What is a Living Earth Community?

Multiple ways of being and knowing

We dwell within an intricate and evolving community of planetary life. The world speaks—to itself and to us—in a multitude of voices, each representing a unique way of being and knowing. Many of these voices are organic, such as birds, mushrooms, and trees. Others are elemental bodies like rivers and mountains. Yet each is an integral member of the whole. Since our species emerged in evolutionary history, we have practiced diverse traditions—spiritual, philosophical, and scientific—to understand the intricate dimensions of Earth’s interdependence. This website is a gathering place for such wisdom. The origin of this website can be traced back to a conference Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim helped to sponsor at Harvard that was organized by Paul Waldau and Kimberley Patton in 1999 called “Animals and Religion.” The papers from this conference along with others were published in a book Waldau and Patton edited titled A Communion of Subjects (Columbia 2007). The site also echoes the spirit of the Living Earth Community conference and interdisciplinary anthology that came before it. It draws together resources from three major streams: insights from contemporary science; Earth-based spiritual and philosophical traditions; and legal movements honoring Earth’s living systems. As you engage these voices, we invite you to reflect upon your place and responsibilities within the Living Earth Community.

For more on the Living Earth Community, read our Overview Essay by Sam Mickey, and see the Why this Site? page for more on the history and legacy behind this project.