PURPOSE AND INTENTION
Climate Change & Consciousness: Our Legacy for the Earth, April 20-26 2019, will be a collaborative and participatory investigation into how we can steward a sustainable future on what has already become a radically changed planet Earth. We have travelled to this ‘new’ planet on a burst of carbon dioxide. A new planet requires new ways of living.
The conference will bring together eminent scientists, wisdom keepers, business people, activists, artists, entrepreneurs, young people and others, to envision and begin to inhabit our joint future. It will be an international, inter-generational and multi-disciplinary gathering. This is the principle of ‘the big tent‘, borrowed from party politics, whereby diverse viewpoints, backgrounds and interests (the ‘voices in the room’) are brought together to engage and dialogue.
Floor plan of the Universal Hall, the main conference venue, with
a symbolic representation of the diversity of ‘voices in the room.’
Through interactive, embodied and experiential means, participants will access intuitive, intelligent and innovative insights into how we will meet the demands of this new world. Each individual will be invited to invoke their ‘Legacy for the Earth.’ Our combined roles and commitment will represent a global mission of stewardship. Everyone will be part of this love story.
Participants will collaborate in exploring:
- The science and truth of climate change in language that we can all comprehend;
- Ways to embody our longing to connect with the Earth and hear Her voice;
- How we can build and rebuild communities as functional entities;
- Political, legal and social activism, and networking for social change;
- How do we nurture children and support youth to restore our environment;
- Soil restoration, organic food production and community-scale agriculture;
- Alternative energy sources and appropriate technologies;
- Biodiversity and the intrinsic preciousness of all species;
- Racism, misogyny and gender bias – how they deepen the environmental crisis;
- Contemporary and traditional resources to address the trauma of climate change;
- What can we learn from indigenous cultures, activists and wisdom keepers;
- Healthcare and the detoxification of environmental pollutants and toxins; and
- How to generate inspiration for a grassroots upsurge to reclaim our future.
THREE MAJOR ORIENTATIONS
Three major threads running though the conference will be:
- AWAKE: Facing the truths of climate change.
- CELEBRATE: Using the arts to express our love for the Earth and all life.
- ACT: Developing our response, locally and globally.
TEN GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF CCC19
These principles were received along with the guidance for the manifestation of CLIMATE CHANGE & CONSCIOUSNESS on November 8, 2016:
1. That the gathering be a grassroots representation of diverse global populations;
2. That the gathering be held at the Findhorn Foundation due to its origins and because it represents and embodies community and sustainability;
3. That indigenous environmental leaders be represented;
4. That youth play a significant role and that their voices be heard;
5. That all participants, both at the conference and online, be encouraged to connect, engage, contribute and network.
6. That everyone at the gathering have an opportunity to establish and cultivate a direct, intimate and personal relationship with Nature;
7. That the gathering be infused with art as one of the key celebrations of human creativity and resiliency;
8. That the outcome of the gathering be the creation of networks of innovation and communities of inspired action;
9. That these networks and community initiatives be seeded before the conference begins; and,
10. That they be effectively supported to grow and flourish after the conference ends, in order to accelerate the generation of sustainable, life-serving responses to climate change.
WHY THIS CONFERENCE IS UNIQUE
While words like ‘climate change’ and ‘sustainability’ are in the popular parlance, the truth about the magnitude of our environmental predicament is not well understood. This is in part because the language used to deliver the science is frequently infused with acronyms that deter engagement. This conference will translate scientific jargon into language that is accessible to anyone. In addition, we intend a celebratory response to climate change that emphasises human resilience and creativity, which is key to coping with the scientific reality. These two sides of the coin (environmental science and celebratory resilience) will be linked at every juncture of this gathering.
This conference will be led by some of the most knowledgeable and highly regarded voices of the climate change movement. The key contributors are recognised internationally for their expertise, their commanding presence, and their proven capacity to identify practical and optimistic strategies for sustainability action. Joining these voices with those of artists, healers, parents and youth has seldom been attempted in quite such a way.
YOUTH
We are planning (although it’s funding dependant), a separate youth programme that will run parallel to the conference. Youth aged 16 – 20 will form a contingent that will join with, and present to, the entire assembly. Their ideas will be woven into an action plan that is developed for follow through after the event. The intention will be to permeate schools and social media with viable options for surviving and thriving in a climate-changing world.
LIVE STREAMING
There will be live streaming from Findhorn of most of the conference programme (details to follow). Aside from individual subscriptions to the streaming, we are encouraging organisations (such as community groups, non-profits, institutions and companies) to subscribe to the streaming as a collective, or hub. Hubs will take the opportunity to do much more than just passively watch the streaming. We will encourage them to self-organise a mini-conference of their own, whereby they hold their own in-house discussion groups, panel sessions, workshops and so on. We envisage these hubs becoming cells of impassioned and empowered activists who sustain their climate activism into the future.
