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A Practical Model for a Future that Works
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At CREWC, we believe we need a new model for the future, an encouraging model to inspire hope and action.

The daily news constantly reminds us about threats to our survival: environmental pollution and resource depletion; weather disruption from droughts, intense storms and climate change; geological events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis; health threats from epidemics, chronic disease and depression; economic strain and poverty; violence in our community and the world -- the list is long.

Many people feel helpless and paralyzed in the face of these threats and their overwhelming implications, discounting any action they can take as too small to make a difference.

Our model emphasizes the opposite: that every action, especially positive thinking, counts more than we ever imagined. Science tells us that all earth life, including its atmosphere, water and rock, behaves as one super-organism floating in the cosmos. Recently we have learned that our awareness is the core of this connectedness, influencing everything around us -- and across considerable distances. Discoveries from biology show us that it only takes a relatively small percentage of individuals in a species to bring about change in the majority. The evolution out of our current predicament is well underway, bubbling up from the deepening commitment that more and more people, groups and communities have started to make. Your input counts!

For millenia we have been collectively driven by the basic survival mechanisms of fear, aggression and greed. We’ve flourished as a result of these traits, but these ancient drives are putting us and life’s diversity in jeapordy. It’s time to shift towards a new model. We now need to be governed by other drives such as connectedness, cooperation and love in order to evolve. We join the movement towards a sustainable planet when we create and participate in activities which foster our own personal growth in transforming our primitive emotions.

At CREWC we represent this new model by using the sustainability mandala. A mandala is a diagram of geometric shapes showing the connections in ourselves, between people and our community, then of our country and the world, and finally with the deep and mysterious universe. Mandalas show up in many cultures; we’ve chosen it as a symbol for modeling a future of harmonious co-existence. In our mandala, the central point represents core values. Each ring represents inceasingly outward levels of interaction. The inner rings represent individual core beliefs, mind and emotions. The rings move outwards to family, work, community, country, planet and the universe. Each petal represents a different area of endeavour such as health, agriculture, government, education, etc. The overlapping of petals and rings symbolize our interaction at different levels with different areas. Finally, the four T’s at the edges of the mandala represent the four directions and the encompassing square represents the basic life force or evolutionary drive.

All mandalas emphasize that the central point influences and encompasses the whole. From that deepest place in ourselves, we can reach and influence the rest of the universe. Making an effort to think and live from this place of harmony is the most powerful thing we can do. At the same time it provides us with a sense of peace in the midst of the inevitable upcoming turbulence.

The mission of CREWC is to lead people towards a sustainable world by being a model of inner and outer change -- through healing, education, projects and green businesses. We invite you to read more about our centre and reflect on your own path. We hope that some part of what we are doing inspires you to act towards a sustainable future, whether it be through programs and projects available with us or another organization or in your own life. Together we can make changes. And strange as it might sound, the universe may be waiting for us.

Please contact us if you are interested in helping to develop educational materials from this philosophy.