Illuminating the magical underwater world, Jacques Cousteau’s 1960s films and TV show caused a sea change by moving the hearts and minds of tens of millions. Marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, ocean advocates Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau, and the Truckee High School Envirolution Club are among the rising tides of passionate innovators making remarkable advances to understand and restore the waters of the world. Their inspiring stories give good reason for hope, including the scientific fact that we have a “blue mind” born in and of the ocean to guide us.
Security by Design: Environmental Security is Homeland Security | Amory Lovins and David Orr
“Three-quarters of our military expenditure is for forces whose primary mission is intervention in the Persian Gulf. If we got off the oil, we wouldn’t need most of the forces we have, it would be a very different world, and I think a much safer as well as a fairer and richer one.”
The concept of national security is moving beyond bullets, bombs, soldiers and warcraft to encompass the country’s internal resilience, health and environmental sustainability. What’s needed, say two leading environmental visionaries, is the equivalent of a wartime mobilization to create a sustainable planet including a far more decentralized infrastructure. Global energy strategist Amory Lovins and Oberlin College Professor David Orr advocate sustainability as the strategic imperative and foundation for a new national security narrative. The military is starting to agree.
Taking a Breath: Healing the Inner Environment | Dr. James Gordon
“What I’d like to do is to be able to bring the possibility for hope and healing to people everywhere who need it. And to engage people in helping and healing themselves and each other, and to create the opportunity for them to do that.”
Brain research is revealing astounding insights into the mechanisms of post-traumatic stress and neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to be rewired and re-trained. The world today is ravaged by traumas – from war, privation and economic crashes to natural disasters and ongoing environmental degradation. In response, world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. James S. Gordon of the Center for Mind Body Medicine has trained thousands of teachers globally to advance ancient mind-body healing techniques of self-care to reconnect each individual with his or her own nature, with family and community, and with the natural world. The results are impressive. What might happen if we approach healing the environment from the inside out?
A Fantastic Object: Social Capitalism and the United States of Europe | Steven Hill
“And so, the idea was how do you harness this capitalist engine to create a more broadly shared prosperity? And once they decided to do that, then they said, well, what do we do with this wealth if we’re going to make it more broadly shared? Do we just have everyone make more income? And they said, no. It makes more sense; let’s think about what are the things that people need in their lives.”
Despite suffering severe shocks from the 2008 global economic and banking crisis, nations of the European Union have provided the world with a potent new economic species. “Social Capitalism” shares prosperity more widely, institutionalizes broader national democracy, and creates long-term environmental sustainability. It includes universal healthcare that’s affordable, education for all that is often free, family-friendly work policies, and real worker participation in corporate decision-making. Europe watcher Steven Hill believes it may be the most important innovation in the world economy since the rise of the corporation – and we all have a “ringside seat to history.”
Radical Patriotism: Growing Growers and Seeding Leaders for a Real Food Future | Anim Steel
“Real food is food that nourishes and it nourishes the body, the earth, and it nourishes people, both those that eat and those that produce. The logic of real food is respect and balance. [APPLAUSE] So, real food should be the norm, right, not the exception.”
What happens when green turns to grey? Fewer than 5 percent of 2 million American farmers are under 45 years old. Bucking that trend is the next generation of unstoppable young farmers Severine von Tscharner Fleming, Tyler Webb, and Sarita Role Schaffer, along with renowned urban food innovator Nikki Henderson and real food advocate Anim Steel. With dirt under their nails and laptops at their fingertips, they’re reinventing a “radical patriotism” founded in a return to local agriculture and community. It runs on clean energy and knows how to move markets. It seeks greater self-sufficiency, self-determination and food justice, and the checkout line is the pulpit.
Archetypes in Every Woman
How might our culturally inherited myths and symbols be limiting—or expanding—our stories, options and realities? Explore this dynamic terrain through a multicultural lens. Hosted by Anneke Campbell, author, activist, filmmaker. With: Jean Shinoda Bolen, author, Jungian therapist, activist; Luisah Teish, teacher/storyteller/priestess in the Ifa Orisha tradition; Sri Swamini Svatmavidyananda, teacher of Vedanta and Sanskrit, resident Acharya of the Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam.
Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.
Leveraging Donor Activism: Philanthropy’s Leading Edges
How are donors leveraging effective change beyond traditional pathways and norms? From shareholder activism to investment strategies and disinvestment campaigns, explore how foundations can be reshaped to be far more effective. Hosted by Jen Sokolove, Program Director, Compton Foundation. With: Lauren Embrey, President/CEO, Embrey Family Foundation; Tom Van Dyck, Senior Vice President and Financial Consultant, SRI Wealth Management Group at RBC Wealth Management; Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, Senior Director of Membership & Communications, Women Donors Network; Kristin Hull, CEO, Nia Global Solutions.
Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.
Indigenous Forum – Brave-Hearted Women: Protectors of Native Women’s Health | Melissa Nelson (Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe), Erin Konsmo (Metis/Cree), Esther Lucero, LSW (Yaqui), April McGill (Pomo/Yuki), and Katsi Cook (Akwesasne Mohawk)
Indigenous women examine health threats to women, families and communities, and provide breakthrough case studies and models for protecting and supporting Native women’s health in urban and rural contexts. Hosted by Melissa Nelson (Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe), President, The Cultural Conservancy. With: Erin Konsmo (Metis/Cree), Media Arts Justice and Projects Coordinator, Native Youth Sexual Health Network; Esther Lucero, LSW (Yaqui), California Consortium of Urban Indian Health Centers; April McGill (Pomo/Yuki), Native American Health Center, San Francisco; and Katsi Cook (Akwesasne Mohawk), traditional midwife and health advocate.
Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.
Plant Sacraments and the Mind of Nature | J.P. Harpignies, Jeffrey Bronfman, Paul Stamets, and Katsi Cook
Can entheogenic plants help people access the intelligence in nature—the “mind of nature”—that we must learn to understand in order to supersede our ecologically destructive habits? Hosted by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Associate Producer. With: Jeffrey Bronfman, founding member of the União do Vegetal church of the United States; Paul Stamets, master mycologist; Katsi Cook, renowned Mohawk midwife and environmental activist.
Recorded Saturday, October 18, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.
Spirituality and Faith Communities: Engaging for Resilience and Action
Many communities of spirituality and faith have adopted formal resolutions proclaiming protecting the Earth and promoting environmental justice as cornerstone moral responsibilities. How can faith congregations build vibrant networks and partnerships to build resilience locally and regionally? Moderated by Shilpa Jain, Executive Director, YES! Connecting, Inspiring & Collaborating with change makers. With: Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, President, The Regeneration Project, Interfaith Power and Light; Owsley Brown, Chairman, Festival of Faiths; Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, GreenFaith; Krithika Harish, Associate Director of Global Programs and Network Development, United Religions Initiative.
Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.
Restorative Justice, Healing Justice | J. Miakoda Taylor, Fania Davis, and Ericka Huggins
A new form of justice seeks to heal and cares more about broken lives than broken laws. It’s capable of pushing back the “New Jim Crow” of mass incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline. Hosted by J. Miakoda Taylor, founder, Fierce Allies. With: Fania Davis, Founder/Executive Director, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth; Ericka Huggins, professor of Sociology and African-American Studies at Laney and Merritt Colleges.
Recorded Saturday, October 18, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.
Regeneration: Women of Color Healing through Nature, Art, Ritual, and Community | J. Phoenix Smith, Catherine Herrera, Mira Manickam, and Brandi Mack
Very diverse women of color and indigenous women in Bay Area urban communities are drawing from their connection to Earth in highly creative ways to move toward personal and community healing and empowerment. Hosted by J. Phoenix Smith, Director, Back to Earth Outdoors, Orisha priestess. With: Catherine Herrera, Ohlone artist, filmmaker; Mira Manickam, environmental educator, multimedia artist, author; Brandi Mack, youth worker, gardener.
Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.