The next stage of my journey was by rail from Hexham Northumberland to Nottingham to meet Sue Cooper – friend, colleague and graduate of the Integral City Beyond Resilient Course. Sue’s husband Ashley, describes her as a “force of Nature” – and indeed that became apparent on our first stop from the train [...]
This newsletter is published quarterly using a cycle of perspectives on the Integral City viewed from: Planet, People, Place and Power. The theme of this issue is People Action Research is a powerful methodology to use for city change because it involves people inquiring together. It starts with an initiating researcher (I/We), a [...]
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Antoine de St. Exupery This is a story about how Gaia is calling from her four directions hearts, minds and souls to [...]
What is Broken? How can Integral Cities learn from Gaia, endowed as her Organs of Reflection? How can we imagine an ecology for the emergence of Peace? What City Capacities can we draw on to recover wellbeing at all scales of human existence – person, people, place and planet? In using the Russian-Ukrainian conflict [...]
This newsletter is published quarterly using a cycle of perspectives on the Integral City viewed from: Planet, People, Place and Power. The theme of this issue is Planet. When we take the perspective of Caring for Planet, we gain the Overview of a Living System Cosmology that embraces all of the Cares into [...]
For most of the last 3 months I stopped listening or watching news and only scanned headlines. I stopped being a news junkie. But I have started again. Why? Because of the Russian-Ukrainian war. When I am connected to people with zero degrees of separation it is difficult not to care about events as [...]
I need a new language to describe what I see going on in the world. Russia is making so-called “non-war” on Ukraine. Ukraine is defending itself from physical military attack and at the same time it is being accused of acting as the instigator of genocide and aggressive action (a fake story from the [...]
UrbanA culminated in creating the 4 Sets of 17 Keys for unlocking Sustainable and Just Cities. Integral City of the Year 2021 is a city association spanning a whole region: Urban Arena Europe - affectionately known as UrbanA. In its trans-European work over the last few years, UrbanA has made visible many of [...]
Dear Earth, Dear Earth, let me tell you how I feel. You have given me such treasure. I love you so. The above refrain is a simple Taizé song that awakens my growing edges. Because it honours my relationship to the Earth that birthed all Life, including me, it opens my heart to [...]
Last week when I was interviewing, futurist Dr. Anneloes Smitsman about her r3.0 Educational Transformation Blueprint, she remarked about the importance of feedback and celebrating the special moments of life in community. They are like rites of passage. That reminded me to tell her of our experience here in Findhorn Ecovillage this year. [...]