Proposal to the world summit for sustainable devel

PROPOSAL TO THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Transition to a Sustainable Civilisation
Authors: Dr. Michael Ellis and Dr. Pavel Kasyanov
http://www.centreforchange.org/WSSD%20PROPOSAL%20FINAL.pdf

We, representatives of non governmental, national and international organisations
and men and women of goodwill devoted to peace and the prevention of global
ecological catastrophe appeal to the distinguished participants of the
Johannesburg Summit and the rest of humankind with the following declaration
and concerns.

© 2002 Dr Michael Ellis & Dr Pavel Kasyanov


Humankind has reached a state of development in which old modes of
thinking and behaving threaten to destroy our civilization
Introduction
THE CRISIS OF VALUES AND ATTITUDES ON THE PLANET
Humankind has reached a state of development in which old modes of thinking
and behaving threaten to destroy our planet. This is becoming patently obvious
to people of all political and religious persuasions. We are living through a global
crisis in which only a profound revolution can save us from total self-destruction.
Those of us who are dedicated to the preservation of life must play a prominent
part in this revolution, which calls for a substantial change in our manner of
thinking.
Thomas Kuhn introduced the idea that science functions under the control of a
paradigm. For centuries science has been guided by a paradigm based on the
intellectual achievements of Newton and Descartes, who saw the world
mechanistically and reductively, with its division of inside and outside, subject
and object. This has been overturned by the work of Einstein and his theory of
relativity, the atomic physicists and others who have discovered laws that don’t fit
the old paradigm. The new paradigm which is emerging takes into account the
observer as well as the thing observed, and the fact that the two cannot be
separated. There cannot be objective knowledge without a knowing subject: what
we see must be relative to and influenced by where we are and who we are.
In human affairs, objectivity on its own does not work because it contradicts what
it means to be a human being. A human being is not an object. He or she is not
only a thinking but a feeling person with emotions, values, hunches, intuitions,
sensitivities which have a tremendous influence on what they do and how they
perceive the world. He or she is both an individual, alone in their own private
world, and also a member of a particular society; and, in turn, that society
belongs to a wider community, the human family, with which every individual
shares common experiences and aspirations and a common global environment.
Basis for Action
We have to re-evaluate ourselves as the prime cause of the problems we are
facing, and rediscover the profound value inherent in every single human being.
This is something that the United Nations conferences, as yet, have not really
addressed.
The suggested process involves:
• the creation of a planetary peace and ecological culture, i.e. a sustainable
civilization
• evolution of consumption and macro economy as a result of changes in
consciousness, value system , need structure, education reform and
human development
• human development as a prerequisite to the development of true
civilization
• an understanding of the power of the human potential, including the power
of the mind to devise appropriate technologies
• the communication technology and the media.
• the integration of scientific disciplines and scientific knowledge with
consciousness
• the use of innovative forms of education which recapture the essence and
heart of education
• economic empowerment of the developing world by the rich countries by
mobilising human development
Education, knowledge and wisdom are very powerful tools for the survival of
humankind. The more thought we put into our survival, the more solutions we will
get. An open dialogue is the key to our success because it addresses
differences, difficulties and barriers, and creates co-operation
Although the media tend to sensationalize destruction, exploitation, greed and
sexuality, there is a way in which the media can, in fact, exalt ecological culture,
peace and the values associated with this. .
"Ultimately, this Earth can be saved from mankind only if people are prepared to
live with nature, rather than upon nature. We have been taught that this world,
and all plants and creatures thereon, were created for man's use: that he was
given dominion over all other forms of life and that he must go forth and multiply.
It is now clear that if he follows that belief his extinction is inevitable. Therefore,
his whole relationship with Earth, with nature, must change rapidly. But
relationships between individuals or between man and his environment are
intellectual and of the spirit, rather than of material gain or loss." - Sir Mark
Oliphant (Father of Australian Science) - personal communication to Dr Michael
Ellis
A substantially new manner of thinking is required integrating all sciences and
creating a holistic approach which takes into account the inextricable relationship
between life and all phenomena. Such a science needs to integrate scientific
materialism and consciousness and requires a profound change in human values
and attitudes.
“When I went to the Moon, I was as pragmatic a test pilot engineer and scientist as any
one of my colleagues.... but there was another aspect to my experience during Apollo
14......The first thing that came to mind as I looked at Earth was its incredible beauty...I
knew that life in the Universe was not just an accident based on random processes. This
knowledge came to me directly.... It was an experiential cognition. But still as real as the
objective data upon which say the navigational programme was based.”
Edgar Mitchell (Astronaut, supporter of The Centre)

