Barbara Marx Hubbard’s Vision of a “Peace Room” and the Wheel of Co-Creation

Conscious Evolution as the Foundation

Barbara Marx Hubbard’s Peace Room is rooted in her philosophy of conscious evolution – the idea that humanity can participate in and guide its own evolutionary progress. She observed that while society faces mounting crises (wars, environmental breakdown, social injustice), it simultaneously generates countless positive innovations and “improved mutations” in every field. In Hubbard’s view, evolution itself tends toward higher complexity, greater freedom, and more synergistic order – values she believed humanity must consciously embrace to avoid chaos. The Peace Room was conceived as a new social function to “facilitate the nonlinear interaction of positive social innovations” so that society can “repattern to a more harmonious order” instead of falling into catastrophe. In short, Hubbard’s Peace Room is an instrument for peace through co-creation, reflecting her conviction that true peace emerges from the “full expression of human creativity in cooperation with nature, with one another, and with the deeper design of evolution”.

An Evolutionary Alternative to the War Room

Hubbard deliberately likened the Peace Room to a war room – but with an evolutionary twist. Just as a war room is a high-level command center that tracks enemies and coordinates strategies for conflict, the Peace Room would be an equally sophisticated command center for peace. Rather than mapping threats and tactics of destruction, it would identify, map, connect, and communicate “our successes, breakthroughs, and models that work” in the world. Hubbard emphasized that “peace,” in this context, was not merely conflict resolution, but “peace through co‐creation” – achieved by aligning human creative potential with the processes of nature and evolution.

Importantly, Hubbard envisioned the Peace Room as an official societal function at the highest levels of leadership. During her 1984 “Campaign for a Positive Future,” she proposed establishing an “Office for the Future” (interchangeably called a Peace Room) under the U.S. Vice President. This Office/Peace Room would be charged with “synergistic coordination of everything that is working toward a viable, sustainable, evolvable world,” effectively making the Vice President’s office a hub of future-oriented innovation rather than a largely ceremonial post. She even declared that, as Vice President, she would set up a Peace Room in the White House and ask every national ambassador to create a Peace Room in their country – with the bold goal that “within four years, we would find out what is working in the world”. This illustrates Hubbard’s original intent: the Peace Room was to be a tangible institutional mechanism, as serious and well-resourced as a war room, but dedicated to evolving the world toward peace and prosperity.

The Wheel of Co-Creation: Mapping the “Social Body”

Central to Hubbard’s Peace Room vision is the Wheel of Co-Creation, a whole-systems framework for mapping and activating social innovation. She invites us to imagine society as a “social body” with various vital organs or functions – health, education, environment, governance, arts, science, etc.. In the 1970s Hubbard teamed up with Avon Mattison (who had developed a “Peace Wheel” model) to refine this idea into the Wheel of Co-Creation. The Wheel is depicted as a circle divided into twelve key sectors of social life, each representing a domain of human activity necessary for a healthy society (for example: Infrastructure, Justice, Media, Relations, Science, Spirituality, Arts, Economics, Education, Environment, Governance, and Health). By “offering a visible matrix of the emerging social body”, the Wheel provides a way to see all the separate positive initiatives as parts of a larger whole.

Hubbard explained that the Wheel of Co-Creation is one of the “best ways to bring the Peace Room’s ideals to life”, because it serves as a map for synergistic convergence – a tool to identify where breakthroughs are happening and how they fit together in the broader evolutionary story. In practice, Hubbard imagined populating the Wheel with real-world projects and innovations: it would become “a vast internet repository of organizations and initiatives divided into these twelve sectors,” where change-makers could “place their innovations in the sectors where they fit best.” In this way, the normally fragmented “points of light” – individual acts of innovation – would be aggregated to reveal “the pattern and design of what works” at the whole-system level. Hubbard describes how, as this mapping proceeds, “the anatomy of the social body would emerge” and we would begin to see “a picture of the emerging world” take shape.

Crucially, the Wheel is not just a static map – it’s a guide for social synergy and conscious evolution. By viewing all sectors simultaneously, one can spot overlaps, complementarities, and gaps, fostering connections across domains. Hubbard noted that when separate innovations are seen in context, “the apparent chaos of social change [becomes] coherent”, as each initiative finds its natural place in the larger pattern. She often used the metaphor of the rose window in Chartres Cathedral: each piece of glass by itself seems isolated, but when arranged in the whole pattern it forms a magnificent design. Likewise, “each act alone may seem unimportant or random, but when allowed to self-organize as part of a living system, each act finds its natural place within the social body and is thereby seen to be a vital and even sacred part of the whole”. In other words, the Wheel of Co-Creation helps reveal the “design of evolution” unfolding through our collective efforts. This reflects Hubbard’s deep belief that we are birthing a new stage of human society – one in which individuals discover their “unique place within the evolving system” by joining their creative contributions to the larger whole.

