Circle of Blue

Record temperatures. Biodiversity decline. Rapidly escalating water crises. Systems change is here: We’re transitioning from fear of the unknown to the danger of the real. Systems change also means tipping points for transformation, understanding planetary boundaries and priorities — and recognizing and seizing epic moments to change course. Fortunately we have a map, a compass, and a new story to write. The #villarssummit brought together some 280 systems change leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and young change makers from around the world to explore and test the future with urgency and shared mission. Since fresh #water has defined civilizations across history and is among the #planetaryboundaries, I’m grateful that the summit gave space within such a diverse program to explore water’s future. On this journey, we… 💧Convened a hybrid meeting of experts from #Santiago and #MexicoCity to #Europe and the United States to understand cascading water crises through #policy, #publicaffairs, #digitaltwin, and social lenses. 💧Mapped new futures for water on #WorldWaterDay through “Designing Water’s Future,” an initiative curated by Circle of Blue to better and faster align good work, create trusted journalism and storytelling backed by data, and to inform solutions at scale. Mathias Wikström described it this way: “Radical innovation, optimism, compelling narratives and a clear vision of what good looks like is needed for the shift of regime we need to see.” 💧Explored the cost of inaction, which is growing each day as more regions face “Day Zero” scenarios when they could run out of water, and when water stress is challenging assumptions about food and energy security, and economic and geopolitical stability. 💧Celebrated innovation with the UpLink - World Economic Forum Challenge Aquapreneurs, a remarkable #entrepreneurship community guided by John Dutton and Anna Huber. 💧Applied the The Villars Institute systems map to… • IDENTIFY systemic interdependencies • INVESTIGATE barriers to systems change and paths to breakthrough solutions • INSPIRE interdisciplinary knowledge-sharing and innovative design-thinking • INITIATE intergenerational collaboration to foster entrepreneurship and accelerate systems change. Thank you to these and many more systems designers, explorers, and collaborators. Together we're writing an epic adventure story — let's make it a good one. 🌏 Lee Howell Emma Benameur, MBA Keith Tuffley Karen E. Wilson Roman Guggisberg Joelle Chevalley (Gianini) Kenyan Mayet André Hoffmann Julia Marton-Lefèvre Richard McDonald Leslie Johnston Sonia Medina Nik Gowing Milena Stoyanova Judit Arenas Nicole Monge Diego de Leon Segovia Roberta Boscolo Alexei Levene Robert Ddamulira, Ph.D. Aurora Chiste Priyanka Wadhwa William Hoffman Virginia Newton-Lewis, PhD Juan Carlos Escobar Mulundu Sichone Trupti Jain Steve Leonard Guido Schmidt-Traub Aurelia Figueroa Meagan Fallone Swan Rovelas Thomas Crampton

As Mexico City, one of the world’s largest urban centers, faces a severe water crisis, I think of the pressures on lives, communities, and social structures. In Tehuacán, southwest of Mexico’s capital, Circle of Blue was among the first to document links between water scarcity and human migration. "There is a nagging sense of a losing battle that is being waged. The human exodus shows no signs of slowing any time soon: more than 100 residents of Santa Ana have voted with their feet in recent years, and three of Valentín Carrillo’s nephews have started new lives in New York," wrote Joe Contreras in 2006 as we chronicled the effects of water stress for the Circle of Blue project, Tehuacán: Divining Destiny. In her austere one-room home, Francisca Rosas Valencia dabbed away tears as she prayed for her son, Florentine, who left home to work in Los Angeles. I was with photojournalist Brent Stirton in the town of San Marcos Tlacoyalco tucked in the hills above Tehuacán. Wells were going dry and crops were failing, upending life in the agrarian community. “It is not easy to be outside of one’s homeland,” she said, “That is what makes me sad. I fear that in the future my children and grandchildren and the families of my neighbors will be forced to leave.” Is water scarcity our destiny? Or can we learn from the past to design water's future? Prescient and still relevant today, see Brent Stirton's remarkable images and read Joe Contreras's compelling front-line journalism, Divining Destiny, produced by Circle of Blue with support from the Ford Foundation and in collaboration with the Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program. https://lnkd.in/gVACbTaz 📷 Photograph ©Brent Stirton for Circle of Blue #mexico #watercrisis #mexicowater #climatechange #mexicocity #water #immigration Circle of Blue Scott Whiteford Ford Foundation Judit Arenas Diego de Leon Segovia Nicole Monge Aurora Chiste Teuta Oruci FCCA Geoff Dabelko Jennifer Turner Lauren Herzer Risi Aaron Salzberg Christopher Rich Keziah Theresee Gerosano William Hoffman