Faculty of The Human Challenge of Sustainability: Findhorn Community Semester

Alexander Lindsay Walker
BA in Geography, University of Leeds,
M.Phil. in Town and Regional Planning, University of Glasgow
After 10 years of working within the Findhorn Foundation in finance and organisational management, Alex began his career as self-employed consultant in 1991. This work has involved advising numerous community groups and business organisations in the UK on the subjects of community ownership, renewable energy, low-carbon lifestyles and affordable housing. He is also involved in management and financial planning for SMEs, most of them involved in sustainable development projects of a diverse nature, and sustainability research for larger organisations.  Alex is currently chairman of Development Trusts Association Scotland and a member of the Rural Development Council, which advises Richard Lochhead MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment.

Deborah Jay-Lewin - Diploma in Drama and Movement in Therapy, Accredited teacher with Gabrielle Roths' Moving Centre, New York, ITEC Diploma Holistic Massage. Deborah Jay-Lewin has over 20 years experience of introducing dance into different environments, opening up movement possibilities in new and previously unexplored ways. Initially certified as a Sesame Movement and Drama Therapist working in Special Needs environments, she went on to train as a Holistic Massage practitioner. Having danced with Gabrielle Roth since 1989, she was accredited by the Moving Centre, New York in 1994 to teach the Waves® level of the work. In January 2007, she completed the training to teach Heartbeat®, the emotional maps of this dance practice. Deborah teaches 5Rhythms in the Findhorn Community in Scotland, which has been her primary home since 1986. This will be her ninth semester as Lead Faculty for the Findhorn Foundation College on the module ‘Exploring Self & Community through the Arts’. When not teaching and parenting her two children in Findhorn (17 & 12), she travels and teaches throughout Europe and Asia. She recently worked with 90 teenagers and 20 teachers in Thailand introducing 5Rhythms into their alternative learning curriculum.

Gill Emslie - Diploma (M.A. equiv.) in Process Oriented Psychology, School of Process Oriented Psychology Portland, OR, and London UK; Certificate in Holotropic Breathwork, School of Holotropic Breathwork, CA. Gill has extensive experience as an international trainer and facilitator, drawing on her training in transpersonal psychology, as a consultant to organizations and communities, and as a psychotherapist, to deliver trainings in group dynamics and conflict facilitation, social design, personal development, staff training, supervision, and developing the relationship between individual purpose and its application in the workplace and the world. Gill currently works within the corporate and voluntary sectors both in Europe and Latin America as well as teaching in a variety of educational programmes.

Lisa Shaw - M.F.A. Grays School of Art, Aberdeen, 2007-2009 (to be completed September, 2009). B.F.A. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York City, 2000-2004. Lisa Shaw is an artist, designer and educator. She is the art director of the Ecovillage Institute, an ecological design and engineering firm based in Findhorn, Scotland. She has worked on water restoration projects in India, China, Bolivia, Russia and the UK as part of the Ecovillage Institute team, educating for the restoration and sustainable use of water and soil. This work targets problems of water scarcity, contamination and land degradation. Lisa is involved in community building and ecological art and is currently researching issues of self-image in relationship to the environment in Scotland. She creates paintings on canvas, photographs, videos, murals and dialogical interventions and has taught art to adults and children.

Melissa Godbeer B.MSc & M.MSc University of Metaphysics, California
Melissa is passionate about Living Education and personal sustainability, teaching on a range of themes from green mind programing to pro-peace activisim, she has been an educator with the Findhorn College since 2005 where her key area of interest has been the beneficial communal effects of right-livelihood. With a diverse history originating in Zimbabwe - Africa, Melissa dynamically draws on over 10 years of team leadership and group facilitation experience, utalising advanced facilitation technology as a means to reach her audience. Whilst maintaining an authentic level of compassion to support and mentor students through the accadmemic demands of the rigourus Findhorn Community Semester programme, Melissa’s capacity to demystify the seriousness of sustainable education brings at times relief to the learning community.

Academic Focaliser

Melissa Godbeer - please see faculty descriptions above

Community Life Focaliser

Lesley Quilty Dip Physical Theatre, Dip Mythodrama Artist Presenter
Lesley is a group facilitator, coach and mentor, theatre artist, arts consultant, and mother. She is a long-term Findhorn Foundation Community member with a wealth of experience facilitating individuals and groups in the fields of personal, professional and artistic development. She trained as a physical theatre artist and clown at Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre in northern California. She has worked in professional theatre as performer, director, teacher and producer, in North America and the UK, for over 20 years. As a "Clown Consultant" Lesley participates in environmental, educational and social activist conferences and events, and as a "Clown Doctor" she supports sick children and their families through the process of illness in Scottish hospitals. Lesley is also a coach and lead presenter of cutting-edge leadership development programmes for Olivier Mythodrama Associates.