A legacy working with nature
Why
The world is not an infinite resource. Climate change is real. Biodiversity is in steep decline. The world’s population is growing. We must find ways of living that restore the balance and are truly sustainable. But finding solutions can be challenging.
The Southwood Foundation is facing this challenge by bringing together disruptive thinkers, innovators, experts and communities to imagine, create and deliver solutions to the challenges that will define our era. With networks and expertise, we help to grow ideas that reconnect with nature and disconnect with carbon in everyday life.
We start with co-operation and a mindset for change in the way we work and live today. We are building a community that applies great ideas, cutting-edge research and action to the challenges facing all of us. In doing so, we are committed to a principled, radical and innovative agenda.
Together we can build solutions around this common purpose, so we don’t fail ourselves, or our future.
Join us.
Disrupting and innovating for a sustainable future
Values
It is time to ask: “What are the right things to do?” instead of “How can we do things more efficiently?”. We are a pioneering group of individuals, knowledgeable, aspirational and determined to get things done. We believe the only way to do this is to collaborate, be open, transparent and personable. We work for the good of all and are committed to a principled agenda for achieving our goals.
Themes
It should be second nature that all life is an inter-connected system, and that we need to live within the planet’s natural limitations. If we are to radically change how we live, then our solutions can’t be short-term, partial or incomplete. They must address the problem as a whole. We welcome, therefore, holistic ideas for affecting lasting change in two key areas: nature and carbon.
Nature
The biodiversity crisis is now an absolute emergency. Nature has incalculable intrinsic value and yet the changes humans are making to the climate are driving mass extinctions across the planet. Biodiversity and functioning natural systems are key to our survival. We need to work with nature, not against it. It is vital that we learn about it and from it, that we do all we can to restore nature and make space for its many and varied forms to thrive, and that our nature-led solutions are built into carbon reduction plans, for the sake of humanity and life on earth.
Carbon
Dramatic increases in the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are heating our planet and changing our climate. If we are to reduce our carbon emissions and free ourselves of our dependence on carbon, we need to change our ways. This includes how we live, work, eat, travel and play; what we produce, what we consume and how we deal with the consequences. Ultimately it is about what we prioritise, how we achieve social and generational justice and the quality of life we want for ourselves and future generations. We are interested in ideas that help us to decarbonise our society, before it is too late.
The climate crisis can only be fully addressed if we consider carbon reduction and nature restoration together. Our collective efforts to address the crises we face will be hugely undermined if we fail to recognise that they are co-contributors to the solutions we need.
