An institutional response to the polycrisis

WORLD
HUMANISM FORUM

One Planet. Many Civilizations. One Shared Destiny.

Understanding complexity. Strengthening human judgment.

FlorenceDubaiThe World
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Why Now

The polycrisis cannot be understood in fragments.

Ecological, social, political, economic and technological crises interact across systems and generations. Their causes and consequences cannot be understood in isolation.

The Forum connects knowledge, dialogue and practical tools to help people examine those relationships and make informed judgments.

Mission, Purpose and History →
AthensKnowledge travelsBaghdadCivilizations meetFlorenceThe conversation continuesThe Gulf
Edgar Morin in 2021
Edgar Morin, 2021 · Wikimedia Commons · CC0

Method and Purpose

Complex thought. Planetary responsibility.

Edgar Morin’s work provides the Forum’s principal intellectual method.

Complex thought reconnects knowledge, places it in context and remains attentive to interdependence, uncertainty and the relationship between parts and wholes.

Developed by the Forum through its reading of Morin, Planetary Humanism provides the ethical horizon: dignity, plurality, shared planetary belonging and responsibility.

Foundational Architecture

Four ingredients.
Different functions.
One integrated architecture.

Memory, method, technology and purpose work together across the Forum.

Historical inspiration and memory

Historical Bayt al-Hikma

The House of Wisdom of Baghdad evokes a formative period of translation, inquiry and circulation of knowledge across cultures, languages and intellectual traditions.

Intellectual method

Edgar Morin

A method for reconnecting knowledge and understanding context, interdependence, uncertainty and the relationship between parts and wholes.

Contemporary technological tool

Artificial Intelligence

A current, subordinate and replaceable tool for organizing and navigating knowledge under human stewardship.

Ethical horizon and purpose

Planetary Humanism

An orientation toward dignity, plurality, shared planetary belonging and responsibility. It directs and limits how the other ingredients are used.

Explore the Framework →

The Knowledge Center

From information
to understanding.

Explore two available research environments. Follow sources, compare perspectives and investigate relationships across time and place.

Sources and human review guide the work. Other domains are in development.

Available

Edgar Morin Atlas

Explore Edgar Morin’s life, works, concepts and intellectual relationships through Claudio Pedretti’s source-based Atlas.

Explore the Atlas →
In development · Explore the roadmap

In development

Understanding Philosophy

Questions, traditions, concepts and thinkers explored across cultures and civilizations.

In development

History

Events, structures, continuities and change across time.

In development

Civilizations

Encounters, exchanges and transformations across civilizations.

In development

Economics

Economic systems, institutions, incentives and their human consequences.

In development

Climate & Earth Systems

Climate, ecosystems and planetary interdependence.

In development

Politics

Power, institutions, public choices and collective life.

In development

Geopolitics

Power, geography, strategic interests and relationships among states, regions and global systems.

In development

Thought & Governance

Ideas, traditions of thought and the institutions through which societies govern.

Relationships · Timelines · Geographies · Comparisons · Visible Sources · Human ReviewExplore the Knowledge Center →

First Public Implementation of the Knowledge Center

Understanding Religions

A comparative, source-transparent environment for exploring how religious and non-religious worldviews understand reality, human life and society.

Explore fifteen independent profiles through shared questions, timelines, everyday and public life, dialogue and visible sources. Every comparison states its limits.

Work in Progress · Open to Contribution

Understanding Religions interactive Comparison Lab
Interactive comparison lab · fifteen profiles · eighteen research views
Florence · The Arab Majlis · A contemporary House of Wisdom

Convening & Culture

Where worlds meet.

Contemporary Bayt al-Hikma is the Forum’s convening and cultural component, bringing people, disciplines, generations and traditions into encounter.

Grounded in historical memory, it creates space for dialogue, translation, cultural expression and collective inquiry without erasing difference or conflict.

Encounters That Shaped the Journey

Ideas grow
through encounters.

A selective record of conversations that informed the Forum’s intellectual journey. Inclusion does not imply endorsement, partnership or participation.

Fireside with Mark Carney and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal

Dialogue · Florence

Fireside with Mark Carney and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal

Jane Goodall

Encounter

Jane Goodall

Christine Lagarde

Conversation

Christine Lagarde

Muhammad Yunus

Encounter

Muhammad Yunus

Edgar Morin

Intellectual inspiration · public portrait

Edgar Morin

Initiatives & Practice

From understanding to contextual practice.

The Forum connects knowledge and experience to make complexity more understandable and navigable. It helps people and institutions examine relationships, assumptions and consequences before deciding how to act.

People and institutions retain responsibility for their decisions and actions. The Humanistic Transformation Framework supports the design, learning and evaluation of initiatives in their own contexts.

An intergenerational learning circle in dialogue
Learning through dialogue, complexity and shared inquiry.

Education

Connect knowledge, dialogue and reflection to strengthen judgment and responsibility. Learning is designed to reveal relationships across disciplines, cultures and lived experience.

Institutional Learning

Help institutions examine assumptions, relationships and consequences across professional boundaries. Shared inquiry supports more reflective learning across roles and sectors.

Systems Practice

Map interdependencies, identify leverage points and test responses in context. The aim is to make complex relationships more visible before action is taken.

Initiative Design & Learning

Develop explicit theories of change, evidence plans and cycles of adaptation. Assumptions, responsibilities and learning questions remain visible throughout the work.

Stewardship & Public Purpose

Built to serve. Designed to collaborate.

The World Humanism Forum was conceived and initially funded by Claudio Pedretti, who serves as its founder and steward. Horizon Strategies is its current strategic and technical development partner.

The Forum is being developed in the public interest. It is designed to complement, not compete with, universities, foundations, research centres, cultural institutions, international organisations and public bodies.

Its contribution is a method, knowledge-navigation tools and convening capacity that partners can test, adapt and strengthen within their own mandates and contexts. Decisions and actions remain the autonomous responsibility of the people and institutions involved.

Dear Edgar: A Renewed Humanism by Claudio Pedretti

The Book

Dear Edgar: A Renewed Humanism

By Claudio Pedretti · With a preface by Edgar Morin

A philosophical and autobiographical inquiry into how we understand the world, love other people and answer for the consequences of our actions.

Discover the book →

Theory of Change

From polycrisis to epistemic agency.

The Forum brings together historical inspiration, complex thought, contemporary technology and Planetary Humanism through Contemporary Bayt al-Hikma and Bayt al-Hikma Tools.

What emerges is a public pathway from fragmented knowledge to more conscious human judgement, autonomous decisions and experiential learning.

Open the full flow diagram →

How the World Humanism Forum responds to the polycrisis

The problem

POLYCRISIS

Institutional response

WORLD HUMANISM FORUM

Four foundational ingredients

Bayt al-HikmaThe House of Wisdom
MethodEdgar Morin
ToolArtificial Intelligence
PurposePlanetary Humanism

Knowledge Center

TOOL FOR NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY

People and institutions

AUTONOMOUS DECISIONS & ACTIONS

Responsibility remains human and contextual.

Experience, evidence and consequences may return as feedback and correction.

The Knowledge Center supports understanding; decisions and actions remain with people and institutions.

Take part

Help build the Forum.

Bring a question, a source or a proposal. Choose a starting point and tell us how you would like to contribute.

Scientific review

Review a source, challenge an interpretation or contribute specialist knowledge.

Offer your expertise →

Educational collaboration

Discuss how the research tools could support teaching or a learning project.

Discuss education →