technology – Seeding Our Future

Carbots, carebots, therabots and more…

Coming to your life soon Whilst robots and artificial intelligence are just one of a swathe of major technologies which will impact our lives in the next 10 years, I’ve chosen to focus on them because they are likely to be one of the most visible and unavoidable big changes on the technology front. Here … Read more

How to stay afloat in the sea of Technology

Practical ways to avoid total immersion Technology is clearly a vast subject: we’re all being affected by many different technologies, without being aware of them. What’s really alarming is that the motive behind most of the rapid change affecting us is simply profit, and the regulatory frameworks which should steer these changes, and make them … Read more

Technology Power: for whose benefit?

Pragmatic ways to mitigate the downsides Guest blog by Jeremy Green and Fred Barker As part of Alan’s Scanning our Future project, Jeremy Green and Fred Barker were commissioned to research the potential UK future impacts of new technologies over the next 15 years. This blog is a summary of some of their conclusions. Some … Read more

Current Events

Grow your own Happiness

60-90-minute online workshop Cultivate your wellbeing with gardening skills! Available for group bookingsWith Alan Heeks In these stormy times, we need new skills to stay happy. A cultivated ecosystem, like a garden, is a role model for human nature: this workshop shows how gardening methods can help you grow your own happiness and deepen the roots of your resilience. For example: Mulching and pruning to nourish your rootsComposting stress as a source of energyUse gardening skills like observation and creativityFind new ways to adapt to the climate crisisDraw inspiration from Nature to guide you in uncertainty Alan Heeks has over 25 years of experience exploring Natural Happiness with groups. It grows from creating a 130-acre organic farm and education centre at Magdalen Farm in West Dorset, and from gardening with his wife at home. In this online workshop, Alan will describe the Seven Seeds of Natural Happiness, and participants will have a chance to try some of them out. Alan is happy to take bookings for this event from environmental, community and other groups, at a time of their choosing for a moderate fee by negotiation. CONTACT LINK

July 9-11 2021: at Hazel Hill Wood, near Salisbury With Alan Heeks, Jane Sanders and Marcos Frangos How can you stay happy when there’s too much change and uncertainty? This workshop shows you how: to cultivate yourself like a garden, and grow your own wellbeing by learning from natural ecosystems, using Alan’s unique Natural Happiness model. In this workshop we’ll explore these questions, with the natural ecosystem of this magical wood as our guide. Our methods will include: nourishing our roots; composting problems; using co-creative skills to work with nature; growing inspiration; and ecosystem insights about community. Along with workshop sessions, there will be solo times in the wood, plus good food, campfires and songs to nourish us. This will be a residential group at Hazel Hill Wood: if Covid restrictions prevent this, it will be run with a series of online sessions with personal time in between. We will explore how to grow resilience for individuals and communities, especially in response to the climate crisis and the related pandemic. If you are interested in using this model in your professional work with individuals or groups, Alan will be happy to offer you advice and support: the content of this workshop relates to his fourth book, which is planned for publication in late 2021. Alan Heeks has been exploring resilience with people and nature for many years, and has led many groups on this theme, drawing on experience of resilient natural systems from creating an organic farm and setting up Hazel Hill. Jane Sanders has over 25 years’ experience in working with a mindfulness based approach to wellbeing with groups and individuals, and has also incorporated deep ecology, ecopsychology and the wisdom of natural systems into her work in many different settings, including numerous groups at Hazel Hill Wood. Marcos Frangos is widely experienced in group facilitation, coaching, counselling and constellations work. He was General Manager of Hazel Hill Wood for 5 years, and has co- led many groups there with Jane and Alan. Cost including food and accommodation: £220, concessions £180. We will share cooking and other community tasks. To secure a place, we will need a deposit of £40, £30 for concessions: if, nearer the time we have to run this as an event online event, your deposit will cover the cost of this, or you can receive a full refund. Hazel Hill is a magical 70-acre conservation woodland and retreat centre, 7 miles from Salisbury. It has simple, yet beautifully crafted off-grid wooden buildings with lovely indoor and outdoor group spaces, basic accommodation in bedrooms and sleeping lofts (or camping), good hot showers and compost loos. See more at www.hazelhill.org.uk For bookings and enquiries: Please contact Carol Nourse via email on: naturalhappinesscontact@gmail.com

Featured Blog

Worried about the forests? How we can help

Have you seen David Attenborough’s excellent recent documentary on climate change? The most shocking part for me was learning the extent of deforestation still going on across the world, and his statement that 30% of all emissions are due to deforestation: presumably including forest fires. My concern was deepened at an international climate change conference held at Easter 2019 in Scotland. Hearing in person from tribal leaders, such as Haru from the Kuntanawa tribe in Brazil about the devastation of their forests and their livelihoods was gut-wrenching. One of my commitments from all this is to do what I can for the forests. Preserving ancient forests is crucial, as they are highly evolved, complex ecosystems. Reforestation is also vital, for carbon capture, managing rainfall and soil erosion and lots more. So this blog is a listing of projects I know of in this sector, and invitation for you to add others. Rainforest Concern: This is a registered UK charity, working since 1993 to protect threatened habitats and indigenous people, especially forests in Central and South America. Recommended by Alan Featherstone Watson, founder of Trees for life. See www.rainforestconcern.org Kuntanawa Tribe: A small indigenous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon, needing financial support to protect their ecosystem and their self-sustaining way of life. See www.kuntanawa.org Greenpeace: A leading campaigner against deforestation, among many other issues. Especially strong on opposing illegal intrusions by large businesses. See www.greenpeace.org Rainforest Trust: This is a charity registered in the US and UK, where you can donate money specifically towards buying land in a range of locations where the ecosystem or specific wildlife species are endangered. See www.rainforesttrust.org International Tree Foundation: A UK charity who I have worked with and can personally recommend. They work with communities to create local tree-planting schemes in Africa and the UK. See www.internationaltreefoundation.org Tree Sisters: This is a women’s network across many countries raising funds to restore tropical rainforests. See www.treesisters.org ReSCOPE/Seeding Schools: This is a small charity working in six countries in Southern and Eastern Africa: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. They work with schools to promote organic and permaculture farming methods, especially needed because of the recent severe drought and cyclones. See www.seedingschools.org