The future we see

In our office we are, of course, enmeshed in the day-to-day; the courses and learners making their way through the transits of our bustling calendar. Yet we also dream of time ahead, of ideas for future classes, new directions for our department and for each other.

This week was the culmination of a contest we held here at Royal Roads asking our staff to answer a question for us: "What kind of future do you want?" 

The entries we received touched us and moved us, enlivening our office as we read them aloud to each other and lifting our sense of promise for the visions their words held up to us all.

The two top entries are posted below. The winning submission is from Bill Durodie from the School of Peace and Conflict Management. Our runner up is Rebecca Bosma from the Centre for Applied Leadership and Management. 

Congratulations, Bill and Rebecca! With futures this bright, we are honoured to share your sightlines of the days that lie before us all on this home we call Earth.

THE FUTURE WE NEED FOR OUR PLANET

Putting people back into the ecological equation

by Bill Durodie

The photographs of the earth taken from space by the moon missions of the late 60s became iconic images for the environmental movement. They captured the beauty of a predominantly blue planet, surrounded by a preciously thin and translucent layer of atmosphere. They inspired and galvanised a generation into demanding a more sustainable future.

It was ironic that this appreciation of our inner-connectedness had come through the greatest human effort to separate ourselves from our home and harness its resources. Worse, this new understanding was a by-product of the Cold War pursuit of power and presumed prestige.

And while at the time the images were held to demonstrate the uniqueness and fragility of our condition, further exploration since, primarily through the use of the Hubble space telescope, suggests this to be far from being true as new ‘earths’ are discovered almost every week.

We should never be afraid of such apparent contradictions if we are to embrace a clear vision for the future of our planet.

The historic moments that saw some people liberating themselves from the shackles of superstition, speculation, dogma and diktat – the Renaissance and the Enlightenment – were also periods that led to the colonization and domination of others.

But we should no more disown our own history than we can overturn the forces of nature. Rather we need to learn how to embrace and harness these for the benefit of both the planet and its people, all of whose histories intertwine to shape the future.

Unfortunately, in recent years, an all-too lazy caricature of human beings as being bad for the planet has been allowed to emerge and flourish across many quarters of society. Many effectively promote dystopian representations of the present and negative projections of the future that only serve to encourage a one-sided and dismal view of ourselves and our impact on the environment.

Maybe these pessimistic presumptions serve as a necessary corrective to an age that had supposedly unquestioningly embraced an unbridled pursuit of progress. But it may be time to re-establish ourselves in the wholeness of nature and not to allow ourselves to become dispirited as to our potential to conceptualise and to do good.

In his classic work ‘On Liberty’, the politician and philosopher John Stuart Mill – a practitioner-scholar ahead of his time – noted that;

‘a State which dwarfs its men … will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished’

The same could be said of any outlook that encourages us to be so humble that we fail thereby to challenge that which truly needs to be transformed. The only beneficiaries of a diminished sense of our humanity that ensues from this are those who gain from our failing to demand more and expect better.

A low view of ourselves does not help make things better for the planet. It merely demoralises and undermines the human potential and it caricatures the true complexity of our relationship with nature and with each other.

Small may be beautiful, but sometimes bigger can be better and more efficient. As we face big problems – such as climate change – so too will we need big ambitions, a big effort and maybe even big solutions to address it.

The future we need for our planet is one that restores the role of humanity in its future – not one that marginalises it. 

A KIND FUTURE

Maybe it really does begin with the chicken and the egg

by Rebecca Bosma

First off, thank you for asking! What kind of future do I want? I want a kind future. I want to live in a future that has all humans being kind to each other, to all animals and to our planet.

I want government that is influenced by a balance of values and common sense. I want to see them acting so ethical that the population wants to pay taxes. I want to see communities working together focused on common goals realized with more government support and less interference. I want to see closer knit communities, supporting each other’s needs. I would like to see food being appreciated and food security becoming a way of life.

I would like to see (in the near future) laws that not only allow, but encourage people to keep at least one hen for each member of the household. I believe this one thing could make a real difference to our planet. I would also like to see more households with one parent at home supporting healthy childhoods. If there is only one parent, they should be subsidized to allow all children one parent at home. If one person in each household could be devoted to raising and growing food full time, children could be nurtured with more quality time and better food (which changes everything).

There would be a program in place making it as easy as putting in a request to raise backyard chickens. Arrangements would be made for delivery of your chickens, a chicken tractor (small mobile pen and coop) and a handy how to guide. It would be important to have programs and resources to ensure a happy and healthy lifestyle is maintained for your chickens. What fun for the children, to collect the eggs and get to know their chickens and the value they have.

The backyard chicken program would allow families to benefit from fresh eggs, excellent entertainment, amazing compost for their gardens and possibly some meat to complete a cycle of sustainability. Local butchers would be better supported with common sense regulations so that families could afford to raise real organic, hormone free meat for their tables.

