eigg Heritage Trust – Reshaping Land Ownership in Scotland

How can people organise to gain control of the place in which they live? The Scottish Ilse of Eigg replaced its historic semi-feudal system of land ownership, in which residents were tenants of an absentee laird (a large landowner) with a new model community based ownership. Eigg is one of the Scottish Inner Hebrides. In 1997, the island was bought from its absentee landlord for £1.5m, raised from residents and thousands of non-residents. Many people in Scotland live on land [...]

Garry Peterson2016-11-07T10:38:23+00:00europe, social movement|Comments Off

Social change through “Social Ecology” in Montreal

By Théo Rouhette How can a citizen community use popular education and social action in order to transform society and its institutions toward an ecological, egalitarian and democratic future? Challenges such as climate change and global inequity can be so overwhelming, individuals may feel powerless to respond and create positive change. But what if there was a way to organize ourselves so that together we can make more of a difference than [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-07-12T17:34:34+00:00Education, social movement, sustainable living, Urban|Comments Off

Idle No More: Indigenous activists call for peaceful revolution

How can Indigenous peoples bring environmental sustainability and social justice issues together into a single transformative movement? Idle No More activists at the Peoples Climate March 2014 Photo by Allan Lisner It all started in 2012 when four Canadian women (primarily Indigenous) wanted to protest against federal legislation which threatened protection of traditional lands and waters. They felt as if conventional negotiation tactics were not resulting in meaningful [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-05-26T13:00:31+00:00community, indigenous, social movement, stop destructive action|Comments Off

Fossil Fuel Divestment

How much is stopping destructive behaviour essential to creating a good Anthropocene? Fossil Fuel divestment is a rapidly growing campaign aims to morally stigmatize the fossil fuel industry. Divestment is the opposite of investment, it is the removal of your investment capital from stocks, bonds or funds, and recently a global movement for fossil fuel divestment, also called disinvestment, is demanding that key people and organisations halt their investments in oil, coal and gas companies [...]

Garry Peterson2015-09-28T00:01:00+00:00social movement, stop destructive action|Comments Off

Seeds are existing initiatives which hold potential to shape the future. They are likely not widespread nor well-known. They can be social initiatives, new technologies, economic tools, or social-ecological projects, or organisations, movements or new ways of acting that have that appear to be making a substantial contribution towards creating a future that is just, prosperous, and sustainable.

We gather seeds from diverse research disciplines, communities of practice, and individuals that have different world-views, values, and problems. This diversity means that not everyone will agree on the importance or value of every seed.