All around the planet in the 21st century, there are calls for changes to how we manage natural resources, as the ravages of deprivation, resource depletion and unemployment bite harshly on many fronts. We need to rejuvenate resources, not continue to deplete them. Fields such as human settlements, medicine, ecology, economics, natural resource management and climate change have lagged some one hundred years behind in implementing the principles of exciting scientific discoveries about the biophysical principles that underpin the growth of all living creatures.It is in this context that the planetary Light Garden model that is presented in this book brings new hope. It describes the scientific, economic and cultural basis for a new decision making process that will support and rejuvenate the living systems and climate of our planet. It is not a human centered approach, nor one that is based on abstract concepts such as economic growth. It makes living systems the focus and priority of our human activities, rather than limiting the criteria for making our major resource sharing decisions to abstract concepts such as economic growth. We can't expect abstract concepts such as economic growth to help fix problems with the growth of living organisms and the functioning of living, natural entities such as ecosystems or climate. No wonder we've been failing! We need to make decisions that align with, and draw upon the Laws of Nature. One of the beauties of this approach is that it is peaceful and does not require warfare or competitive consumption of resources. As Anne Whittingham describes, the Light Garden principles provide some common ground between the individual citizen and the elite entities of the advancing global biotech, financial and digital technologies.This is because we are all threatened by disastrous climate change and the loss of healthy livelihoods, as the protective envelope of biodiversity in which we have evolved continues to disintegrate. The Light Garden decision making model provides a way for humanity to make the changes that are needed now. As illustrated with examples from cultures on every continent, these changes are feasible. They can be made at a scale and pace that gives us an opportunity to regenerate the living systems, climate, societies and lives of the millions of young people who call this planet home.
