RECONCILE

While we may be living in different locations, pursuing different goals, practicing different professions, experiencing different challenges, we do have one thing in common: all that is happening on this one planet we call Earth. There is no Society or Economy or Organization or Individual operating outside this system. We all depend on it, the well-being of Earth, our biosphere, the system we often refer to as – The Environment.

And yet, there is no reasonable doubt that we have reached a point where the continuation of our species’ current socio-economic behavior will sooner rather than later destroy that very life-supporting system.Hence, whether we like it or not, fundamental change is crucial and inevitable, in our very own interest. Fortunately, three science-based ecological sustainability principles provide the necessary guidance to fast-track this change.

While our species is just another offspring of the Biosphere – The Environment –, it is fair to say that we have developed an exceptional position through both our creative as well as destructive powers. Over tens of thousands of generations, we have been collaborating in changing ways, shapes, or forms. We evolved through varying power systems that provided the framework for us to further advance as a species until they did not and fell apart. We refer to these systems as – The Society.

It is within the Society where the ecological challenge must be met. Yet at the same time, these societies are facing their own, not always self-induced existential threats which, if not properly addressed, will jeopardize any ecological regeneration endeavor. Fortunately, five science-based social sustainability principles provide the needed guidance to align our necessary societal with our essential ecological behavior change.

Be it on a local or a global level, exchanging goods and services within any society has been the only reason why we have advanced collectively over centuries, paving the way for an unprecedented average growth of our species in number, life expectancy, education, living standard, and quality of life, on a global scale. We refer to the system making this possible as – The Economy.

However, the way today’s Economy creates and delivers value to some individuals and groups of the Society often happens at the cost of other individuals and groups, and in almost all cases at the cost of a sustainable Environment. This unsustainable socio-economic and ecological behavior is bound to fail. Hence, reinventing our way of defining, creating, and providing value, submitting to the socio-ecological sustainability principles, and regenerating our life-supporting systems is the ultimate challenge for our species to survive and continue to thrive. It is therefore also the ultimate challenge for any business to stay in business.

Eventually it all comes down to you and therefore to us as individuals. This is where change occurs, and our future originates.

It’s probably no coincidence that you found RECONCILE. You’ve been hearing this inner voice for quite some time, telling you to take on responsibility. You’re concerned about what’s happening around you. You’ve been learning about the various challenges we’re confronted with from countless sources. You’re already embracing change and taking an active role. You have a positive mindset and are hopeful with respect to our ability to reach the next level of our development as a species. You see the enormous rewards coming with that change. You understand the specific role business and entrepreneurial thinking play in this context. At the same time, you might experience the feeling of not having done enough, or the right things, or not having relevant impact.

RECONCILE is of highly collaborative nature. It does not stand in competition to any of the other initiatives out there. On the contrary, we believe that the shared language we can provide regarding the meaning of socio-ecological and economic sustainability and the approach to achieve it, will help us to become more effective and efficient in the countless endeavors out there to further catalyze and accelerate the transformation.

Eventually, RECONCILE itself will only thrive with and through its members, by mutually benefitting from the various ways of interaction that the platform will provide. All of that based on shared core values and the science-based Sustainability Operating System.

To use a simple analogy: if one person speaks French, the second German, the third Italian, but all speak some basic English, then it is precisely a matter of establishing this minimum of shared grammar and vocabulary when it comes to the minimum concepts, definitions, methodologies, and tools regarding socio-ecological sustainability and their application in a business context. The idea of RECONCILE has been on our mind for many years and finally taken form. As a platform, we are still at the beginning. A start-up. However, with the open-source Sustainability Operating System that we’ve developed, rooted in science, and adapted to business, we provide a well designed architecture and critical content for anyone who wants to work together and RECONCILE the Economy with the Society and the Environment.