Interested in forming a hub? Please contact us or email: CCC19@findhorn.org.
WHY FINDHORN?
The Findhorn Foundation and Community are a renown ecovillage, spiritual community and learning centre (See blog post here). This conference comes at a time when the art of community building is badly needed. Findhorn famously demonstrates the potential of community to develop low-impact settlements and lifestyles. Further, Findhorn’s deep roots in the natural world and 50 years of ‘co-creation with the intelligence of nature’ makes it the perfect host for this event.
The central intention of Climate Change & Consciousness is to encourage the participants (including thousands watching by live-stream) to prioritise their love for the Earth, putting the environment first in order to steward for the children of the future. This epitomises the role that Findhorn has long played in raising consciousness for the good of the whole. This conference fulfils Findhorn’s essential purpose as a lighthouse beaming forth messages from Mother Nature.
The Universal Hall at Findhorn, the main conference venue.
PRESENTERS
ANGAANGAQ ANGAKKORSUAQ
Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder from far North Greenland. He is a shaman, healer, storyteller and bearer of the Qilaut (wind drum). Angaangaq has been a keynote speaker at international conferences on climate change, environmental and indigenous issues. His beliefs and practices are deeply rooted in the wisdom and traditions of his people. www.icewisdom.com
Quotes: “The greatest distance in the existence of Man is not from here to there nor from there to here. Nay, the greatest distance in the existence of Man is from his mind to his heart. Unless he conquers that distance he can never learn to soar like an eagle and realize his own immensity within.”
“The Ancient One’s say that One Day, when the World needs it most, the Sacred Fire will come home to the people on the Top of the World.”
CHARLES EISENSTEIN
Charles Eisenstein is an extremely popular philosopher, author and internationally renowned speaker and program facilitator. His books include The Ascent of Humanity, Sacred Economics and most recently, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. His forthcoming book, to be released in 2018, addresses the impacts of climate change. www.charleseisenstein.net
Quotes: “Humanity is meant to join fully the tribe of all life on Earth, offering our uniquely human gifts towards the wellbeing and development of the whole.”
“Enlightenment is a group activity.”
“The path of service is a path of self-realization.”
“Our salvation must come from recovering a direct relationship to what is alive in front of us.”
POLLY HIGGINS
Polly Higgins is founder of Ecocide Law, the Earth Community Trust and co-founder of the Earth Law Alliance. She holds the Arne Naess Chair at Oslo University and won the 2016 Polarbröd‘s Utstickarpriset prize for Future Leadership. Ecologist Magazine have named her one of the top ten visionary thinkers in the world. www.pollyhiggins.com
Quotes: “The shift in consciousness required here is an espousal of our collective responsibility for the ecology of our planet. Once we have that shift we will have true social progress.”
“Without the wellbeing of the ecology of our planet, our wellbeing suffers.”
“Calls for public and environmental justice are about securing peaceful life for future generations, the aspiration for a better world. To me, this is the ultimate altruistic act; to give your life in service for a greater good. My rallying call is for life for all who inhabit this planet, not just humans. It can be your call too if you so choose. I ask you to join me.”
XIUHTEZCATL MARTINEZ
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is a 17 year old indigenous climate activist who has spoken at the Rio + 20 Summit and the UN. With beauty, flare and music he reachs out to youth to invite them to be advocates for the Earth. He received the Peace First Prize in 2015 and the Children’s Climate Prize in Sweden in 2016. www.earthguardians.org/
Quotes:“My generation faces a total systemic collapse on every level of our planet. Never before has there been such an intergenerational opportunity to shape the world we serve.”
“Every young person in the world has the potential to lead. There is nothing holding us back…Whether it is on the local level or it is about the entire world, we can take on the leadership role. We deserve a healthy environment to live in.“
“I have to do something with the sadness I feel about what is happening to my world. I am totally in love with this planet and it is falling apart. I have to use my voice and my passion to make a difference. I have to education, empower and inspire.”
BILL MCKIBBEN
Bill McKibben is a pioneer of the climate change movement, best-selling author, journalist, environmental activist and founder of 350.org, a global grassroots climate change movement. Bill has won the Gandhi and Thomas Merton Prizes. He is a Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College. The Boston Globe calls him “America’s most important environmentalist.” www.billmckibben.com, www.350.org
Quotes: “We must step up the fight to keep climate change from getting even more powerfully out of control, and to protect those people most at risk, who are almost always those who have done the least to cause the problem.”
“We will build the architecture of the world that comes next. We will create the dispersed and localized societies that can survive the damage that we can no longer prevent. We still must live on the world we’ve created and we will do that lightly, carefully, and gracefully.”
