Trailer
Course modules
Relating & Relationships
How we come to relate to ourselves, others and the more-than-human creates the context from where our actions, beliefs and attitudes arise. In the first module, we dive into relating. We explore practices, ways of being and ways of knowing that allow us to come into deeper relationship with Life. With Pat McCabe (thriving life design), Merlin Sheldrake (microbiologist & author of Entangled Life), Riane Eisler (cultural historian & systems scientist).
Food & Farming
A holistic approach to personal, social and ecological wellbeing must explore not only the kind of food we eat but, more importantly, the way in which our food is grown and produced. Industrial agriculture is destroying the health of people and the planet. What are the solutions? With Dr Vandana Shiva (physicist, anti-globalisation and seed sovereignty activist & author), Brooke Bridges (founder of Storytelling for Social Emotional Learning), Jyoti Fernandes (Via Campesina and Land Workers Alliance), Ian Solomon-Kawall (Freedom Teacher Guide & May Project Gardens), Amber Tamm (Farmer and Healer), Josina Calliste (Land In Our Names, LION), Kos Gangsters, Dee Woods (Granville Community Kitchen).
New Economies
Many of us think about economics as men in suits on Wall Street or Politicians arguing about money, but the economy is inextricable from social and environmental justice and interconnects us all. It is present in almost every element of our lives and dominates global culture and society. In this module, we break down what ‘the economy’ is really all about and what ‘new economies’ would entail, and develop the powerful knowledge needed to answer back the next time someone says “we can’t afford a green new deal”! With Alnoor Ladha (Sufi, The Rules & Culture Hack), Jason Hickel (author & economic anthropologist), Helena Norberg-Hodge (Local Futures & Economics of Happiness), Camila Moreno (Heinrich Böll Stiftung), Shaun Chamberlin (Transition Towns & Fleming Policy Centre).
Depression, Addiction & The Shadow
For many of us, addictive behaviours and depression play a critical role in the way we, or our loved ones, experience life. In Module Four, we will explore the shadow, the trickster, depression and addiction. How can we be gentle with and in touch with the less-comfortable aspects of our being? How can we adapt the way we come to relate, or cling, to things that cause us suffering? How can we become curious and aware of depressive tendencies without pathologising these states of being? With Bayo Akomolafe (author, speaker, lecturer), Lyla June (Indigenous environmental scientist, educator, and musician), Jay Griffiths (author), Colin Dunsmuir (yoga therapist, author).
Death & Grief
How do we collectively and individually hold death? What effect does the modern day's "War on Death" have on our personal and collective psyche and our ability to feel truly alive? How does this denial affect the way we treat the natural living world? In this module, we explore the place of death and how we can come to honour death, holding it in a light way. With Charles Eisenstein (author and speaker on anti-consumerism, interdependence, and how myth and narrative influence culture), Stephen Jenkinson (death doula, elder, teacher, author, storyteller, spiritual activist, farmer and founder of the Orphan Wisdom School), Kaira Jewel Lingo (mindfulness teacher, mentor, dharma teacher), Colin Campbell (practitioner of traditional African medicine), and Selena King (death doula).
Embodiment, Movement & Trauma
Somatics is the study of the soma, a Greek word that means "the living organism in its wholeness". It is a methodology for transformation that helps us understand that change doesn't come simply from thinking differently. The process involves shifting what we understand, what we can feel, and what we practice, reconnecting us with the incredible data and resilience of the body. In this module, we dive into the poetics of the body for a month of embodiment and movement. We explore how can we move beyond short-term and talk-based therapies into lifelong personal and social evolution through trusting and following body states. We investigate how somatics relates to social justice. With Sister Euphrasia Nyaki (psychotherapist/holistic healer in northern Brazil), Dr Christine Caldwell PDH (Bodyfulness, founder of and professor emeritus in the Somatic Counseling Program at Naropa University), Rae Johnson (PhD, RSMT, BCC, a queer-identified scholar working at the intersection of somatic studies and social justice), Ra Vuyi Quebeka (multidimensional storyteller and sangoma/healer).
Consciousness, Spirituality & Meditation
If we haven't cultivated mindfulness in our attention, how do we ever expect to break out of the cycle of crises response? Meditative practices are instrumental to catalysing harmonious change on both a personal and collective level. Through mindfulness and meditation we can deepen our ecological connection and cultivate the clarity we need to navigate these times of uncertainty and change. We explore consciousness, the science of spiritual practices and meditation. With Dr Rupert Sheldrake PHD (scientist, biologist and author), Matthew Fox (spiritual theologian, Episcopal priest and activist for gender justice and eco-justice), Satish Kumar (peace activist, pilgrim and author), Dr Sam Gandy (Psychedelic researcher, Beckley Foundation and Imperial College London).
Myth, Story & Imagination
In a world of divisions and polarisation, shared stories allow us to come together, shift narrative, hack culture and truly drive change. In Module Eight, we will be joined by mythologists and storytellers to delve into the mythic imagination. With Sharon Blackie (an award-winning author, psychologist, and mythologist with a specialisation in Celtic Studies), Carolyn Hillyer (musician and artist), Colin Campbell (practitioner of traditional African medicine), Andreas Kornevall (author).
Reimagining Activisms
How can we re-imagine "activisms" and transform our methods and attitudes to ensure both inner and outer transformation? How can we expand our understanding of who we are and where we are, whilst building cross-movement solidarity and co-creating transformative societal change? How can we unite, within and without? For our final module, we gather our learnings to investigate how we can participate in co-creating a world that thrives with joy and celebration. With Brontë Velez (works in urban gardening and social justice, with an intention to compost the violences forged by environmental racism through radical imagination), Alastair McIntosh (a Scottish writer, broadcaster and activist on social, environmental and spiritual issues), and Adrian Kawaley-Lathan (works in peacebuilding, storytelling and communications to transform apathy into action).