I can so easily visualize a government funded sustainability program like this for our future. It would make practical skills available through learning opportunities to help those who want to make the shifts towards sustainability. Some of the activities supported would be; food growing, seed saving, raising meat and dairy animals, making soap, various food preservation, etc. The program would have to ensure support is easily available for follow up assistance that anyone might need to move forward at all times to a more sustainable future. It needs to happen, but lots of people just don't know where to start. I believe that when people are able to do this kind of work, directly supporting their existence on this planet, that there will be more chance of our survival. 

I’d call this program something like “Step up and get your hands dirty for a better future” or “If we can’t do this, will our children even be able to?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What kind of future do you want? We'd love to read your comments.

Tess Wixted

Learning Associate

Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.

Image credits:

Earth from Space via Wikimedia Commons

Seattle Chicken Coop with Enclosed run via Wikimedia Commons

Light and learning

"For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned it is the season of the harvest.” ~ the Talmud

Every morning and evening as I head to and from work here at Royal Roads, the daylight continues to wane. Scowling grey skies and puddles of wet are the landscape now. Teasing bouts of sunshine and illuminated clouds of boundless white brink overhead only to remember their place and quickly tuck themselves back into the wings of autumn's final act.

Next week the light returns and winter begins. It's an odd paradox in our Gregorian calendar. We somehow think of winter solstice as an end to the bleakness of winter as the days slowly grow under the sun's reign, yet it is a heralding to winter's arrival and its place in our lives.

Moving from California to Canada nearly five years ago, I have come to love the deep abiding embrace of winter's silent gifts. Circadian rhythm awakened in me like vestiges of an ancient dance my body longed to remember. Winter offers its gentle permission for me to slow down at work, at home, and in all of life. In these coming weeks the calls of rest and inward turning will beckon from books and friends in warm cafes, from longer periods of meditation and tiny white lights cascading over the fireplace. It's a time for reflection and learning, of a harvest within us painting the light of all we are onto the brilliant canvas of the world.

We hope you'll spend this winter time with those dear to you and with yourself, awakening to the gifts unfolding inside and celebrating the light, wherever you may find it.

Join us in 2013 for classes that call to your creativity, your leadership, and our connection to each other.
 
Happy holidays from all of us in Continuing Studies.

Tess Wixted
Program Associate

Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.

Deep listening

This week I finished Difficult Conversations, my first Continuing Studies course of the season. It was a two-day class that asked us to bring our full authenticity and awareness to a room of strangers and share the vulnerability and fears that arise when we wish to connect with another, but don't have the means to cross the abyss of conflict and separation.

One of the fascinating pieces of information our facilitator, Paul Mohapel, PhD, shared with us was that we only use about 35% of our brain to hear and understand words in conversation. The remaining 65% is up for grabs. Most often we use it to layer judgements on the other person in what they are saying, wearing, how they took our parking space last month. We draft grocery lists or think about what we'll have for lunch or carefully plan how we are going to respond to what they just said, holding onto the thread of our thought lest we forget and don't get to speak our precious words. In the meantime we have stopped listening and have indentured ourselves to that other side of the abyss, still not fully connecting, not fully engaging in this most human of interactions.

Another possibility ripe for exploration is to use that 65% for listening with our full being, opening every cell and neural pathway to be present, to wonder what the speaker is feeling, what judgments they may be facing, how we may be curious to find out more about them and the gift of words they are sharing with us.

Listening is the bridge to our interconnection. It is the skill we need the most yet sadly is the one least likely to be honoured and practiced. It's a strange irony that education offers us tools in the exact opposite order in which we must use them to communicate effectively with each other. In school we are first taught how to read, then how to write, how to speak in front of others, but we are never taught how to listen. The written word is but a blink on the timeline of human presence on this planet, yet it has taken on a superior veneer at the expense of the ancient skill of listening in a profound and life affirming way.

Poet, author and Continuing Studies facilitator, Mark Nepo's new book, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, offers us a path to listening not just to other people, but to our nature, our calling, our interdependence with all. It is about the work of being, the work of being human, and the work of love.

To learn more about deep communion and the art of listening, join us this month and several times next year for Non-Violent Communication: The Language of Respect and next July for another offering of Difficult Conversations.

Tess Wixted
Continuing Studies Associate

Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.

Image credit: Microsoft Images

Our 2012/2013 season of lifelong learning begins

"Not all those who wander are lost." – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 

As we roam, our imaginations take the cue. Wandering, getting lost on purpose, allows us to learn by going. A practice of walking is “realization in action”, a moving meditation in the here and now that helps widen our focus by moving our intelligence from the hegemony of the head into the whole body, expanding into and more easily connecting with, the world.

