Bioneers is inspiring and realizing a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations.

Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Founded in 1990 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by social entrepreneurs Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, we act as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

A celebration of the genius of nature and human ingenuity, Bioneers connects people with solutions and each other. Our acclaimed annual national conference and local Bioneers Network events are complemented by extensive media production including a vibrant online media presence, award-winning radio and podcast series, book series, and role in third-party media projects such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie The 11th Hour and Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Our dynamic programs and initiatives focus on game-changing initiatives related to Restorative Food Systems, Biomimicry, Rights of Nature, Indigeneity, Women’s Leadership and Youth Leadership.

In 2017, Ausubel and Simons were honored for the work of Bioneers by Japan’s Goi Peace Award, whose past recipients include Bill Gates, scientist James Lovelock of the Gaia Hypothesis, Nigerian pro-democracy activist Hafsat Abiola-Costello and Deepak Chopra.

Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature

As the state of the world has plunged from urgency to emergency, we can move from breakdown to breakthrough. We can shift our course to re-imagine how to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. There’s as much cause for hope as for horror.

As Bioneers has shown since 1990, the solutions are largely present, or we know what directions to head in. Human creativity focused on problem solving is eclipsing the mythology of despair.

This Age of Nature calls for a new social contract of interdependence. Taking care of nature means taking care of people — and taking care of people means taking care of nature. It’s a revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart.

Bioneers highlights social and scientific innovators who’ve developed and demonstrated far better technological, economic, social, and political models. As a community of leadership, we’re inspired by the wisdom of the natural world and by values of justice, diversity, democracy and peaceful co-existence.

For 30 years, Bioneers has gathered and cross-pollinated a unique network of networks and engaged people to implement these large-scale shifts. It’s bottom up and top down — all hands on deck to generate the biggest and fastest economic, industrial, political and cultural transformation in history.

Fortunately nature has a profound capacity for healing, and we can work with nature to heal nature and our human communities. Resilience is the grail — enhancing our ability to adapt to dramatic change while designing our ways of living for the long haul.

Over these decades, the Bioneers community has cracked the code on many fundamentally transformative solutions, while gaining vast practical experience and mounting traction. Now is the time to convert it into systemic change. It comes down to growing the national and global movement of movements that Bioneers reflects and connects.

These coming years will be the most important in human history, the decisive window to make the shift. It’s going to take you and every one of us. In this time, we’re all called upon to be leaders — and leadership resides in community.

Please join with us in this revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart. Together we can move the world from breakdown to breakthrough. Future generations are counting on us.

For 30 Years, Bioneers...

FOR 30 YEARS, BIONEERS has acted as a seed head for the game-changing social and scientific vision, knowledge and practices advancing the great transformation to a restored world. We do so through our annual national conference, award-winning media, local Bioneers conferences and initiatives, dynamic programs, and special projects.

WE DISSEMINATE THE VOICES of breakthrough innovators with practical and visionary solutions for people and planet, connecting people with solutions and each other. We provide communications and networking platforms for diverse voices inclusive of those often marginalized or excluded.

WE PROVIDE COMPELLING HOLISTIC EDUCATION FOR ACTION to the
 public and educators.

WE HIGHLIGHT COMMUNITY RESILIENCE MODELS to spread successful strategies to build resilience from the ground up locally and regionally.

WE CULTIVATE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT at a time we’re all called upon to be leaders. We focus on the leadership of WOMEN, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND YOUTH.

WE INSPIRE A CHANGE OF HEART AND A SENSE OF WONDER AND REVERENCE for the genius of nature and the human spirit.

Learn More About Bioneers

As a community of leadership, Bioneers is helping disrupt our current failed institutions by offering people better choices. We show a compelling vision, successful models and “the how.” We’re working to rapidly spread, adapt and scale the abundant models and solutions that already exist, and seed new ones.

Like a prism channeling sunlight, Bioneers is focalizing this treasure trove of community wisdom, skillfulness, vision and values into beams of action to help realize this global shift to a restored world. It comes down to growing the national and global movement of movements, which Bioneers reflects and embodies. It’s going to take you and every one of us. In this time, we’re all called upon to be leaders — and leadership resides in community.

It’s bottom up and top down — all hands on deck to generate the biggest and fastest economic, industrial, political and cultural transformation in history.

  • We can reach 100% clean energy by radically increasing energy conservation and ramping up distributed renewable energy with off-the-shelf technologies.
  • We know how to feed the world using ecological agriculture that sequesters carbon, restores natural capital and builds local economies and jobs.
  • We’re rapidly learning how to apply nature’s designs with biomimicry, green chemistry, cradle-to-cradle production, living buildings, smart growth and traditional Indigenous knowledge in a next industrial revolution.
  • We’re highlighting ways to use water wisely and fairly, and protect our watersheds.
  • We’re reinventing governance that challenges corporate constitutional rights and institutes rights for nature.
  • We’re creating models of democratic governance that distribute ownership and access.
  • We’re advancing racial and gender justice, supporting women’s leadership, and building beloved community in a culture of pluralism.
  • We’re cultivating a global wisdom culture that embraces human diversity and an expanded sense of kinship that includes the web of life.

Together we can move the world from breakdown to breakthrough. Please join with us in this revolution from the heart of nature and the human heart. Future generations are counting on us.

What We Do
Bioneers Conference

The Bioneers Conference is a leading-edge forum where you can see tomorrow today: a future environment of hope.

Bioneers Learning

Through engaging courses led by some of the world’s foremost movement leaders, Bioneers Learning equips engaged citizens and professionals…

Communications

As human beings, we’re hard-wired for story and metaphor. Changing the story changes the world.

Indigeneity

Our Native-led Indigeneity Program promotes the leadership, cultural survival, human rights, land rights, Traditional Ecological…

Everywoman’s Leadership

We work to strengthen the leadership of women, while advancing gender equity, the partnership of men…

Youth Leadership

We promote learning, leadership development, and alliance building to strengthen capacity and connection among diverse youth…

Restorative Food Systems

We work to transform the dominant, exploitive food system to one that is ecologically based, humane, socially just…

Bioneers Radio

The Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature is an award-winning, international radio and podcast series.

Action Initiatives

We engage with specific high-leverage, game-changing projects that can really move the needle and help bring key practices to scale in…

Keep Your Finger on the Pulse

Our bi-weekly newsletter provides insights into the people, projects, and organizations creating lasting change in the world.