ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present an approach to whole-systems learning that is helping citizens around the world find clarity, purpose and creativity in meeting the challenges of our time. They address the root causes of our unsustainable practices, which lie deeply in our assumptions about the relationship of humans to the natural world and in our relative ignorance of the functioning of living systems, including human systems. The work proceeds sequentially in four stages. Each unfolds from the previous and corresponds to the way healthy systems function: recognising our mutuality, integrating painful information, expanding our perceptual horizons and finding creative responses. Sustainability requires whole-systems learning in order to see the wider context in which the authors function and the web of relationships on which all life depends. The authors hope that sharing the work with business educators will enrich efforts to teach sustainability.
