Articles

The Mind, Thinking and Creativity project aims to consciously enhance our understanding of the characteristic ways in which we think, increase our awareness of the inherent limitations and blind spots generated by those characteristics, and develop the capacity to think creatively in a more comprehensive and integrated manner outside the confines of our existing conceptual frameworks. The human mind is the highest evolved status of human consciousness. The development of new capacities of mind made possible the development of tools, language, agriculture, permanent settlements, religion, trade, transportation, communication, government, law, money, arts, education, nation states, and scientific and technological research. So too, each stage in the development of civilization has shaped the evolution of the human mind and its faculties and the way they are applied in life.

Civil Society and Youth organizations (CSOs) need to collaborate more closely and catalyse broad and inclusive social movements for transformation from the bottom up, by engaging more strongly at a local level and mobilising the general public. Transformative digital technologies can revolutionise decision making in CSOs and are greatly expanding the reach of CSOs, while also creating new risks such as surveillance. CSOs must include youth in decision making and give them opportunities, lest they become the next ‘lost generation’, like the youth of the 1920s.  Youth themselves must stand up and demand their rights and prepare for taking the lead.

Fundamental science is essential for a coherent approach to the challenges of a sustainable and inclusive recovery, the resilience of global supply chains, and the competitiveness of our economies. WAAS has initiated a discussion to explore the connections between the sciences, the relationship between science and society, the social responsibility of science and its contribution to energy, medicine, health, climate action, education, and sustainable development. Each country should create its integrated approach to the research and development chain. Basic research, i.e., exploration of the unknown, as an essential human desire and motivation, ought to drive the chain. Each country should define and dialectically unite its national and global approaches to science and technology

Global society has been evolving for millennia toward convergence through a long, slow, trial and error process of subconscious change driven by the pressure of circumstances and events. WAAS has studied the principles and theory of social transformation, guided by growing awareness of the need and opportunity to direct our collective energies and actions toward a better common future. A successful transformation involves several elements: a goal that is widely perceived to be desirable or essential to meet human aspirations, an effective strategy or method for accelerating the transition, a change in organization, and a social process for rapid transmission, imitation, and adoption by society at large. WAAS’ theory of Social Transformation enables humanity to make the process of societal change conscious, faster and more effective.

During the past decade WAAS convened an international working group and conducted five international conferences on the need for radical change in economic theory and public policy. Current economic theory and policy are rooted in flawed neoliberal economic dogma which must be challenged in order to effect and sustain fundamental change in economic policy. The project has documented the dire need for new thinking and action to address the pressing problem of unemployment in the world today. This includes recognising full employment as a fundamental human right. An integrated social theory of employment is needed to provide the essential foundation for more effective practices. It is necessary to examine existing perspectives and evolve a more inclusive theoretical framework that more effectively harnesses unutilized potential to fulfill unmet social needs

education is an essential instrument and catalyst for social transformation. WAAS has long recognized the urgent need for thinking beyond existing models of education to complement and enhance the social impact, reach, accessibility, quality and affordability of education globally. Systemic change is needed in every aspect of education—including knowledge delivery systems, evaluation, accreditation, content, pedagogy, and teacher training. Education is a remarkable organization that transmits the essence of humanity’s cumulative past learning to future generations in a systematic and condensed form. But the world faces enormous quantitative and qualitative gaps in education today that cannot be met by the existing system and models of education. WAAS has undertaken an in-depth multi-year study to identify strategies to foster emergence of a global delivery system based on a new paradigm in education that bridges the quantitative and qualitative gaps in the current system, integrates fragmented disciplines, realigns abstract theory with the complexity of the real world, and is founded on a pedagogy that shifts the focus from standardized, mass production to customized, individualized learning designed to foster person-centered, value-based, independent thinking, and creativity.

Human security starts with people and what it means for us to be safe and secure. It means security from harmful disruptions and calamities – in our homes, our jobs, our communities, and our environment. It’s also about our needs and hopes, our chance to develop our potential, especially those of us who are the most vulnerable. Human security is about empowering people to participate in making choices on how they can be most secure and resilient in face of current and future risks. Often policies and solutions assist people with one aspect of human security. But when a crisis comes along, it affects us in many ways. Consider COVID-19, which threatened our lives and health but also our economies – many lost their jobs and their ability to put food on the table. Others, confined to their homes, experienced threats to their personal security. Or consider people who have been forced to leave their homes due to natural disasters. People who are displaced need places to live and be safe, jobs and income to survive, but also community networks, a sense of belonging and ways to sustain their culture and their dignity. In response to these and other threats, our needs and hopes must be heard and heeded – our insecurities must be tackled together, comprehensively. Without human security, there is no national or global security