On April 20-26, 2019 in the legendary half-century-old ecovillage of Findhorn, Scotland, the Climate Change & Consciousness: Our Legacy for the Earth will take place.
The Universal Hall at Findhorn, the main conference venue.
It 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 traveled 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.
Participants will co-collaborate to explore:
- 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 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.
The Findhorn Foundation was officially established as a charity in 1972 but this was ten years after Eileen and Peter Caddy and their three small sons found themselves at a turnout near the Moray Firth on the northeast coast of Scotland, between the towns of Inverness and Aberdeen. Dorothy MacLean then joined them, and together they created a productive farm where everyone said nothing could grow.
The Findhorn Foundation is now an iconic eco-community with two campuses and over 500 members. It is associated with the UN Department of Public Information and is the holder of the UN Habitat Best Practice designation. It is the co-founder of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and home to large and productive, flourishing gardens. It is a community of visionary collaborators and a place where cutting edge workshops, conferences, TED Talks and similar events take place. Peter and Eileen Caddy have passed on, but Dorothy MacLean, now in her 90’s, still lives there and is tenderly attended by a devoted team of caregivers.