CUHF in these COVID-19 times

Slow down. Listen.
Witness. Unlearn.
Reach deep, asking what will serve.
Lean in.

In the Council on the Uncertain Human Future (CUHF), we reflect on the planetary realities of climate and ecosystem disruption. Now, as this coronavirus alters the world in its vast reach, our questions interweave with those raised by the disease.

Though distinct in the particulars, the pandemic and the climate crisis both arise from an assumption deep within human civilizations and industrial economy – that humans may exploit the natural world for its utility and without limit, despite a total interdependence with it.

What might we come to know… in this “time apart”?

In this unfolding crisis, what may be helpful, beyond aiding those who are suffering and those sustaining life in a range of ways? What might we come to know, lean into, and transform in this
“time apart”?

The CUHF is a process of slowing and reckoning together, of grieving what we come to understand, and of listening for collective wisdom. It allows new awareness, possibilities and collaborations to emerge; trust and solidarity to build; new ways of living, thinking and being to become more possible.

Both at once, then… the virus and the climate. If the pandemic portends the kind of destabilization and massive change we will soon see with climate (along with additional pandemics), the need for discernment, creativity and solidarity will only grow.

We are adapting the CUHF to a virtual format

Since mid-March our work has moved online, using a Zoom platform.

Up to now, Council gatherings relied on ample time, the warmth of each other’s presence, a comfortable, focused space, and the nourishment of shared meals… and the loss of those is profound. But until we can gather in person, we trust virtual convenings will serve, and perhaps in ways that will surprise us.

We’re currently convening virtual Councils in this time of pandemic with existing  CUHF groups to consider the experience, impact and implications of the pandemic, and this will continue. Read more about our work at Clark University in ClarkNow.

The Council on the Uncertain Human Future via Zoom, re-envisioned as CUHF 2.0, continues our primary work in an altered form. The Bay Area Planning CUHF is the first full Council to be held entirely online, with others to follow. Given this context, we ask participants to think about this kind of Zoom time differently: Learn more here.

A gathering of the Bay Area Planning group this March

The coronavirus pandemic is transforming our human world in almost every dimension. Through these essays and poems, we hope you will pause and consider these unprecedented times more deeply.