Biodiversity 6: Systems Thinking & Scenarios - Tools for Creating Better Ecological Futures

Biodiversity 6:

Systems Thinking & Scenarios –

Tools for Creating Better Ecological Futures

Starts Wednesday, June 22 at 12:00 pm or 7:00 pm ET

Register here!

Every extinction episode in Earth’s evolutionary history has led to an emergence of greater biodiversity in time. Often the time scale is in millions of years.

With the vast new knowledge that is now available to us, could humans be a global force for the reemergence of healthy ecosystems on a much faster timeline?

Join biologist Jim Laurie for his summer course, Biodiversity 6: Systems Thinking & Scenarios – Tools for Creating Better Ecological Futures. This fully interactive online adventure, with discussions, experiments and explorations, is designed for independent thinkers of any age and inquiring minds of all levels, from beginner to PhD!
During this course, we will look at systems thinking and scenario-writing as tools for examining the “Whole” and finding out what possibilities exist for the future. We will learn about systems at all scales, examine the limits of the earth’s resources to sustain our current lifestyle, and identify sustainable pathways we could take to divert ecosystem and societal collapse.

The Homeschool Ecosystem, Woburn, MA (photo by Jim Laurie)

We will also discover how planners, strategists, and futurists write different types of scenarios including possible futures, probable futures, pessimistic futures, and preferable futures. We will examine Scenario 300, written by Jim Laurie in 2017, which looks forward over several decades at what might be possible if our species focused on symbiosis and connections. This scenario isn’t a prediction, but a starting point for decision making.

Finally, we will create “Symbiosis Teams” to ameliorate various impacts of global warming. Everyone has much to learn and share and there is much to be done. To join us, register below!

Books used in this course:

Thinking in Systems, by Donella Meadows (Primary Text)
The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson
Under a Green Sky, by Peter Ward
Marine Ecosystem Restoration, edited by Tom Goreau & Robert Trench

Meet your instructor:

Jim Laurie

Restoration Biologist, Educator, Futurist

Jim Laurie is a restoration biologist, educator, consultant, and co-founder of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. For twenty years, Jim worked as a biologist and technical trainer in the chemical industry in Houston, Texas, where he pioneered the use of living machines to biologically remediate wastewater more effectively than conventional technology. In 1995, he relocated to Vermont to manage the world’s largest “Living Machine” designed by ecological visionary John Todd to clean raw municipal sewage without toxic chemicals. Through his decades of research, he discovered and demonstrated the power of self-organizing microbes to detoxify and restore natural ecosystems.

He then consulted on projects to restore the redwood forests and Pacific salmon fisheries, and implemented flood prevention using ecological design. He studied Holistic Management of grasslands with Allan Savory and the Savory Institute, built a lab to study fungi and grow mushrooms using the pioneering work of Paul Stamets, and worked with the International Wolf Center in Minnesota to learn about predators and the biology of the north woods. In 2017, he developed “Scenario 300,” an analysis demonstrating that if just half the available land on the planet were restored, atmospheric carbon concentrations could fall to 300 ppm within four decades.

Jim received his B.S. in Biology at Rice University and his M.S. in Future Studies at the University of Houston in 1997 where he completed his thesis on “Biological and Educational Tools for Reversing the Loss of Biodiversity in the 21st Century.” Jim loves to teach and inspire curious students of all ages in understanding the power of natural systems. His “Homeschool Symbiosis Team,” ages 15-18, presented at four Bio4Climate conferences.

This online course will consist of 12 classes, held live on Zoom, which will not be recorded. Classes run from June 22 – September 7, 2022 on Wednesdays from 12 – 2 pm ET and 7 – 9 pm ET to accommodate students’ schedules. Students are invited to attend whichever of these two sessions is most convenient for them. There are no prerequisites, except for curiosity and a desire to figure things out.

Course fee: $240 (sliding scale available)

Please note that we want you to join us more than anything, so we never turn anyone away based on ability to pay. That said, we are a small non-profit and need to pay our very hard-working and dedicated staff. So if you are able, please select a course fee when you register. Many thanks!