The Seeds We Sow
From Polycrisis and -Isms to Interbeing and Societal Transformation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47061/jasc.v6i1.11335Keywords:
inner transformation, personal sphere of transformation, mindsets, paradigms, worldviews, religion, spirituality, existential sustainability, awareness-based systems change, culture change, climate change, climate action, mindfulness, inner development goalsAbstract
Amid overlapping global crises, many individuals experience psychological distress, anxiety, hopelessness, and a diminished sense of agency. Scholars increasingly argue that this erosion of perceived significance may be as consequential as climate change, biodiversity loss, polarization, and political turmoil, as it stems from a growing disconnection or alienation from self, others, and nature at the heart of today’s polycrisis. Against this backdrop, spiritual approaches are gaining attention for their potential to foster resilience, connection, and sustained engagement. Yet their role in supporting societal transformation remains underexplored. This paper addresses this gap through a mixed-methods analysis of the Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet (ZASP) online course, drawing on survey data from three cohorts (2023–2024). The quantitative assessment (n₁ = 868) revealed statistically significant changes: approximately 60% of participants reported increased resilience and decreased climate anxiety, and 76% reported increased connection, hope, empowerment, and coping. The qualitative analysis confirmed and complemented these findings, with around 85% of participants describing meaningful transformations in self-awareness, meaning-making, hope, agency, and engagement. At the same time, participants highlighted challenges in sustaining their practices and translating their learnings into climate and sustainability work contexts, pointing to the fragility of transformative change in modern societies and the need for targeted practical guidance across individual, collective, and system levels. Overall, the findings suggest that spiritually and scientifically grounded concepts and approaches (such as interbeing) can strengthen resilience, foster sustained engagement, and support societal transformation by addressing the root causes of today’s polycrisis, including associated ‑isms such as individualism, materialism, elitism, consumerism, and extractivism.
References
Abson, D. J., Fischer, J., Leventon, J., Newig, J., Schomerus, T., Vilsmaier, U., von Wehrden, H., Abernethy, P., Ives, C. D., Jager, N. W., & Lang, D. J. (2017). Leverage points for sustainability transformation. Ambio, 46(1), 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0800-y
Álvarez Pereira, C., & Salomone, M. (Eds.). (in press). Encyclopedia of hope. Club of Rome; Globethics.
Arora, A. (2025). The psychology of habit change: A behavioral science perspective on meditation as a mechanism of change. Journal of Psychology & Behavioral Science, 13, 42–50. https://doi.org/10.15640/jpbs.v13p5
Barrett, B., Walters, S., Checovich, M. M., Grabow, M. L., Middlecamp, C., Wortzel, B., Tetrault, K., Riordan, K. M., & Goldberg, S. (2024). Mindful eco-wellness: Steps toward personal and planetary health. Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, 13, Article 27536130241235922. https://doi.org/10.1177/27536130241235922
Bentz, J., O’Brien, K., & Scoville-Simonds, M. (2022). Beyond “blah blah blah”: Exploring the “how” of transformation. Sustainability Science, 17(2), 497–506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01123-0
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Briggs, S. R., & Cheek, J. M. (1986). The role of factor analysis in the development and evaluation of personality scales. Journal of Personality, 54(1), 106–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1986.tb00391.x
Bristow, J., Bell, R., Wamsler, C., Björkman, T., Tickell, P., Kim, J., & Scharmer, O. (2024). The system within: Addressing the inner dimensions of sustainability and systems change (Earth4All deep-dive paper 17). The Club of Rome. https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/earth4all-bristow-bell/
Brother Spirit. (2025, October 4–10). An encounter between interbeing and the Western economic mindset [Unpublished workshop presentation]. Climate and Nature Leaders Global Community Gathering, Plum Village, France.
Bucher, A. (Ed.). (2007). Psychologie der Spiritualität: Handbuch [Psychology of spirituality: Handbook]. Beltz Verlag.
Clayton, S., & Karazsia, B. T. (2020). Development and validation of a measure of climate change anxiety. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 69, 101434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101434
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153
Cosh, S. M., Ryan, R., Fallander, K., Robinson, K., Tognela, J., Tully, P. J., & Lykins, A. D. (2024). The relationship between climate change and mental health: A systematic review of the association between eco-anxiety, psychological distress, and symptoms of major affective disorders. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1), 833. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-06274-1
DeVellis, R. (2011). Scale development: Theory and applications (3rd ed.). Sage.
Dodds, J. (2021). The psychology of climate anxiety. BJPsych Bulletin, 45(4), 222–226. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2021.18
Eisenstein, C. (2013). The ascent of humanity: Civilization and the human sense of self. North Atlantic Books.
