The world is at a historic turning point…
For the last twenty years, we have developed an applied systems metatheory culminating in a new collective forward intelligence framework. Drawing from the best of our sciences, the "Planetary Phase Shift" framework developed by Dr Nafeez Ahmed is a comprehensive, transdisciplinary approach to understanding the world through a systems lens. Based on a proven track record of successful anticipatory reporting and forecasting, this framework reveals what is really behind the "polycrisis" and "metacrisis", and offers an empowering way of seeing the world that can empower transformative action.
All living systems move through the same fundamental pattern, rooted in the thermodynamics of flows of matter, energy and information - growth, stabilisation, breakdown and renewal. This pattern is visible at all scales, from the micro (cells) to the macro (civilisations). The pattern can be recognised by measuring empirical data on both the material infrastructure (technology) of our societies, as well as the organisational paradigm (culture) by which that infrastructure is managed and regulated.
Our work proves that the history of human civilisation is the evolutionary story of its movement through multiple life-cycles as societies have risen and fallen. Today, humanity has arrived at an unprecedented inflection point. Our research confirms that global industrial civilisation is moving the last stages of its life-cycle. This breakdown or 'release' stage is visible in both the sunsetting of incumbent industries and the obsolescence of conventional political economy - not to mention a wider crisis of meaning.
Yet as this critical ecological pattern confirms, 'release' is a precursor to, and critical precondition for, 'reorganisation'. The more the prevailing system weakens and crumbles, the greater the outsized opportunities for change, and the wider the possibility space for a whole new system. And now the contours of that new system are visible. New models and visions for economic transformation are emerging. New technologies that could unleash new forms of prosperity while ending the era of extraction are scaling. New mindsets and new attitudes to the planet are becoming increasingly mainstream.
These cultural and technological shifts are seeds of the next life-cycle. Our research confirms that every single defining sector of our civilisation is experiencing a phase transition - a fundamental change of system state. Cumulatively, the whole system is in a state of flux. The Planetary Phase Shift framework provides a comprehensive toolset to map out where we are in this life-cycle, and how you and your organisation can respond.
