Anneloes Smitsman
on Being “EarthWise” Ancestors for a Thrivable Future
"Imagine yourself walking into the future world of a planetary civilization. A wiser, more mature humanity. where children are happy and elders are cared for and honoured. You are one of its ancestors.”
This is not the kind of constitution article you’d expect - rigid, bureaucratic, built on the laws of man.
Dr. Anneloes Smitsman's EARTHwise Constitution for a Planetary Civilization is a living, breathing organism for a world where humanity and nature evolve in harmony. Rooted in the principles of Earth jurisprudence, it grows as our understanding deepens, tapping into the intelligence of life.
The journey of Dr. Anneloes began with vivid dreams and visions from future generations who had not yet been born. Seeing the world through their eyes led her to a deep commitment: “I’ll do whatever I can to make this world more livable and create systems that will honour their unique genius in the evolution of our species.” Anneloes started weaving scientific insights with Indigenous wisdom aligned with the intelligence of the cosmos. Her time in Australia shaped her understanding of Kanyini, “love with responsibility”, a pearl of Aboriginal wisdom that whispers: trust life, surrender to your greatest potential, and know that the universe has your back.
Anneloes is a futurist, systems scientist, and author of “Future Humans Trilogy” helping us make use of this “chaos window” moment, this tipping point that will define the trajectory of humanity. As the founder of EARTHwise and Earthwise Ventures, she calls us to step into our imaginal capacities to become architects of a thriving civilization: “Futures are imaginal ‘possibility spaces’ to dream into and explore, renew, transform, and ignite a deeper shift of being.
How do we hold on to hope when so many feel burned out and disconnected? How do we bridge worlds: the old systems and the ones yet to be born? Anneloes invites us to find the light in the smallest of cracks: “When losing hope, a part of you gives up on life. This happens to protect ourselves from pain and disappointment. But, in doing so, we close our hearts. When our hearts are closed, life cannot reach us to heal and ignite our spirit.”
Regeneration is not just improving and enhancing a place, system, or relationship.
To Anneloes, “thrivability is rather a future-creative, possibility-increasing generative, rather than a re-generative process.” The future is not something that happens to us. It’s an imaginal possibility space, waiting to be dreamed into existence: “There’s a place within yourself where you can retreat and be fully who you are, where you meet life. When you find that place within, expand it and bring that energy into everything you’re doing.”
Read Dr. Anneloes Smitsman's answers for Inspirators and be regenerative from the inside out!
Thank you, Anneloes, for being an Earthwise Futurist!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Anneloes Smitsman
Company / Institution: EARTHwise
Title: CEO & Founder
Website: https://www.earthwise.global/anneloes-smitsman
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneloes-smitsman/
Country of origin: The Netherlands
Country you currently live in: Mauritius
Your definition of Regeneration: The act of improving and enhancing a place, system, or relationship with the healthy flows and thrivable conditions for life. However, I prefer to use the term ‘thrivability’, to emphasize a future-creative, possibility-increasing generative, rather than a re-generative process.
Main business challenge you face: To further attract and secure the financial support and outreach needed to fully manifest the vision for a thrivable world that I’ve been stewarding for nearly thirty years.
Main driver that keeps you going: Love for my children and future generations, and the deep understanding that, ultimately, it’s not a choice but a responsibility that drives me.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: My ability to lead and stand for what is necessary, rather than what is popular. To inspire active hope in the face of enormous challenges.
The trait you most value in others: Their capacity to love, to show up, and to care for what truly matters in life.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Time with my kids and loved ones, paddling out on the lagoon in my canoe to feel the expansiveness of the ocean within and around me, sailing with my parents, opening up to the creation of new stories waiting to be born, spending time in nature, cuddling with animals, listening to the sound of the waves, and, of course, building this new world together.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
It all began when I started receiving vivid dreams and visions from future generations who had not yet been born. I began to see the world through their eyes, which led me to make a deep commitment: to do whatever I can to make this world more livable for them and to help create the systems that will honour and make space for their unique genius in the evolution of our species.
Other inspirators are the Indigenous elders I’ve spent time with in Australia and their deep understanding of the Earth as a living being, as well as nature herself and my time with the animals since I was little.
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Start by connecting with life itself.
How does your professional activity or business contribute to our lives, our future, and our planet? Take an honest assessment: check in with your deeper motivation and see if you’re ready to shift the focus from minimizing harm to maximizing goodness. Then, find or create a regenerative activity that brings joy, deepens your sense of connection, and fosters togetherness and discovery.
Start with small steps, such as becoming more aware of the ecological footprint of your life, profession, and organization, and make daily commitments to reduce it. Approach this as a journey of learning and discovery, rather than a task or a means of reputational scoring. Be genuine. Be regenerative from the inside out. You can also check out my articles on Medium with lots of different tips and suggestions.
