The extraordinary thing that is going to happen in the next two or three decades is not that the human race is going to become extinct. The extraordinary thing that's going to happen in the next two or three decades is that a great second renaissance is going to occur. A great and astounding renaissance. Nothing less than that is going to save us. -- Daniel Quinn
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We would celebrate a new renaissance. The old one found a way to exploit. The new one has discovered the Earth's limits. Knowing them we may learn anew what compassion and beauty are, and pause to listen to the Earth's music. -- David R. Brower
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 The Problem
By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?
A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically
The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.
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by Paul Grignon
Something obvious keeps eluding our civilization, something that involves a reciprocal relationship between nature and psyche, and that we are going to have to grasp if we are to survive as a species. But it hasn't come together yet, and as a result, to use the traditional labels, it is still unclear whether we are entering a new Dark Age or a new Renaissance. -- Morris Berman, Coming to Our Senses, 1989
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Civilization is at a crucial turning point. In the next decade our world will either be dramatically better or worse. The quality of our vision and the quality of our individual and collective efforts will determine the direction of our future and the future of the generations to follow. This means that we must be ready to choose to act. We must build a better world. This is the goal of the Visions of a Better World Foundation.
The Visions of a Better World Foundation is a collaborative of people who are committed to using their skills and resources to foster change at an individual, organizational and societal level. Our aim is to engage all segments of society to transform their visions of a better world into action. We believe that every person is a visionary with the capacity to construct a better environment.
We believe that the visioning process allows people to change their thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs which can then alter their behavior. We believe that when we transform the world within us, we are able to transform the world around us.
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 This movement exists; it just hasn't been recognized by the mainstream yet. There are so many of us who want a better world and so many throughout history who have spent their lives working towards that goal. We are part of a community that stretches back throughout humanity's history, and is alive today in every corner of the world. Individually our efforts might seem insignificant, but when viewed from this historical perspective, they are monumental. These efforts have created a strong foundation, and by joining together now, we can create a better world. Alone our individual resources are limited, but together we have all we need to change the system. We can use our talents and our spending dollars in ways that will transform the world, rather than perpetuate the system that is destroying it.
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We must bring about a renaissance in politics... does that seem inordinately ambitious? It is. This is no time for small plans. -- John Gardner
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The emerging paradigm that we see, based on the dispersed insurgencies bursting out, is the renaissance of the commons. The commons is a social regime for managing shared resources and forging a community of shared values and purposes. Unlike markets, which rely upon price as the sole dimension of value, a common is organized around a richer blend of human needs -- for identity, community, fame and honor -- which are indivisible and inalienable, as well as more "tangible" rewards. -- John Clippinger and David Bollier
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 It’s time to leave behind old ideas of superpowers. A changing world brings new opportunities for peace and the chance to join a community of nations.
Aaron Hughes spent the spring of 2003 transporting supplies from Kuwait to Iraq as a soldier in the Army National Guard. Today, he is an outspoken anti-war activist.
“I didn’t have an epiphany,” Hughes says of his turnabout. “I just continually hoped that I could help the Iraqi people, that my fellow soldiers would be respected as human beings by the military. And after one year and three months over there, that hope was shattered.” He thought his gun could be used to defend democracy only to “awake to my weapon pointed at the hungry, and I am the oppressor.”
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 Lennox Yearwood: We were mobilizing the Hip-Hop Generation—what I call the Dream Generation, because we are the first generation born after Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. So we are the ones who are working together whether you are black or white or Latino, male or female, straight or gay.
We had a goal of registering a million people, and we actually registered 1.3 million people. We did it over the Internet, though summits, town hall meetings. We also used TV, culture, PSAs, radio ads, and peer-to-peer contacts. We had campaigns like “Vote or Die,” to convey the urgency. We learned a lot, and were extremely successful. And now are ready to do that again in 2008.
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