Using Our Greatest Human Resource to Protect Our Greatest Natural Resource(s)

What to expect from Ecosystem Member in the near future.

A week or so ago while researching a proposal I was putting together, I came across this quote from the physician Edward De Bono, who coined the term lateral thinking:

There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.

Like flipping a switch, my presentation was illuminated and every point became easier to see. The thrust of my proposal was that the only way we’re going to ever tackle the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss is through creativity at all levels of the fight, especially at the grassroots. We need the most creative people in the world working on the most important issues facing the world.

De Bono’s quote also helped me understand why I’ve always felt that creativity is criminally underestimated and often ignored in an environmental fight focused on stats, economics and science. Creativity isn’t just about pretty pictures and moving music, it’s about breaking the patterns that we’re stuck in. It’s about reframing how we see the world we exist in. It’s about moving something deep inside of us that is nearly impossible to touch.

Creativity is soft skill that when leveraged properly can be as hard as a thunder-blow from Thor’s hammer.

If we’re to maintain a habitable planet for ourselves and other living beings, we must break out of the patterns we’re stuck in like a well-worn groove. And the only way to do that is through creativity.

The idea that creativity and nature go hand-in-hand is not a new one for me.

Back in 2020, I created a panel at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity titled “The Future of Creativity is Found in Nature”.

At the most highly regarded creative industry festival in the world, I got about 20 minutes to lead a panel of creative directors and innovative thinkers to talk about how nature can be a source of not just inspiration, but information. We talked about biomimicry and design innovation, we talked about rethinking materials and experiences from a non-human perspective. It was unlike anything else that had ever graced the stage (in this case the virtual stage due to COVID-19 lockdowns) at the Palais in the south of France.

The recognition of the value of creativity and the creative industry (creators, photographers, videographers, writers, ad men and women, etc) was so deeply imbedded in me at this point, I got canned at one of the world’s top creative agencies when I clashed with management for refusing to use that creative power to greenwash oil and gas, and extractive industry clients. Even though I gave a multitude of reasons of why the agency shouldn’t be working on these clients and these types of projects, the most important might be that I knew the power of amazing creative work in changing hearts and minds and I couldn’t be part of pointing that tractor beam in the wrong direction.

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for the last couple of years, you know this power I am outlining.

Early in the podcast, environmental neuroscientist Prof. Marc Berman shared how just looking at a picture of nature can boost our cognitive capabilities. Later on, we heard from musicians including Madame Gandhi, Sam Lee, Hila the Earth, and Dave Longstreth who incorporate nature into their music in different ways. Madame Gandhi created ‘In Purpose’ a song composed 100% of nature sounds, while Dave created music in the framework of an orca pod having a conversation.

We also heard from Ersin Han Ersin of Marshmallow Laser Feast about his collective’s work as a means to help generate empathy and think about our relationship with the more than human world. Filmmaker Maja K. Mikkelsen joined us to talk about her film ‘The Last Observers’ that shows us a whole other way to engage with nature. (Maja’s film - by the way - just won the grand prize in the Documentary Shorts category at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival qualifying it for the 2026 Academy Awards)

Of the Oak by Marshmallow Laser Feast

I could go on and on, but you get the gist - some of the most creative people on the planet are connecting with nature in powerful and inspirational ways. And we’ve only scratched the surface.

So that’s what the next season of Ecosystem Member will explore, the relationship between people, creativity and nature, and how that creativity is inspiring people to protect our home planet.

The first part of that is a case study of a new campaign I love from the Department of Conservation in New Zealand. By recounting New Zealand’s population to include the more-than-human world, Kiwi’s are not just one of 5.3 million but one of 695 billion, inhabiting one of the most biodiverse places on planet Earth.