In Hubbard’s original presentations, she gave concrete examples of the Wheel in action. During a 1976 “Synergistic Convergence” conference (SYNCON) in Washington, D.C., her team actually mapped callers’ reported social innovations onto a large Wheel/needs chart in real time. As people phoned in their projects from around the country, each was placed in the appropriate sector and level of need. The result was revelatory: “the whole social system was evolving in a coherent way” before their eyes, as isolated initiatives formed a connected mosaic of progress. “The apparent chaos of social change became coherent when the separate items were placed where they fit,” Hubbard recounts. This experiment demonstrated her Peace Room concept – showing that when we track “what works” society-wide, patterns of emergence become visible and collaboration can follow.

Notably, the Wheel’s design also incorporates a central hub, which Hubbard imbued with spiritual and evolutionary significance. The hub (the “center of the Wheel”) represents the point of convergence and collective insight – effectively, the heart of the Peace Room. She described the hub as “the space for nonlinear, exponential interaction among innovating elements,” a dynamic center where breakthroughs from all sectors cross-fertilize and new synergies arise naturally. It is, she wrote, a “convergence zone for what works…an arena for synthesis and fusion of genius” that allows the “design of social synergy” to be divined. Symbolically, Hubbard saw this hub as a sacred space – “a temple for the templates, the models that work” – where the “invisible force” of Spirit can enter. In her words, “At the center of the Wheel dwells Spirit — the invisible force that connects us in the web of life itself. The center symbolizes a new sacred space, an inner Peace Room where we come to the still point within ourselves, embodying the unmanifest field of all possibilities.”. Thus, the Wheel of Co-Creation was not only a practical mapping tool but also a philosophical and spiritual model: it reflects Hubbard’s view that as we co-create for the good of the whole, we tap into a higher consciousness (Spirit) that guides our evolution. The Wheel’s hub is, in essence, the consciousness center of the Peace Room, where innovators find coherence with each other and with the larger evolutionary process.

How the Peace Room Operates in Practice

Barbara Marx Hubbard outlined four core functions for the Peace Room (Office for the Future) to fulfill its mission as an evolutionary catalyst:

