Breaking Points - Unity as The Only & Ultimate Response
Only by intervening on my own disunity can I hope for unity elsewhere
In crisis we see the very best of others and ourselves. Images of people rushing in to help and save others despite the risk to themselves. Donating goods and money they can’t afford to give up for those in desperate need. Opening up and offering beds or meals or just sitting with those who are experiencing crisis. Individual pettiness and differences are paused in pursuit of what is truly important and necessary. How ironic that when our feeds are filled with climate calamity and the subsequent rising up and visibility of the best of the human spirit that we also exist at a time of declining societal cohesion, distrust in everything, a growing loneliness epidemic and increasing cognitive radicalisation and polarisation.
Utopian ideals of kindness, generosity, humility, trust and love seem fanciful and unwarranted. How could I do the awkward and time-intensive work of expressing curiosity in someone I don’t agree with when I can easily and conveniently indicate on LinkedIn how outraged I am that someone did something I didn’t like? With the country hitting the polls next week it seems odds on (thanks for no betting reform!) that our next three years (at least) will be experienced under the reins of a hung parliament. Suddenly the necessity to find unity becomes critical. Perhaps the crisis delivered by another record low percentage of major party votes could force them to realise their no vision, no strategy, no plan politics isn’t working for anyone besides an increasingly embattled (and wealthier) 1%? Imagine an Australia with a sense of itself, an identity, an approach to a just transition, to addressing flailing health, education, care and environmental systems. I know, it’s difficult to.
We live in a dystopia though, don’t we? Why have a vision or do the work to create one when there is collapse all around us. At least the array of barely qualified people opining on the indicators of collapse - from sensationalist opinionisters outraged by the unfair disarray caused by filling in an ESG survey on lowly construction businesses to old Trumpy boy believing Murica is being ripped by every China, EU and Heard Island out there. I’m not immune. I often can’t get my own story about what a radically altered climate looks like in the next 10, 50, 100, 500 years and where that leaves everything to come. The Encroaching Apocalypse or A Glorious New View is an effort to rise above the gloom of hard scientific evidence that conditions on this planet are rapidly altering and locking in centuries of harmful consequences for life as we’ve know it. Beyond the easy to feel nihilism, what are the stories of hope or of substance that could be helpful and impactful? What are the new tools and practices I need to be a little more effective as a sustainability professional? Who are the people who are succeeding as mavericks in altering trajectories for the better, and what can I deduce and apply from their wisdom?
I know there are legitimately heinous and abhorrent acts being perpetrated at all scales right across the globe at the moment. My points to attempt unification of thought, action and spirit are not to permission or simply accept evil and greed. Perpetrated violence - whether as war, as withholding capital, as household abuse, as avoiding science and facts in policy making - surrounds us. It feels like it’s encroaching, some end game meltdown where either the climate or riot or inadequate housing or food shortage or conflict or migration or species loss or AI will congeal to squeeze life to breaking point, making those aforementioned utopian ideals the stuff of magic.
Yet on I go. Yet on We go. Bursting with incredulity or terror or despair or megalomania. I can do it. I must do it. I must rise above. I must find The Cure to the sickness that ails our society and major party politicians and staffers and anti-science vaxxers or climate deniers. I must defeat them. In 20 years that’s gotten me three fifths of no where but to tripping upon the idea for Finding Nature and a realisation that there are thousands, at least, just like me. That I’m not alone in the cycles and stories of pessimism and disappointment and hopelessness. What I’ve experienced, which is reflected in my own personal experience with friends and fellows is that together something else becomes possible. Those utopian traits, when practiced regularly, patiently and consistently, become the ingredients for and of unity. Suddenly there is a feeling and force that can feel unstoppable.
