Co-sponsored by the Pathways to Planetary Health initiative at the Garrison Institute and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
Toward Ecological Civilization: Reflections and Possibilities
Over the past year, the Garrison Institute’s Pathways to Planetary Health initiative and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology have co-hosted a global dialogue series on Ecological Civilization. The conversations with over a dozen scholars, teachers, and practitioners explored the roots of Ecological Civilization in China and opportunities for cultural transformation toward a life-affirming future.
In this session, Mary Evelyn Tucker and Stephen Posner will reflect on the terrain they’ve covered. They will also look forward towards a world in which human development aligns with the flourishing of Earth’s living systems. Together, they will draw out recurring themes from the series, describe insights that have stayed with them, and examine challenges and opportunities. Rather than offering final answers, this conversation will hold space for the deeper currents and unanswered questions that continue to animate visions of Ecological Civilization across China and beyond.Participants are invited to join a spacious and forward-looking dialogue on what it might take to cultivate more ecologically aware and conscious cultures in a time of profound uncertainty and possibility.
Before the session, we invite you to review summaries of the 2025 dialogues here:
This forum will consider questions such as:
- What recurring themes from the speaker series help illuminate the deeper cultural, ethical, and spiritual foundations of Ecological Civilization in China?
- Where do unanswered questions remain about how self-cultivation and social change together can genuinely support development toward Ecological Civilization?
- What opportunities and obstacles lie ahead for developing more ecologically aware cultures that give care to people, communities, and the living Earth – in China, the U.S., and other contexts throughout the world?
- Why is it important to consider the past and how we got here as part of the discussion of where we are now and the ecological civilization we would like to move towards for the future?
TIMING
We will conduct this live Forum on Zoom at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 14, 2026. After registering, you will receive a Zoom link to join the session.
SPEAKERS
Mary Evelyn Tucker, PhD, co-directs the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, which examines cultural and religious values for broadened environmental ethics. This arose from a series of 10 conferences at Harvard on world religions and ecology that she organized with John Grim. She has published several books on Confucianism including The Philosophy of Qi. She co-edited Confucianism and Ecology (Harvard) and two volumes with Tu Weiming on Confucian Spirituality. She is the co-author of Journey of the Universe with Brian Thomas Swimme and the executive producer of the Emmy Award winning Journey film. This was inspired by Thomas Berry whose books she edited and whose biography she wrote with John Grim.They have been traveling in China since 1985 studying Ecological Civilization.
Stephen Posner, PhD, is Senior Fellow for Planetary Health at the Garrison Institute and Global Affiliate with the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont. Stephen integrates science with contemplative practices to build understanding across cultures, align human systems with nature, and promote cross-sector collaboration. He has published over 50 technical and non-technical articles on sustainability science and leverage points for systems change. He currently leads initiatives related to nature assessment and ecological stewardship.
Roots of Renewal:
Ecological Civilization in China and the Confluence of Tradition and Modernity
A Garrison Institute Webinar Series on Ecological Civilization
The Garrison Institute’s Pathways to Planetary Health initiative is partnering with the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology to host a six-part online Forum series exploring Ecological Civilization in China—an evolving cultural, ethical, ecological, and policy vision that asks what it would take to align human development with the flourishing of Earth’s living systems.
Rather than treating ecological civilization as primarily technical, this series examines how social change is shaped by the relationship between tradition and modernity: where inherited worldviews and cultural traditions meet rapid development, and where inner cultivation and public institutions must be reimagined together. Each Forum features a guest speaker in dialogue with Mary Evelyn Tucker and moderator Stephen Posner, and invites participants into conversations that connect ideas to practice, and values to systems change.
Across the series, we move from on-the-ground conservation and thirty years of Ecological Civilization work in China, to Daoism and classical reading as pathways for self-transformation and social reform—culminating in the launch of a new Yale Forum Ecological Civilization website designed as a living resource for learning, teaching, and transformation.
Moderator: Stephen Posner, The Garrison Institute
Discussants: Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University, along with esteemed speakers
Please email us at events@garrisoninstitute.org with questions.
Prior featured speakers and topics:
- Gao Yufang — Conservation in China for Ecological Civilization
- Zhihe Wang & Meijun Fan — Ecological Civilization: Thirty Years of Work in China
- Daniel K. Gardner — Reading the Chinese Classics for Self-Transformation and Social Reform
- Chen Xia — Daoism and Ecological Civilization
- Simeiqi He & Andrew MacIver — A New Ecological Civilization Hub for Learning, Teaching, and Action
We conducted these LIVE forums on Zoom from 7:00 – 8:15pm ET on
Please contact us for questions and inquiries at events@garrisoninstitute.org.