One Earth

One Earth is a nonprofit ‘think and do’ tank based in Vancouver, Canada, whose mission is to transform production and consumption patterns locally, nationally and internationally to be sustainable, healthy and just within the limits of living systems. Our passion is bringing people, ideas and activities together to accelerate the transition towards sustainability - we catalyze networking and action on the issues we care about. One Earth adopts a systems approach to identify high-impact solutions, and engages the arts and citizens in creating compelling visions of life in sustainable futures. One Earth is engaged in convening, policy, communication and action initiatives to transform the consumer lifestyle – and the economic, industrial production, financial, political, social and cultural systems that support it. The One Earth team recognizes that moving towards sustainability is a complex and “sticky” problem requiring large systemic shifts throughout the entire production-consumption system, including in investment and marketing and in society’s underlying cultural norms and narratives.

Our audience is change makers and networks across sectors and scales who are engaged in catalyzing sustainable consumption and production. We develop and deliver high-impact inputs and game-changing ideas at the local, national and international level in order to achieve consumption and production patterns that foster social justice and quality of life for all within the ecological carrying capacity of the planet.

Our theory of change informs how we carry out this work, which includes: connecting and building bridges across people and ideas; providing change makers with tools and capacities as well as inspiring them through story telling, powerful metaphors and the sharing of good practices; supporting the existing network of actors engaged in sustainable consumption and production (SCP); identifying and filling existing gaps in knowledge and understanding of the SCP system; and recognizing the power of deep listening as a catalyst for building trust and reciprocity with the people we engage with. Our approach reflects the fact that we cannot always plan outcomes, and we strive to create the space and conditions for emergent outcomes that precipitate change at all levels. We focus on the bigger picture.

We seek to both “ride the wave” of existing efforts as well as “create waves” through our own initiatives in areas where we have identified gaps and where we see tremendous opportunities.