• 1 Scanning for Breakthroughs: “The office would scan for breakthroughs in all fields” – from health and education to science, governance, business, arts, community, and beyond. In Hubbard’s vision, Peace Room staff (and citizen participants) would continually identify new ideas, inventions, and successful projects that improve life or “create a more life-enhancing world”. No innovation was too small or local; “small acts to great projects would be noted.” She imagined a network of community-based “scanning” centers and Peace Room ambassadors worldwide, all feeding information into the central Peace Room. In the 1970s and ’80s, this had to be done via human networks, but Hubbard later acknowledged that global scanning of “what works” would be vastly empowered by internet technology. The key point is that the Peace Room operates on “affirmative focus”: actively seeking out the best solutions and creative ideas emerging anywhere on Earth, rather than fixating on problems or enemies. As one colleague summarized, “affirmative competence is the key to the self-organizing system”, meaning that by amplifying positive imagery and success stories, the Peace Room would help society self-organize around those ideals.
• 2 Mapping Innovations: Once innovations are identified, the Peace Room would “map these innovations according to function and geography to discover the pattern and design of what works”. In other words, every new solution or project gets placed onto the Wheel of Co-Creation (and on world maps) in its relevant sector and location. By doing so, the Peace Room reveals the “anatomy of the social body” – a live map of societal evolution showing which needs are being met and where. Hubbard envisioned “large maps and graphs in the White House” Peace Room, dynamically updated with incoming data on what people are doing that works. This mapping function enables pattern-recognition: it allows leaders and citizens to see the bigger picture of progress. For example, in the Education sector, one could cluster all projects dealing with gifted children, lifelong learning, emotional development, etc., until “we could actually see what is working in each precise function of the social body”. The mapping also highlights synergies and gaps – one can spot where innovations in different sectors align toward a common goal, or where critical needs lack adequate solutions. The ultimate goal is to illuminate “the emerging world” – essentially a blueprint of a future society that is organically forming through positive initiatives. Hubbard stressed that this plan of action “unfolds based on what is already working,” implying that the Peace Room would inform strategic decisions by building on proven successes rather than abstract theories. (Her SYNCON demonstration in 1976, cited earlier, was a proof of concept for this mapping approach – turning scattered innovations into a coherent visual plan.)
• 3 Connecting Co-Creators: The Peace Room would actively connect people, projects, and resources to foster greater cooperation and “social synergy.” Hubbard described this as “a powerful, upgraded networking function to help social innovators make vital connections needed with others.” Many innovators operate in isolation; the Peace Room would serve as a hub to bring them together around shared goals. By finding one’s natural teammates and complementary projects, “the deep human desire to relate, to connect, to join our genius is satisfied”, Hubbard wrote. This function reflects her belief that co-creation is mutually empowering: “Cocreation does not mean service at the sacrifice of self; it means service through the actualization of self.” In practical terms, the Peace Room might host forums, “synergy summits,” or databases where innovators in each sector (and across sectors) can find each other and collaborate. By joining efforts, individuals also discover their vocation and purpose in the larger scheme, which Hubbard saw as a key to both personal fulfillment and community well-being. In essence, this networking turns isolated positive projects into an integrated “community of co-creators,” building what she called a “social potential movement” of people collectively advancing evolution.
• 4 Communicating Success Stories: Finally, the Peace Room would broadcast and celebrate what is working, inspiring the public and inviting broader participation. Hubbard proposed a regular media output – for example, “a weekly broadcast from the White House – ‘What Works in America’” – showcasing model projects and breakthroughs. This proactive media would report “news of the possible”: concrete solutions and creative innovations, rather than the usual news of crises and conflicts. By highlighting positive developments, the Peace Room’s communications aim to shift societal focus from problems to potential. Hubbard believed this would spark a chain reaction of hope and engagement: people would hear these stories and be moved to “join projects, start new projects, find their life purpose and come together to create the works needed for the future of the human family.” In other words, telling the stories of successful co-creators not only informs, but also enrolls others in the evolutionary journey. She predicted that volunteerism and civic participation would “come alive” as people see that their contributions matter and are part of a larger, meaningful picture. By saturating the culture with evidence of effective change, the Peace Room’s communications would build a narrative of potential that competes with, and can transform, the prevailing narrative of fear and scarcity.

Through these four functions – scanning, mapping, connecting, and communicating – Hubbard’s Peace Room constitutes a holistic process for social evolution. It takes on tasks no traditional war room or government department ever attempted: to systematically chart the growth of peace, to coordinate innovation across all sectors, and to actively nurture the emergence of a better civilization. All of this was, in Hubbard’s conception, “in alignment with the deeper design of evolution”. In fact, she saw the Peace Room/Wheel system as a modern way to cooperate with the universe’s 13.8-billion-year developmental trajectory. By consciously selecting and supporting life-enhancing innovations (what she sometimes called “Golden Innovations” – those with potential to transform an entire system), humanity could accelerate a positive future. Hubbard often summarized the Peace Room’s purpose as discovering “what is working in the world” and then amplifying it – a succinct description of her mission to foster conscious evolution.

Conclusion: Hubbard’s Original Vision

Barbara Marx Hubbard’s original vision of the Peace Room was bold, idealistic, yet highly practical in its methodology. Philosophically, it rests on the conviction that we are birthing a new era of humanity – an era of conscious, collaborative evolution guided by our highest creativity and spiritual wisdom. The Peace Room was to be the evolutionary counterpoint to the war room, demonstrating that monitoring and magnifying human goodness can be as strategic and effective as military planning. In her writings and teachings, Hubbard presented the Peace Room and its Wheel of Co-Creation as the nucleus of an emerging “planetary acupuncturist”: pinpointing where the healing, transformative energies are rising and linking them into a coherent force. By mapping the “social DNA” of a hopeful future and empowering people to synchronize their efforts, the Peace Room would help shift humanity from multiply divided to multiply connected. Hubbard’s own words best capture this intent: the Peace Room would “identify, map, connect, and communicate” all that is working, “liberating the creativity of people everywhere” toward a peaceful, sustainable, co-created world. In essence, her vision was to replace the fear-driven paradigm of war rooms with a love-driven “syntegration” of solutions – a living system evolving by conscious choice. This was Barbara Marx Hubbard’s unique contribution: a template for a collective “office of the future” where conscious evolution becomes an organizing principle for society, turning the ideal of peace into an active, trackable, and scalable process of co-creation.

Sources: Hubbard, Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential; Hubbard, Campaign for a Positive Future speeches/interviews. (All quotes and ideas are drawn from Barbara Marx Hubbard’s own writings and teachings.)