This fall, key leaders from Korea will gather in Claremont to collaborate with US leaders around the shared vision of an ecological civilization, and the steps needed to initiate the transition on a global scale. Participants represent leaders in national and local government, NGOs, universities, journalism, and religions. Each participant and key speaker brings a unique set of skills, experiences, and achievements, critical to ushering in a new ecological paradigm. Inspired and guided by the work of John B. Cobb, Jr. whose vision was at the heart of the 2015 Claremont conference “Seizing an Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization,” we will examine big ideas toward a new paradigm for the future and how this vision is already being actualized by scholars, activists, governments, and politicians, in Korea and beyond.

BACKGROUND Recently, Seoul citizens are suffering from a record-breaking heat wave and fine dust. The government regards the heat wave as one of the major disasters. Such a drastic climate change is happening all the cities around the world. Not only human dwelling but also habitats of plants and animals are greatly affected by climate change. Moreover, deep-sea fish, which seem to be irrelevant with human activities on earth, are threatened by micro-plastics. Since the Rio Earth Charter in 1992, the world has been engaging…

Ecological Transformation on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia

PURPOSE Korean society has been rapidly urbanized since 1960s. As more than 80% of Korean people are living in urban areas, South Korea is the highest urbanized country in the world. In particular, the four cities in the Northeast that have a long history as a residential area in Seoul have undergone urban decline (86.4% of urban decline exceeding 65.9% of the nation and 79.4% of Seoul average). Therefore, not only The urban regeneration projects that rebuild the citizens’ residential…

Taking place on the beautiful campus of the University of Brasilia in Brasilia, Brazil, the 12th International Whitehead Conference will address of creativity and concern in the framework of broader discussions of Whitehead’s philosophy and its impact. Following from the 11th IWC which focused on Nature in Process, this conference will welcome contributions dealing with creativity and concern with the planet – and how the two intertwine. In general, the focus is the contrast between self-interested lush and the lure…