Most fields of human knowledge are growing at a phenomenal rate, disrupting long-established patterns of human activity and shifting entire belief systems in their wake. Yet, for many people, the future seems to have been colonised already - dominated by the consequences of industrial economism.

Spawned and nurtured in the factories of 18th century Europe before migrating to the US, this system now dictates capitalist thinking and practice. Furthermore, helped by state propaganda and a dumbed down media, it still goes relatively unchallenged. It is the crux of the West's political and economic power.

While industrial economism has brought greater material wealth to many, there is an enormous downside to all of this that is potentially catastrophic. For this paradigm, with which we are entranced and pursue with such vigour, has led to a situation where non-western thought is habitually dismissed or denigrated as inconsequential, and where a few wealthy individuals, corporations and nations continue to prosper at the expense of the impoverished majority. Even our continued existence on this planet is now under threat, so toxic has its system of global monetocracy become.

Most of the knowledge we consider valuable has been created within the context of this window on the world - a system of assumptions and beliefs where the accumulation of wealth, materialism and economic progress is rewarded and where other knowledge is reduced to sterile, utilitarian norms.

It does not have to be like that. We can choose for it to be different - if we have a mind to. But if the world is to become one of peace, prosperity and abundance for all, it is absolutely vital that the knowledge we value arises not from a small elite within society, but from the rich diversity and milieu of global cultural interaction.

In this context, no single individual, organization or institution can hope to know much about about anything. Even possessing the most sophisticated methods, brilliant intellects, and superlative technologies, cannot quarantine us from the ingrained assumptions and constraints inherent within a particular worldview. Indeed, this is one of the reasons why the world's most pressing geopolitical issues (the hot spots of Kashmir, Zimbabwe, Burma, Tibet, Afghanistan, North Korea and the Middle East) remain unresolved.

In order to try and avoid such narrow, hedonistic worldviews and to help break out of the mind traps that constantly threaten to overwhelm good intentions, the AFI capitalises on uncommon thinking wherever it can be found, deliberately seeking remarkable individuals and alternative networks where new ideas can ferment and incubate.

Our aim is to connect people, ideas and expressions from all domains of human knowledge into an integral, systemic wisdom, from which fresh insights and practices can emerge. In this way they hope to anticipate further ahead, appreciate complex dynamics, and respond to opportunities, faster than most.

Consequently, collaborative relationships with those who share these principles and ideals are vital. The following list comprises an evolving coalition of those with whom we have developed, or are developing, key relationships, as well as those with whom we would appear to have a natural affinity. The list will grow over time.