Our main proposal is therefore:
To ask the UN, including especially UNEP, UNESCO and UNCSD and the
governments of the world, to support ideas and proposals on developing
and putting into practice, new informational and educational policy based
on the new scientific and intellectual paradigm, to develop and establish
new educational programs for different national, social and age groups.
Such programs would be established under the aegis of the UN (directly or
under UNEP & UNESCO) institutions, governments and industrial
organisations. These proposals concern education, information policy and
science based on the new way of thinking that we may prevent the
potential global crisis.
The Diagnosis
Economic, Social and Political State of Affairs
Ten years after the Rio Earth Summit, we are still far from the prevention of a
global ecological catastrophe and the creation of a solution to urgent ecological,
social, economic and political problems which affect billions of people. No visible
and substantial results have been achieved.
We currently live in a global political system, which has changed from the
polarisation of USA vs USSR to a monopolar order completed after September
11th. The monopolar system is not sustainable by definition. The process which is
known today as globalisation is a mono-polarisation. A genuine globalisation is
the transformation of our globalised world to a cooperative, united, human family.
Our world faces a global threat – the danger of ecological catastrophe, which
threatens equally every human being, every nation and every social group. The
contradictory interests of a multitude of cultures and nations often camouflage
and confuse the problems we are facing, because the information is not available
through the mass-media.
Macro Environmental Global Issues
The Global ecological threat is apparent in numerous known and unknown
phenomena to the extent that we are on an extinction curve, more pronounced
than at any time since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The
world has been converted in an instant of time from a wild natural state to one in
which human beings one of an estimated 10 million species of organisms are
consuming, wasting, or diverting an estimated 45% of the total net biological
productivity on land, and using more than half of the renewable fresh water. In a
matter of a hundred years, we have altered substantially the characteristics of the
land, the freshwaters of the Earth, and the seas. We are driving a major
proportion of the species which are fundamental for our continued existence, to
extinction.
Klaus Toephler, Director of the UN Environment program, Nairobi, Kenya in the
United Nations Environmental Study 2002 Report states, ‘the Planet is poised on
a precipice, and time is running out for making tough, economic and political
choices that can pull it back from disaster.’
This report, made by contributions from more than 1,000 scientists associated
with UNEP shows that within 30 years:
• 55% of the global population will suffer severe water shortages
• 11,000 plant and animal species will be dead or dying
• 30% of the biodiversity will be erased by the middle of the century
• There will be increased emissions of carbon dioxide doubling to 16 billion
pounds per year since the 19th century.
The Military Industrial Complex
No threat is greater than the threat of nuclear war. There are still between
40,000-50,000 nuclear warheads in the world today – enough to destroy 60 times
the Earth’s population. In addition to India and Pakistan, 15-20 developing
countries will have nuclear capability in the next 10 years.
For a fracture of arms spending, (over $1trillion dollars annually), sanitation and
clean water could be supplied to all the deprived peoples of the world. Wide
spread diseases could be prevented and schooling and medicine provided.
The global military complex which has emerged for the defense of nations and
people has become more dangerous that the threat it should prevent. If only a
fraction of the financial and scientific resources it consumes were used to prevent
the potential ecological catastrophe a sustainable civilisation could be built.
The Medical System
The domination of the pharmaceutical industry in the health system ignores
nutritional, environmental, preventative and lifestyle management of illness
through health promotion. Due to inequities in global health care, a child dies of
avoidable disease every three seconds. The global community faces morbidity
from the growth of AIDS, a resurgence of other infectious diseases such as
Hepatitis, and Malaria, particularly in the developing world.
The developed world is faced with cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

