Biounderstanding is understanding of the story of life on Earth, the human place in nature, the biology of civilisation and the health needs and interdependencies of humans and the natural environment.

Biounderstanding leads naturally to:

• a profound respect for the processes of life
• appreciation that the survival of civilisation will require a shift to a society that is truly in tune with, and sensitive to, the processes of life – that is, in tune with our own biology and with the living world, the biology of civilisation and the health needs of people and of the rest of the biosphere. We call this a biosensitive society.

Shared biounderstanding among all people is a prerequisite for the transition to a biosensitive society and therefore for the survival of civilisation.

Biosensitive is the word we use to describe a way of life that satisfies the health needs both of people and of the ecosystems on which we depend and of which we are a part.

The expression ‘ecologically sustainable’, or simply ‘sustainable’, has come to be used widely in recent years. Of course, society must be ecologically sustainable – otherwise in the long term it cannot continue to exist.

But ecological sustainability is surely the bottom line. We must aim for something better than mere sustainability. We must aim for a society that is not only sustainable, but that also really promotes the health of the entire biosphere, including its human fragment.

Biosensitivity will be the guiding principle in all spheres of human activity – individual and collective. More on biosensitivity here

A biosensitive society will be characterised by biosensitive lifestyles, governments, technologies, cities, buildings, farming practices and economic systems.

A biosensitive society will mean healthier people and a healthier and much safer planet.