Under this work and what Finding Nature ultimately does is seek to do the necessary work of unification. Unification of vision. Unification of purpose. Unification of commitment. Unification of spirit. Unification of action. For decades the sustainability movement has been predicated on a relentless reference to collaborations and open sharing - one of the Sustainable Development Goals is specifically to do with partnership. Sadly, models of scalable partnership that create demonstrable impact over an enduring timeframe are scant. At a time of unabating political pressure and populist action shared mandates and carefully constructed alliances to address any number of issues are being eroded or eradicated. Perhaps the model just didn’t and doesn’t really work though when looking at the evidence of declining just-about-everything-everywhere, and new models of collaboration are required? Underneath whatever is to come though, what is the unifying force we all feel and know and have agreed upon that drives efforts to be connected in healthy, effective and beneficial ways?
Shoots of optimism exist. As usual, AOC and Bernie are charging with their ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ to record crowds in every corner of the US. Tesla cars are being lit up and graffiti’d around the world as a response to his utter awfulness, and the sales for Sad Elon fell off a cliff in Quarter One. Community Independents are well placed to grow their seat and vote count next week. Rising Tide are interfering just about every major party hypocrites media conference. Regen Sydney. Regen Melbourne. Altiorem. Tyre Extinguishing. These, this and many others are rising as seemingly disconnected efforts to connect and bind. They are a response to the need for unity.
I have an absurd vision that Finding Nature could help to play a role in unifying the sustainability community in Sydney, and maybe other places too over time. A refuge away from the relentless loneliness and gnawing sense of inadequacy in actions within one organisation, on one project, within one sector or industry even. Could it be the place where people - the mutants, misfits and mavericks (a.k.a Us) - of professional organisations that bridge between new imaginaries of healthy, just and beautiful futures and the operating system of a capitalist neoliberal system committed to poisoning societies, people and habitats can gather and re-connect to a oneness of spirit that sits at the core of each of us? Where we can express our aspirations and ideas and visions of what we hope to see, what we hope to contribute to, what we hope to be a part of. Finding Nature is predicated on creating a sense of belonging where safety, honesty and personal responsibility are paramount in the experience of an event attendee, a pod listener or writing reader. One of my favourite pieces of feedback on this endeavour was “this is the community I didn’t realise that I needed.”
Only in unity is this - a new energy that grows and becomes a momentum - possible. Where true honesty and open sharing is a signpost of health, where feeling safe is not optional but a requirement, where curiosity is legitimately encouraged, where compassion for what is different or wrongs caused is possible, where simply saying I don’t know but I want to find out is expected. A utopia. What if the problem isn’t the problem, as it usually is? I know for me the ability to experience any of those traits is inhibited by my desire to feel bitter, to be righteous, to simply attack out of spite, to exist in denial that others don’t have the same worldviews, backgrounds, experiences and value sets as me. In my magical thinking I am the Grandiose All-Knowing director in charge of organising the script and performances and score and production and release and red carpet screening. Up on my throne I don’t need to deal in uncertainties, I can evade the mess of reality. I am in control.
I usually want to impulsively take the low road when I don’t get what I want or see something that I don’t like. It’s cosier there. I can wrap myself in my righteousness. It’s much easier and more convenient when I have so many things to do on my to do list. It took me a really long time to recognise the inherent truth in Michelle Obama’s famous line “when they go low, we go high”. I hated this line. I thought it was ridiculous, meek and white flag waving. Over time I’ve come to appreciate that I can take the high road and join the many others seeking justice, seeking reconciliation, seeking truth, seeking integrity. Going high no longer means giving up but joining in unity with other like minded and hearted people.
I am a master of the pursuit of false Gods. Whether it be power or prestige, work or wealth, moments of fleeting adoration or admiration from others, substance or seeming security, the simplicity of electrifying everything or extreme thinking, each pulls me away from an ability to be in service of something grander and more meaningful than my tiny insignificant human craving or desire. Only in the pursuit of and through active, regular, consistent service to oneness with myself, others and planetary and universal systems beyond my extremely slight sensory capabilities am I relieved from automatically grouping people into categories that I am not and placing labels on them like enemy or idiot or wrong. I, and only I, must be right.
