Why One Resilient Earth?

Most humans are not prepared to live in a world of climate instability. Extreme weather events will become more frequent and intense in the coming decades, and the sea will keep rising no matter the cut in carbon emissions. Limiting and dealing with the impacts of climate change is critical to the health and wellbeing of all the living, and is vital for the most marginalized. To reduce harm at scale, we need to tackle the root causes of climate change and of climate vulnerability.

Indigenous knowledge holders and top scientists understand the climate emergency as both the result and the accelerator of a deeper relational crisis, which stems from a vision of the Earth (including all living beings), as resources to tap. We need to transform our relationships together, so that we move away from exhausting ourselves, others and nature for some temporary gain, and start both valuing each other and regenerating all the ecosystems we belong to. Only then can we cut down greenhouse gas emissions massively and become more resilient to unavoidable climate instability.

Together, we can learn to shift how our minds and bodies relate to other living beings, time, and space, so as to nurture the transformation we need.

What do we do?

Our mission is to grow the climate resilience of people and ecosystems through learning. We equip young people and many other change-makers with the emotional, cognitive and creative skills they need to thrive in a chaotic climate, and to support others in tackling climate change impacts in just and regenerative ways. This entails:

• Nurturing emotional and mental wellbeing, through climate emotions circles, and training about climate anxiety and trauma.
• Equipping young people, sustainability professionals (including educators and creatives), and other aspiring change-makers, with knowledge, tools and skills for long-term climate resilience, through transformative learning experiences.
• Nurturing a transnational community, for peer-learning, mutual support and collaboration, with the We are One Resilient Earth online community.
• Advocating for a deep transformation in climate education, centering relational approaches to climate resilience building.

Our educational projects feel different: they are transdiciplinary, collaborative, and nurture care and belonging. They are co-created with our learners, scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, artists, mental health practitioners and grassroots leaders. We mobilize new technologies when impactful, and value art as a powerful channel for transformation.

We are always excited to support other organizations through tailor-made learning journeys, keynotes or workshops. Feel free to check our Tapestry programme for resilient local communities; and our Waves of change programme to learn more. For a better sense of our activities, you can also watch our early introduction video.

What is our impact?

Key numbers:

• 2000+ young change makers registered for our free workshops and learning journeys to grow their skills and build climate resilience in their own contexts.
• 1300+ professionals from the sustainability, creative and education fields joined our trainings, and online courses to introduce more climate resilience, transformation and regeneration in their current projects and initiatives.
• 1200+ members are already supporting each other through peer-learning and collaboration in our online learning community.
• 100% of the learners surveyed would recommend our learning journeys, online courses and in-person retreats to friends and colleagues.
• 100 000s children, youth and adults engaged in climate resilience, transformation and regeneration, via the teachers and educators we trained, through the artists & music festival organizers we coached, as well as via international conferences, high-level working groups and social media campaigns.

For more details, including testimonies of our learners, check our annual reports (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020).

Who are we?

Laureline Simon

Laureline Simon (she/her) has been working on climate change mitigation and adaptation at the international level since 2006. At the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, she supported the setting up of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ platform, as well as knowledge management on climate change adaptation. She also coordinated Resilience Frontiers, an inter-UN agencies collective intelligence process on long-term resilience, exploring emerging technology and sustainability. She started her career with the women-led Indian NGO SEWA, in the Kutch desert, where she learnt a lot about resilience. She draws inspiration from nature and her two children, who help her daily take better care of the Earth. Laureline is the founder and executive director of One Resilient Earth.

Gwendoline Ducros

Gwendoline Ducros (she/her) studied environmental change at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (the Netherlands) after a bachelor’s degree in economics, and studied abroad at the University of Kansas (US). Her desire to pursue work in climate change was ignited while performing conservation work in nature reserves in Australia. She is passionate about exploring and building climate resilience, and helping raise awareness of the impacts of the climate crisis on mental wellbeing. Based in Denmark, she supports One Resilient Earth with project coordination and research.

Colleta Kihumba

Colleta Kihumba (she/her) studied law at the University of Nairobi, and later at the Kenya School of Law. She has a keen interest in supporting transformative climate resilience, through education, policy advocacy, and community engagement. Her desire for environmental work is rooted in a diverse background in Environmental & Natural Resources Law, as well as, participation in sustainability-focused initiatives, including COP-1 of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. These experiences have strengthened her commitment to promoting sustainable and just solutions to global ecological challenges. Colleta supports One Resilient Earth with community management and communications.

Jakob Wondra

Jakob Wondra (he/him) studied sustainability science at Lund University (Sweden) and Leuphana University (Germany). His research focused on holistic transformation processes towards sustainability, with an emphasis on artistic and contemplative practices. He founded Fluid Festival, an art and music festival, believing in the power of creative communities and self-organisation. Based in Berlin, Jakob is currently working on building regional organic food supply chains and supports One Resilient Earth in researching, designing and facilitating learning journeys on climate resilience and creative action.

