The Open Center has, for over 2 decades, never wavered in its commitment to presenting a wide range of leading-edge programs (from lectures to discussions to major conferences) on many of the most crucial environmental, socio-political and cultural issues of our era. These have included, to mention only a tiny handful, one of the very first conferences on rainforest protection in the 1980s, a recent first-ever "teach-in" on understanding the Dominionist ideologies of the Christian far-right, and the groundbreaking Eco-Metropolis conferences, which highlighted New York's potential as a green city. Each trimester at the Open Center, you will find a number of programs by leading incisive thinkers, offering uniquely holistic, in-depth, sophisticated viewpoints on critically important current events and trends.

The Open Center is deeply committed to the active role of holistic and ecological ideas in transforming contemporary society and culture. Our vision is that the current awakening of spiritual values in American society will lead to fundamental changes in social, environmental, economic, technological, and even political behavior. To this end, the Open Center has offered, since its inception, numerous programs on such themes as spiritual ecology and environmental activism.