I’ve just had this experience in my job. Six months of deep consultation - i.e. just talking to people and listening - has resulted in an outcome I haven’t experienced before. A moment of inspiration humbled me and re-framed the project approach at its inception. What if those I need to work with on this don’t have the same awareness as I do about the broad, complex and vexed topic of climate change, the history of setbacks and an understanding of the structural forces that have withstood science-based action? I’m the problem here - I’m expecting people to care like I do when they don’t know what I do or come from where I come from. All of a sudden my job was to be in service of this cohort of people - my job went from ‘engaging’ on what I wanted to inviting them to participate in an interactive and participatory process grounded in education, sharing and agency. All it took to pull off was extra time. The conversion project required thoughtful inclusion of my colleagues - PEOPLE JUST LIKE ME - to offer their perspectives and relate to stories and the data of a changing climate. As one of them instead of apart from them - in unity - a process was radically altered, and the potential to create shared visions, shared understandings and shared agreements was suddenly possible.
Does all the rushing ultimately hamstring the efforts of the sustainability movement? Just like collapse is a theme I’m constantly seeing, it’s also appearing increasingly in regards to headlines like ‘ESG is Dead. Long Live ESG’. Maybe the problem is us. I know the problem is me. I don’t want the problem to be me because then I’m not allowed to blame everyone and everything else. Then I need to dismantle the stories I tell myself about how selfish or dumb or greedy everyone else is. “Don’t you see - you’re the problem!” I’ve learnt in my own life the past couple of years that when there is a disturbance, no matter the cause, the problem is my reaction. That is different to it being my fault but it does mean I have an opportunity to take responsibility for what next. In an age of such disunity - where truth is not truth, facts are not facts, conflict is monetised and it’s beneficial to fan the flames of discord - the only response is to attempt to unify.
Finding Uniting Spaces - Phoebe Rountree Plugs Into Impact
Many advocacy and activist communities are always innovating. Driven by demonstrable difference making their impatience for the progressive degradation of ecosystems and society is nil. Phoebe Rountree brings that perspective here, committed to connecting with and binding the people who are shifting narratives and making change.
My grounding sense of unity as an activist arrived, quietly and uneventfully, in 2013. It was in a campus meeting room where I had finally followed a friend's advice to join an Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) get-together.
A small but niggling feeling of hypocrisy had clung to me for months prior. I was deep in sustainability studies, saying all of the “right” things about environmentalism over pub beers and heated classroom debates … but actual, change-worthy action? I couldn’t keep ignoring the fact that that was missing.
The people I met in that room were welcoming, passionate, and fiery. Like me, they knew politicians and big business had sold us a lie. Our diligent recycling, remembering our Keep Cups, and other individual actions alone were not saving the world. These people wanted to challenge those who were in power. They wanted to change the systems that kept setting communities up to fail, to be unsustainable.
It took all of five minutes to know these people were my people.
There are many moments since then that have influenced where I fit in the social justice movement. But every thread ties back to that evening. For many in my generation (and I’m sure for other generations too) the world felt as though it had spun us apart into busy, overwhelmed, separate individuals. AYCC changed that for me.
Post-graduation, I spent a year as state coordinator in that beautiful, powerful, dedicated, fun community. Together we quietened our worries about doing every little thing right as siloed individuals. We channeled our time into collectively making sure politicians heard the youth demand for climate action. That felt like resistance.
From there, I moved into organising health professionals to become climate advocates with the excellent Climate and Health Alliance; and later found my place working on campaigns, communication and community mobilising at the Australian Conservation Foundation.
I know how fortunate I was to find a job focused on community-building: welcoming new volunteers and supporting experienced ones to deepen their role in the movement. In nearly seven years at ACF, I witnessed countless people - at training days, at campaign launches, at rallies - have that same realisation that I had 15 years ago. That validating feeling of “okay, I’m not the only one who thinks this world’s a bit broken”. And the relief and energy of “amazing, I don’t need to tackle this on my own.”
In 2024, a niggling feeling came again. Not one of hypocrisy this time. But a different feeling that said I’d done enough here, it was time to open a place for someone else; and that I wanted to get experience creating change in a different way.
That’s how I came to be at SIX (Sustainable Investment Exchange). We’re a start up, relatively new to the movement. Once I learned of the team’s approach to creating change, I knew I was in.
SIX is a share trading app that weaves together two great approaches to change. Firstly, we’re a platform that enables people to invest in companies that align with their values. Secondly, we partner with groups like non-government organisations (NGOs), ethical advisors and unions to strategically invest in companies who aren’t doing enough on climate, nature or social justice issues. Through this, we unlock shareholder activism tools and use those tools to push the company to do better.
As our co-founders Adam Verwey and Sophie Hall knew, even a handful of shareholders uniting can quickly open up conversations with influential company decision-makers - like the investor relations staff and the Executive team.
And under Australia’s Corporations Act, if 100 shareholders come together we unlock the right to lodge a resolution (a formal item for discussion and voting) at that company’s Annual General Meeting. An AGM is one of the most prominent events on the company’s calendar, which big investors (like your super fund) and the media watch closely.
I was buzzing when I realised this strategy’s potential. There’s a huge opportunity for this approach to drive forward environmental and social justice campaigns targeting corporations.
That’s what we saw with the Save the Skate campaign, urging big supermarkets Coles and Woolworth to stop sourcing their salmon from Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania - where the salmon industry is threatening the unique Maugean Skate.
SIX partnered with leading NGOs that had already been campaigning on this issue - including Environment Tasmania, Neighbours of Fish Farming and Ekō - as well as leading ethical advice groups Ethinvest, Ethical Investment Advisors and Tasethical.
At the Woolworths AGM in Sydney in late October, shareholders gave our resolution one of the highest votes ever on a nature resolution - with one in three shareholders voting in favour!
Only two weeks later, Coles shareholders sent the company an even stronger message - over 39% rallied against the board’s recommendations and supported a world-first resolution calling on the company to address the impacts their farmed seafood, such as Macquarie Harbour salmon, has on threatened species like the Skate. The SIX team expected the Coles vote to be high, but 39% was delightfully, unexpectedly so.
We’d sat through around three hours of the AGM at that point, but we all got a burst of energy to see that 39% number up on the big powerpoint screen. I remember looking to my colleagues on one side of me (Adam, Sophie, our ESG Manager James) and our allies and partners on the other (Kelly from Living Oceans Society & Environment Tasmania, Jess from Neighbours of Fish Farming and Melanie from Reichstein Foundation), a little taken aback but so pleased.
The campaign is not over. Coles and Woolworths continue to fail to act with the urgency their shareholders and the threatened skate needs. But SIX and our partners continue to turn up the pressure on them. And we’ve relodged our resolution to Woolworths, a strategy often used in countries where shareholder activism is more common than it is here in Australia - with Coles to receive their resolution soon, unless they act fast.
And this is only the beginning. I see so much opportunity here. For uniting with NGOs, charities, grassroots organisations, unions. To strategically use those tools of capitalism to get ourselves at the table and demand that these big corporations - which have such a disproportionate impact on our lives - listen. And then genuinely change.
The backdrop to all of this is the fallout from the US election. Like so many others I’ve been shaken by the move towards fear and hate and division and the global pushback on diversity and sustainability efforts. I find hope in focusing on the bold action that is around me - not only in the SIX community, but from the many incredible groups and communities I keep an eye out for. Doctors for the Environment. School Strike 4 Climate. Rising Tide. Sweltering Cities. And many more.
Find where you fit. Find where you can make a difference, knowing what that looks like is different for everyone. Find your people, and grow who you consider to be your people. The people you connect with, and the way you want to make change, might work for one year but not the next. And that’s okay. Just find your people. So you can be powerful and dangerous together.
To get involved in shareholder activism or learn more, folks can:
Create a free account with SIX and start reading our ethical profiles of ASX-listed companies and/or
Sign up to our mailing list to get our latest information on ethical investing and shareholder activism campaigns.
Connect with Self, Community and Country - A Chance for Three Dimensional Unity
Finding Nature has two upcoming events designed to deepen our connections - to ourselves, to each other and to Country.
