We are facing a multi-dimensional, civilization crisis that not only threatens the continuity of the modern/colonial western, capitalist civilization and of life as we know it on this planet. It is also rooted in foundational assumptions of this civilization: Anthropocentrism, patriarchy, coloniality and racism, a linear understanding of history associated with the promise of permanent progress, and a blind faith that western science and technology will provide the solutions to all the challenges we face. In response, the Global Working Group Beyond Development is a transdisciplinary network of researchers, activists and popular educators that serves as a critical space for transformative knowledge production around systemic alternatives. Recognising that solutions cannot emerge from the systems that created the crisis, we bridged diverse knowledges from the Global South and North to challenge hegemonic narratives and strengthen alternatives that restore relations with nature, deepen democracy, and reclaim peoples’ power to shape their futures.