The Consumptive Society
Modern society with its excessive emphasis on commercial return, economic
growth, wealth and material success, subordinates and distorts peoples minds,
mentalities and ultimately, real needs. The people are victims of surrogate
values and needs forced on them by informational and economic sub-systems of
society.
Our survival has to be seen from on overview of planetary sustainability and
transboundary environmental issues. The old system that says we have to
dominate, cultivate fear, and exploit in order to survive, is no longer tenable.
A positive change in new world outlook requires the cultivation of genuine human
values and the acknowledgement of the interconnectedness and
interdependence between humans, the natural environment and the Universe.
The cultivation of Self knowledge, self esteem and spiritual growth, would lead
paradoxically to a reallocation of consumer resources, conservation of nature
and new, more sustainable, technological and scientific advances.
A Global Crisis of Social Values
The global crisis is symptomatic of the inadequacies of our social values. Ethical
and moral value systems have not evolved properly to keep up the balance with
our growing material needs and technological inventiveness. We are living
through a civilisation crisis in which only a profound social epiphany leading to a
paradigmatic shift, unlike any other in history, can save us from total self
destruction.
The environmental problems that we face are because humankind does not see
itself as a species, whose role is as a subsystem of the biosphere. Humanity’s
role is, in our opinion, to develop a deep understanding and wisdom based on
our alignment with the Universal Laws and the co-evolution of human society
with nature.
Our basic requirement is for ecological peace and health which means a
complete shift of the paradigm involving science, education and health to a
complete understanding of humanity and its relationship with the cosmos.
The Genesis of Environmental Problems
The Loss of Values and the Loss of Dreams
The most underused and misused resource on the planet is the human mind.
Although we may have finite natural, ecological resources, we have one infinite
resource, which is the human mind and spirit. This may be the only resource which
will save our planet.
The famous Russian scientist and Academician, Dr Vladimir Vernadsky, in the first
half of the 20th Century, saw the future of humanity linked to a model of reality
called the Noosphere, which is a noetic science of consciousness and the world of
inner experience. The noetic science, reappraises the nature of the human being
and its relationship with the cosmos, integrating western science with eastern
wisdom.
The root problem is that our social life and our economic and technological
development is grounded in the old, but still predominant paradigm based on the
intellectual achievements of Newton and Descartes, who saw the world
mechanistically and reductively. This has been overturned by the work of Einstein
who showed that the new paradigm is based on the relationship and connection
with the thing observed. What we see must be relative and influenced by what we
are, how we are and where we are. The old paradigm works well for mechanisms
and technology, but does not work when we try and understand consciousness and
psychosocial issues.
Tolstoy, in War and Peace, said ‘the highest wisdom has but one science, the
science of the whole –the science explaining the whole of creation and man’s
placement’.
The measures aimed at preventing ecological catastrophe and transition to
sustainable development, whether it be technological, economic and or
ecological, will be doomed to failure unless we free ourselves from the old
scientific, intellectual paradigm.
In our printed and visual media we find sensationalism, and no integration of
news or proper analysis, as news tends to serve political purposes . Our news
media tends to create an erroneous picture of reality and draw people away from
serious reflection. There is no public voice. Even in Universities there seems to
be no integration between different specialties and information is narrowly
focussed.
It is no wonder that our young people are worried and often angry. Their lives
are changing, but they feel there is no future, as they feel there is nothing left.
Our young people nowadays grow up so quickly due to the influence of the
media, particularly television. The destructive influence of mass media on the
developing psyche of children and teenagers has a deleterious effect on the
creation of the integrated personality. Parental care is lost as parents go out to
work under the increasingly stressful working environment. In this situation, they
are not able to substitute money, property, social status, and material needs with
the creation of values.
The New Paradigm Integrating Spirituality and Science
Einstein, 50 years ago, said ‘if humanity is to survive, there has to be a
substantially new manner of thinking.’ He also said ‘A human being is part of the
whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences
in himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest a kind
of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us restricting
us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of
compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.’
Vaclav Havel, echoed this statement when he became President of
Czechoslovakia, stating that there needs to be a massive change in
consciousness if humankind is to survive.
The root problem is that although we have made great leaps in technological
science, and our physical knowledge has expanded, our development, is based
on an inadequate understanding of the world generally, as well as of human
beings and human life. Our science serves technological development, but it is
incapable of predicting the consequences of the interaction of technology with
nature.
The new vision of reality requires us to review our origins, the nature of
evolution and the basic cause behind the need of healing for the individual,
society and the global civilisation We have to reevaluate ourselves and our
mode of development as the prime cause of the problems we are facing
In this respect, the new frontier is the new paradigm which is the new spirituality
that encompasses a consciousness of oneness where all of life on Earth is
connected and not separate.
The great Copernican revolution of the 21st Century is to realise the nature of
universal consciousness spirit and soul.
Great inventions, great thought and creativity come from a higher order of
intelligence and consciousness. Education, in our view should be based on this
concept of human potential and the hidden abilities within all human beings.
Particularly we would emphasise the power of the sub-conscious and conscious
mind and the ability of the individual to find expression in a unique and whole
way.
A new ethos implies a belief in universal abundance actualised by the creative
potential of human minds. The key to this abundance is the creation of a new
kind of non-polluting energy, which gives humanity the opportunity to meet all of
humanity’s needs.
Our civilization is changing rapidly. As a result, we are entering the so called
post-industrial or the information society.
The computer information and technological revolution now occurring should be
accompanied by new ways that actualise the global mind and vastly enhance the
creative potential and access to freedom for all humanity.
Now is the time that millions of people need to awaken to their sense of truth,
freedom, co-operation and connectedness with all of life – an expression of
connected humanity.
What is needed, we believe, is a new science that can integrate the mind and
its abilities with the whole phenomenon of human productiveness,
technology and the environment. This means that we have integration
instead of fragmentation into the various subjects that are taught in
universities, which are differentiated and separated into various disciplines.
This means that we produce graduates versed in the whole phenomenon of
life.
This is possible because science already has come to a new level of
understanding of the new paradigm. This paradigm should become the
basis for new education systems, new information policies, and a means to
building relationships between people, nations, social groups etc.
Education, in this sense, is giving to people throughout the planet an
understanding of what they have in common despite their races, religions,
ideologies, cultures, traditions, beliefs and spiritualities - enabling them to realise
their backgrounds, their origins and potential and individual destinies within the
common ground of human life and existence.
Openness is a prerequisite of education. It is also the prerequisite of
communication.
New forms of communication are needed, involving the media, which will help to
educate people by enabling them to realise the depth and power of the human
spirit and the ability of people to heal themselves and to create peace.
Our aim is to promote a dialogue to impact human consciousness on a
deep and profound level.
“All that man has here in multiplicity is intrinsically One. Here all blades of grass,
wood and stone, all things are One. This is the deepest depth. And thereby am I
completely captivated”. Meister Eckhart (1260-1327)

