The urgent need for transformation in the way humans relate to, and interact with, the natural environment will be at the centre of a panel discussion later this week focused on bringing back the health of Earth for human survival.

“Learn how to move beyond sustainability through radical transformation,” takes place Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in Rittenhouse Hall at the Vineland Research Complex.

Brock Professor of Biology Liette Vasseur will be among the panellists. The UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global will speak about the importance of changing one’s lifestyle and starting to take care of nature.

The goal of the event is to bring examples of concrete actions of what is possible to move beyond sustainability and bring the required change to transform current unsustainable systems, says Vasseur.

“We absolutely need everyone to start rethinking their lives and what we can do now, knowing that larger changes will also be essential to be able to survive,” she says. “Without transformation, future generations will inherit a lot of challenges. Business as usual and keeping our heads in the sand are no longer options.”

The panel discussion, hosted by Niagara College Professor of Environmental Studies Patrick Robson, includes CEO of Econse Water Purification Systems Inc. Derek Davy, Executive Director of Sustainability Leadership Christopher Warren, and Beekeeper Abiola Oke.

The event is part of a larger project, Beyond Sustainability: Radical Transformation Through System Thinking, co-led by Vasseur and Professor of Philosophy Christine Daigle, who is Director of Brock’s Posthumanism Research Institute.

Funded by the federal government’s New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration grant, the project brings together experts in environmental science, philosophy, economics, Indigenous culture, performing arts, literature and political science to work with local and international community groups on creating a more sustainable social-ecological system.

At the heart of this transformation is the idea of “systems thinking, as everything we do has an impact in this world. Any action, any choice, any item we buy will have an effect on our social-economic-environmental system,” says Vasseur.

The aim of the project is to create an international “think tank” that will develop the concept of systems thinking to discuss pilot projects for transformation, she says.