The essay examines the key points of Pope Francis' 2015 Encyclical, Laudato Si'. It pays particular attention to the influence of the spiritual heritage of St. Francis of Assisi on the position of the Catholic Church on environmental issues. The concept of ecological spirituality is revealed. The important role of the arts and aesthetic experience in the spiritual heritage of St. Francis is shown. The correlations between the phenomenology of the creative process, poiesis, considered from the standpoint of expressive arts and therapy and the structure of Lectio Divina (divine reading in Latin) are shown.

Representatives of different countries are increasingly cooperating to determine the essence of ecological civilization and the ways to build it. One confirmation of this is the number of articles presented in this issue of our journal, the authors of which are specialists from Australia, China and the United States of America. These articles are a reflection of attempts at interdisciplinary understanding of ecological civilization from the positions of ecology, philosophy, anthropology, political science and other sciences. The topic of ecological civilization was previously touched upon in the previous issue of our journal through the publication of an interview with John Cobb and a report on the 16th International Forum on Ecological Civilization and the 5th International Youth Forum on Ecological Civilization.

An ecological civilization represents an exciting potential future of human flourishing on a regenerated Earth. It would require a transformation of our current economy, politics, and mainstream culture, leading to a fundamentally different civilization based of different values, goals, and collective behavior. An ecological civilization arises from modeling human society on nature’s wisdom—the same core principles that have kept natural ecologies healthy and resilient over millions of years. It is a vision inspired by life-affirming groups worldwide—Indigenous, political, community-based, and spiritual. While it’s visionary and seems a long way off, it may be closer than many people realize.

For all of its numerous benefits, modernization is a double-edged sword. After wholeheartedly embracing Western-style modernization in the 20^th and 21^st centuries, China has achieved astonishing world-renowned achievements, most notably in terms of its rapid economic growth and development. However, contemporary China has had to cope with many of the bitter aftertastes of the pill of modernization, especially in regards to the serious ecological crisis faced by most developed countries. In order to avoid the fate of self-destruction of both China and the wider world, a new civilization—ecological civilization—is needed. Organic-process thinking can provide a theoretical framework for such an ecological civilization. Although China has made great efforts thus far to create such an ecological civilization, the road toward building one is long and difficult, as there is a great deal of obstacles that must be overcome to reach this goal.

This essay by Beverley A'Court, describing therapeutic interactions with animals, is part of the continuing response to our invitation to share the experience of human – animal bonds. Interactions with local wildlife during author’s outdoor art therapy sessions over the past 25 years provided an opportunity to learn more about both the animals themselves and the role of field phenomena in art therapy. This essay is an informal exploration of the author’s observations of the impacts of animal encounters on clients. She identifies some theoretical and practical questions that arise when we include the spontaneous, active participation of animals and nature in the therapeutic process. She concludes that ecological therapies, with their holistic paradigm may develop ecological sensitivity and awareness in clients beyond their personal recovery from symptoms of trauma, for wider collective benefit.