We are pleased to make available to PASCAL subscribers a further paper in the EcCoWell series by Peter Kearns, entitled, Connecting People and Planet for a Sustainable Future.

This paper examines how PASCAL EcCoWell 3 could be further developed as a path to a sustainable future in a turbulent period of disruptive change. The paper draws on the 2021 UNESCO Reimagining the Future Together report in its assessment of the critical situation confronting humanity and the planet requiring transformation of the world towards “a more just, equity, and sustainable future”.

In assessing how the PASCAL EcCoWell approach to integrated holistic development could be taken further as a response to the critical situation identified by UNESCO, the paper discusses the three stages of EcCoWell development since 2012 leading to the 2020 EcCoWell Community Recovery Program which identified several ways in which the EcCoWell concept could be further developed as an approach for learning cities to a just sustainable future.

In examining possible future directions for EcCoWell, the paper considers the relevance of the following approaches to a sustainable future:

• strengthening systems perspectives;
• circles of sustainability;
• doughnut economics.

This analysis led to the following conclusions:

• sub-domains or perspectives should be added to each of the EcCoWell domains;
• culture should be added as a sixth domain with a focus on creativity;
• the conditions require rethinking learning as a driver of change;
• local learning neighbourhoods should be further developed as a key aspect of the EcCoWell approach;
• the expanded concept of EcCoWell 3 can be seen as an approach to building a learning culture through a creative learning process.

These developments should lead to a revitalisation of the EcCoWell approach to holistic sustainable development in cities and communities.

We hope that this will stimulate your thinking and invite your comments.

Peter Kearns