The Ecologist explores the causes of environmental degradation and the impact of our societies on the natural world, and this can be insightful, necessary – but overwhelming. So The Ecologist is increasingly seeking the solutions, successes and hope that will steer us into the future.

The Ecologist was established in 1970, and in its lifetime has sparked and nurtured organisations like Friends of the Earth and the Green Party, exposed the shocking environmental records of huge corporations like Monsanto, and initiated multiple global campaigns. You can learn more about the history of The Ecologist here. 

It’s mission has always been to deepen the public understanding of the relationship between human society and the natural environment. This remains more relevant today than ever before. 

Recognise complexity

We are now entering a new era in our history. As well as celebrating solutions, The Ecologist will look to systems theory and social ecology to more deeply understand the interconnectedness of the issues that affect us all. You can read more about our way of being by scrolling down to the ‘themes’ section of our About Us page.

The world has changed significantly in the lifetime of The Ecologist – and so too has the magazine. It has evolved from small print journal, to national news magazine, to a global online news organisation.

And to remain a platform that is respected and valued globally, it must be in tune with what its readers and contributors are saying and wanting. To that end, The Ecologist has been asking questions about who it serves and how it can better support them.

As a result, we will be focusing on delivering high quality content delivered by and to change makers, thought leaders and academics. Of course, these categorisations overlap, intersect and merge – and all of them overlap or are linked in one way or another to consumers, trade, media, public and private sectors, and many others.

So, The Ecologist will focus its content and not try to cover every story on the earth – and there are thankfully plenty of platforms like ours who we collaborate with, or who pick up where we leave off – but we also recognise complexity and interconnectedness and our content will reflect this. 

Synthesising wisdom 

We will keep learning about our audiences, our contributors, and the world which we all impact and are impacted by. We will host events that bring together contributors and audiences to nurture fruitful collisions, alchemy, discussion and debate.

We want to live by the ways of being that we are exploring – including networks and ecosystems – and we will absorb and offer thinking that contributes to what it means to be a networked organisation in our current age.

We want The Ecologist to become a network that reaches far and wide, not to simply churn out information to people who are already overwhelmed with it, but instead to play a role in synthesising thinking and ideas.

As biologist EO Wilson says: “We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely.”

We want to understand and amplify the known and less-well-known voices around the world who can help our global, national, community and individual leadership make those important choices that will impact the world that we live in now, and will leave to the future.

This is where you come in…

We want to grow our network and connect people and ideas, and so we are looking for talented contributors who are interested in writing regularly for The Ecologist, through the lens of one of our three content strands – thought leadership, change makers, or academia. 

These are currently not paid roles, but we will do what we can to get your work and ideas out to a global audience of millions.

We’ll also provide you with one year’s free membership of the Resurgence Trust, which includes a bi-monthly print version of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine – or digital if you prefer. And you’ll be invited to events to meet other ecologists and environmentalists. This is where the alchemy happens!  

If you are interested in becoming a regular volunteer contributor then please email us and we will provide you with further information. You can trial our ‘beta’ form or simply email us.

If you are an academic, contact Catherine Harte at academia [at] theecologist.org. If you are a thought leader, contact Elizabeth Wainwright at thoughtleader [at] theecologist.org. If you are a change maker contact Marianne Brooker at changemaker [at] theecologist.org. If you would like to contact the editor directly, email Brendan Montague at brendan [at] theecologist.org. 

We look forward to you being a part of our unfolding story!

This Author

Elizabeth Wainwright is a contributing editor of The Ecologist working with thought leaders. She is a former editor at the Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. Elizabeth co-leads the community development charity, Arukah Network, and is based in Devon. Twitter: @LizWainwright.