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Today’s episode explores a simple but urgent question: is our education system still fit for the world we’re entering? Climate disruption, AI, and uncertainty demand new forms of education fit for complexity and change. A rich lineage of alternative and experimental education has been evolving for decades, seeking to make learning more holistic, place-based, creative, and ecologically grounded. The focus of today’s conversation is one of those institutions: Black Mountains College in Wales. BMC is building a university model explicitly designed for a warming world, where nature is often the classroom and curriculum blends ecology and climate science with the arts, systems thinking, and community-rooted practice. I’m joined by its co-founder and CEO, Ben Rawlence, award-winning writer and former human rights researcher, to explore: The historicity of Western educational systemsWhat the role of a university should be in societyBlack Mountains College as model of the future of education The role of ecological imaginationYouth, eco anxiety and the challenges of parenting in today’s planetary momentEpisode Website Links: Black Mountains CollegeThink Like a Forest by Ben RawlenceGuardian: ‘We create changemakers’: the new UK college dedicated to climate crisisBMC and ecological imagination by Joseph Rowntree FoundationList of alternative schools and earth centered curriculum centersThe Solutions are Already Here: Strategies of Ecological Revolution from BelowBritt Wray on Climate GriefFuture CouncilRe-imagining education conference Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Lifeworlds episode is a devotional journey into the work of Rainer Maria Rilke, the lyrical German poet of thresholds and embracing transformations. Through readings of his most luminous poems and writings, we explore how Rilke guides us deliciously in reconciling suffering and turmoil with tremendous beauty. It’s an offering for anyone standing in the in-between, for those moving through sublimation, and longing for those secret, dazzling encounters with primal life forces. Rilke’s words are an invitation in. To move towards. His poems are prayers…. “to go out into our hearts as onto a vast plain, so that life can feel us as it reaches for us.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we explore the role of theatre and empathy in transforming worldviews. Dr. Dylan McGarry is one of the founders of Empatheatre, a South African theatre-making company and methodology that turns research and storytelling into living social sculpture. Their plays create what they call amphitheatres for empathy - spaces where art, ritual, and dialogue help people listen across difference, from mining conflicts to ocean governance to human-wildlife coexistence. Empatheatre’s productions have brought together communities, policymakers, and activists that rarely meet, showing how imagination can transform civic life. The process of creating the plays generates profound potentials for restorative justice. As Dylan says, empathy is not about agreement, but about creating a vessel strong enough to hold our differences while keeping us in relation. We will cover: Empathy as a creative actTheatre and storytelling as Trojan horses that open conversations that traditional politics often can’tHow to design spaces that allow lifeworlds to touch and the practices that help us shift into another’s perspectiveHow empathy, when practiced collectively, becomes a form of governance: a new infrastructure for democracy and careEpisode website Links: Share your input for the whale productionEmpatheatreDylan’s PHD5min Empatheatre docIndlela Yokuphila: The Soul's Journey (ZULU) film & the radio play used in the court caseLalela Ulwandle TrailerUmkhosi Wenala doc about Zulu musical on indigenous traditions & animist relationshipsSteiner’s 12 sensesMOTHProject CETIKaren BakkerUndrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine MammalsOne Ocean Hubdylanmcgarry.orgInstagram: @dylan_mcgarryPhoto Credit: Casey Pratt. It captures a significant moment in a collaborative theatre-making & storytelling project titled "Umkhosi Wenala" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I sit down with Bill Plotkin, founder of Animas Valley Institute. Over the past 40 years, Bill has developed intricate, nature-based models of human development and education that challenge dominant psychological frameworks and invite us into a maturation process rooted in wholeness, wildness, and the more-than-human world. We explore their three major maps of a person’s “soul-centric journey” and cover topics including: Why most modern humans remain developmentally stuck in early adolescenceThe 8-stage Soulcentric Developmental Wheel and how it mirrors nature’s rhythmsThe four cardinal facets of the psyche, and the inner protectors that distort themWhether other species undergo their own versions of soul initiationWhy the path to a mature culture will not come from the strategic mind, but from descent, mystery, and imaginationThis is a deep-dive into a body of work that’s revolutionizing the lives of thousands of people, and how to think about adulthood, education, and healthy human cultures.Episode Website Link Links: Animas Valley InstituteAnimas Valley OfferingsSoulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and PsycheNature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented WorldWild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human PsycheThe Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and RevolutionariesParable of the TribesLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Photo Credit: Midjourney Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Almost 40% of Earth’s land is degraded, meaning that the natural cycles that sustain biodiversity, water, food, and livelihoods are breaking down. This degradation is an ecological crisis, and, it also lies at the root of massive social breakdown, displacement, and conflict. And it’s accelerating. In