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you:
'Growth is bad,' 'Collapse is inevitable,' 'Money and power are inherently evil,' 'People can’t be trusted with power,' and 'Population size is the ultimate problem.' These oversimplified narratives often distract from deeper systemic solutions and the potential for real transformational change.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: When you lose hope, a part of you gives up on life. Sometimes, we do this to protect ourselves from pain and disappointment. But in doing so, we close our hearts, and when our hearts are closed, life cannot reach us to heal, revitalize, and ignite our spirit. Losing hope hurts you.
Dare to hope by focusing on the tiniest openings where the light enters through the cracks of darkness. Hold your attention on those small points of light until they grow larger, then put this energy into action so that your hope grows roots and becomes a strong tree. Generate the love from your heart that the world so desperately needs, and know that in doing so, this love will also carry you forward.
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
Nora Bateson: Steps to an Ecology of Mind
Thomas Berry: The New Story. In Teilhard in the 21st Century: The Emerging Spirit of Earth
David Bohm: Wholeness and the implicate order
Fritjof Capra & Pier Luigi Luisi: The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision
Jude Currivan: The Cosmic Hologram: In-formation at the Center of Creation
Donella Meadows: Thinking in Systems
Bob Randall: Kanyini - in Resurgence and Ecologist
Elisabet Sahtouris: Gaia’s Dance - The Story of Earth & Us - A children’s book for grownups
Daniel Christian Wahl: Designing Regenerative Cultures
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again:
My Octopus Teacher
Fantastic Fungi
How Wolves change Rivers
Planet Earth, BBC
Avatar I
Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: I don’t have a specific podcast that I always return to, I like to listen to a variety of sources.
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Bach Aria, Ave Maria of Caccini, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater by Philippe Jaroussky, The Closest Thing to Crazy by Katie Melua, Space Oddity by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Kata Tjuta and Uluru in Australia, Drakensberg in South Affica, Le Morne Mountain in Mauritius, Zeeland in the Netherlands, Sedona in the US, as well as the places I travel to in the Dreamtime, especially the imaginal deep oceans.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
John Fullerton
Daniel Christian Wahl
Joe Brewer
Leen Gorissen
Lyla June Johnston
Jude Currivan
Alexander Laszlo
Ralph Thurm
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on:
The development of regenerative and evolutionary AI algorithms inspired by living systems.
Bio-digital innovation and the merging of biological and digital intelligence.
Regenerative economics and finance particularly applied through regenerative cryptocurrencies and tokenomics.
Circular and biomimetic design in industries, integrating nature’s principles for sustainability.
The rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for community-driven regeneration projects.
Indigenous knowledge and wisdom being integrated into regenerative solutions at scale.
The gamification of systems change for regeneration, like our Elowyn: Quest of Time game.
Events we should attend / Best places for networking (online or offline):
You are most welcome to join our monthly EARTHwise Community calls for inspiration, which take place every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 9 am PT.
Impactful and relevant Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses or certifications:
I recommend the courses and blueprints by r3.0, as well as those from the Capital Institute by John Fullerton, and the Game Changer online course by the Pachamam Alliance.
Furthermore, our EARTHwise Leadership Quest and upcoming Thrivability Leadership course for organizations provide essential foundations for understanding pathways for sustainability, regeneration, and thrivability, more information here.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: The core of 2nd-tier planetary conscious humans is growing, enabling whole new tipping point solutions that many would have thought impossible.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Suffering has greatly increased due to the worsening climate, biodiversity, and global planetary crisis. Billions of people are now forced to migrate or live in growing uncertainties on a regular basis.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: The following qualities are based on our EARTHwise Constitution for a Planetary Civilization, which are our core values for regenerative leadership:
ORIGINALITY ignites our creativity from our direct connection with the source wisdom of life. We
INSPIRATION expands our creativity as attractors of our future human becoming. We apply our inspiration to ignite our passion for the greater possibilities that call us forth.
COURAGE empowers us as stewards for planetary civilization, and co-creators of thrivability
TRUST connects us to the collective heart of our humanity and the inherent essence of who we are. We give trust to the Cosmos and our Earth for guiding and supporting us.
LOVE sustains us with the strength, vision, and understanding for how to co-create thrivable worlds and futures. We invest in our quality of life with the power of love.
COMMITMENT prioritizes our actions and decisions for thrivable worlds and futures. We apply our commitment as a future ancestor of a planetary civilization.
CREATIVITY inspires how we approach challenges and opportunities and grow our future human capacities. We apply our creativity to attract our future into being.
WISDOM matures us in how we learn, act, relate, reciprocate, and evolve with life. We support our world with wisdom so we may become an Earth-wise species.
The Inspirator(s) you are endorsing for a future edition:
Laura George (Founder of the Founding Mother’s Movements and The Peace Pentagon)
Dr. Anita Sanchez (for her deep Indigenous wisdom)
Liv Boeree (for her clarity and artistry in taking on the dominant Moloch dynamics of our world),
Dr. Mariana Bozesan (for her legacy-building work as an integral investor and thought-leader on sustainability solutions).
The quote that inspires you:
“Love liberates.” (Maya Angelou)
Your quote that will inspire us:
