Study after study indicates that if humanity continues on its current path, a confluence of severe global stresses—environmental, demographic, economic, political, and technological—will cause devastating harm in coming decades. These stresses will disrupt vital natural systems, cripple economies, deepen social divisions, and ultimately generate widespread violence and societal breakdown.

The Cascade Institute is designed to address this emerging crisis. It identifies high-leverage intervention points in cognitive, institutional, and technological systems that, if effectively exploited, could shift global civilization away from a path that leads to calamity and towards one that leads to fair and sustainable prosperity.

Its unabashedly bold goal is to trigger a fundamental, positive, and rapid change in humanity’s trajectory.

When fully operational, the Institute’s work will be conducted by a carefully selected team of the world’s best complex-systems scientists, including experts in nonlinear change in social and cultural systems. Emphasizing analytical quality and speed, the Institute disseminates critical findings internationally through targeted briefings to senior decisionmakers in the public, private, non-profit, and faith sectors; on-site training in intervention strategies for mid-career professionals, practitioners, and community leaders; publication of peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals; public outreach events; and a full suite of media platforms for knowledge translation and social engagement.

Located at Royal Roads University in British Columbia, the Institute acts as a network hub and catalyst among scientifically aligned research institutes around the world, helping to draw together, focus, and amplify the expertise in these affiliated institutes.