Finding Meaning & Being of Service: How Your Unique Design Can Contribute to a Sustainable Future
Explore how your unique gifts and talents can help contribute to and shape a healthier, more just and beautiful world.
Richard Burton will help you orient your current professional experiences along a spectrum of five stages of career to help give you clarity on where you're at, where you want to get to and what could come next to make those shifts
13th May, Spotify Sydney, 12-1pm
Launching: Eating Country to Save Country
Connect with the wisdom of a First Nations food story on this continent spanning 65,000 years and play a role in re-awakening an incredible opportunity to reprise Country, heal relationships and create and healthy food systems.
Join us in celebrating a story of resilience, connection, and renewal. One of the places we will be visiting is Jocelyn King's farm in the Hunter Valley, and she was on the pod this week chatting bank reparations for historical harms, how banking started in Australia and the roles of blending First Nations knowledge with regenerative ag principles. Get an insight into what to expect and where we'll be going later in 2025.
May 21, Bustle Studios Surry Hills, 6pm start
I believe that by coming together, sharing our stories and learning from one another we can build a more just and sustainable world.
If you haven't yet, hit follow on the Humanitix page to get immediate notifications about events.
Hope to see you at one (or both) in May!
+ If you have friends and colleagues who could be interested, I'd appreciate you sharing event links.
Listening: Jada Anderson Is Undertaking A Radical and Unifying Practice
How great when you can relate to a kindred spirit just through their writing. Jada Anderson has been that for me these past few months. Her Monday Thicket’s have been a source of reflection and inspiration for me. The act of slowing down and letting in the outside world always serves me, as Jada reminds us here.
The conversation started like so many others - with tension. It was a family gathering, and someone made a comment about climate change that landed hard. I felt a rise of heat in my chest - the impulse to correct, to educate, to argue. I work in sustainability. This is my life’s work. But in that moment, I remembered something I’ve been learning slowly, painfully, and imperfectly: not every moment is meant for speaking. Some are meant for listening.
We live in a world thick with noise. Everywhere, people are talking, at each other, over each other, about each other. In my work, I see this constantly. The climate crisis is not just an environmental issue; it’s a political one. A cultural one. A personal one. And navigating these layers in a professional setting, while also holding space for my own relationships with people who see the world differently, can be exhausting.
But I’ve come to believe that listening, truly listening, is the most radical and unifying act we have.
Listening to Each Other
There was a time I believed that if I just had the right data, the right narrative, I could change someone’s mind. But facts alone rarely shift hearts. What does, I’ve learned, is presence.
Listening to someone, even when you disagree, creates a space where transformation can happen, not necessarily in them, but in you. When I stop trying to “win” the conversation and simply say, “Tell me more about how you see it,” everything changes. The conversation softened. We might not agree, but we connect.
In our professional world, where urgency often drives us to push harder and speak louder, we need to cultivate spaces for genuine dialogue. When we listen, really listen, we find common ground we never expected. And we model the kind of leadership this moment requires.
Listening to Ourselves
But listening outwardly means little if we’re not listening inwardly, too. There have been moments in my work where I’ve lost myself in the mission. Times when I ignored the fatigue, the inner voice saying “slow down.” When we silence ourselves in service of a cause, even a righteous one, we eventually burn out or grow rigid.
Inner listening is an act of sustainability, too. It helps us discern when to speak and when to stay silent, when to push forward and when to rest. It brings integrity to our advocacy because it ensures we’re not just reacting, we’re responding with clarity and care.
Listening to Nature
Nature, of course, has always been my most profound teacher of listening. She speaks without words, through wind, through cycles, through silence. In the bush, I’ve found the kind of stillness that reawakens something in me. The more I listen to the earth, the more I see how connected everything really is.
Environmental degradation, at its root, is a failure to listen to ecosystems and their capacity. Relearning this kind of listening isn’t just poetic; it’s necessary for our survival. When we tune into nature, we remember who we are - not separate, but part of something whole.
