I grew up wanting to live on a starship Enterprise. What's there not to love about Star Trek? It is a post-scarcity society, where people don’t have to work only to earn resources, which are abundant, and all are free from scarcity anxiety. People work to gain reputation and respect, led by their curiosity, in alliance with all the other species, working for the common good.

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I got hooked on this concept.

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Guided by the idea that post-scarcity is not so much a matter of resource deficiency or natural bounty, but an organizational option for society, I got curious about how we can get there. That curiosity led me to become a sustainable development scholar, seeking a deeper understanding of the possible world that fascinated me as a child.

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In my doctorate program, I encountered complex adaptive systems theory. I have learned that the cycle of change in any system, including our cities and regions, can be put under the microscope, dissected, and understood. Knowledge about systems’ change processes provides us with the strategies to adapt to change and even transform into a more suitable way of being.

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Ever since, I give my best to add value to the world, and to people’s lives by creating a more liveable social-ecological system around me. My job is to turn research insights into policies that help communities, cities, and regions to cope with current challenges, like intense urbanization, biodiversity loss, and climate change.  

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To do that, I’ve conducted research, advised decision-makers, and written books and articles. I’ve educated individuals and groups, given seminars and speeches, organized symposiums and exhibitions, developed science communication programs, training, and university courses, and even created two citizens’ participation applications. Some of this helped me and some other humans to experience a bit of Enterprise - move on from the scarcity mindset and live in alliance with the ecosystems of nature.