Dear friends of Dancing Rabbit,

The concept of resilience is rapidly gaining relevance in the current moment, and for good reason; every year, human induced climate change is causing more disruption to natural and societal systems. 2023 was once again the hottest year on record, averaging 1.4 degrees Celsius, or 2.5 Fahrenheit, warmer than pre-industrial levels.* The impacts have been severe: deadly heat waves, a flood in Libya that killed 4,300 people, especially intense wildfires in Europe (and elsewhere), and historically low sea ice in the Antarctic which caused entire colonies of emperor penguins to lose every single chick because the ice melted before the chicks developed waterproof feathers.

While we MUST continue the work of de-carbonization and mitigation, as it is still very much possible to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change, we also need to prepare for a world irrevocably altered by climate change. This is where resilience comes into play. Resilience is the ability to foresee, cope with, and manage the impacts of climate change and changing economic conditions. Three key attributes are:

• The ability to recover quickly from a shock.
• The ability to withstand a shock.
• The ability to avoid the shock altogether.

A shock could be anything from a downturn of a particular industry critical to local economic activities, an extreme weather event, global supply chains breaking down, permanent changes to seasonal weather patterns, and even total state failure. These types of shocks will almost certainly increase in frequency, and severity, as the century progresses.

What role does Dancing Rabbit, a tiny ecovillage in rural Missouri, have in creating a resilient society? Well, as I see it, in order to build resilience more generally, we need to be experimenting with diverse and regionally adapted societal structures and technologies. Just like in a natural ecosystem, resilience comes from diversity. As everyone is forced to adapt to the deepening climate crisis, we will have many examples and alternatives to draw direct inspiration from.

At Dancing Rabbit, not only are we building a resilient community for the people who choose to live here, we are engaging in projects which have the potential to build resilience on a much larger scale. Towards this end, our nonprofit, the Center for Sustainable and Co-operative Culture (CSCC), has created the Resilient Systems grant. In next week's post I’ll go into detail about the projects we’ve funded, their potential impact, and what we hope to accomplish with even more funding.

If you wish to support this work, you can join us for Give STL on Thursday, May 9th. Our goal this year is to raise $7,500. For every dollar raised up to this point, we will allocate an equal amount into our Resilient Systems grant fund.

Ways to get involved:

• Mark your calendar for May 9, bookmark this giving link, and stay tuned for ways to maximize your donation by donating during select “power hours.”


• Donate now. Early giving has just begun! If you’re uncertain that you’ll be available on May 9th, giving now is a great option.


• Help us spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends and family.

In resilience,
​​​​​​​
Eric Mease

Villager/Land Steward/Development Lead
​​​​​​​Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture at

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*https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-analysis-confirms-2023-as-warmest-year-on-record/