Talk @ Life Improvement Science conference 2021

Talk: Evolving a more prosocial world Through cooperation and psychological flexibility Developments across a number of human science disciplines in the last decades have provided insight into the conditions and behaviors that influence valued outcomes such as sustainability, prosociality, and well-being. Three scientific trends in particular have relevance for the development of a Life Improvement Science. First, an emerging transdisciplinary understanding of evolutionary science helps us to view individuals, groups, and larger societies as systems, changing and adapting behaviors and cultures through evolutionary processes that span across levels, and can have various outcomes regarding the things that individuals and communities might care about. Second, the transdisciplinary area of cooperation science studies cooperation dynamics across biology, ecology, psychology, economics and political science. In particular the work of political scientist Elinor Ostrom showed that cooperation and prosociality towards sustainable resource use tend to be promoted across cultures and settings only under certain social conditions, and is hindered when these conditions are not met. Hence, well-doing and prosociality are predicted to occur – to evolve through (cultural and behavioral) evolutionary processes – under conditions such as having a shared sense of identity and shared values, equity, transparency, and autonomy. Third, the field of contextual behavioral science has advanced an evidenced approach to mental health called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is part of the so-called third wave of behavioral interventions, with a focus on core cognitive processes such as acceptance and mindfulness, values clarification, and action in line with values. The interactions of these processes within individuals and groups tend to promote psychological flexibility, or the capacity to move towards valued outcomes even in the face of difficult or challenging internal experiences and circumstances. Together, these fields have the potential to inform interventions that foster well-doing across a range of contexts. In this talk, we give an overview of how these fields have been integrated in the context of the Prosocial ARC process, an approach aimed at catalyzing prosocial behavior and culture change to consciously evolve who we are, how we connect with each other, and how we interact with the planet. The Prosocial ARC process is a development by Prosocial World, a global U.S. based non-profit organization and applied research community that is eager to connect and work on the topic of Life Improvement Science. The talk will also give an overview of the current scope, research aims, and network development of the Prosocial World community and how it relates to Life Improvement Science. In particular, we highlight examples of how Prosocial is being implemented towards evolving schools as places for well-doing and life improvement.

Events

Upcoming Events

Presentation/Panel discussion @ ISHPSSB 2025 in Porto, Portugal

Poster presentation @ Symposium Computersimulations in STEM education (Project siMINT)

Past Events

Workshop “Computersimulationen zu Evolution und Nachhaltigkeit” @ 31. Tage des mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Unterrichts

Fortbildung: Menschliches Verhalten als fächerverbindendes/ -übergreifendes Thema in der Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung

Fortbildung: Menschliche Evolution und Verhaltensökologie

Workshop: Evolutionäre Perspektiven zu nachhaltigem Verhalten @ Hessen Fachtag Abenteuer Naturwissenschaften

Workshop: Computersimulation zu Evolution und Nachhaltigkeit @ Hessenweiter Fachtag Abenteuer Naturwissenschaften

Workshop: Computersimulationen zu Evolution und Nachhaltigkeit @ 114. MNU Bundeskongress

Network Meet-up @ Learning Planet Festival 2024

Workshop: Computersimulationen zu Evolution und Nachhaltigkeit @ 4. Mitteldeutscher MINT-Kongress für Lehrkräfte

Talk: Understanding agency in evolution education @ FDdB-Tagung 2023 Ludwigsburg

Workshop: A school fit for humans? @Learning Planet Festival 2023

Human Behavior & Climate Action. Climate Classroom @COP27

7. TUD-Sylber-Konferenz “Lehrkräftebildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung”

Workshop: Teaching human behavior as an interdisciplinary theme. Integrating concepts of contextual behavioral science in K-12 education @ ACT2022 conference Poznan, Poland

Workshop: Evolving Interdisciplinarity in Evolution Education: A Problem or Opportunity for Our Field? (EvoKE Conference, Barcelona)

Workshop: Prosocial Konzepte und Methoden für die Förderung von menschlichem Wohlbefinden und Zusammenarbeit @ Seminar “Vom Wissen zum Handeln”

Workshop: Evolutionary Thinking Across Disciplines. Problems and Perspectives in Generalized Darwinism

Vortrag “Verhaltensänderung und Zusammenarbeit in Lehr- und Lernprozessen fördern mit dem Prosocial-Ansatz” @ Resilienztage HTWK

Talk @ Life Improvement Science conference 2021

Why is human behaviour at the center of education? | Dustin Eirdosh | TEDxLeipzigInternationalSchool

The science behind sustainable behaviors – ISTE Global Collaboration Network Webinar

Imprint