Rhythmic movement transfers energy from left logic to right artist brain where inspiration arrives in the discovery of new perspectives as we tap into inner resources, and saturate the senses in the wisdom of the natural world. Henry David Thoreau (1986 in Glick) viewed it as genius and held “the art of walking” in a nearly spiritual capacity where insight followed sight. He wrote that in the Middle Ages, one who walked in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land was called a ‘Saint of the Earth’, Sainte Terre or ‘saunter-er’. Today, those who wander are not usually noted for this particular genius despite the fact that every significant religious leader seriously wandered (often for years) until each made a world-shifting return!

When we literally take our ideas out for a walk, letting the primacy of experience flow in and through us, paying attention to the beauty of the small and the ordinary, we begin to recognize the world as ensouled where everything has a life of its own. This tends to in/form and grow our compassion. Many of our indigenous friends already know this. Know to listen to light, to heed the intuition of the river, attune to the voice of the wind, converse with the invisibles and the ancestors, respect mountain patience and honour the wisdom of the stars. Know that we must let the world shape us rather than the other way around.

Infamous itinerants, like cultural ecologist, David Abram and poet/rover, David Whyte with his new work, Pilgrim, will be here this year to re-mind us. And there will be other seasoned wanderers - courageous ones who dare to the unpredictable frontier of their lives bringing curiosity and joyful ability to share what they have been called to along the way.

This calendar is filled with hospitable ways to let go of always being wise and right, to let our animal bodies “love what they love”, and to trust in each other because so much is at stake now. And if we fail to create the necessary 'psychic elbow room' required for deep listening, self-reflexive practices and the open spaces required for vision and reciprocal relationships that invite conscious awareness, change and the strengthening of what our venerable teacher, Joanna Macy calls our “moral imagination”, then we may miss our chance for life…sustaining. Life. Changing.

Those who dare to go forth now, to bring their own uniqueness and gladness may in fact be the ones to inherit the earth as they will be so beautifully equipped to let their imaginations wander widely (and wildly) enough to dream into the impossible. Let these lifelong learning opportunities generously feed and nourish your soul, provide the companionship, support and skills along the way necessary for you to see with new eyes that open to wonder as you wander forth with confidence and compassion.

We’ll meet you there!

                        "Are you coming?  Good -
                         now it is time"             ~ W. Stafford

Hilary Leighton, M.Ed., Director
Continuing Studies

Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca

Deep listening

Our surprise at the beauty and fragility of life is part of one chorus of awe. ~ Mark Nepo

Yesterday was convocation day here at Royal Roads. Hundreds of learners savoured the delicious refrains of graduation and completion of their long sought degrees. A smile slipped through my body in seeing the graduates in oh so proper cap and gown gliding like skipping stones through the rivers of hallways with proud families and friends watching the sparks of their lightened wakes. What they have done in their studies has laid a path of grit and mortar, bricks and hopes for an intrepid future. With tomorrow's dawn will be the next challenge, the next dream, the next moment of awe whose breath will whisper a prayer to become all that they truly are.

In each whisper is a chance for all of us to listen all the more carefully to what calls to us and asks us to step more firmly into our intrepid lives. With each step we come upon the risk to be fully authentic. And taking that risk, we are faced with the unquenchable need to stand by our core in order to live life fully. If we get this far, we are returned, quite humbly, to the simple fate of being here. Through each step, each fall, each reclaiming of our direction, our devotion to deep listening remains the simple and sacred work of being here. As Mark Nepo, poet, philosopher and writer says, "…there are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths.”

Join Mark Nepo and storyteller, Margo McLoughlin, September 21-23, 2012 at Royal Roads for their course, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: The Work of Reverence, based on Nepo's latest book by the same name.


Where do you find awe? What cleaves you open for the next chapter of your life, this singular day, this precious moment? To re-imagine Nepo's words, let the water of your heart fill a deeper glass that only you can call your authentic self.

Tess Wixted
Continuing Studies Associate

Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.

Ezio Manzini in Conversation with Robert Bateman

Being a designer means being an optimist: given the problems, all the problems even the most difficult, all we can do is to presume there is a possibility of solving them, not because we cannot see the difficulties (designers must also be realists), but because we have no alternative. ~ Ezio Manzini

Join celebrated Canadian artist and naturalist, Robert Bateman in conversation with visiting scholar and Leading Sustainable Design Thinker, Ezio Manzini, for a brownbag lunchtime discussion on how Art and Design are helping people around the world respond to the complex challenges of our times.

Date: Thursday, April 5, 2012
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Location: Royal Roads University, Learning and Innovation Centre - 4th floor

Click here to register or for more information.

Tess Wixted
Program Associate

Visit us at http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies.

