Orb Tranz Research & Broadcasting Foundation (a Section-8 company registered in Mumbai since 2021) is the flagship initiative of Global Crisis Response (GCR).
WHO WE ARE
GCR is an independent, autonomous, action research Think-Tank and a Knowledge portal operating largely by volunteer participation. GCR will facilitate sense-making, consensus building among changemakers & leaders in navigating the Global Crisis (GC) understood as the existential risk posed by the collapse of Globalized Industrial Civilization (GIC) and that of the Biosphere.
We are committed to conduct policy research & advocacy for bringing into public debate the significance of Strong Sustainability (SS) response that promotes a society-wide transition from the current paradigm say Game A (high-throughput, high- complexity centralized State-Market systems) towards an alternative paradigm say Game B (low-throughput, low- complexity, decentralized bio-cultural commons)
What is Global Crisis (GC)?
Global Crisis (GC) can be understood as an existential risk comprising
- Inevitable, abrupt, involuntary Societal Collapse in the near term (Dys-functionality of centralizing institutions like State & Markets)
- Probable Biospheric Collapse in the medium to long term under BAU scenario (Accelerating the Sixth Mass Extinction)
Global Crisis (GC) is a risk analysis and problem framing approach that factors in the confluence of emergent risks from multi-dimensional disciplines:
Ecological Overshoot
- Resource (depletion) & Sink (pollution) constraints
- Humanity is already in the state of Overshoot (175% in 2020) i.e. unsustainable economic throughput (Energy + Eco-footprint + material footprint) leading to Biospheric collapse
Economy & Energy
- Treating economy in monetary or financial terms rather than in material & energy terms
- Rapidly rising Energy Cost of Energy (EcoE) and ‘Fossil Stranding’ scenario emerging from Climate Change
- Fossil Energy (Dense, portable, Flexible) cannot be replaced by new RE (Solar, Wind) within the constraints of scale, functionality and time
- Risk of ‘bubble bursts’ (Real asset & financial) due to and declining prosperity (Output minus ECoE) that may trigger a global financial meltdown
Civilizational Complexity (Systemic risks)
- GIC has reached the stage of diminishing returns on complexity & problem solving (key to collapse of civilizational collapse in the past)
- BAU pursuit of energy intensive, high tech global economy dependent on long supply-chains weakens the overall systemic resilience of ‘Key-stone hubs’ sustaining the GIC (like the Energy price-infrastructure, Critical infrastructures, Grid, Banking & Finance, Economy of scale etc.)
- Any severe trigger (like a pandemic or cyber-attack on grid, energy crisis) can tip the global system into a cascading collapse scenario
Dual-Use exponential Technologies
- Run-away & unregulated proliferation of Dual-use technologies like Nuclear, AI, Bio-tech & Nano-tech enhance welfare but can also be weaponized that independently risk Societal as well as Biospheric Collapse
The crisis framing ensures that any consensus response to respond to GC address all elements of the existential risks without exception. Failure to mitigate or avoid any one element will fail to avert Societal & Biospheric collapse.
Creating impact by empowering Changemakers
We see Changemaker as someone who is an (actual or potential) social innovator responding to a societal predicament, who is sufficiently informed about the urgency of the existential crisis, has resolved to be an active participant in this great adventure of transition, and is willing to take courageous action to respond to it. Many changemakers are uncertain about the ‘Big-Picture’ impact of their efforts and are frequently ‘burnt-out’ due to the clutter around the issues of sustainability (especially the mis/dis information campaigns about green growth, Net-zero emissions, 100% RE Transition or the sustainability of the growth-obsessed Industrial Civilization).
Through our content and capacity (& perspective) building activities, we empower Changemakers through orientation and training in:
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FAQ
GCR aims to build capacity of existing & potential change-makers in society by introducing them with a useful, holistic lens i.e. Crisis(C)– Response(R)- Transition (T) Framework enabling to articulate and navigate Global Crisis (GC) in the light of the 'Big-Picture' priorities at the civilizational level.
Change-makers who apply to volunteer with GCR are provided with a detailed orientation that offers a good starting point to get familiar with the non-mainstream concepts like Societal Collapse, Global Catastrophic Risks, Risks from civilizational Complexity, Ecological Overshoot (Planetary Boundaries), Risks from Dual Use Technologies, De-clutter differences between BAU-Weak-Strong Sustainability policy or strategic responses to Global Crisis, Post- industrial Alternative Civilizations etc.
After Orientation & training volunteers are encouraged to contribute (over 3-6 months) in research, content writing etc. The goal here is to support existing change-makers to succeed help them align their current efforts in the direction of strong sustainability.
Is it a good strategy to hedge against these risks today by developing & preparing for such a future? What will those strategies look like? What are those assets & skills which can aid us in the transition phase? In the age of unstable conditions what makes one more resilient --- our specialized skills or generalist skills & attitude? Must we seek resilience at the level of individual or community?
Our Approach
As opposed to mainstream response (characterized by strategies of risk avoidance & mitigation) we at GCR prioritize risk preparedness, risk management & deep adaptation. It is time that humanity actively choose between transition by design rather than by disaster.
GCR’s approach is heterarchical which deploys bottom-up driven top-down initiatives, policies, strategies & programs.
Intervention approaches in response to Global Crisis (GC)
I. CURRENT PARADIGM
Top-Down: “Accountants of the carnage”
- Treat hazard as a ‘bug’ (that must be ’fixed’) in an otherwise ‘perfect’ paradigm
- Decision-making by centralizing actors & networks (IGOs, State-Military- TNCs)
- Value neutral, operate within the current economic paradigm
- Mostly concerned with risk analysis, description & accuracy of prediction to aid State-Business-IGOs decision-making
- Understand the nature of the hazard, predict its unravelling, focus on preparation, mitigation and management.
- Fail to recognize these hazards as ‘design features’ within the current anthropocentric-energy-economics paradigm.
- Hence any attempt at risk avoidance, mitigation & risk management within the current paradigm will be a futile engagement and distraction at best.
II. ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM
Bottom-Up: “Transformative Change agents”
- Treat the hazard as ‘Systemic feature’ of an unsustainable paradigm
- Sense-making, decision making & consensus building among distributed & decentralized networks
- Use this understanding to raise awareness, trigger public debate, and affect policy support for a ‘controlled’ transition towards an alternative life sustaining paradigm.
- This awareness could re-orient the efforts of Global Governance Framework towards an alternative eco-centric – Energy descent- local futures aimed at pre-figuring, risk preparedness, deep adaptation and transition towards alt paradigm
Volunteer Experience!
Anjali Butley (Tata Volunteer)
Editorial Strategy
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"This project has given me challenging and thought provoking learning experience"
Arthur Caffier
User Experience (UX) Researcher
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"Working with GCR has been an incredible learning experience, where I had the opportunity to apply my knowledge in user research and design thinking to a meaningful cause."
Pratibha Aswal
Creating a Volunteer Handbook
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"I am really thankful for GCR for giving me this opportunity and particularly Sudhir for his guidance and support throughout."