A Quiet Invitation
In these divided times, unity may seem out of reach. But I’ve come to believe it begins not with agreement, but with attention. When we offer each other the gift of being heard, we open a door. When we listen to our own hearts, we find guidance. When we listen to the Earth, we remember what it means to belong.
The work of fostering community and protecting nature goes beyond systems and solutions - it’s about relationships. Listening is a tool, a practice, a way of being that invites healing across all levels.
In a world of shouting, the most powerful thing we can do is be quiet enough to hear what really matters.
Another fantastic month in Finding Nature PodLand in April
I have loved every episode - covering ethics in business and the failure to understand the essence of sustainability in business, the coming financial disaster climate change is already imposing plus our own stories of grief and resilience, one of Australia’s greatest author’s painting a picture of a climate calamity future and the need to decolonise everything and the shocking truth as to how banking started in this country.
Brilliant guests, longer form, wisdom imparted.
New Ways of Deciding - Victoria Whitaker Knows That How We Choose Matters
Breaking Moulds and Braving The Dark - Michael Bones on The Long Road to Individual, Collective & Planetary Health
Landfall: James Bradley on Facing the Future, Today
Decolonising Finance, Agriculture and Culture - Jocelyn King Is Interrupting Business As Usual
Subscribe, rate & listen.
The Science of Serendipity: Tim Prosser is Enhancing Opportunities for Lucky Collaborations in Climate and Sustainability
Tim Prosser is a man transformed. Every time I spend time with Tim I feel his joy, optimism and gift of simple clarity. His efforts as a servant of Sydney’s Climate Action Week and all of us who go along is testament to who he is, and his logic for how we can join forces is here.
As Climate Action Week Sydney wraps up, it provides a moment to reflect on the remarkable community effort that spanned government agencies, academia, community groups, industry, non-profits, and educational institutions. Over seven days, more than 270 events engaged over 12,500 attendees, demonstrating the collective commitment to addressing climate change and fostering sustainability.
Among the highlights were two flagship days I had the privilege of curating: Solutions House and Future Generations Day. These events showcased the work of 45 diverse “climate communities” from across Australia, inspiring participants and fostering vital connections. They provided dynamic spaces for interaction, with the potential for over 7 million one-on-one action inspired conversations—an extraordinary opportunity for learning, collaboration and innovation. Participants could explore topics they might not have encountered otherwise and connect with people outside their usual circles, opening pathways for unexpected breakthroughs.
This year’s gathering underscored a fundamental truth: solving climate challenges and advancing sustainability depend on innovative collaboration. Often, the most impactful ideas and solutions emerge from unexpected encounters—moments of serendipity. But can we rely solely on luck? Or can we intentionally create environments that foster these fortunate connections? Drawing on principles of “engineering serendipity” and viewing “luck as a system,” we can explore strategies to increase the likelihood of serendipitous collaborations in the climate and sustainability sectors.
Understanding Serendipity and Its Process
Serendipity is the occurrence of unexpected, fortunate discoveries—an unplanned event that leads to valuable outcomes. Engineering, by contrast, involves deliberate planning. The challenge lies in designing conditions that set the stage for serendipity to happen. The process of serendipity involves four key steps:
Trigger: An initial cue that sparks a potential serendipitous experience—such as meeting someone at an event or seeing a relevant online post.
Connection: Recognising the potential value of that encounter—whether for learning, collaboration, or friendship.
Follow-up: Taking action to pursue the opportunity—like scheduling a meeting or starting a joint project.
Valuable Outcome: The positive result that emerges—such as a new partnership, innovative solution, or advocacy initiative.
Crucially, for an experience to be truly serendipitous, an unexpected thread of relevance must run through it. In climate and sustainability work, such outcomes might include the birth of a groundbreaking technology, the formation of an influential advocacy group, or the launch of a community-led project that addresses local needs.
Creating Environments Conducive to Serendipity in Climate Action
Research from 2020 indicates that serendipity is more likely when individuals are in unfamiliar places, engaging with new people, and sharing common interests, especially if they are open, energetic, and comfortable in social settings. These insights can be distilled into three actionable categories for fostering serendipity:
Internal Context: Priming individuals to be energetic, open, and willing to socialise. Cultivating a shared purpose and excitement around climate goals can motivate engagement.
