Collaborative projects under way:

» Short Courses
» Lecture series
 
Preparations for the BIONEERS Europe Conference in 2010:
The Bioneers’ Mission Statement reads: “Founded in 1990, Bioneers is a nonprofit organization that promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring the Earth and communities. "It's All Alive, It's All Intelligent, It's All Connected."  Bioneers offers pragmatic solutions that honor the living web of the natural world as the most fertile source of inspiration and models. It's all alive.  One of the beauties of biology is that its facts can become our metaphors, and these underlying codes serve as inspiring parables for how we can organize a more just, humane and authentically sustainable society. It's all intelligent.  Interdependence also teaches us that there are no single issues because it's one whole that can be addressed only by bringing together all the parts.

Bioneers gathers people at the crossroads of ecological restoration, human health and social justice.  It's all connected.  The bioneers span all fields, cultures, ages and walks of life.  The work ranges from science to spirit - local to global - academia to the grass roots - farm to city - business to public service - art to engineering.  We celebrate the gift of life in all its diversity and mystery, conjuring a change of heart to renew our empathic connection with the web of life and the Earth, our home.  It's all relatives.”
 
The Annual Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California, explores the forefront of positive change in deeply inspiring plenary talks with visionary thinkers and doers from wildly varied fields, cultures and walks of life.  It offers opportunities to:

• Connect with people and ideas throughout the three-day weekend. Network with dynamic change-makers from across the country and your community.
• Discover potent new opportunities and strategies for creating positive change in your work, life and community. Attend world-class workshops for in-depth insights that demonstrate how great an impact one person can have, and how building community makes the difference.
• Celebrate the wonder of nature and the magic of human creativity. Savor organic community dinners, Moving Image Festival screenings, networking receptions, performances and a Saturday night dance hosted by the Bioneers Youth.”
  

In early 2008 the Findhorn College reached out to the organizers of the Bioneers conference in the USA and proposed the creation of a Bioneers Europe conference at the Findhorn ecovillage.  This event will be run in collaboration with the Findhorn Foundation.  The anticipated date for the event is October 2010.  In preparation for this partnership with the Bioneers, Daniel Wahl will take part in this years Bioneers 2008 Conference in California, where he will meet with the person responsible for the planned expansion of the Bioneers network beyond the USA into Europe and other continents.

For further information on the Bioneers see: www.bioneers.org
 
In preparation for this event the Findhorn College will include fortnightly Bioneers Evenings in its eco-literacy and resilience building programme.  These evenings will include a screening of one or two presentations given at previous Bioneers conferences, followed by a group dialogue about the material and an exploration how our local and regional communities could learn form the presented best practice examples.
 
To make ‘Bioneers Europe 2010’ in Moray a success further funding may have to be requested from HIE and the Moray Council. Collaboration with UHI may be appropriate.

(European) Learning Partnership for Creative Sustainability (LPCS)
A new collaborative training and exchange programme supported by our collective applications to  the Grundtvig Fund.
 
The “Learning Partnership for Creative Sustainability’ (LPCS) brings together four organisations from three European countries (AIP Germany, Outward Bound Germany, Findhorn Foundation College Scotland and Verein Jugend und Gesellschaft, Austria). These organisations use well-developed methodologies for learning. Some have a special emphasis on youth and young adults, together they cover a wide range of learning ages and modalities.
 
After in-depth reflection on their own practice and analysis of the needs of informal learners, the partners want to expand on their approaches of experiential learning and holistic education to further sustainable learning and empower learners to be active and ecologically aware citizens.
 
This LPCS aims to exchange and develop innovative, creative and nature-based approaches and methods that will help learners develop their full potential as well as social and ecological awareness and competencies.  These skills empower citizens to become creators of positive social change, sustainable lifestyles and sustainable communities.

Over the two year period the partners have pledged to meet six times, visiting all partner organisations, training in the methodologies used by the partners and developing new approaches and methods. These will be implemented and evaluated within the framework of the partnership and beyond, to build the base of a new methodology of learning.
 
The outcomes will be disseminated through the existing networks of the partners and made accessible through a web-based platform developed during the partnership. One practical outcome and test-bed for the new ideas and methodologies generated by the LPCS will be the Findhorn based Sustainable Youth Leadership Training and Youth Camp planned for Summer 2010.