Escobar, A., Osterweil, M., & Sharma, K. (2024). Relationality: An emergent politics of life beyond the human. Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Everard, M., Reed, M. S., & Kenter, J. O. (2016). The ripple effect: Institutionalising pro-environmental values to shift societal norms and behaviours. Ecosystem Services, 21, 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.08.001
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A.-G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149
Frank, P., Sundermann, A., & Fischer, D. (2019). How mindfulness training cultivates introspection and competence development for sustainable consumption. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 20(6), 1002–1021. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-12-2018-0239
Frymann, T. A. (2023). The interbeing identity scale: Exploring the integration of our fundamental identity with all other beings, nature, and the cosmos [Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University]. Columbia Academic Commons. https://doi.org/10.7916/v43y-jw80
Geiger, S. M., Fischer, D., Schrader, U., & Grossman, P. (2020). Meditating for the planet: Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on sustainable consumption behaviors. Environment and Behavior, 52(9), 1012–1042. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916519880897
Göpel, M. (2016). The great mindshift: How a new economic paradigm and sustainability transformations go hand in hand. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43766-8
Hanh, T. N. (2006). Understanding our mind. Parallax Press.
Hanh, T. N. (2021). Zen and the art of saving the planet. HarperOne.
Hawken, P. (2021). Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation. Penguin Books.
Henderson, R. M. (2020). Reimagining capitalism in a world on fire. PublicAffairs.
Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863–e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542 5196(21)00278 3
Holm, S. (1979). A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 6(2), 65–70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4615733
Iniesta-Bonillo, M. A., Pompeu-Queiros, A., Capobianco Uriarte, M. M., & Alves, H. (2025). Mindfulness and consumer behavior: A bibliometric analysis of themes and trends over 20 years. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), Article 93. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04367-0
IPBES. (2024). Transformative change assessment report: Thematic assessment report on the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). (K. O’Brien, L. Garibaldi, & A. Agrawal, Eds.). IPBES secretariat. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11382215
Ives, C. D., Buys, C., Ogunbode, C., Palmer, M., Rose, A., & Valerio, R. (2023a). Activating faith: Pro-environmental responses to a Christian text on sustainability. Sustainability Science, 18(2), 877–890. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01197-w
Ives, C., Kidwell, J., Anderson, C., Arias-Arévalo, P., Gould, R., Kenter, J., & Murali, R. (2024). The role of religion in shaping the values of nature. Ecology and Society, 29(2), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15004-290210
Ives, C. D., Schäpke, N., Woiwode, C., & Wamsler, C. (2023b). IMAGINE sustainability: Integrated inner-outer transformation in research, education and practice. Sustainability Science, 18, 2777–2786. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01368-3
Kegan, R. (1995). In over our heads: The mental demands of modern life. Harvard University Press.
Koehrsen, J., & Ives, C. D. (2025). The multiple roles of religious actors in advancing a sustainable future. Ambio, 54(8), 1318–1333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02166-0
Koenig, O., Pomeroy, E., Seneque, M., & Scharmer, O. (2024). Awareness-based systems change: Prototyping the third option. Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, 4(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.47061/jasc.v4i1.8177
Koenig, O., Seneque, M., Pomeroy, E., & Scharmer, O. (2021). Journal of awareness-based systems change: The birth of a journal. Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, 1(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.47061/jabsc.v1i1.678
Laloux, F. (2014). Reinventing organizations: A guide to creating organizations inspired by the next stage of human consciousness. Nelson Parker.
Luetz, J. M., & Nunn, P. D. (2023). Spirituality and sustainable development: An entangled and neglected relationship. Sustainability Science, 18(4), 2035–2042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01347-8
Macy, J., & Johnstone, C. (2022). Active hope: How to face the mess we’re in with unexpected resilience and creative power (Rev. ed.). New World Library.
Meadows, D. H. (1999). Leverage points: Places to intervene in a system. Sustainability Institute. https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/
Mill, J. S. (2006). Principles of political economy with some of their applications to social philosophy (W. J. Ashley, Ed.). Liberty Fund. (Original work published 1848)
Ng, E., & Walsh, Z. (2019). Vulnerability, response-ability, and the promise of making refuge. Religions, 10(2), Article 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/REL10020080
Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), Article 1609406917733847. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
O’Brien, K. L. (2021). You matter more than you think: Quantum social change for a thriving world. cChange Press.
Pallant, J. (2020). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS (7th ed.). Routledge.
Prenevorst, M. H., & Reber, R. (2024). The aha moment: Changes in cognition, affect, motivation, and development. In K. Taku, & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of changes in human perceptions and behaviors (pp. 187–204). Routledge.
Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. Penguin Random House.
Raworth, K. (2025, October 4–10). An encounter between interbeing and the Western economic mindset [Unpublished workshop presentation]. Climate and Nature Leaders Global Community Gathering, Plum Village, France.