Wisdom and the Open Window: Seniors and Lifelong Learning

"In times of change, ‘learners’ inherit the Earth, while ‘knowers’ find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."  ~ Eric Hoffer

So often when we reach the age where wisdom is supposed to sing us magically to the end of our days, we find instead, the dull monotonous clang of knowing.  Knowing everything. Knowing it all. Knowing there’s nothing else to do or to learn. Friends and family stop asking questions of us because they’ve heard the same answer time and again. The fact is, we’re tired of the same answers too. We wait for luminous insight to inhabit our bodies and we wait and we wait.

Knowing is like a fortress where the mortar and bricks concretize life. Knowing is a closed door; learning is an open window. Lifelong learning asks us to seek the larger parts of ourselves around every corner, invites us into the largest conversations with the world. It can be following a yearning that has been with us all our lives or discovering a sprouting seed in our aging garden that we never knew existed and begs to be tended.

Learning can take the form of meditation, photography, exploring native culture, tending bees, or making friends with your computer. And you won’t find “for seniors only” programming within our calendar.  We have come to understand the richness of what can happen when all generations share and learn together. Learning is what brings us alive and asks us to open to more and more of life’s treasures. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” Growing beyond the bounds of our comfort zone means stepping into the light of the unknown, perhaps walking alongside our fears or biases, and always brings us closer to a space of wide open wonder and possibility. It is here, in this space, that wisdom’s whisper sometimes is heard. It’s waiting for all of us. We just need to step to the window and listen.

Tess Wixted

Program Associate

Join us at http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies/

What dreams may come

Hurrying to catch my bus to work last week, my eyes followed the course of hard, cold streets and sidewalks as my thoughts ticked off the day's endless list of to-dos and to-wants. I happened to glance up long enough to see the waxing light of day stretch its pastel arms into the eastern sky. For the slightest of moments the pink dawn appeared to be a dream of cherry blossoms coloring the bare tree branches along the street. I paused and smiled at the portend of spring, crinkled and fresh like crepe paper tucked behind the outline of sleeping bark and hopeful buds.

Dreams come in all forms. The light is returning, bringing with it glimpses of dreams yet unexamined and those fully awakened. Joanna Macy, Buddhist scholar, writer, and spiritual activist, has been living the dream of mindful, purposeful work for most of her life. Her pioneering guidance in The Work That Reconnects and The Great Turning, our shift as a culture from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilization, has inspired and opened countless numbers of people to the deep possibilities that lie sleeping within them.

In her latest newsletter, Joanna writes:

"The other night at dinner, as we were sharing news and views, my Creation theologian friend Matt Fox said, 'Courage is the first sign of the Spirit. It is the root of all the other virtues.'

I loved his saying that. It caused me to think how courage is the essential ingredient of truth-speaking, how it sparks our fervor and our self-respect, how it lets us discover new strengths, new allies. And I got to reflecting on how lucky I am that the work I do acquaints me with so many courageous people."

Yesterday on my same route to work I noticed the first cherry blossoms opening in the trees. The light of the pale blushed beauty of the petals and the dark strength of the gnarled gray bark set their opposites in beautiful alignment. Our courage lies in seeing the light and the dark in union and stepping into our truth with fervor and respect.

What do you see when you look to the sky?

Join Joanna Macy this summer for nine days of intensive training in The Work That Reconnects. Click here for more information.

Tess Wixted
Continuing Studies Associate

Visit us at http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies

Happiness and education are connected...

Educator and philosopher, Nel Noddings (2003) wrote “Happiness and education are, properly intimately connected.”  (p.1). Nel has contributed significantly to educational theory with her philosophy of the ethics of care and wellbeing and what we have come to understand that she means by this line of thinking is that those who experience satisfaction in their lives synonymously seem to be those who continue to develop themselves, and in turn contribute positively to their societies. And while “happiness” in this context refers to a sense of hope about the future and current feelings of wellbeing,  educational experiences that foster personal growth and expanded awareness can do much to support this. 

Here we are just a few days past January – the month named for the Greek God Janus who looked both into the future and the past as the double-faced force of new beginnings. What better time to reflect on where we have come from and what lies ahead and ask ourselves how happiness and education together might shape what is arriving in 2012?  Happily, the university supports continued learning and with that invitation comes a responsibility for us all to keep learning, keep developing, keep contributing.  This is a fortuitous time to   glimpse a fresh perspective on human resources, tell our story and connect with others on social media, expand your emotional intelligence, learn to facilitate difficult conversations, develop your leadership, manage your energy, learn about systems thinking and have the courage to change while building teams that trust. So much to learn!  

Such a gift is waiting for us all … and perhaps a way to happiness too as we learn together. 

Hilary Leighton, M.Ed.
Director, Continuing Studies

Snow day!

With the Royal Roads University campus closed because of mounds of fresh glistening snow and slip-sliding skids of black ice, I’ve been womaning my emails and phone calls from the warmth of home and hearth. Well, no hearth per se; make that a most reliable radiator.

