How to be a good ancestor in a complex world

The status quo isn't viable; we need to transform how we do things and how we think about them - not just in one domain but in the complex system made up of the interactions between all the domains. With his Natural Social Contract, Patrick Huntjens sketches a way forward. "We are in the middle of an ecological, geopolitical and an inequality crisis. These can't be seen in isolation; they are all interrelated parts of a systemic crisis. The social contract, the way we have organised and structured our society, isn't working. It has been broken and we need a new one going forward." Thus the portentous but undeniable premise for the research of Patrick Huntjens, recently appointed Professor of Governance of Sustainability Transitions. He refers to the devastating floods in Limburg to illustrate the impact of climate change in our (by turns exceedingly moist and excessively dry) backyard.