Club of Rome

Challenging one of conservation's most persistent myths: that protecting and improving 's lives are competing goals in Africa.

📢 The Fifth Element just published: 'Bridging the dichotomy: Reimagining conservation and development in Africa'!

In the discussion paper, authors Simangele M. Msweli and Edwin Tambara from African Wildlife Foundation, argue that this false dichotomy did not emerge because African communities failed to steward their lands. Its roots lie in colonial dispossession, which separated people from nature and framed conservation and development as competing priorities.

The paper makes the case that ecological integrity and human dignity are inseparable. It calls for an African-rooted, regenerative approach, grounded in Ubuntu and interdependence, and organised around seven interconnected pillars: kinship, leadership, design, policy, finance, youth and governance.

Read key take takeaways 👉 https://vist.ly/5c763

Read the full paper 👉 https://vist.ly/5c764

Interested in this topic? JJoin us on 4 August for a webinar exploring this theme with Rica Viljoen, Centre of Human Emergence Africa, and Edwin Tambara and Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya from African Wildlife Foundation! Sign up here: https://vist.ly/5c766

What is sustainability without culture?

That is the question at the heart of a new Viewpoint in Nature Sustainability, co-written by Paul Shrivastava (co-President of the Club of Rome) alongside Benno Werlen (founder of The Jena Declaration), Garry Jacobs (president and CEO of the World Academy of Arts & Science and a member of the Club of Rome) and other signatories of The Jena Declaration — a call to put culture and community wisdom at the centre of sustainability work.

The piece pulls in stories from around the world: about Ethiopia's Gedeo people and their centuries-old land governance, Indonesian island communities co-developing floating solar power and youth in Mogadishu reviving local heritage as a form of climate resilience.

The Jena Declaration — to which the Club of Rome is a signatory — shares a vision of sustainability that is built from the ground up; a vision that recognises that culture and nature are not separate, but rather entangled.

Read the full article to explore what a culturally grounded approach to sustainability could mean for policy, education and the arts: https://vist.ly/5c4be

What if, by 2035, progress wasn't measured by economic growth but in how well people and the planet were doing?

In the new book “The Elgar Companion to Creating a Regenerative Economy for Wellbeing”, Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir, Professor Emerita of Earth and Sustainability Sciences at the University of Iceland and a member of the Club of Rome shares her vision for a regenerative economy: one that restores ecosystems, strengthens communities and places wellbeing at the centre of decision-making.

The regenerative economy for wellbeing is grounded on ideas that are already taking shape - from Iceland and Finland's wellbeing economy models to doughnut economics and degrowth.

For anyone wondering what comes after endless growth, read more about Ragnarsdóttir's vision: https://vist.ly/5be87