Fewer cars on the road outside my window, fewer voices passing by. The silence is exhilarating and feels almost like a precipice as I lean into its core of expectant wonder. It’s in the peace of days like this that I most hear my heart’s longings. It’s a call to dream, to manifest, to turn inward and somehow fan the flames of alchemy, changing forever the metal of longing into the gold of knowing.

Winter calls for us to go inward and our upcoming courses offer a wonderful bridge to examine your own inner longings.

The Gift of Dreaming: Transforming the Mundane into the Sacred begins Sunday, January 29

Dreams are a valuable and powerful tool. They can be a magical and even mystical experience. When we have a vital, authentic relationship with our dreams, we become more of who we are meant to be. Life takes on a richer sense of meaning as we honour the mystery of our own journey.  Join Dr. Corrinne Allyson for this deep and powerful exploration of your relationship with your dreams.

Finding the Poem in Your Heart's Garden begins Saturday, February 4

Everyone, no matter what their skill level, can learn to write a poem, and you will leave with at least five poems to plant into your life and into the lives of others. Wendy Morton, author of five poetry books and a memoir, will guide you through the process where you'll learn what makes a poem, how you can pick a poem out of your experience, how you can write poems for others and how to become a poet or be a better one.

Meditating to Heal the Heart begins Saturday, February 4
Unconditional friendliness toward oneself is the foundation of all the transformation that arises on the human journey. Neil McKinlay is a meditation instructor and personal coach who will guide you through the various practices that can heal your relationship with yourself. Drawing from the Meditating with the Body® curriculum of Dr. Reginald Ray, you will explore both the body and heart in this deep and insightful program.

Whether snow or sun visited you today, wishing you a night of peaceful dreams.

Tess Wixted
Continuing Studies Program Associate

Visit our website at http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies.

New beginnings everywhere

Sometimes I wonder how much goodness can caress one person in their life? Me for example. I have one of the best jobs in the world. An overstatement? Well, not to me. Every day I look forward to coming to work and help to bring people like Jane Goodall, David Whyte, Robert Bateman and Joanna Macy to people like you. I started at Royal Roads in the Continuing Studies department this past October and dove into the deep underspine of a cresting wave of over 300 courses. Lots of work met me the moment I sat down and just now, in the quiet interlude of winter’s arrival, I can breathe in the work lying ahead in the exhale of a new year.

Coming to Royal Roads has been part and parcel to stepping into a deep abiding of the call to service within me. When the opportunity came to work here I leapt at the chance. Like I said, where else do you get to work with such amazing facilitators, look out at the ocean, walk magnificent gardens and have lunch with peacocks. Wow.

It’s traditional to look back at the year that has passed and examine the path with eyes now far down the road of time. This was my first year in Victoria having moved last December from wee Cortes Island, BC, my home for nearly three years. I smile at the realization of how rich and welcoming Victoria can be to a new arrival. Friends grow into communities, discoveries of secret beaches, favoured farmers’ markets and the riot of azure blue spring camas exalting from Beacon Hill. Coffee houses and music festivals, dragon boat races and busking festivals. Victoria is my home and every day I treasure its embrace of me and my life.

I’m looking forward to bringing you bits of information and inspiration from the warmest spot in Canada. I hope you’ll join me on the journey.

One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things ~ Henry Miller

Tess Wixted

Continuing Studies Associate

http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies

EUROPEAN WINE CRUISE INFORMATION SESSION

Please join us on January 26th at 7pm for an information session hosted by Deborah Wickins of Wine Love Wine Lust and Oceania Cruise Lines.

Learn about our Vineyards and Vignettes sailing from London to Barcelona in September 2011.

We sail on the luxurious mid-size ship Insignia, where you will be treated to a host of discoveries, enrichment and experiences that are beyond compare.

Stroll the Champs Elysee, delight in tasting the superb wines of Bordeaux, visit the stunning Guggenheim Museum, tour the port houses of Oporto, explore the Andalusian wine country and Jerez, the home of sherry and experience authentic tapas bars and paella restaurants in Spain. This tour includes return air from Vancouver, 14 day cruise, all onboard meals, pre-paid gratuities and is hosted by Victoria sommelier Deborah Wickins.

For information and to RSVP contact Linda Nelson at Cruise Holidays Pacific 250-472-2789 linda@cruiseholidayspacific.com

Sustainability "U"

With so much focus on global sustainability, how much time and energy are we actually devoting to the more personal aspects of balance and wholeness?

Please join us October 7, 2010 from 7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. in the Mews Conference Centre at Royal Roads University for a free to the public evening showcasing leading edge and innovative personal sustainability practices in short half hour preview sessions as a glimpse into the full courses offered throughout the year in Continuing Studies.

