As Bioneers we are fortunate to be surrounded by a dynamic community – people who are discerning, engaged, committed and reflective. These new monthly Community Conversations hosted by Bioneers offer an opportunity to come together around topics that are deep, relevant, and engaging in order to discuss what has real meaning and value to us.
Each conversation is stimulated by a brief ‘keynote’ or ‘conversation starter’ from a thought leader/luminary, guided through discussions by a skillful team, and captured by a creative ’synthesis’ from talented spoken word and musical artists. These community conversations offer a place to connect with others, as well as engage with and explore ideas in creative ways.
Join us to connect, inspire and be inspired by the collaborative community of Bioneers.
THIS MONTH
Climate, Justice, Indigenous Actions & Trauma:
Healing One System for Thriving Life
With Eriel Deranger
July 8, 2021, 10:00 AM – 12:00 Noon (PST)
What a time. So many crises at once it’s hard to know where to put our attention.
How do we co-create the conditions to birth or reclaim systems for thriving life, from the mess we’ve been born into? How might we practice focusing our attention and energies on the opportunity we face now, each in our own ways, to halt the damage and transform the systems that created all this destruction?
How might trauma perhaps undergird all of it? How might we simultaneously tend to our own healing, while growing our compassion and learning about the intergenerational traumas experienced by our relatives who are Biracial, Indigenous and other People of Color? How might we recognize the universality of trauma in response to cultures based upon violence, disregard for human dignity, greed, commodification and broken promises?
Remembering the connective tissue among these seemingly disparate issues may help us find our ways toward effectively co-creating a future that can work for all life. Join Eriel Deranger, Dënesųłiné woman (ts’ékui), member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, climate justice leader and Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, (and Bioneers’ Board Chair).
With:
Conversation Starter
Eriel Deranger
Dënesųłiné woman (ts’ékui), member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, climate justice leader and Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, (and Bioneers’ Board Chair).
Harvester
Jahan Khalighi
Bay-area based spoken word poet, youth educator and community arts organizer
Facilitation Team
Amy Lenzo
weDialogue and the World Cafe Community Foundation
David Shaw
Santa Cruz Permaculture & UCSC Right Livelihood College
Upcoming Community Conversations
August 12
Cultivating Intentional Workplace Communities with Karla McClaren
All workers deserve to be treated as valued equals, and to work in safe, humane, and emotionally well-regulated workplaces. But the pandemic showed us that this wasn’t the reality, and we’re all viewing the workplace with new eyes now.
Are we cared for as workers? Or are we replaceable cogs in an uncaring machine? Is our workplace a compassionate intentional community? Or are we thrown together with no social or emotional support? Is our health and safety considered essential? Or do our employers have to be forced to care for us? Does our workplace deserve our time and dedication? Or have we been throwing good effort into bad businesses for no reason?
In this troubled time, we’re seeing the ruthlessness that lives inside the modern workplace, in capitalism, and in our world economies; this pandemic has daylighted what had been swept under the rug of our constant activity and productivity.
And we’ve realized that we’re all essential workers, because — as we’ve seen so clearly — the workplace, our economy, and our society cannot survive without us.
This conversation is a step toward cultivating a nourishing and intentional workplace where safety, inclusivity, emotional health, equality, and justice are available to everyone.
September 16
Theme and Conversation Starter TBA
October 14
Theme and Conversation Starter TBA
Past Community Conversations
June 10
We Wish You Water – Blue Mind: Reconnecting People with Water for Life with Wallace “J” Nichols
It’s been a year. You know we all need more time near, in, on or under the water we love, now. Let’s talk about it. Let’s explore #bluemind science and practice. When we undervalue anyone or anything, bad things happen. We have undervalued each other and our waters. Fixing these value equations is important. We’re not good at creatively and collaboratively solving problems in a state of red mind (anxiety and fear). It leads us into a gray mind state (burnout and breakdown). Wild, domestic, urban and virtual waters put us in a blue mind state, known for calmness, coherence, compassion, connection, contentment and curiosity.
What’s your water? When did you first fall in love with it? When we protect and restore the lakes, rivers and oceans of our blue planet the benefits are ecological, educational, economic AND emotional. A beautiful regenerative feedback loop occurs when we recognize, teach, share and activate the physical, social and emotional wellness benefits of healthy waters. Our physical, social and emotional health is the foundation of sustainability. Water time is medicine for our bodies, minds, hearts and souls. This is why we wish you water.
