The Metacrisis Initiative

26/08/2026

What is the role of ecovillages and interfaith sacred dance in building community resilience?

GENOA's Thao Ngo Kin interviewed during her visit to Indonesia, by Jem Bendell.

An interview with Thao Kin, Network Coordinator, Global Ecovillage...

11/08/2026

Conversations around the last salon and in the latest peer mentoring sessions will probably (hopefully) have stimulated reflections on spirituality. The critiques of mainstream religions and their complicity in the mess that humanity has created, are well established. But 'New Age' spiritualities are also something to have some discernment about. Perhaps you have met people who say some form of the story: "your vibes manifest reality". In my circle of friends I've heard this used to ignore collective challenges and dilemmas like climate change. When coming across such views we could ask: might the day-to-day low vibration of narcissistic individualism, curated in us by capitalism, have helped produce ecological devastation as well as the habit of distracting ourselves from it? This podcast summarises a critique of that pseudo-spirituality really well, with some giggles along the way.

Modern Western spirituality doesn’t “go wrong” — it starts wrong. I...

04/08/2026

Thank you to the 22 and 34 people who participated in the lovely salon on meaning and purpose. Thx for Rev Wright for helping us with that. Subscribers will have received in your inbox a new essay on Rainbow Prepping. Why read it? Here is a 4 min discussion of its relevance. This audio may be useful to share with folks you recently discussed prepping with..

This is a conversation about the essay Rainbow Prepping, from Jem Bendell on August 4th 2026. It is generated by AI. It describes the relevance of new framework for preparing for societal disruption,

31/07/2026

Last time we looked there weren't fields of wheat in Spain like northern Europe and UK, whereas their olive trees took decades to grow and their citrus trees can't cope with regular frosts like those the UK. But hey let's just enjoy the heat while reading oligarch-employed fools in our ideologically favored newspapers!

Yes, the general public deserve far better treatment of the issue of adaptation to climate destabilization. So are you going to demand that?

27/07/2026

A lot is said about the benefit of being more imaginative about the future in these disturbing times. Being imaginative can involve us exploring managed contractions and lesser dystopias. Being imaginative can involve looking again at ancient history for inspirations on that. A stellar panel joined the Metacrisis Initiative's first open salon to discuss....

The July 2026 Metacrisis Initiative salon welcomed around 100 attendees to explore lessons from past societal collapses. Speakers included Rupert Read, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Will Self, and Michel B…

18/07/2026

If you don't mind using amazon, then the paperback of Breaking Together is 25% off until the end of August. A good present for a stupidly hot summer?

18/07/2026

For 3 decades, smart ethical professionals argued for a global tax on carbon emissions, with tariffs on countries that refused to apply it domestically. Just a simple idea to promote energy efficiency and reduce pollution without economic disruption. Decades later, with BS carbon trading scams and zero curbs on emissions, tariffs are now threatened against countries suffering the consequences of abrupt climate heating. Funny how real world consequences don't respect lines on a political map! This insanity is just another aspect of metacrisis and collapse. It calls on us to up our game.

18/07/2026

What does living purposefully within metacrisis and collapse mean? Please share any reflections on the latest essay from Jem Bendell (whether thoughts on the 9 questions, the final one (what might collapse ask of me) or the broader issue...

The author reflects deep questions about life’s meaning and purpose amidst a global metacrisis. They explore the significance of universal unconditional love, service, and remembrance of the …

15/07/2026

The Club of Rome have been bringing attention to climatic impacts on agriculture.

The breakdown of the international food system due to interacting factors is well explained in the paper from Cumbria Uni (also in the book Breaking Together)
https://research.cumbria.ac.uk/en/publications/beyond-fed-up-six-hard-trends-that-lead-to-food-system-breakdown/

28/12/2023

Live in Europe and wanna meet in person with people to discuss 'deep adaptation'? This spring, two events, in Belgium and Hungary, are bringing together leading thinkers, doers and activists on collapse readiness. I am looking forward to attending. Links for further information and how to sign up, are below.

Belgium (Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve) 14th to 17th March, 2024

Horizons of Change - A retreat with Satish Kumar, Adélaïde Charlier, Pablo Servigne and Jem Bendell from 14th to 16th March 2024
https://www.thesprouts.co/horizons-of-change-retreat

Confluence of Wisdom: Forum on System Change, Activism and Mindful Leadership

https://www.thesprouts.co/confluence-of-wisdom-forum

Hungary (Budapest) - 19th and 20th April, 2024

Deep Adaptation: Five Years Into Collapse?
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScP9thFv9Xmvqi1JP5Rrf7fvdLBytdjyxq_TUWZpG7aO_h8cQ/viewform

If you can't make it to these, then perhaps consider an online course on DA?
https://www.katie-carr.com/leadingthroughcollapse

A transformative day with four influential voices in deep adaptation, activism, collective resilience, and transformative education. Satish Kumar's six decades of radical love converge with Jem Bendell, Pablo Servigne, and Adelaïde Charlier's insights on navigating collapse and fostering regenerati...