The Global Restoration Collaborative
a big, bold, civilization-shifting convening of people and organizations who should have been talking, but weren't.
It's become painfully clear: events are overtaking us.
For the survival of humanity, biodiversity, and ecosystem integrity, we are building bold, ambitious, aspirational goals and programs that join previously siloed communities, networks and programs, to break outside our business-as-usual boxes.
The Global Restoration Collaborative is a forum to build a global restoration movement, in order to shift a wiser ecological civilization forward.
We bring together siloed communities working on Earth repair, climate repair, and societal repair to accelerate and deepen progress towards the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and beyond, by building a big, broad front of powerful and unifying change.
We especially convene women and youth leaders, Indigenous cultural bridges, scientists, artists, media changemakers, educators, and cultural and social facilitators who feel called to help bring about a shared vision of an ecological civilization and economy. One that is wiser, much more collaborative, and much more ecologically grounded: 'where people and the planet actually matter.'
We are a registered Actor in the UN Decade, working to build a major dynamic global movement.
The GRC was founded in 2022 by John D Liu, cofounder of Friends of the Ecosystem Restoration Movement, Ecosystem Restoration Communities and other initiatives, and Phoebe Barnard of the Conservation Biology Institute and Universities of Washington and Cape Town.
We are a medium-term convening forum. We're not an organization. We can remain nimble.
We are also a roundtable of champions and specialists in Earth repair, climate repair, biodiversity conservation and rewilding, ecosystem health and social reconnection. We explicitly work to bridge Indigenous and western worldviews of humans' relationships with Nature, and with each other.
We are fiscally sponsored as an initiative of the EcoRestoration Alliance.
We work in action verbs!
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ACCELERATING - progress to return our Earth, climate and society to a more stable, healthy state
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ALIGNING and UNIFYING - movements, messages, organizations and people
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UPSCALING and OUTSCALING - restoration work on the ground, everywhere
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UPSKILLING - changemakers to the demands of a new world
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INNOVATING - socially, culturally, technically, financially
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REWEAVING - human relationships with Nature and each other
...to pull humanity and all life on Earth back from the brink in time.
Our 2050 Goals
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1 billion people globally engaged in restoration (350k+ by 2030) - directly or indirectly
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a global network of thriving multicultural communities, connected to nature & each other
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a regenerative civilization & economy emerging in tangible, positive seeds
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14+ gT of carbon annually removed from the atmosphere
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2075 million hectares of land globally under restoration*
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200 of 230 major watersheds globally under restoration*
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quadrupled goals for coastal / ocean habitat restoration under SDG14.
Organizational mapping
map relevant alliances, people and organizations in IGO, NGO, government and academic communities keen to collaborate for greater impact; identify their priorities and values.
Logistical collaboration
identify existing areas, infrastructure, experts, equipment in which the strategic planning work of collaborating partnersin both ecosystem and climate restoration can be closely and cost-effectively aligned for everyone’s practical benefit.
Youth & women upskilling in leadership & field capacity
link and upskill leadership in the field through exchange – primarily between ecosystem restoration and climate restoration global networks, select field-based biodiversity conservation, rewilding and regenerative land/ocean networks. Practical, hands-on restoration skills and practice.
Funding and facilitation
global agencies, others dramatically increase funding to link and energize these fields – one incipient, most older – as a global change grand challenge within and beyond UN Decade strategic plan.
Most of humanity's problems have arisen from mindsets of separation, domination, extraction, and profiteering. But humanity isn't necessarily that way. Ancient civilizations survive which have held different values and relationships, both with Nature and each other. We work to help translate and spread these Indigenous values and practices throughout the world, and to help communities embrace a more collaborative, feminine leadership by all kinds of people.
Few youth leaders have easy access to practical, direct, field- and classroom-based training in regeneration skills. Through collaboration with organizations acting at hyperlocal and local levels, youth leaders and activists will be gainfully equipped with clear pathways for participation, and skills-building in restoring ecosystems, conservation, rewilding and carbon removal. They can also help shape older colleagues to test and embrace bolder ideas!
Partnerships between global alliances help all members have impact, learn cross-pollinating lessons, and significantly strengthen many funding proposals.Specific proposed actions are still in development. But they will fall within these four elements.
Two-way mentorship, participatory learning and capacity building in practical, field-based restoration skills, community leadership, policy and strategy will not simply be program-based, or restricted to the UN Decade, but an ongoing basis for building the newer, more regenerative, wiser civilization and economy. Capacity building and cross-pollination learning for youth, women and others fell outside the Global Biodiversity Framework, but is universally acknowledged in UN and other initiatives as a cross-cutting priority for the future.
Big, bold and large-scale ambition, with targets, is needed to restore our planet and climate. This involves carefully planned rewilding, including planning with the behavioral sciences to avoid human/ wildlife conflict.
Academic supporters so far:
Prof Osvaldo Sala, Director, Global Drylands Center, University of Arizona Global Institute of Sustainability & Innovation.
Prof Chris Sandbrook, Director, Cambridge University Masters of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership.
The GRC core team
Initial Concept Developers
