"When I first heard of Mission Earth First and the amazing ideas that were being brought forward, I felt inspired, to say the least. I believe that human curiosity is one of the main drivers of creativity, and creativity, in its turn when used wisely, is one of the main drivers of progress. Interestingly, and I would almost say obviously, history has shown that times of crisis (war, famine or natural catastrophes) bring about creativity in a more intense and focused manner. I suppose because resources become scarce and we have to do what we have at hand. Outer-space makes such conditions for humans into "daily-business", and limited resources, materials, space and form become key elements of the equation. The solutions and ideas from such scenarios are quite impressive and mind-blowing even. Of course, these new solutions bring smarter ways of using our ever-increasingly sparse space and traditional resources here on our beautiful Earth. Focusing on the smarter use of our underground spaces, especially in cities, makes me hopeful. The remarkable ideas explored and explained in books such as "Underground Spaces Unveiled" by Antonia Cornaro and Han Admiraal truly excite me. They make me dream of possibilities yet to be added to their collection.

The Tree of Hope was born from the idea that in order to thrive, trees not only make the most of the sun, air and rain they get from above but also the minerals and sugars they absorb through their roots with the help of fungi, bacteria and microbes, as explained in this article by Harvard scientists: "When nearby Fir trees were covered by shaded cloth, to block their ability to acquire nutrients through photosynthesis, scientists found (…) that trees are indeed communicating with each other and sharing nutrients through their roots, forming a complex system sometimes referred to as the "wood wide web." " Amazing! Don't you think? Such discoveries give me incredible hope for the future. Sharpening our understanding of Earth (and our companions on it, such as our tree friends) and how they have evolved to make the most of what is available. Especially in times of crisis, it will be our best strategy out of this climate change situation we've gotten ourselves into.

In short, the idea of making our growth as humankind thrives through optimizing resources not only from the obvious places but also looking at what is available to us holistically, like trees do, was the inspiration for the Tree of Hope created for Mission Earth First. I hope this symbolic tree will prove more than fruitful."

Please send us a motivation letter on how you can help us to engage in new ecosystems — picture and statement (100 Words).