This week we share the work of some of the world’s leading specialists on different aspects of those amazing underground ecosystems, including Suzanne Simard, Ann Biklé, David R. Montgomery, Dr. Daphne Miller, and Merlin Sheldrake.

In this time, we’re all called upon to be leaders. Please join us at the Bioneers 2021 virtual conference to experience how some of the wisest among us are bridging the space between worlds and innovating toward incredible solutions.

Many conventional crops are already hitting their thresholds of heat tolerance and salt tolerance. We’re seeing longer and more frequent droughts than ever before, and these are affecting not only crops but also all the wild creatures that flow into fields because there’s nothing for them to eat out in wildlands. We are beginning to see trends that will, in our lifetimes, change agriculture to the extent that future agriculture will look nothing like what we know it as today, so climate change is disrupting, damaging and in many ways completely undermining the current way we farm.

This week, we highlight thought-provoking ideas on systems change from leaders — including systems theorist Joanna Macy, scifi writer Kim Stanley Robinson, scientist Fritjof Capra, and representatives of the forward-thinking Garfield Foundation — hoping to take on these issues at the systemic level.

In this op-ed, eco-philosopher and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy introduces us to the bardo—the Tibetan Buddhist concept of a gap between worlds where transition is possible. As the pandemic reveals ongoing collapse and holds a mirror to our collective ills, she writes, we have the opportunity to step into a space of reimagining.

In her new book, Susan B. Inches shows how ordinary citizens can become effective advocates, and highlight strategies for addressing climate change.