Reyes-Perez, M. D., Facho-Cornejo, J. L., Li-Vega, F. V., López-Ñiquen, K. E., Calonge-De la Piedra, D. M., Cabanillas-Palomino, R., Padilla-Caballero, J. E. A., Jaime-Rodríguez, J. P., & Fernández-Altamirano, A. E. F. (2025). The impact of subjective well-being on sustainable actions: Resilience as a mediator between spirituality and happiness in future environmental engineers in Peru. Sustainability, 17(2), Article 708. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020708
Rowson, J. (2014). Spiritualise: Revitalising spirituality to address 21st century challenges. RSA Action & Research Centre.
Scharmer, C. O. (2025, January 30). Entering 2025: Meeting the future in the moment—What is ours to do? Medium. https://medium.com/presencing-institute-blog/entering-2025-meeting-the-future-in-the-moment-what-is-ours-to-do-6e6e19925238
Scharmer, C. O. (2016). Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges (2nd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.
Scharmer, C. O., & Kaufer, K. (2013). Leading from the emerging future: From ego-system to eco-system economies. Berrett-Koehler.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1954). History of economic analysis. Oxford University Press.
Scott, B. A., Amel, E. L., Koger, S. M., & Manning, C. M. (2021). Psychology for sustainability (5th ed.). Routledge.
Sen, A. (1987). On ethics and economics. Basil Blackwell.
Senge, P. M., Scharmer, C. O., Jaworski, J., & Flowers, B. S. (2004). Presence: Human purpose and the field of the future. Society for Organizational Learning.
Siegel, D. J. (2022). Intra-connected: Mindsight, interbeing, and the power of real self. W. W. Norton & Company.
Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The brief resilience scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15(3), 194–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705500802222972
Stacey, T. (2024). Religious repertoires of sustainability: Why religion is central to sustainability transitions, whatever you believe. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 50, Article 100821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100821
Thiermann, U. B., & Sheate, W. R. (2022). How does mindfulness affect pro-environmental behaviors? A qualitative analysis of the mechanisms of change in a sample of active practitioners. Mindfulness, 13(12), 2997–3016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-02004-4
Varela, F. J. (2000). Steps to a science of inter-being. In S. Batchelor, G. Claxton, & G. Watson (Eds.), The psychology of awakening: Buddhism, science, and our day-to-day lives (pp. 71–89). Samuel Weiser.
Varela, F. J., Thompson, E., & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience. The MIT Press.
Walsh, Z., Böhme, J., & Wamsler, C. (2021). Towards a relational paradigm in sustainability research, practice, and education. Ambio, 50(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01322-y
Wamsler, C. (2018). Mind the gap: The role of mindfulness in adapting to increasing risk and climate change. Sustainability Science, 13(4), 1121–1135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0524-3
Wamsler, C., & Brink, E. (2018). Mindsets for sustainability: Exploring the link between mindfulness and sustainable climate adaptation. Ecological Economics, 151, 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.04.029
Wamsler, C., & Bristow, J. (2022). At the intersection of mind and climate change: Integrating inner dimensions of climate change into policymaking and practice. Climatic Change, 173(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03398-9
Wamsler, C., Brossmann, J., Hendersson, H., Kristjansdottir, R., McDonald, C., & Scarampi, P. (2018). Mindfulness in sustainability science, practice, and teaching. Sustainability Science, 13(1), 143–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0428-2
Wamsler, C., Osberg, G., Janss, J., & Stephan, L. (2024). Revolutionising sustainability leadership and education: Addressing the human dimension to support flourishing, culture and system transformation. Climatic Change, 177(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03636-8
Wamsler, C., Osberg, G., Osika, W., Hendersson, H., & Mundaca, L. (2021). Linking internal and external transformation for sustainability and climate action: Towards a new research and policy agenda. Global Environmental Change, 71, Article 102373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102373
Wamsler, C., Schäpke, N., Fraude, C., Stasiak, D., Bruhn, T., Lawrence, M., Schroeder, H., & Mundaca, L. (2020). Enabling new mindsets and transformative skills for negotiating and activating climate action: Lessons from UNFCCC conferences of the parties. Environmental Science & Policy, 112, 227–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.06.005
Wamsler, C., Stephan, L., Fletcher, M., & Bristow, J. (2026). Mindfulness and sustainability at the crossroads: Towards mindfulness curricula for human and planetary wellbeing and transformation. Sustainability Science, 21(2), 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-025-01761-0
Wilkerson, I. (2020). Caste: The origins of our discontents. Random House.
Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Harvard University Press.
Woiwode, C. (2016). Off the beaten tracks: The neglected significance of interiority for sustainable urban development. Futures, 84, 82–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.10.002
Woiwode, C., Schäpke, N., Bina, O., Veciana, S., Kunze, I., Parodi, O., Schweizer-Ries, P., & Wamsler, C. (2021). Inner transformation to sustainability as a deep leverage point: Fostering new avenues for change through dialogue and reflection. Sustainability Science, 16(3), 841–858. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00882-y
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Christine Wamsler
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