• Explore fearless painting, story-telling, journaling, and the ancient art of tea leaf reading as a way to tap into your creativity and intuition.
• Or, if you are curious about the healing arts, discover meditation practice and laughter yoga while sampling healthy living through whole and wild foods, and diets that will slow down the aging process or stave off diabetes.
• Learn about permaculture by design, cob-building, eco-system based living and the study of traditional plant knowledge called ethnobotany.
• Find out how our own wild nature is best contextualized in the natural world through the lens of integral ecology and ecopsychology,
• Hear about how mythology and astrology affect you in midlife and see personal coaching in action

…and more!

Click here to view the PDF poster.

Please RSVP – October 4 by calling 250-391-2600 ext. 4801Co-Sponsored by the West Shore Arts Council

About Continuing Studies 2010-11

“What makes me hopeful is not so much the certainty of the find, but my movement in the search.” – Paulo Freire, (1997)

Our cover is designed with the earth in mind. The creek metaphor illustrates those same moving aspects we can experience in our own comings and goings, erodings and tumblings, drifting, shifting and forming as we learn.

Both words - course and curriculum - spring from the same watery root of currere meaning “current”, or “onward movement”, “to run”, “ to flow”. And often in education we refer to specificity in learning as “streams”. This watery allegory brings us to wonder, What wellspring of wisdom lies just beneath the surface? How do small ripples so widely change the course of our lives? How can we be more reflective in our teaching and learning practice? How does the overflow of ‘too much’ , or the swirling eddies and deep whirlpools - the inner ponderings - mirror those same qualities of river? Heraclitus (6th Century BCE) believed it was impossible to step twice into the same river because both the river and the person will have flowed on… continuing…becoming.

Tribal cultures that are still in connectivity with the natural world, refer to the “self” as becoming, as a streaming part of the larger identity of all things in kinship with animals, earth, and ancestors. They believe we are not just living on this earth, but that we are a part of how it lives, we are living elements of it, therefore, what we do to the one, we do to the other. And as the earth is a living and open whole system, and we are living ‘cells’ within that system, it would follow then that the world is more full when we live more fully. In essence, the world becomes more of its self as reflected through our engagement and presence. There are clues too in the word ‘education’ which stems from educe meaning “to draw forth”. Environmental educator, David Orr (2004) writes that “the earth is inscribed in us, and we are of the earth - shot through with wildness” - and that we must teach to draw out our affinity for all that is alive on the earth rather than just accumulate more facts and data. How can we approach learning in this way?

It is in wild nature that this is best contextualized. There we can more easily re/member where we come from, where we belong, and what we love, by coming to recognize and understand our own ecological and earthy identities – our true natures while in nature! In doing so, we wade into deeper reservoirs of understanding of the ways in which we are each meant to contribute to the world in terms of developing our true vocation and cultural leadership. A more eco-centric approach to learning can create the conditions for us to become part of the larger story as we examine how to bring our unique gifts, while inviting companionship rather that commodification with the world in that discovery.

Imagine drawing forth our natural affinity together in this bucolic learning place - Royal Roads University - a space to… immerse in creativity, learn reasoning and critical thought; social marketing and increased personal, social and environmental responsibility. Or lead and influence environmen¬tal action, understand the value of sustainability, green energy and climate change through the lens of the new The Carbon and Energy Leadership Certificate. Become an organic master gardener and grow wild, organic foods, bee-keep, and forage for mushrooms. Learn about transition towns, career transition and right livelihood. Design a natural home, a cob building, an ecological landscape, with permaculture in mind. Explore Coast Sal¬ish culture and reconnection with the natural world, star-gaze. Become a ‘sound’ leader, an alchemist for change, and learn the brain science behind authentic leadership. Communicate in stories, listen deeply and write well. Seek organizational change through dialogic engagement and poetry, trace your roots, manage your time and energy, tap into your deepest longings and plan for the long run. Navigate global transformation, mythology, integral ecology and counseling as if the earth mattered. Sculpt, paint, dance, drum, photograph, and let the arts inform your research. Draw from body-held wisdom in meditative and somatic practices. Become more appreciative, find hope and resiliency, live lightly and lighten up! Journey to the Galapagos Island and mysterious Macchu Picchu to walk in Darwin’s footsteps or put your feet up and drink in the scenery on a wine cruise in France. Change your diet, your investments and your mind!

Brimming with over 270 short courses, this 2010–2011 calendar is literally drenched with opportunities! This year we welcome Tibetan Buddhist, Reginald A. Ray ( Mar 25-26-27), world renowned poet-philosopher, David Whyte (May 6 & 7), author/poet/philosopher, Mark Nepo (June 3-4), and depth psychologist, author and wilderness guide, Bill Plotkin (July 12 and July 13-17).