JONATHON PORRITT
Jonathon Porritt CBE is founder and Director of Forum for the Future, the UK’s leading sustainable development charity. He was co-chair of the British Green Party (1980-83); Director of Friends of the Earth (1984-90); and Trustee of WWF UK (1991-2005). Jonathon received a CBE in January 2000 for services to environmental protection. www.forumforthefuture.org
Quotes: “Imagine the good world we are going to be living in – massively improved by smart, clean technology, and committed to a much fairer, more sustainable model of economic growth.”
“Practically everything we need to fashion a sustainable world for nine billion people is either out there, on the drawing board or in the lab. And the pace of change is extraordinary, the wealth creating potential quite staggering.”
VANDANA SHIVA
Vandana Shiva PhD is a world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, physicist, feminist, philosopher of science, science policy advocate and author of 20 books. She has taken on what is likely one of the greatest challenges of climate change – feeding a growing population without further harming the Earth. Vandana was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1993. http://vandanashiva.com/
Quotes:“Soil teaches us how to be earth citizens.”
“We will either make a democratic transition from oil to soil or we will perish.”
“Soil is the metaphor of decentralized and deep democracy.”
“Living economies are grounded in the soil; literally and metaphorically. They are localized, which reduces our ecological footprint on the planet while enhancing our wellbeing. Economies rooted in the soil are centered on nature and people.”
“Earth democracy grows in the fertile soil shaped by the earth, the human imagination and human action.”
ADDITIONAL PRESENTERS
Margaret Elphinstone is one of Scotland’s foremost writers who has written extensively about the crises in which we now find ourselves. Margaret contributes to Dark Mountain, a British based project that seeks, through the arts, to elicit urgently needed myths that reflect our times. She is Emeritus Professor of Writing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Scottish Literary Studies. www.margaretelphinstone.co.uk
Mumta Ito is founder of the charity Rights of Nature and the International Centre for Holistic Law. A former financial lawyer in the City of London, she was an adviser to governments, multi-national corporations and investment banks. She is now a public interest environmental attorney. She initiated the European Citizens Initiative to put the rights of nature on the legislative agenda of the EU. www.rightsofnature.eu
Deborah Jay Lewin is an energy worker disguised as a dance teacher. She is a senior practitioner in her field having trained with Gabrielle Roth in 1994 and as a co-founder of Open Floor International in 2014. Her knowledge of and respect for the wisdom of the body is incisive and contagious. Deborah is devoted to utilising embodied movement to harness creativity for the benefit of all beings and the Earth. www.vitalmoves.co.uk
Rachelle McCabe, concert pianist and Professor of Music at Oregon State University, enjoys an international career as an artist-teacher and as a solo recitalist and highly respected chamber musician. She has performed extensively in the United States, Canada, Southeast Asia and England, and has been heard on NPR’s Performance Today, the CBC, and PBS television. http://www.riverwalking.com/a-call-to-life.html
Stephanie Mines is a neuroscientist, psychologist and author of five books on the treatment of trauma and shock. Stephanie first went to Findhorn in 2011 when she was a keynote speaker at the Conscious Medicine Conference. She has returned every year since and has a strong love for the community and the place. Stephanie lives in Portland, Oregon and is married to environmental attorney Robert E. Yuhnke. www.Tara-Approach.org
Kathleen Dean Moore is a moral philosopher, nature writer, and veteran climate advocate best known for her ability to weave science, ideas, and emotions in her spoken-word performances and books. She is the author or co-editor of a dozen books, including Great Tide Rising, Moral Ground, and the newest, a novel, Piano Tide. http://www.riverwalking.com/a-call-to-life.html
Dave Rock is a spoken word artist, storyteller and Authentic Speaking coach. He works with communities, co-creating rites of passage, ritual and celebration; and with stage performers and change makers to help them embody and express their message as a way of being. As a performer he finds ways to speak all voices and remember life into being whole again. www.speakingrocks.life
Joey Walters is the Founder of Awakening Feminine Leaders. Her work is a soulful, authentic pathway to allow feminine leadership to emerge. She is gifted in inviting the power of ritual to accompany her gentle, clear and focused leadership. Joey is completing her first book based on her successful international series “A Call to Stand.” She lives close to nature in the woodlands of Scotland with her partner and two wee sons. www.awakeningfeminineleaders.com
Robert E. Yuhnke has been an environmental attorney and policy consultant for forty-five years. He co-authored the Clean Air Act in the US and has worked tirelessly for its enforcement. His ability to explain the science behind climate change and how communities must respond to survive and thrive will add significantly to this conference. Robert lives in Portland Oregon and is married to Stephanie Mines. bob.yuhnke@prodigy.net