Seeds of Change: How can we better connect to make a difference?
In this article and presentation, I summarise some key insights from my PhD research in DAF and FairCoop, and outline a theory of radical collective change in social ecosystems.
Wendy & Dorian featured on the Greaterthan podcast
We were invited by Alicia Trepat to speak about our research on the Greaterthan podcast! The conversation focused in particular on the work and learning of the Diversity and Decolonising Circle, on conflict transformation, and on unlearning.
How to enable and embody decolonial forms of radical collective change in DAF?
Dorian shares with the DAF Weavers Circle some ideas from his PhD research on how to go further, within the Deep Adaptation Forum, to enable and embody forms of radical collective change that are rooted in the awareness of the 4 constitutive denials of modernity-coloniality
Conscious Learning Festival – Getting access to another level of thinking and intuition consistently
In this call, presented by DA Facilitator Chiara Borrello, participants were invited to experience “felt-sensing,” an intuitive way of interacting with their innate body-felt knowing that leads to mutual respect, authenticity and compassion.
Widening Circles with Emma Mary Gathergood
Zori Tomova speaks with Emma Mary Gathergood – a holistic life coach, wise elder, book writer and creator of the Earth Listening groupwork modality.
D&D Circle: Fostering deep mutual learning within a small group
In this call, members of the DAF Diversity and Decolonising Circle shared some insights from the past year of their life as a group. In particular, they explored the various initiatives undertaken as part of the group members’ efforts, and some elements of the circle’s life and organising
What is the shape of radical change?
In this call, Constance guided us through somatic exercises, as an invitation to release our playfulness and creativity, and to explore together (as embodied beings) questions related to our approach to personal and collective change.
Deep Relating Circles
This is my best place (so far) for sitting with the complexity, reality, power and pertinence of collapse in a way that deepens my bodily understanding, increases my intellectual comprehension and enables me to be a more loving response to awfulness.
Joanna Macy: Climate Crisis as a Spiritual Path
I found this video useful listening, as a basis for enquiring into my own beliefs. I found that I agreed and disagreed with different elements on different days. I was touched by Joanna reciting form the Book of Hours and my reflections deepened my commitment to love and life.
Fresh Air Fridays Breathing Spaces
I want to suggest this resource for those whose overwhelm is more immediate that a long term or future crisis, for friends who are not so collapse aware but need help now with challenges (that are inevitably collapse related but may feel more personal in nature) or who want to build up their self-care skills by experiential learning whoever you are.
Wales Culture Change Manual
We are trying to find our way to respond better to the predicament that humans have brought upon ourselves and everyone else. In particular, the Culture Change Manual has evolved from the first half (10 years) of a behaviour change programme that I lead.
Unlearning and Radical Collective Change
In this call, Wendy and Dorian presented some findings from a newly released research report, “Views on Unlearning and Radical Collective Change in DAF.” What kind of changes are being precipitated in various groups within DAF? Do we, in the network, pursue radical forms of change? And what does all of this have to do with the idea of unlearning?
A Story of Seeds, Soil, and Sowers
During this call, Wendy and Dorian introduced certain findings from their research in DAF, and touched on: the seeds of change (what has been going on, for whom?); the soil (what is it that allows these seeds to grow?); and the sowers (who has been caring for these seeds, and disseminating them?).
Views on Unlearning and Radical Change in the Deep Adaptation Forum
This report presents the results of the Group Reflections survey and the Radical Change survey, which were shared in DAF to explore participants’ views on unlearning and radical collective change.
Self-organisation: What works? D&D circle – Part 2: Conflict Transformation
In this video, members of the Deep Adaptation Forum Diversity & Decolonising Circle discuss what they have learned about conflict, and conflict transformation, in their self-organised group.
Call Recording: Q&A with the Diversity and Decolonising Circle
The DAF Diversity and Decolonising Circle reflect on some of their insights and (un)learnings.
Self-organisation: What works? Collaborative Action Team
In this recording, the members of the Deep Adaptation Forum Collaborative Action Team check in with each other, and share their reply to the question: “How has being part of this circle contributed to my life?”
Self-organisation: What works? D&D Circle – Part 1
In this video, members of the Deep Adaptation Forum Diversity & Decolonising Circle discuss some of the processes and ways of being together that have helped their group come together, self-organise, and keep going for nearly 2 years. Learn more about the D&D circle here.
DAF Collapse Awareness and Community Survey Report
This report presents the results from the 2021 Collapse Awareness & Community Survey, which was circulated in the Deep Adaptation Forum. It provides interesting insights into how people in DAF envision societal collapse, what this brings up in them, and what they make of their awareness and affective responses.
Earth Regenerators
Earth Regenerators is an online learning community for evolutionary culture design, earth regeneration and the avoidance of human extinction.
RetroSuburbia: The Downshifter’s Guide to a Resilient Future
Practical skills; a knowledge asset offered by one of the co-originators of permaculture. In my view, permaculture is not possible without deeply adaptiong, and deeply adapting is not doable without permaculture.
John Seed, an Australian Deep Ecologist
If you haven’t met the work of Deep Ecology, I highly recommend it, and John Seed is one of its co-founders. Deep Ecology is a set of practices that help you experience your ‘ecological self’, and come into deeper union with the earth.
An introduction to Anthroposophy: ‘Human-Wrought Wisdom’
The spiritual path of Anthroposophy (’human-wrought wisdom’), born out of the work of Rudolf Steiner, is what helps me understand why we are at the crossroads that we are at in human existence, and gives the courage and know-how to move forward in love.
