What would it take – what time, money, energy, efforts, cooperation – for the social sciences to be able to provide wise, reliable and timely strategic guidance to persons, organizations and states regarding the conscious development and transformation of late modern forms of civilization into a truly new form of civilization?

1. Evidence is mounting for the view that any civilization that hopes to survive the 21st Century must be able to live within the limits set by the Earth’s ecology; that ecological overshoot cannot go on for many more decades.

2. Given that OECD countries are already living well beyond our ecological means and that most societies aspire to do so, as a species we have a serious problem that cannot be avoided much longer.

3. The most common response to items 1 and 2 is to re-commit to the hope that small changes can add up to wholesale change. While some real differences will be made, as an overall strategy this appears to be a forlorn hope.

4. A second widespread response is to commit to large investments in new technologies in the hope that they will be sufficient to handle our situation. While some real differences will be made, as an overall strategy this too appears to be a forlorn hope. (This strategy is also sucking funds away from the social sciences.)

5. What other options might be explored?

6. One option that is almost wholly neglected in public discourse is that of learning as whole jurisdictions to take responsibility for our ongoing evolution; and to do so not only as persons, families, communities and organizations, but as whole socio-economic orders and forms of civilization.

7. Work that explores this option and the question asked above will identify contributions that can now be made, and contributions that can come to be made, by the social sciences to ensuring the long-term future of humanity. It will also identify those scholars globally who care about this question.

8. The work may also reveal the need for and nature of transformations required within the social sciences; some of which may address the crisis that now exists in the field.