With all due respect for our civilization’s moonshot ambitions, research indicates that Earth is unique within a radius of 10 billion light-years. In other words, this charming planet will need to sustain many future generations. To achieve this, it is high time to rebuild our partnership with nature instead of clinging to the illusion that we can retreat from it within our built environments—not only for our immediate well-being but for the future and the peace of life on Earth.

Our partnership with this planet demands a shift in perspective: nature is not merely a passive resource to be exploited but an intelligent and dynamic system filled with agents. These agents take the form of molecules, cells, organisms, and ecosystems that shape and sustain life through purposeful interactions.

Natural agents are already teeming within us. The only missing piece in our perspective is to acknowledge and embrace what is already true.

This involves shifting from taking short-term advantage of the world to collaboratively making it for long-term flourishing. Klaus refers to this concept as natural agentic reasoning. From peptides acting as molecular agents in healing processes to ecosystems demonstrating self-regulation, this lens offers profound insights into biology, sustainability, and our shared future on this extraordinary planet.

We invite you to an evening dedicated to exploring our shared human future as collaborators with nature. Klaus will guide us in reimagining societal practices, business, and wealth creation. Together, we will explore how the intelligence inherent in the natural world can be harnessed to foster innovation, resilience, and long-term prosperity. Ultimately, we will examine how civilizational progress and we individually can flourish in concert with planetary systems.

We are honored to welcome the recipient of the UNESCO Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2024, renowned architect, landscape architect, and academic Klaus K. Loenhart, as our guest for the Creative Leadership Salon No. 16.

Klaus K. Loenhart imagines and designs the future of our planetary society as interwoven living biomes. As a professor and head of institute, he and his teams at the Institute for Architecture and Landscape at the TU Graz, as well as in his studio TERRAIN: INTEGRAL DESIGNS, based in Munich and Graz, develop living systems that bring us humans into direct relationship with our more-than-human living environment through design innovation.