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The Psychosynthesis
& Education Trust is pleased to present this one-day conference
looking into the role of Ecopsychology in a world where issues like climate
change, energy futures and poverty present significant challenges to us
all.
This conference seeks to respond to the challenge
of action and engagement by asking:
> How might psychologically informed perspectives
and practices be used in the service of the flourishing of both the human
and 'more-than-human' world?
> When so much needs fixing so urgently,
how can we act in ways that are helpful rather than harmful?
Who Is It For?
The conference is intended for people from a variety
of areas including business, education and health professions.
It will be of interest to environmentalists, community
leaders, youth workers, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) professionals,
counsellors and psychotherapists.
The Structure of the Day
We have invited four speakers to share their responses
to these questions. The conference will be interactive and participative
using a World Cafe structure.
Based on living systems thinking, this innovative
approach creates dynamic networks of conversation. We have chosen this
flexible, easy-to-use process to foster collaborative dialogue and sharing
of mutual knowledge.
Rather than offering conventional workshops, there
will be an 'Open Space Technology Session' where participants and
speakers alike will exchange ideas and learn from each other.
The Lectures
Part of the Solution
Helen Sieroda
 Climate
change, pollution, population growth, poverty, topsoil erosion, mass extinction,
water scarcity, inequality - the list goes on . . . when we are faced
with the enormity of the threats that face us it is all too easy to fall
into 'flight or fight' mode - to 'disappear' the issues and carry on with
'business as usual' or to leap into action - act now and reflect later.
The focus of this lecture is action. We are being
robbed of our collective future - but how to respond? Where to intervene?
How to help bring about change? With such complex interconnected challenges,
when so much needs fixing so urgently, how can we know our actions are
making things better? Helen will share some of her personal journey of
coming to grips with these questions, exploring some of the delights,
dilemmas and paradoxes of acting and influencing for sustainability.
Helen Sieroda has been practising psychosynthesis
for over 20 years, is a UKCP registered psychotherapist who trains, mentors
and coaches professionals in Europe. She is currently developing the 'Ecopsychology
in Action' programme for PET. In the 80s she trained with activist, ecophilosopher
and author Joanna Macy and subsequently worked with a UK team committed
to furthering her work. Since the early 90s she has developed and delivered
many courses on the theme of 'Global Psychosynthesis' in Europe. More
recently, an MSc in Responsibility in Business Practice has deepened her
longstanding passion in working for sustainability.
Inside-Out : An I. We and the Planet Approach to Transforming Cities
and the Way We are in Them
Jane Riddiford
 All
too often talk of mounting challenges such as climate change, are met
with eyes glazing over, fear and scepticism. There is a need for new ways
of re-thinking who we are so we can find a positive foundation for the
future.
In this session Jane Riddiford will endeavour to stimulate
an exploration into the role of
consciousness as a catalyst for environmental change. She will share her
ongoing exploration of how to use the interior dimension of life as a
platform for bringing people from different
sectors, with different world views together to engage with their role
in creating the future.
Co-founder and Executive Director of Global Generation www.globalgeneration.org.uk,
Jane has developed and delivered environmental and arts projects in New
Zealand and the UK for over 20 years. In 2009 she completed an MSc in
Responsibility and Business practice at Bath School of Management which
fuelled an interest in Action Research process. Influenced by the
principals of Evolutionary Enlightenment and Integral Theory Jane has
developed a methodology which involves youth and business participants
in hands on doing, alongside reflective values based inquiry. This process
is creating a new sense of community and a living web of bio-diverse food
growing sites in the bustling heart of Kings Cross.
What's different about what we do at Global Generation,
is not only do we change the outside - but we change the inside too.
Standing Gently: How Might Organisations and Earth Be At Peace?
Chris Nichols
 We
cannot afford much more business as usual. As David Orr reminds us business
as we know it is a disaster for the species with which we share the earth.
For all our current focus on climate change, our real crises are wider
and deeper. We face threats in the areas of food
supply, energy provision and species eradication, and this list is not
complete. The traditional
ways of thinking about business and organisations are no longer fit for
purpose.
In this session Chris Nichols will seek to stimulate
a conversation about how all of us in
business and in organisations might re-contract our relationship with
purpose, profit and the
planet. The session will consider issues including the fantasies on which
traditional organisations rely, the role of familiar metaphors in limiting
our thinking and ways to reframe organisational conversations to open
new possibilities.
Chris Nichols is a consultant, facilitator, executive
coach and teacher. He is joint Director of the Ashridge MSc in Sustainability
and Responsibility and co-Director of the Ashridge Consulting Strategy
Engagement Practice. He is also a Visiting Fellow in Sustainable Organisations
at Dartington Schumacher College, Devon where he teaches on the MSc in
Holistic Science and leads short programmes. Chris' psychological and
group work training is diverse and includes his participation in both
Fundamentals of Psychosynthesis and Foundation year Psychosynthesis.
Conference Chairperson : Diana Whitmore
 Diana
Whitmore is President and a trustee of the Psychosynthesis and Education
Trust and is one of the UK's leading trainers of counselling and psychotherapy.
She is the Chief Executive of Children Our Ultimate Investment Uk, www.teensandtoddlers.org.
She is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and has been responsible for
curriculum development of accredited programmes for some 25 year and for
the provision of professional training and development for counsellors,
psychotherapists and youth workers. Diana is also the author of Psychosynthesis
in Education: A Guide to the Joy of Learning and Psychosynthesis
COunselling in Action. Diana is a member ofthe trustee board of the
Findhorn FOundation
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