Can the academic world cope with the challenge of the Anthropocene?
Ever since 2005, within my condition of founder of a new narrative for humankind, I have personally tried to invite and motivate the academic and eductional world to participate in the post Anthropocene initiatives of the City of Tomorrow with sustainocracy (sustainable human development as a shared responsibility). This had only ad/hoc moments of success due to the lack of institutional commitment to our existential ethics and related initiatives. Ad hoc participation was only achieved through student exchange programs, leanring challenges and research environments with financial backing.
In his recent academic self reflection, professor Laszlo Zsolnai, (professor and director of the Business Ethics Center at the Corvinus University of Budapest), proposes the repositioning of universities within the context of the challenges of humankind in the current era referred to as the Anthropocene. Even though I whole heartedly second the analyses and the suggestions of the professor, I also have noted over time the blind lack of institional leadership in this silo of society. The entire educational silo has been institutionally captured in the doctrine of political financial steering, not the open field of existentialist research and the related applied knowledge.
Equally the unversities cannot single handedly pave the evolutionary path of humankind if not supported by the other silos (government, business, citizens) of society. If one silo disconnects itself from the existing network of interdependence, it will risk its self-elimination due to lack of support. It is therefor imperative that such a change of narrative is done by all the societal silos at once and together. In this fragmented world of financial self interests and relationships based on trade and regulations, this is very difficult to achieve without a catalyst.
Understanding this I set up the stir foundtion in 2009 to act as linking pin for all functional silos to join the existential challenges together. This worked for particular local priorities, such as regional air quality and health. For that the interdisciplinary, non finance driven cooperative Aireas was born within the stir framework. The open co-creation space allowed all participants to be themselves in a contributive sense. Also the academic world participated but none of the silos took on a participatory leadership role. They all followed the Aireas path in a opportunistic way, not recognizing (yet?) the tremendous empowerment their continued commitment would represent.
That is why I finally decided to announce the stir learning environment, This will allow me to not only develop the engagement path for those communities that wish to develop the existentialist path together. I can also open up the dialogue and learning path with the theory and empowerment of each of the participating silos. My challenge now is to find areas where this wants to manifest itself in which the new era for the academic world can consolidate with that if the other silos.
Announcing our leadership academy
Human evolution develops around “next steps”.Previous next steps were motivated by technology. This took us to the moon, connected cultures, standardized and commercialized the human world, developed medications, increased our life expectancy, etc. It also developed social degradation, disconnection from nature, the destruction of our environment, deployment of hierarchies of greed, self interest and dependence, etc. From an existential human continuity point of view we created our own Armageddon, our own degenerative perspectives as a natural human species. The next evolutionary step is not just technological, nor political or financial. It is self aware leadership choice, one that takes us contextually away from disaster and well into sustainable long term wellness and resilience.
Those that are willing to make that choice are welcome in the STIR Academy. Together we will explore, live through the sustainable essentials of our existence and develop whatever is needed to restore our sustainable balnce and regenerative perspectives. 2026 will be first year that the STIR Academy disconnects itself from the traditional, old age educational platforms with whom we tried to work together for over 20 years. Now we decided to offer our approach in a dedicated and independent way. A genuine NEXT STEP, also in the field of learning.
The fundamental role of women
In the natural world of sustainable human existence (Sustainocracy), “the woman” is of vital importance. She cannot be replaced by a man. Woman represents the “being” of humanity, the birth of renewal, and every evolutionary step this life takes. The position of “the man” is also fundamental, however by support of this “being” by providing security through “doing.” To this existential foundation between man and woman, we link the development of our morality, respect for life, caring, and social connection. In this human complexity, men and women are equal but fundamentally not the same. Through the connection of the two worlds, that of being and doing, a harmonious interplay arises that can express itself in family life, communities, and entire social organizations. Then there is no discrimination, no oppression, no masculinized or feminized hierarchy. Then we see a mature culture with the pure form of democracy, that of mutual, loving coordination around the fulfillment of the core values of our existence.
International woman’s day
Every year, one day is dedicated to the position of women. Historically, society has become masculinized in the world of achievement, centered around materialistic political and financial interests. The masculine essence of security has been replaced by materialistic interests of growth and control. Women’s position has been forced into subordination to the material system, just like men. This unnatural situation leads to one crisis after another, as shown in the image above (the red cross). Every year, women must manifest themselves by emphasizing their existential equality in a world that has long been unfriendly to women, unsustainable, and destructive to humanity. One day a year, women and the feminine take center stage. This often manifests critically in response to the injustices occurring in today’s human world. The rest of the year, Sustainocracy expresses itself from existential humanity and the need to feminize society, not through materialism, but by safeguarding the immaterial essentials of our existence, such as our health, safety, social connection, solidarity, and respect for life. Some of these principles were also discussed during Women’s Day today.
For over 10 years the International Woman’s Day in Eindhoven (Nederlands) has been organized by C.L.O., the Latin American community, in cooperation with Parktheater. The photos are from the 2026 event.
Sustainocracy, the new democracy 