The Club of Rome “Limits to Growth” study was launched 40 years ago in March, and the Club has launched a major social media initiative built around the analogy of the Titanic disaster of the early 20th Century.

Never before has humanity been better educated, informed and connected, or had so many opportunities to foresee challenges, manage progress and development, evaluate our actions’ consequences and manage them accordingly.

The Titanic has become a symbol of human self-esteem, the fatal belief in progress and the apparent victory of man over nature. The “unsinkable” ship, however, failed on its first voyage. Can we rely on (technical) progress? What role do we want to give to technological innovation? How much hope can/should we have, for example, that technological progress can compensate for the deep human intervention in natural ecosystems? 

We have to question the relationship between the urgency of the matter and the lack of tangible consequences of current actions. Do disasters have to occur first before countermeasures are introduced?

The first instalment, with its excellent and thought-provoking animation, including a contribution from CPD Fellow Ian Dunlop, may be found here: http://change-the-course.org/?show=Main&action=MainPage

Further key elements will follow throughout this year, including three new Reports to the Club of Rome: