Schroeder, Heike

Heike Schroeder is Professor of Environmental Governance at the School of International Development, University of East Anglia. Her work focuses on global environmental politics, forest governance and REDD+, the international climate negotiations, non-state actors, urban climate governance, indigenous peoples/knowledge and sustainable development, transformative learning, trust and sustainable food governance. She is PI of the Indigenous-International Interactions for Sustainable Development (INDIS) project. She is also a member of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and a lead faculty member of the Earth System Governance project. Heike was a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam in 2019.

From 2007 to 2011, Heike was a Tyndall senior research fellow and an Oxford Martin senior fellow in forest governance at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. From 2003 to 2007, she was a researcher at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as the Executive Officer of a 10-year international research project on the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC), a core project of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP).

Key Research Interests

Heike’s research interests include global environmental politics, forest governance and REDD+, the international climate negotiations, indigenous peoples/knowledge and sustainable development, transformative learning, trust, sustainable food governance and planetary health.

Center, Athena

We are a center bridging science, business, and “ancient wisdom” from different traditions to bring sustainability and equality to the (business) world.

von Meibom, Barbara

Alles Leben ist Bewegung und ein ständiges Ringen, um das rechte Gleichgewicht, um lebensfördernde Balancen und um Synthesen zwischen vermeintlich unvereinbaren Widersprüchen. Dabei haben wir ein feines Gespür dafür, wenn etwas „aus der Spur geraten“ ist und destruktive Entwicklungen für uns selbst, für das Miteinander und für das Leben auf diesem Planeten entstanden sind.

Ich habe in meinem Leben erfahren müssen, was es heißt, sich der Welt zu sehr kognitiv zu nähern. Als Universitätsprofessorin, Politik- und Kommunikationswissenschaftlerin hatte ich gelernt, meine mentalen Fähigkeiten mit aller Kraft in den Dienst der Wissenschaft zu stellen.

Doch ich musste erfahren, dass damit mein Leben in ein destruktives Ungleichgewicht rutschte, und nicht nur dies:  Auch mein Menschen- und Weltbild wurden durch die mentale Perspektive verengt.

Ich begab mich also auf die Suche nach einem neuen inneren und äußeren Gleichgewicht, einem Gleichgewicht, das dem Leben dient.

Dazu entwickelte ich ein zweites Standbein, erschloss mir die Welten der transpersonalen und humanistischen Psychologie und Psychotherapie, vertiefte meinen Zugang zur spirituellen Dimension des Seins durch ausgedehnte Studienreisen nach Asien und erprobte mich seit Mitte der 90er Jahre, zuerst neben der universitären Tätigkeit und dann selbständig mit CommUnio.

​

Mit diesem reichen Hintergrund, in dem sich Unterschiedliches vereint, bin ich bis heute unterwegs und mit mir die vielen Menschen und Organisationen, die ich im Laufe meiner 20jährigen selbständigen Tätigkeit begleite und begleitet habe. Geholfen hat mir dabei, dass an meiner Wiege „Thron und Altar“ standen, repräsentiert durch zwei übermächtige Großväter, die so unterschiedliche Welten wie Macht und Liebe vertraten und eine Mutter, die sich mit hohem Engagement in den Dienst von Verständigung stellte.

​Zugänge, die ich im Laufe meiner langen beruflichen Tätigkeit gewählt habe, sind vielfältig: Einzelarbeit, Lehrgänge, Moderationen, Mediationen, Vorträge, Publikationen. Doch immer geht es mir darum, gemeinsam Wege zu ebnen, in denen sich Stimmigkeit im Innen wie im Außen herstellt, eine Stimmigkeit, die sich aus der produktiven Synthese unterschiedlichster Sichtweisen, Interessen, Anliegen und Weltzugänge herstellt.

taken from https://www.communio-fuehrungskunst.de/ueber-uns

 

Trescher, Dino

Helping humans reaching their human potential. With this calling in life I serve, cooperate and co-create to proesses of inner change and systems change towards sustainability transformations.

Chimère Diaw, Mariteuw

Chimère Diaw is the Director General of the African Model Forest Network (AMFN) and a member of the International Networking Committee of the IMFN (International Model Forest Network). He is one of the Coordinating Lead Authors of the ongoing Africa Regional Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for IPBES, the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. A member of the Board of Directors of Ecoagriculture Partners, and of the LDC Independent Expert Group (IEG) on the UN Post-2015 agenda, he also is the convener in Cameroon of the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), a network coordinated by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and active in 11 countries.

Chimère holds a PhD in Economic anthropology from Laval University, an MA in Rural Sociology from Michigan State University and a Master in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Dakar. He has been a researcher and programs manager for 35 years, 20 of which as international scientist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and the AMFN. Chimère has led or contributed to several international programs on Adaptive Collaborative Management, Governance, Verification, Environmental Services and Rural Livelihoods, Alternative to Slash and Burn, Environmental Decentralizations and Criteria and Indicators of sustainable forest management. His research interests and publications include African history, migrations, and modeling of the share system in fisheries, tenure regimes and property rights, climate change mitigation and REDD, governance of biodiversity and multi-stakeholder landscapes, Model Forests, participatory action research and interactive social methodologies. Chimère has lived and worked in Senegal, the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Cameroon.

The International Model Forest Network (IMFN) is a voluntary global community of practice whose members and supporters work toward the sustainable management of forest‐based landscapes and natural resources through the Model Forest approach.

Doran, Peter

Drawing on over 25 years of experience in the reporting and analysis of UN negotiations on sustainable development, including consultancy roles with UN Secretariats, I combine research and policy interests in the fields of sustainable development, the commons, and the attention economy.

My collaborative work with John Woods and the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust led to the creation of Northern Ireland’s first high-level roundtable on wellbeing, and to the re-design of the NI Programme for Government (2015) incorporating an outcomes and indicators based framework to measure and achieve societal wellbeing.

In 2020, in collaboration with Dr Ciara Brennan, Newcastle University, Dean Blackwood, QUB, and James Orr, Friends of the Earth, I founded the Environmental Justice Network Ireland. This is a collaborative platform or ‘community of practice’ engaging the environmental legal profession, activists and policy makers committed to advancing environmental justice and the SDGs on the island of Ireland. See www.ejni.net

Please visit my blog at www.mindfulcommons.org

taken from https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/peter-doran

Petranker, Jack

Jack Petranker holds a law degree from Yale and an M.A. in political theory from the University of California, Berkeley.  A former Dean of the Tibetan Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, he has also served as North American Vice President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (1988-92).  His own academic work is in the fields of consciousness studies and organizational change.  He has been director of Mangalam Research Center since its founding in 2009.

Mangalam Center explores new ways of bringing wisdom to the modern world. We embrace Buddhist, spiritual, secular, and integrated approaches to learning about our mind and ourselves, opening as many doors as possible to the means of healing and transformation.

Our goal is to communicate the heart of traditional teachings in an accessible way, while still maintaining their depth and authenticity. Recognizing the difficulty of translating ideas across time, cultures, and communities, we focus on having conversations and asking questions. We also emphasize bringing meditation or mindfulness practice into ordinary activities, to allow our own embodied experience to guide our understanding.

Lichtenberg, Jonas

Sociologist
Systemic Counselor
Research Fellow of Institut für Sozialpädagogische Forschung Mainz e.V.

Die harte Landung der Achtsamkeit in der westlichen Konsumkultur

Das aus dem Buddhismus stammende Konzept der Achtsamkeit bettet sich nach und nach in die verschiedenen Lebensbereiche der westlichen Kultur ein. Was bedeutet dieser Kontextwechsel in einer von Konsum geprägten Gesellschaft? Welche Potenziale der Meditation an sich und des “mindfulness-movements” im Allgemeinen lassen sich hinsichtlich einer ökologisch-nachhaltigen Zukunft festmachen? Und vor allem: welche Gefahren birgt dieser Prozess? In der Bachelorarbeit “Die harte Landung der Achtsamkeit in der westlichen Konsumkultur” werden die Wechselwirkungen, welche zwischen den westlichen Adaptionen der Achtsamkeit und den Entwicklungen der Konsumgesellschaft bestehen, analysiert und kritisch beleuchtet. Die Verfasserin nimmt dabei abwechselnd eine anthropologische, philosophische und soziologische Betrachtungsweise ein.

Evolutionary Leaders

EL Circle Purpose Statement:

Our purpose is to collectively inspire, support and serve conscious evolution.

EL Circle Mission Statement:

United by a shared commitment to strategically engage our collective field of potential, we serve our purpose by providing opportunities for synergistic engagement among evolutionary leaders who are forging a movement for the conscious evolution of humanity.

The Evolutionary Leaders Circle gathers annually in retreat to come into communal relationship with one another, deepening our collective consciousness and strengthening our mutual intention, thus setting the foundation for the emergence of the next steps of our evolutionary journey.

The retreat balances silence, relaxation, collaborative inquiry, and sharing amongst peers, inspiring and fostering new pathways of consciousness, capacity, collaboration, and community among us.

Together we explore ideas, perspectives and modalities that support an evolutionary worldview, pushing the edge of our collective thinking, knowing, and evolution. We seek to make insights that emerge from our exploration accessible to the public through diverse media, educational, and other relevant platforms.

Our engagement with one another inspires cooperative partnerships within the EL Circle and also enhances and amplifies the work we are already doing in our various fields of endeavor.

The EL Circle strives to inspire and support evolutionary leadership and visionary action throughout the world by giving voice to conscious, transformational and evolutionary ideas that meet the challenges of our time.

EL How We Engage Statement

We are a network of people who feel deep caring and a sense of urgency about the state of our world, and who each dedicate our lives and work to expressing a passionate commitment to both the inner work of human transformation and the outer work of social transformation.

We come together to catalyze and contribute to the evolution of one another and everyone whose lives we touch, and to magnify our ability to be of benefit. We aspire to pioneer the processes by which evolutionaries themselves continually evolve holistically, personally and in our service to all life.

We are committed to mentoring, coaching, inspiring and loving one another dynamically. Our convergence helps us, individually and collectively, to become more and more authentic, aligned, humble, cooperative, courageous, vulnerable, co-creative, innovative, and effective. Our engagement with one another inspires synergistic collaborations in self-organizing partnerships, in service to the emergence of a movement for the conscious evolution of humanity.

Milton, Mark

Founder and Director of the Swiss-based foundation Education 4 Peace (E4P)

Created in 2002, the Foundation works internationally to promote the incorporation of skills in self-awareness, deep listening, and mastery of emotions into the educational curriculum of youth, including sports education. His earlier experiences first as a volunteer and then as director of an organization that operates hotlines for emotional support and suicide prevention and his successful career as a business consultant specializing in communication, marketing and organizational development have greatly contributed to the work of E4P. From 2001-2010, Mark was chairman of the International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services (IFOTES), with 600 centers in 28 countries. He initiated many activities to promote listening skills, as well as the first international congress on the theme of Emotional Health in 2007, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). He has led the E4P’s groundbreaking work with international and national football federations to officially introduce self-awareness, teach listening skills and empathetic communication that pave the way for resilience and relational consciousness. He is the co-author of Master of your Emotions and Football, a Path to Self-Awareness.

Dunetz, David

The Heschel Center for Sustainability develops and implements the vision of sustainability: a just and cohesive society, a robust and democratic economy, and a healthy and productive environment to all of its residents. The center bridges theoretical knowledge and practical methods, and creatively spreads the message of sustainability, assisting change makers from every sector of society to promote significant change in Israel.

Hosang, Maik

MAIK HOSANG researches interdisciplinary relationships between people,
Nature and culture. He has a
Professorship for cultural philosophy, social and cultural change at the Zittau / Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. He
is co-creator of the interactive philosophy-experience world »Sophia im
Spiegel «and author of several books.

Voggenreiter, Valerie

Sustainability – Self – Silence
Silence Spaces is a collective of four people, which resulted out of sustainable higher education at the Eberswalde University for sustainable development. During the M.Sc. program we realised, that the inner dimension is under represented when sustainability efforts come into action. Hence, we created a space for the self to empower sustainable behavior in silence and finally helping to transform mindsets and societies. Silence Spaces are physical as well as symbolic spaces. They are free of cyber activities, talking, reading, writing or any kind of input as long as there is not a a conceptualized learning journey taking place. In Silence we learn how to drop into ourselves, observe, reflect, relax – deep learning can take place and this environment can help us to deal more sustainable with ourselves instead of exploiting our own resources. Finally, Silence Spaces want to empower each single individual to invite inner change in order to initiate and shape sustainable outer change – and Silence is the container where this processes can origin from. Silence allows to LISTEN to our inner needs, become more empathic and caring towards oneself as well as the surroundings.

Silence Space

What is sustainability? Often, environmental aspects are in the foreground, while the social dimension is neglected. A transformation towards a more sustainable society, though, needs to consider the social and individual dimension as inner change causes outer change – and vice versa. We see the inner dimension underrepresented in public spheres.
We raise the awareness, that we need more than a technological understanding of sustainability, which cares primarily about the ecological consequences of our actions. We call for a shift in consciousness, too, which influences our thinking and action.
To think critically and acting according to it, is asked from each one of us. We believe that these capacities can be found in Silence. It offers a container for subjective transformation processes – by pausing consciously and taking part at learning journeys on (self)transformation. Deep inner change towards sustainability can’t happen in times of overwhelming stress and acceleration.
Silence Spaces in public places allow a transformation on both levels with the emphasis on internal spaces. The potential to become a part of the solution of grievances lies in every one of us and is able to unfold here. Silence Spaces are physical as well as symbolic spaces. They are free of cyber activities, talking, eating or any kind of input as long as there is not a learning journey taking place. In Silence we can drop into ourselves, observe, relax and reflect. We can gather strength and become observers when we exploit ourselves or witness exploitation of others and the environment. We need an economic and political shift and therefore promote spaces where critical thinking can happen, which is needed to bring along system change. The time for cool headed action is now.

Ruf, Stefan

Wir verfolgen das Ziel, jungen Menschen in einer seelischen Krisensituation einen tragfähigen Wohn- und Arbeitsort in Form einer therapeutischen Wohngemeinschaft (TWG) zu verschaffen. Wir wollen einen Ort schaffen, an dem neben einem Wohnkonzept weitere Therapie, Prozesse der Nachreifung und gesunde Begegnungen möglich sind. Zielsetzung ist, den jungen Menschen durch das Erleben von sinnvoller Tätigkeit, die pädagogisch und psychotherapeutisch begleitet wird, eine Lebensplattform zu bieten, die gleichzeitig therapeutisch und entwicklungsfördernd ist. Eingebettet in ein haltgebendes, strukturschaffendes pädagogisches Jugendwohnen sollen mit Hilfe der intensiven therapeutischen Arbeit die jungen Menschen lernen, die Anforderungen des Alltags zunehmend selbstständig und selbstsicher zu bewältigen.

The Great Mindshift – How a New Economic Paradigm and Sustainability Transformations go Hand in Hand

This book describes the path ahead. It combines system transformation research with political economy and change leadership insights when discussing the needfor a great mindshift in how human wellbeing, economic prosperity and healthy ecosystems are understood if the Great Transformations ahead are to lead to more sustainability. It shows that history is made by purposefully acting humans and introduces transformative literacy as a key skill in leading the  radical incremental change.

Bornemann, Boris

Ich interessiere mich für Emotionen und Bewusstsein – und welchen Einfluss Meditation und Achtsamkeit darauf haben können. Ich forsche dazu mit Methoden der Psychologie, Neurowissenschaft und Phänomenologie. Ich betreibe Meditation seit vielen Jahren und unterrichte sie in verschiedenen Kontexten. Gerne helfe ich Ihnen oder Ihrem Unternehmen dabei, einen einfachen und hilfreichen Zugang zu Meditation und Achtsamkeit zu finden.

taken from https://www.borisbornemann.de/

Sadhana Forest

“Sadhana Forest started its ecological revival and sustainable living work on December 19th 2003.

The vision of its founders, Yorit and Aviram Rozin, is to transform 70 acres of severely eroded, arid land on the outskirts of Auroville. In a spirit of human unity, their aim is to introduce a growing number of people to sustainable living, food security through ecological transformation, wasteland reclamation, and veganism. Our energy and resources are focused on the creation of a vibrant, indigenous Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF).

Sadhana Forest won the third place in the Humanitarian Water and Food Award (WAF) 2010. The ceremony took place in the Marble Hall of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, on November 25th, 2010. Shri Ashok Kumar Attri the Ambassador of India to Denmark honored Sadhana Forest by attending the ceremony.
This award is an international recognition of the quality of the ecological and humanitarian work done by Sadhana Forest in India and Haiti.”

(source: https://sadhanaforest.org/about-us/)

The Bridge

RESEARCH EXCHANGES IN AUROVILLE

Auroville is the largest and longest-standing intentional community in the world, practically researching into the evolutionary potential of humankind, developing award-winning transformational practices across fields of culture, economics, governance, education, environment, and health, recognized by UNESCO, the Indian Government, and major industries such as Tata. Visiting researchers can bridge this future-facing body of experimentation with developments in their fields worldwide, for the benefit of humanity as a whole.

WHO WE ARE

The Bridge promotes exchange between Auroville and visiting researchers similarly dedicated to the progress of human society.
We curate presentations and forums that facilitate exchange and the intiation of collaborative projects between Aurovilian and visiting experts.

WHO ARE YOU?

Are you an Aurovilian or visiting expert – in any field? We invite you to offer a presentation of your work.
Contact: thebridge@auroville.org.in
Are you an Auroville community member, volunteer, or visitor? You are welcome to attend our public events series!

Wasteless

Waste is a serious and growing global problem. The way we use and discard it is quickly destroying the earth and damaging our health faster than most people realise. Our planet can’t handle it, and neither can we.

Presently, when we think of waste we follow a linear model. A product is created, we purchase it and, when we’ve used it, we throw away whatever’s left. However, this approach generates an amazing amount of ‘unseen’ waste long before consumers touch it. Conservative experts claim that each kilo of garbage we dispose of in our bins produces 40 kilos of waste upstream (extraction, production and distribution).

After waste is generated, it is typically transported from our lives without much thought. For us, it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind’. For our public systems, it’s a nuisance to be dealt with cheaply and quickly. For future generations, it’s one of the biggest mistakes we are making.

We urgently need to raise awareness, change behaviour and inspire an estimated 7 billion+ people to generate less waste.

(Source: wastelessindia.org)

Omann, Ines

Since I have been a teenager, the environment and the way we deal with it, has been important to me. After school I was searching for studies, where I could combine environmental and social sciences. Well, I did not find it then, therefore I started together with a group of other students and young assistant professor to develop a new study program, called environmental system sciences. It is based on systems and integrated thinking and the idea to study one major subject (in my case economics) plus courses in natural sciences, systems theory, interdisciplinary thinking. Now it is a big program with 1000s of alumni and students (see here: https://umweltsystemwissenschaften.uni-graz.at/). After having obtained my Masters in 1997, I started to work as junior resarchersin research institutes such as the Wuppertal Institute, later at the University of Graz, where I was also teaching. I came across the scientific community of Ecological Economics, where I found my scientific home base. I got active in this society and started a PhD at the Universities of Graz and Leeds, which I finished in 2004. Since then I have been working as project leader in sustainability projects at different research institutes (more than 10 years at SERI in Vienna, which I co-founded, the UFZ in Leipzig, or the Vienna University of Economics). My research developed continually towards transformation research, quality of life/good life. There inner processes became more and more important. It was with my dear colleague Felix Rauschmayer that we started to work on links between needs, wellbeing, sustainability, the good life or capabilities. Through him I met Thomas from IASS and other people working on inner change. My projects are mainly transdisciplinary, because I am convinced, the challenges, we face, cannot be solved by science alone. I have started to take courses in moderation and facilitation, such as Circle, Dialogue, Art of Hosting, Dynamic facilitation etc. to be able to integrated all relevant actors in an appropriate way. Personally I would say I am on a journey bringing me more and more to myself and to the “größeres ganze”. I am on a spiritual path, practice meditation for many years, and try to live a life that is more and more sustainable, outwards and inwards.

Lawrence, Mark

My role in the team:

Setting up a project like AMA was a keen interest of mine already before starting at the IASS.  After the first years of developing our program on our core topics like air pollution and climate change, and connecting to the spiritual and religious communities through dialogues and workshops, the time was finally ripe to kick off a pre-AMA project with Tom Bruhn, Zoe Lüthi and other colleagues.  Watching that grow into what the current team has made out of AMA today has been deeply fulfilling, and I’m pleased to continue to interact with the team however I can connect to and support their efforts.

Background & expertise

  • PhD in Atmospheric Science
  • Habilitation in Physics
  • Research focus on air pollution and climate geoengineering
  • Additional research: the Anthropocene and Earth-system science
  • Transdisciplinarity & co-creation
  • Various facilitation & moderation forms
  • Leadership experience and deep interest in Taoist leadership principles
  • Black belt in Aikido

My responsibilities:

  • Advisory role, mainly reflecting on major developments with the team
  • Connecting to like-minded colleagues and stakeholders
  • Representing AMA and its principles at academic and public events

A Mindset for the Anthropocene

The AMA project is a science-based reflection and empowerment hub for change agents engaging in inner transformation in the context of socio-ecological transformation. Institutionally the AMA project is operating as a transdisciplinary research project at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam. Beyond its research work, the AMA project acts as a network catalyst for an emerging global community that aims at cultivating ethical and virtuous qualities of the human mind as drivers of socio-ecological transformations to sustainability.

WeAll – Wellbeing Economy Alliance

WEAll is a new global collaboration of organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working together to change the economic system to create a wellbeing economy: one that delivers human and ecological wellbeing. It is registered as a UK Trust, hosted by registered English charity The Equality Trust.

Text from https://wellbeingeconomy.org/how-will-we-change-the-system

Wellbeing Project

Wellbeing inspires welldoing: the profound connection between how our relationship with ourselves deeply influences the way we are in the world.

We are hearing changemakers around the world express the pressing need for support with their wellbeing. Our work highlights how wellbeing needs to be fundamentally prioritised both for each individual changemaker and because of how it shapes the way social change happens.

The Wellbeing Project is a global initiative focused on shifting the culture of the social change field to one oriented towards inner wellbeing and catalysing an infrastructure of support for everyone in the field. The Project is co-created with leading social change institutions and is a community of many of the key global and regional social change leaders and organisations.

We see an incredible opportunity to cultivate a social change culture that is more human-centred and at the same time unlock more of the extraordinary collaboration and innovation we need to address our great social and environmental challenges.

We are inspired by a sense of caring and compassion for all the people who work to build a better world, as well as to support the many causes and movements for which we all work.

The Wellbeing Project is cultivating a shift in the culture of the field toward one that is healthier and supportive of inner wellbeing for all those working to effect social change. The project is structured in four pillars which all play a vital role and contribute to the larger mission of supporting and growing the wellbeing movement.

The Wellbeing Project is co-created with Ashoka, the Esalen Institute, the Fetzer Institute, Impact Hub, the Skoll Foundation and the Synergos Institute.

Text taken from www.wellbeing-project.org/

Nan Tien Institute

Launched in 2011, within the grounds of the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple, in Wollongong, New South Wales, Nan Tien Institute (NTI) is a private, not for profit, higher education provider offering studies in the areas of arts, health, mindfulness and wellbeing.

Today NTI operates from its own state-of-the-art Campus, which incorporates contemplative pedagogy and fosters an environment for holistic learning, allowing students to contribute to the advancement and integration of knowledge, culture and ethical understanding, both within their own lives and within the lives of others.

Accredited by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, Nan Tien Institute offers postgraduate programs in Applied Buddhist Studies and Health and Social Wellbeing, as well as customised Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs and special interest subjects across the areas of mindfulness, meditation and health.

NTI also has an English Language Centre, located in the heart of Sydney – providing a pathway for international students.

Fetzer Institute

We envision a world where everyone understands we are all part of one human family, and feels a sacred sense of connection to ourselves, each other, and our planet.

In the world we seek, everyone is committed to courageous compassion. By boldly loving, we can be a powerful force for good in the face of fear, anger, division, and despair.

The Fetzer Institute is a growing community of people who see we’re part of something more. We believe the connection between the inner life of spirit and outer life of service and action holds the key to lasting change.

We explore the mysteries of ourselves and our universe through spiritual and scientific inquiry. We work for personal and societal transformation—encouraging the spiritual growth of all people and supporting inclusive communities and institutions around the world.

We aim to inspire and serve a global movement grounded in connection that transforms the world into a more loving home for all.

Balanced Rock

Yoga and Backpacking Trips in Yosemite. Yosemite journeys for mind, body and spirit. Our retreats and backpack trips harness the transformational power of nature to inspire deep connection with your own inner wisdom.

Myzel, Jen

Jen Myzel sings of personal and planetary healing. Medicinal music is a message from the heart of the world; it is a dance of the soul, a grieving love song for a world in crisis, and a celebration of the immense beauty that surrounds us right now.

Jen Myzel is both songstress and facilitator of The Work that Reconnects, whose themes are woven throughout the music. Her deepest prayer is to help heal self and world through song, live a simple life in harmony with nature, and inspire others to do the same.

 

 

Institut für Achtsamkeit und Nachhaltigkeit

Unse­re Phi­lo­so­phie basiert auf der Über­zeu­gung, dass wir uns selbst auf einer kon­ti­nu­ier­li­chen Ent­de­ckungs­rei­se befin­den. Wir kön­nen nur ver­mit­teln, was wir selbst ver­kör­pern.

The empathic brain: how, when and why?

Recent imaging results suggest that individuals automatically share the emotions of others when exposed to their emotions. We question the assumption of the automaticity and propose a contextual approach, suggesting several modulatory factors that might influence empathic brain responses. Contextual appraisal could occur early in emotional cue evaluation, which then might or might not lead to an empathic brain response, or not until after an empathic brain response is automatically elicited. We propose two major roles for empathy; its epistemological role is to provide information about the future actions of other people, and important environmental properties. Its social role is to serve as the origin of the motivation for cooperative and prosocial behavior, as well as help for effective social communication. ?? 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being: Evidence from three longitudinal studies and an intervention experiment

Few studies have examined how changes in materialism relate to changes in well-being; fewer have experimentally manipulated materialism to change well- being. Studies 1, 2, and 3 examined how changes in materialistic aspirations related to changes in well-being, using varying time frames (12 years, 2 years, and 6 months), samples (US young adults and Icelandic adults), and measures of materialism and well-being. Across all three studies, results supported the hypothesis that people’s well-being improves as they place relatively less impor- tance on materialistic goals and values, whereas orienting toward materialistic goals relatively more is associated with decreases in well-being over time. Study 2 addition- ally demonstrated that this association was mediated by changes in psychological need satisfaction. A fourth, experimental study showed that highly materialistic US adolescents who received an intervention that decreased materialism also experienced increases in self-esteem over the next several months, relative to a control group. Thus, well-being changes as people change their relative focus on materialistic goals.

Stanford Compassionate University Project

We are working to make Stanford a compassionate place. This includes having students, faculty, and staff sign on and reaffirm the Charter for Compassion, and to collaboratively create a Five Year Compassionate Action Plan signed by President Hennessy, VPUE Harry J. Elam, Jr., VPGE Patricia J. Gumport, and the ASSU Undergraduate Senate. 

Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education

While science has made great strides in treating pathologies of the human mind, far less research exists to date on positive qualities of the human mind including compassion, altruism and empathy. Yet these prosocial traits are innate to us and lie at the very centerpiece of our common humanity. Our capacity to feel compassion has ensured the survival and thriving of our species over millennia. For this reason, the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University School of Medicine was founded in 2008 with the explicit goal of promoting, supporting, and conducting rigorous scientific studies of compassion and altruistic behavior. Founded and directed by Dr. James Doty, Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery, CCARE is established within the Department of Neurosurgery. To date, CCARE has collaborated with a number of prominent neuroscientists, behavioral scientists, geneticists and biomedical researchers to closely examine the physiological and psychological correlates of compassion and altruism.