Envisioning the Future
Deep Adaptation
If you're interested in the work of PCRG and the Rights of Nature, you are likely deeply concerned about climate disruption, inequality, as well as the economic and social disruptions evident in daily news reports. Becoming acquainted with the movement called Positive Deep Adaptation could be a source of fruitful discussion. ​
The Deep Adaptation website and Positive Deep Adaptation Facebook page are digital open spaces where people from around the world, concerned about climate disruption, and believing that the "old normal" is likely to change dramatically, hold seminars and discussions about how to live with those understandings. These are people who want to celebrate the love and joy of music, art, and support each other in the best traditions of humanity. If you resonate with the efforts of PCRG, but sometimes despair about the damage already done, you can find kindred spirits in these discussions. Within PCRG, we could create a local Deep Adaptation group to sponsor discussions.
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Below is an extract from the seminal paper by Jim Bendell, laying out a 'map' for living with acceptance of climate disruption and its likely impact on everything we call 'civilization'. Reading the whole paper is essential for everyone who accepts the scientific findings.
"[I]n the face of dangerous climate change[.] A new agenda, community, and movement for Deep Adaptation to our predicament has been borne. It is comprised of people who believe that a climate-influenced collapse of societies in most parts of the world in the coming decades is either likely, inevitable or already unfolding. They are organising a diversity of activities to help reduce harm, save what we can, and create possibilities for the future while experiencing meaning and joy in the process. . . . .
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It is not my intention in this paper to map out more specific implications of a deep adaptation agenda. Indeed, it is impossible to do so, and to attempt it would assume we are in a situation for calculated attempts at management, when what we face is a complex predicament beyond our control. Rather, I hope the deep adaptation agenda of resilience, relinquishment and restoration can be a useful framework for community dialogue in the face of climate change.Resilience asks us “how do we keep what we really want to keep?” Relinquishment asks us “what do we need to let go of in order to not make matters worse?” Restoration asks us “what can we bring back to help us with the coming difficulties and tragedies?” Reconciliation asks “with what and whom can we make peace with as we face our mutual mortality?” In 2017, part of this deep adaptation agenda was used to frame a festival of alternatives organised by Peterborough Environment City Trust. It included a whole day devoted to exploring what relinquishment could involve. As such, it allowed more open conversation and imagination than a narrower focus on resilience. Further events are planned across the UK. Whether it will be useful framing for a broader-level policy agenda is yet to be seen."
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Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy
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