Message from ERC’s Founder & President,
Hanne M. Strong

Welcome to the Earth Restoration Corps. I am happy that you have chosen to explore our new, developing website. Click Here to view the ERC Video (MPEG4 - 3.2MB)

Over the past two centuries, we have witnessed unspeakable damage to Earth’s biological and cultural diversity. Our western or western-type economies have for too long been anchored on selfishness, greed, and waste, viewing Earth as a “resource” to be continually exploited. It has now become vital to empower and prepare our young people to turn the tide of an increasingly dangerous and uncertain future. The challenge is no less that reclaiming our life supporting ecological systems that sustain all forms of life on Earth.

If you are a young person, I must share with you that the world that you are inheriting is out of balance and that your job is to take the lead in restoring the balance. Your task is nothing less that helping humanity change direction in what may be one of the most crucial moments in our history. I hope that you will acquire a focus and meaning in your life by developing a sense of wisdom respecting the natural and spiritual laws that help re-connect you with Earth as a living source. The assignment requires a transformation of consciousness at the deepest level.

The Earth Restoration Corps is one vehicle through which you can help bring about this critical change. ERC seeks to equip you to make the shift and to help others, too. Part of the process involves creating sustainable livelihoods, or jobs, for yourself and others – toward a new economy. You are among 2.8 billion young people in the world today – some 44 percent of the total world population -- who are or will soon be entering the so-called labor market. The great test you face is to make it economical to restore rather than destroy Earth.

One of the main conclusions that I have come to in my own spiritual journey is to continually keep the law of cause and effect in mind. Every single action that we take – large or small – has consequences and we are held responsible for our actions. The second conclusion is that we must always keep in mind that the ultimate goal for us is to learn how to free our minds from the now discredited, but still strong, way of being in the world. This takes tremendous effort – breaking away from conventional or received patterns of consumption and production. If you choose a path of living a more balanced life within -- by developing knowledge, clarity, wisdom, and vision -- you will be better able to acquire the skills with which meet and address the difficult times ahead.