Multimodal Communication focuses on communicating effectively by sizing up the situation based on the target audience and context. Big History, as a powerful narrative, can also learn from Multimodal Communication. Big History provides learners a mnemonic to understand and remember details of science and history from the Big Bang to the complexity of the future. However, in pragmatic environments, such as most East Asian countries, students learn for the purpose of achieving better exam scores, while lifelong learners learn for the purpose of getting a raise or a promotion. Against this backdrop, we propose a new learning objective of ‘making the world relevant again’ and adopt effective Multimodal Communication strategies to help learners achieve these goals. This panel explores different Big History education practices in Taiwan, including applying VR/AR technology and art for high schoolers, adopting problem-solving competency training with Big History scenarios for lifelong learners, and employing the self-organizing system and emergence theory to guide organizational change for business leaders.

Education can take place in many venues and in many styles. Our panellists describe innovations they have pioneered in England, Japan and India with their expanded views of human existence. Their surroundings have included city streets, island nature preserves, and historical panoramas. Share their joy of opening young minds to the cosmos within and around them.

How does RNA, bacteria, humanity and society fit together? How does Earth life link to life on exoplanets? This presentation discusses the advances in understanding the grand scheme of the cosmos and our place in it.

Geology is much more than layers of rocks and building materials. It impacts our daily lives in many amazing ways. Our panellists look at this earthly tableau from the perspectives of medieval Venetian gemstones from the Silk Roads, a 4000-year-old tradition of fashioning Harappan beads in the ancient Indus watershed, and a tectonic mystery in the North Pacific that prepares us for immanent catastrophe. You will never look at that stone between your toes the same again.

Was Sigmund Freud correct when he said that the two sources of meaning for humans are love and work? We propose to update his idea by including play and community to form an integrated approach. Although essential to a flourishing life, the notions of love, play and community are often undervalued in the world’s increasingly competitive and technological modern cultures. We view love as caring for self, family, community and the universe; play as a catalyst for joy, empowerment and healing; and community as interconnected belonging. We explore how we can create a more sustainable, compassionate and mutually beneficial world where all can thrive. The expansion and deepening of these sources contribute to the co-evolution of the human species as we create a vibrant Earth community through the lens of Big History.