The work of these elegant and masterful cultural agents transcends normally exclusive learning realms to offer visionary models of human development toward a deeply imaginative lifestream of vocation and leadership. We hope to cultivate the kinds of courageous conversations that encourage the uniqueness of each one of us to become more ourselves in service to the whole, in a willingness to continue living our learning, together…to confluence and flow on.

Hilary Leighton MEd, Director, Continuing Studies

The 2010 Bateman Lecture

The Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communications Program of the School of Environment and Sustainability and the Bateman Centre for Environmental Education and Communication

The 2010 Bateman Lecture - STRIKING THE BALANCE: THE CHALLENGES FACING THOSE SEEKING TO PROTECT NATURE

Protecting nature is a vital task filled with conflict, ethical tension, politics, burnout and great rewards. To be a success it is essential that one work with a full range of partners, oftentimes with sectors or individuals that don’t share or respect your interests. How does one rise above these dilemmas to get the job done, yet at the same time retain one’s dignity and integrity? This lecture will explore the world of conservation, environmental non-profits, the role of science, the importance of language and the necessity of hope as society manoeuvres through this challenging and important time on earth.

The 2010 Bateman Lecture will be presented by Mr. Bob Peart.

Bob Peart has spent his life in the world of conservation. Bob was the Executive Director of the BC chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) from 2000-2003. Prior to working at CPAWS, Bob was a Special Project Negotiator with the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, focusing on Clayoquot Sound and the Chilcotin regions of British Columbia. In the early 90s Bob was Chief of Staff for Cabinet Ministers with the BC Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and was Executive Director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC in the late 80s. Bob also has a strong interest in the museum world and from 1985-1988 was Assistant Director at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. Prior to that he spent 10 years in Ontario and Saskatchewan in various federal government positions with the Canadian Wildlife Service and Parks Canada.

For the past thirty-five years Bob has volunteered for numerous conservation groups at the regional, provincial, national and international level - in particular the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. Currently Bob is Chair of the Child and Nature Alliance, a Senior Associate with the Children and Nature Network and an Honorary Board member of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC. Bob also serves on the board of The Kesho Trust, the Young Naturalist Association of BC, IUCN's Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative, the Elders Council for Parks in BC and the Fraser Basin Council.

In 2008 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to conservation and environmental education Bob Peart was awarded Canada's most prestigious conservation award, the J.B. Harkin Medal.

Bob is a registered professional biologist, has a Masters Degree in Education, and has completed formal training in Dispute Resolution at the Justice Institute in Vancouver. He has been an avid outdoors person ever since he was a kid --- he particularly enjoys hiking, backpacking, kayaking and bird watching.
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The 2010 Bateman Lecture will be presented at Royal Roads University on the evening of August 10 from 7:00-9:00 PM. The lecture is open to members of the public and to faculty and students at Royal Roads University. The Bateman Lectures, which were inaugurated in 2005 by Robert Bateman, recognizes the special relationship between Robert Bateman, the Bateman family and Royal Roads University, a relationship embodied in the Bateman Centre for Environmental Education and the Arts. In 2010 Robert Bateman will be presented with the degree of Doctor of Laws, honora causa, at the Royal Roads University Spring Convocation.

Special Lecture Presentation:

The Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communications Program of the School of Environment and Sustainability and the Bateman Centre for Environmental Education and Communication

Special Lecture Presentation: Transforming Canada’s Forestry Sector - The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement: Collaboration and Partnership; the 21st Century Business Model

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and nine leading environmental organizations, unveiled an unprecedented agreement on May 18, 2010 that applies to 72 million hectares of public forests licensed to FPAC members. The Agreement, when fully implemented, will conserve significant areas of Canada’s Boreal Forest, protect threatened woodland caribou and provide a competitive market edge for participating companies.

This world-leading collaborative Agreement sets Canada’s forest industry apart from the rest of the world, and clearly signifies a paradigm shift in 21st century business practices. This Agreement ultimately provides others in Canada and around the globe with the opportunity to learn how to develop, and structure, a collaborative approach to finding solutions that meet both environmental and economic objectives.

Presenters will review the two year process of collaborative negotiations, and discuss the implementation objectives that encompass a “whole-cloth” approach to managing the interwoven aspects of the global environment and the economy.

Speakers:

Avrim Lazar is President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada, since Jan. 1, 2002. He also chaired the National Business Association Roundtable and is the Past-President of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA). Mr. Lazar has held senior policy positions in the government of Canada in the Ministries of Justice, Agriculture, Environment and Human Resource Development. During this period he was responsible for national policy in areas as diverse as climate change, biodiversity, child poverty, employment insurance and labour force training.

Mr. Lazar was Chair of the Committee of the Whole of the Second UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1995. Mr. Lazar taught high school in Vancouver and Zambia from 1969 to 1973. Over the years, Mr. Lazar has given many courses in the graduate studies programs at the University of Ottawa and Carleton
University. Mr. Lazar holds degrees in science and education, including a B.Sc (1968) from McGill University, a B.Ed (1970) and a PhEd in Ed (1976) from the University of Ottawa.