Orland Bishop in Conversation with Charles Eisenstein
Orland Bishop is a youth mentor in LA, as well a being an incredible spiritual teacher, coming out of the traditions of African gnosis, shamanism and Anthroposophy; listening to him and following his thoughts can be a spiritual experience in itself, and in this interview he speaks to a spiritual understanding of the current crisis on Earth, leaving you more galvanized to act out of deepening your understanding it in a cosmic sense.
Call recording: Q&A with Chris Tröndle
In this conversation, we discussed the activities of Camp Collapse, who use storytelling, performance art and immersive art forms to stimulate conversations around our predicament; and we touched on Chris’s MA thesis, titled “The End of the World as We Know it: Hope, Despair and Action among Deep Adapters.”
Call recording: Learning to make a difference
In this webinar, we discussed social learning as a perspective, and how it can be useful to understand the changes happening to people in online communities.
How Everything Can Collapse: A Manual for our Times, by Pablo Servigne and Raphaël Stevens
URL: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/How+Everything+Can+Collapse%3A+A+Manual+for+our+Times-p-9781509541393 Type: Book This is the book which initiated the scholarly field of “collapsologie” in the French-speaking world. It is a very detailed and comprehensive summary of the main trends that are unfolding at the heart of our global predicament, and which herald ever more terrifying disruptions to the “business-as-usual” world dominated by modern
The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, by Starhawk
URL: https://starhawk.org/writing/books/the-empowerment-manual/ Type: Book The Empowerment Manual is a comprehensive guide for groups seeking to organize with shared power and bottom-up leadership to foster vision, trust, accountability and responsibility. I have found it extremely helpful to my thinking around better (or more democratic) ways of organising and working together in collaborative groups. Besides, it is
Loomio
I find Loomio a very useful and well-designed piece of software, which focuses on facilitating decision-making in collaborative and consensus-focused groups. It was built by a small team of Kiwi developers from the Enspiral community, who were keen to encourage ways of organising and communicating they had been exploring during the Occupy movement. It is published under a free software license, and serves a clear social purpose.
Dark Mountain
Dark Mountain is a project dedicated to exploring the deep cultural roots of the ecological, social and cultural unravelling that is now underway. It is “a rooted and branching network of creative activity,” which places a special emphasis on the role of storytelling and art in planting the seeds of a new, “uncivilised” world. From this project, a beautiful series of books was born, bringing together essays, fiction, poetry, visual art and more – as well as a website, and local collaborations with organisers of festivals, gatherings, workshops, etc.
Transition Network International
Transition are all about local action in response to global questions and issues. Transition Network is the international hub of a global movement of really local neighbourhood communities reimagining and rebuilding the community structures in their street. Transition is about acting locally on projects that impact me and my neighbours specific to where I am. Their blog, full of ideas, and their resources for group creation and sustaining, are invaluable assets in this time.
Happen Films – permaculture/practical Deep Adaptation doccies on Youtube
Jordan and Antoinette, talented young filmmakers based in Aotearoa New Zealand, have a series of beautifully filmed, upbeat, positive, solution focussed documentaries about building resilient communities & landscapes in the face of global challenges. I love their accents too 🙂 They have collated a series of Stories from inspirational people, actually creating a more beautiful world right now. Subscribe to their YouTube channel Happen Films.
Host Vicki Robin on Post Carbon Institute’s series of podcasts “What could possibly go Right?”
While I accept collapse of social structures is part of our present, and probably a large part of our human future, Deep Adaptation wise woman and advocate, Vicki Robins, is able to help focus on what is going well, what we can take from our learning and our grief, that is valuable or instructive or spiritually expansive. She doesn’t shy from the hard questions, but comes from an intrinsically healthy, kind and empathetic viewpoint. All her interviews have been helpful to me.
How do we change our hearts, and minds? Stephanie Lepp’s podcast “Reckonings”
Stephanie Lepp has been investigating what it is that makes people shift their views, and I think she uncovered some great examples others can learn from – either to help us move our own stuck ideas, or to help us converse with loved ones who have a viewpoint that causes them a lot of pain or conflict. While we can only change ourselves, we can sow seeds to help others change, particu
Cultural Emergence with Looby McNamara
All Permaculture design training is fantastic background for any person doing Deep Adaptation, and for me the most useful has been inner, cultural, social, local neighbourhood aspects. I believe it is Key to how we design a functional future society. Looby has been leaning into the feminine, home, inner parts of how culture has formed, and how we can create a new richer more kind culture. The course is great, a lot of what you need is in the website, and the book is worth reading too.
Call recording: 4Rs workshop with DA facilitators and volunteers
The recording of the Sept.7 workshop on the 4Rs of Deep Adaptation, hosted by Kim Hare with support from other DAF volunteers.
A conversation with Etienne & Bev Wenger-Trayner
On August 8, 2021, Dorian was able to meet Bev and Etienne Wenger-Trayner in Portugal, for a conversation on social learning. In this view, learning takes place everywhere and all the time – not just in formal settings – and is driven by a person’s curiosity and sense of agency in the world. As a result, it is intimately linked with creating change (in one’s life, and/or in the world at large) and with the process of becoming a certain person.
Call Recording: Q&A with Jane Dwinell
Watch the call recording of the Aug.20 webinar with Jane Dwinell, veteran moderator on the Deep Adaptation Facebook group.
Call recording: Q&A with Sarah Bittle
Watch the call recording of the Aug.9 webinar with Sarah Bittle, founder of the Deep Adaptation Facebook group.