Autumn Trainor

Autumn Trainor (they/she) is a mental wellbeing and climate justice advocate, researcher, activist from Mi’kma’ki and residing in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal, Canada). They have been active in the climate and social justice movements for over a decade. They have taken the knowledge they have gained from their studies and activism, and are working to raise awareness of the effects of the climate crisis on mental wellbeing. They hope to help foster a better understanding and expression of our emotions and enable a healthy progression to regenerative cultures through art-making and care. Autumn supports One Resilient Earth with Climate Circles and with research on mental health and climate change.

Shefali Mehta

Dr. Shefali Mehta (she/her) is an economist, statistician and coach who supports individuals and communities in reaching their full potential.  She founded and leads Open Rivers Consulting Associates, a science & technology and management consulting firm that emphasizes the environment and holistic wellness.  Dr. Mehta most recently served as Deputy Under Secretary of Research, Education and Economics and Acting Chief Scientist of USDA. She previously served across a variety of private, public and non-profit sectors including McKinsey, Syngenta, and the National Corn Grower’s Soil Health Partnership. Dr. Mehta earned her PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics, MS in Statistics from the University of Minnesota, and MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University.  She advises One Resilient Earth on strategy and operations.

Clare Celeste Börsch

Clare Celeste Börsch (she/her) is an international artist whose immersive installations are evocative of our planet’s threatened biodiversity. She is endlessly fascinated by the connections between organisms, the intricacies of ecosystems, the complexity of nature and its resilience and beauty. Clare holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA, and is dedicated to raising awareness and action around the ecological crisis. Her work has been featured by the Guardian, Deutsche Welle, Oprah Magazine, UNESCO, This is Colossal, The Jealous Curator, and My Modern Met. She lives and works in Berlin with her husband and son. Clare advises and supports One Resilient Earth with art, design and Tero Magazine.

Sadya Ndoko 

Sadya Ndoko (she/her) is an independent consultant on climate change and sustainable development at Rhizomes Lab, and co-founder of Sanouvlé, a Caribbean advocacy organization promoting participatory and inclusive governance. With over fifteen years of experience in climate change adaptation policy and international climate negotiations, including eight years with the United Nations Climate Secretariat, she supports governments in developing and implementing national and subnational adaptation plans. In parallel, she leads awareness-raising initiatives, including the writing of a Caribbean-based comic book that explores themes of climate resilience and ecological change in the region. Sadya supports and advises One Resilient Earth on climate resilience science and collective action.

Kira Cooper

Dr. Kira Cooper (she/her) is a researcher examining the nexus of inner and outer dimensions of sustainability. Her work investigates how inner transformations can serve as leverage points for systemic change. Through ongoing intercultural collaborations, she is co-creating accessible pedagogical tools and experimental practices that cultivate affective, cognitive, and relational capacities in service of collective wellbeing. In addition to her research, Kira teaches university courses on navigating uncertainty, chaos, and paradox in a rapidly changing world, including at Algoma University in Canada. Kira leads research on inner/outer transformation processes at One Resilient Earth.

Loes Damhof

Loes Damhof (she/her) was elected Lecturer of the Year 2016 of all higher education in The Netherlands for her innovative practices and passion for teaching at Hanze University. As part of the UNESCO Chair on Futures Literacy in Higher Education, she consults and trains staff of UN organizations, NGOs and corporations on Futures Literacy as a capability to make better informed decisions. As a Futures Literacy Expert, she designs, develops and facilitates Futures Literacy Labs that raise fundamental questions on gender equality, migration, climate change and technology. Currently she is building The Emergence Academy; new school for new activism, that fosters a new attitude towards complexity, uncertainty and the future. Loes supports and advises One Resilient Earth on educational projects.

Leslie Davenport

Leslie Davenport (she/her) works as a Climate Psychology educator and consultant, integrating social science insights into relevant resources for organizations often exploring the intersectionality of climate, economics, and policy. She helped shape the document by the American Psychological Association, EcoAmerica and Climate for Health: “Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance.” She is the author of four books, including Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change and All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal with Climate Change, and serves as an advisor for the climate nonprofits Project InsideOut and the CO2 Foundation. She is on faculty with the Department of Professional Psychology and Health at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Leslie advises One Resilient Earth on the topic of climate change and mental health.

Who are our supporters and partners?

We are grateful for the support as well as for past and present collaboration opportunities with the following organizations and networks:

Where do we work?

We work all around the world with a network of inspiring people and partner organizations. One Resilient Earth is registered as a non-profit organization (i.e. gGmbH) in Germany and as a 501 (c)(3) charity in the United States. As of now, the team, volunteers and advisors are based in Africa, Europe and North-America.

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Art by Pierre-Emilio Gandini