Mr. Lazar has four children.

Lorne Johnson has fifteen years of experience in multi-stakeholder consultation, facilitation and consensus building working with resource industries, government, NGOs, local communities and First Nations. Lorne successfully coordinated the development of regional and national corporate social responsibility standards for Canada’s forest sector for the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) international eco-labelling system between 1996 and 2005. More recently, Lorne led World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) government relations efforts in Ottawa representing the organization on a diversity of files including climate change, oceans management and energy policy. Lorne has a track record of proactively helping industry, government and NGOs find practical solutions to sustainability challenges. Lorne holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University, and a Masters of Science, Forestry, from the University of Toronto. He is now a Principal in the Boxfish Consulting Group and is based in Ottawa.
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The presentation is sponsored by the Royal Roads University, School of Environment and Sustainability and the Bateman Centre for Environmental Education and the Arts as part of the annual Robert Bateman Lecture Series.

Date: Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Time: 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Place: Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC.

Planetize the Movement: Connecting Ecology, Social Justice and Cosmology

– co-sponsored with Programs in Earth Literacies

In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. said “planetize the movement” calling for a creative mal-adjustment to what were the norms of societal justice and human rights of the day. He asked “Why adjust to insanity? Mal-adjust to right work”. Thankfully today we have eloquent activists like Drew Dellinger who continue to carry this encouragement, to ask provocatively, “What did we do when we knew?” Based on years of study with Thomas Berry, and in-depth survey of the writings and sermons of Martin Luther King Jr., Drew Dellinger connects ecology, cosmology and justice with humanity’s path into a sustainable future through the poetic. Drew is a spoken word poet, teacher, writer, activist and founder of Poets for Global Justice. He has shared the stage with Brian Swimme, Van Jones, Ani DiFranco, Paul Hawken, Alice Walker, Robert Kennedy Jr and others. View his new video http://drewdellinger.org/pages/video/187/hieroglyphic-stairway.

Drew is here at RRU with Continuing Studies for a one day workshop on May 1st….not to be missed! Please pass it on!
http://www.royalroads.ca/continuing-studies/CYGLEL1819-Y09.htm

A Naturalists Journey - Walk with Darwin in the Galapogos Islands

Continuing Studies is pleased to be offering in partnership with Cruise Holidays Pacific "A Naturalists Journey - Walk with Darwin in the Galapogos Islands"

Join Dr. Richard Kool, Ed.D, Biologist, Educator and Linda Nelson, Cruise and Travel Consultant of Cruise Holidays Pacific for a free information session on a unique touring experience that will take you through the incredible natural wonders . . . of the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador in the fall of 2010!

Date: April 13, 2010 Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

RSVP by March 12, 2010 to Karen Brown in Continuing Studies at 250-391-2600 ext. 4801

Printable Itinerary

Printable Brochure

Every Road Leads Home concert

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~Berthold Auerbach

Continuing Studies facilitators and co-directors Shivon Robinsong and Denis Donnelly present “Every Road Leads Home” with The Getting Higher Choir and special guest Shari Ulrich in support to the Power of Hope’s 12th Annual Benefit.

Cost: $20 ($15 for seniors/students)
When: Friday, January 29 at 7:30pm or Sunday January 31 at 2pm
Where: Alix Goolden Performance Hall (907 Pandora)
Tickets are on sale at: Munro’s Books, Larsen Music, Ivy’s Books, James Bay Coffee and Books, and Dig This (Broadmead). For out of town tickets call 250-995-8731

An Artful Representation of the Life of Cougar Annie

Continuing Studies is pleased to announce that Katrina Kadoski one of the staff at Cougar Annie’s Garden also known asthe “Pioneer Songstress” will be performing “Pioneer Ballads and Cougar Annie Tales” at Goo Goo Gigs (761 Fort St) on Monday, January 25 (doors open at 7:30 pm, show starts at 8PM - suggested donation of $10.00 at the door.)

Over her tenure as a caretaker and lover of Cougar Annie’s Garden, Katrina has written an in depth, evocative collection of beautiful ballads, created a slideshow with narration and poetry about pioneer life and about Cougar Annie herself. Katrina performs many of these songs during our annual trips to the Garden. It is a brilliant way come to understand more deeply the complexity of life at Hesquiaht Harbour over the last century through the lens of unique character. Not to be missed!

For further information phone 250-381-7797 or www.googoogoogles.ca

And for further info on either of Continuing Studies trips to Cougar Annie’s Garden check out:

The Wild Beauty: An Artful Retreat at Cougar Annie’s Garden (May 2010)

or

The Wild Feminine: Being in Nature and the Nature of Being at Cougar Annie's Garden (Sept 2010)