Our Proposals are:
To ask the UN (including the UNEP, UNESCO, UNCSD and other bodies:
• To support ideas and proposals on developing and putting into practice a
new informational and educational policy based on the new scientific and
intellectual paradigm to develop and establish new educational programs
for different national social and, age groups. Such programs would be
established under the aegis of the UN or its institutions aimed at
implementing the major proposals formulated below. Such an educational
program would integrate healing issues looking at the importance of
lifestyle, nutrition, relaxation, nutritional supplementation, meditation and
exercise for the prevention of the major scourges of illness and deprivation
in our global community. This activity would be facilitated by outstanding
world leaders and key humanist individuals.
• To establish educational programs for teachers, and for different social
and age groups.
• To involve key representatives of politics, business, culture and the arts.
• To elaborate and enhance the conception of eco-settlements
understanding the profound connection between dwellings and the
environment in which they exist and to provide support to eco-settlements
from international, governmental and non governmental entities.
To call all the World’s scientists to take part in developing the intellectual
basis for forming a sustainable civilization..
A substantially new manner of thinking is required integrating all sciences and
creating a holistic approach which takes into account the inextricable relationship
between life and all phenomena. Such a science needs to integrate scientific
materialism and consciousness and requires a profound change in human values
and attitudes.
To ask all educational organisations of teachers of all levels and
professors to support our ideas and aims in order to create educational
programs based on new paradigm for distribution among families, schools and
universities which has at its highest priority, the integration of the human being
with the family of humanity, civilization, planet earth, and the cosmos. In this
respect, we particularly wish to study and understand the role of ecology in
economics, psychosocial issues and cross cultural issues in order to enhance
relationships between nations, cultures, creeds and religions.
To ask all medical doctors and health professionals to support a form of
medicine which is integrative, health giving and gives individuals the opportunity
to take responsibility for their own lives and the opportunity to arrest the
development of degenerative disease or prevent it altogether.

To ask business and community groups to consider our proposals in
developing a new sector in the market: on ecologically sound production,
primarily in food and medicine, placing emphasis on organic foods, sustainable
agricultural practices and cellular and herbal medicines.
A new sector for the solution of our global problems would also include education
(training courses), publications, centres designed specifically for health
promotion, preventative health, self care, ecological education and spiritual
development. Our children need oxygen, water, food, trees and grass and a
sustainable environment more than material possessions in order to thrive.
To appeal to the young people of the world to seek unity within diversity,
cohesion where there is fragmentation and resolution where there is
conflict. We ask them to take on the responsibility for this brilliant
jewel of our planet and seek to acquire a deep and abiding passion and
knowledge for life itself. A profound cultivation of true civilisation
requires a broad and deep understanding of the nature of humanity, earth,
the cosmos and the culture of their nation and all nations. It requires a profound
love and respect for all peoples and the living biodiversity of nature itself.
To ask governments to support our concerns and ideas and to establish
appropriate state institutes, to initiate programmes aimed at focusing on
scientific activities as a matter of urgency on:
• New ways of thinking about our place on Earth and the ways in which we
relate to the functioning of natural systems if we are to find a better way to
live in harmony with nature.
• Formulating new ways in industry and agriculture, making a possible a
sustainable world.
• Reforming educational systems based on the new paradigm
• National strategies to create the conditions for
o Human and social development
o Environmentally friendly economies
o Poverty reduction
To reflect the above proposals in the findings and/or decisions of the
WSSD.
We feel that if these major principles and directions are instigated we may
be able to prevent the global catastrophe to which we are currently headed.