External Context: Providing spaces and formats that are unconventional, distraction-free, and diverse—ranging from outdoor workshops in natural settings to innovative online platforms designed for casual interaction.
Social Context: Bringing together individuals who may not know each other but share interests, expertise, or complementary skills within the climate space.
Five Levers to Engineer Serendipity in Climate and Sustainability Collaborations
Building on these principles, five effective levers can be employed to increase the chances of serendipitous encounters:
Immersion: Creating opportunities for extended, focused interactions—such as multi-day workshops, hackathons, or residential programs—that foster repeated social collisions. Online cohort courses or long-term projects can also serve as immersion environments, encouraging meaningful connections. Structured activities, shared spaces, and designated quiet zones help cater to diverse social preferences.
Variation: Facilitating encounters between diverse groups and experiences. This involves intentional pairing—such as connecting a scientist with a policymaker—or organising themed discussions on niche topics like renewable energy or sustainable agriculture. Activities that transcend professional boundaries, like nature walks or volunteer initiatives, can further diversify interactions.
Facilitation: Guiding interactions to make connections more accessible. Clear communication of networking goals, providing contact information, and encouraging proactive outreach are essential. Dedicated online channels, “ask me anything” sessions with experts, and prompts to “talk to strangers” can foster spontaneous conversations.
Pollination: Creating opportunities for organic recognition and connection outside formal settings. Examples include purpose-driven sustainable swag—like ecological symbols on T-shirts or reusable water bottles—that signal shared values, or digital badges indicating involvement in specific sustainability initiatives. Building a strong community identity encourages members to share their work and extend their networks naturally.
Repetition: Structuring recurring activities to increase the frequency of serendipitous triggers. Regular online meetups, weekly progress updates, monthly local gatherings, and annual flagship events help establish a rhythm that fosters ongoing interaction. A vibrant online community where daily engagement is encouraged also increases the likelihood of unexpected partnerships.
Increasing the Surface Area for “Luck” in Climate and Sustainability
While engineering environments for serendipity is vital, equally important is expanding our personal “surface area” for luck—our exposure to potential opportunities. Luck, in essence, requires active participation and visibility. Strategies to enhance this include:
Sharing Your Story Widely: Be transparent about your passion, goals, and challenges. Speak at conferences, post on online forums, and engage with your network. The more you share, the higher the chance someone with a complementary idea or resource will notice you.
Practicing Vulnerability: Don’t hesitate to ask for help when facing obstacles. Openly articulating your needs can attract support from unexpected quarters.
Over-Communicating: Regularly update your community about your work, successes, and struggles. Sharing even small details can lead to surprising offers of assistance or collaboration opportunities.
By consciously employing these strategies, we shift from passively waiting for luck to actively creating ecosystems where fortunate encounters are more likely to occur. Combining deliberate efforts to facilitate connection with proactive network expansion accelerates innovation and collective action.
Moving Forward: The Power of Intentional Serendipity
The challenges posed by climate change are immense and complex. Addressing them requires not only innovative ideas but also the right collaborations—many of which arise through fortunate, unexpected encounters. By intentionally designing environments and practices that foster serendipity, we can dramatically increase the likelihood of these valuable partnerships.
In essence, the convergence of planned connection and expanded exposure creates a fertile ground for “luck” to strike. This approach transforms serendipity from a chance occurrence into a strategic asset, driving faster, more effective solutions for a sustainable future.
As we reflect on Climate Action Week and look ahead, embracing the science of serendipity offers a powerful way to amplify our collective impact. The more we engineer environments that facilitate unexpected yet valuable connections, the better equipped we will be to meet the urgent challenges of our time with innovative, collaborative solutions.
Thanks for making it this far. I love getting to live out the dream of my 25 year old self in curating and editing something like a magazine.
We dance in the liminal and metabolic space of collapse and composting. What is it to embrace and radically accept the death of a world beyond reform while bringing into being the world yearning to be born?