Organisation

EarthCollective prides itself on thinking and doing things differently. But, at the same time, we ensure that our philosophy and initiatives are still very accessible to the needs and aspirations of our partners and target audience. This becomes a process of learning though doing. It is a path of questioning and reflecting upon existing systems and structures. But, at the same time, being flexible and adaptive to work within existing frameworks in order to be able to actually effect desired change – from the inside out and the from the outside in…

How Does EarthCollective Operate

EarthCollective is connecting individuals and groups around the world to form new opportunities, partnerships and synergies. This networking is often a synchronistic process which requires the team to be ‘strategically opportunistic’. Through its various initiatives, EarthCollective is linking and integrating science, business and society in the following ways:

• Science: acting as a transdisciplinary think-tank for supporting social-ecological sustainability in research, implementation and education
• Business: acting as a stimulus for empowering sustainable (social) entrepreneurship
• Society: acting as a catalyst for community-based initiatives which meet shared aspirations for co-creating new realities.

EarthCollective makes positive ideas happening through its members who may choose to develop initiatives, operate as independent consultants, researchers and advisers or simply share ideals and expertise cultivated through the EarthCollective network in alliance with their current employer or another external organisation.

EarthCollective members aim to the embrace the following credos:

‘eco’ before ‘ego’: Place the collective vision of ecological and social sustainability first. And then try and transcend our ego-dominated self which often seeks reassurance about ‘what’s in it for me’.

‘process’ equals ‘product’: Put passion into the process. How a particular task or assignment is carried out is often just as important – if not more – than the end results and outcomes. In fact, usually the process dictates how the final product turns out.

‘transparency’ builds ‘trust’: Promote open and transparent people interactions. Try to act in a manner which builds lasting trust with partners and stakeholders and allows everyone engaged to work collaboratively toward a shared vision.

How Is EarthCollective Organised

EarthCollective aims to imitate the perfection found in nature and places the ‘tree’ as central to our organisational philosophy. The roots, trunk, branches, leaves, fruits and the ecology in and around the tree represent the various roles and functions of the EarthCollective network. In addition, the ‘tree’ as metaphor enables us to conceptualise partnerships with external organisations. It defines interactions (cross-pollination) with partners. It also characterises the role in which EarthCollective initiatives have in providing a ‘nesting’ place for students to hatch their own ideas and careers. Naturally, branches (initiatives) bear fruit and this is either harvested by external beneficiaries,  further dispersed to seed new initiatives or may simply fall to the ground to continue nourishing the existing EarthCollective tree. It is clarity in simplicity.

The more we have experimented with this idea over the years, the more we have found it to be highly relevant and adaptable to the EarthCollective vision and the way in which we do what we do.