this episode, I speak with Dutch ecologist and entrepreneur Willem Ferwerda, founder of Commonland, one of the leading global initiatives tackling land degradation via large-scale holistic landscape restoration. Their work spans over 20 countries, with projects restoring millions of hectares from South Africa to Spain, Australia to the Netherlands. We get into their unique 4 Returns Framework - a powerful, intuitive model that integrates ecological, social, financial, and inspirational/spiritual returns. We talk about: Communities building long-term visions together across sectorsThe importance of meeting different audiences where they areThe role of storytelling, spirituality, and local leadershipHow restoring land helps restore meaning and purposeAnd how, ultimately, all this work is about regenerating life Episode Website Link Show links: The 4 Returns Framework in Practice4 Returns Framework Publication4 Returns Framework for Landscape Restoration4 Returns Diagnostic ToolThe Meaning of Laudato Si for a Landscape EthicTowards financing large-scale holistic landscape restoration in EuropeThe Trillion-Dollar Promise Of A Landscape Restoration Industry, ForbesWe must tackle global risks in an integrated way – here’s howHow the Ecosystem Approach supports “Cooperation in a Fragmented World"Albania landscape projectLook out for meditations, poems and readings in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Photo Credit: Commonland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the next shift in planetary consciousness didn’t come from looking back at Earth from space, but from listening deeply to the voices already here? In this thought piece I propose the “inworlding effect” as the overview effect of our time: one where developments in science, technology, law, and many other disciplines are revealing our entangled presence within a multispecies world. Medium Article Link Episode Website Link Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re joined by artist, musician and communal grief ritual facilitator Alexandra “ahlay” Blakey to speak about the cultural forgetting of communal mourning, the sacred role of professional mourners, and the re-emergence of grief ceremonies as necessary spaces of remembrance, healing and repair. Ahlay brings her experience weaving song, body, and ritual into collective spaces where grief is given breath and movement, and we explore the history of grief practices across cultures, the political power of public mourning, and how grief can soften the heart and stitch community back together. We explore what to expect in a communal grief ceremony, and ahlay shares the story behind her 200-voice album WAILS: Songs for Grief, inspired by whales, ancestral sorrow, and Francis Weller’s work. Within the episode are woven tracks of her haunting songs, so tune up your headphones, and sink in. Episode Website Link Show Links: Healing at the Roots: ahlay’s websiteSong: Carry this AllThe Sacred Role of Eastern European Professional MournersSobonfu SomeWAILS: Songs For GriefOne Body Song Circle LiveFrancis WellerBook: Dangerous VoicesBook: Caliban and the WitchMartin PrechtelMyth of Lindworm: Martin ShawBandcampYoutube ChannelSpotifySoundcloudInstagramLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Photo Credit: Cover image (Earth Altering) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we’re joined by the renowned environmentalist, activist and author Paul Hawken to explore the lifeworld of carbon and its role as a vital agent in the story of life. Paul speaks about the dysfunctions in Western language on how we speak about climate and nature, and why metaphors of war, control, and fixing actually perpetuate the very mindset that created the crises in the first place. We explore common traps we fall into, and how to recarbonize, to bring life back and restore relationality in how we think, feel, and act. This is a wide-ranging and intimate conversation on language, grief, science, reverence, and what it means to come home to Earth and to the deeper meanings of life. Episode Website Link Show Links: Carbon, the Book of life (Paul’s book)Drawdown (Website & Paul’s book)Regeneration (website resources with projects)Regeneration (Paul’s book)Francis Weller Course on griefClosing Poem: Love in a Time of Climate Change By Craig Santos PerezLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we journey into the vibrational worlds of sound, ancestry, and deep listening with Whaia, a Ngāti Kahungunu woman of Māori descent and First Nations sonic weaver and multi-instrumentalist. Raised between the salt of the Pacific and the red dust of the Australian desert, Whaia’s voice carries ancient songlines, blending traditional Māori instruments, crystalline singing bowls, and her original mother tongue, the language of Te Rā, the Sun. We explore her work singing with whales, reclaiming cultural instruments once left silent in museums, and remembering the sacred oceanic highways navigated by her Polynesian ancestors, guided by the stars and whale ancestors. This is a conversation about song as medicine, the voice as ceremony, and reclaiming lineage through sound. We ask: what might the whales be singing to us now? What frequencies are we called to remember in order to heal ourselves and our waters? Stay on after the episode wraps to hear a special feature from Whaia’s debut album WHAIA & WATER — the first of a twelve-part series known as her Sacred Sonic Sessions. Episode Website Link Show Links: Whaia websiteInstagramWhaia Water Album DownloadWisdom Keepers DelegationOceanic GlobalAustralian SonglinesThe PleiadesMasaru Emoto: Messages in WaterLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Photo of Whaia: Chanel Baran Photo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a remote cabin in Vancouver Island in 2019, far away, I sat by the shore. I listened. I re-read poetry. I swam with jellyfish. I ate bright salmon berries and raw samphire. I gazed around and listened to the songs of the land. This piece of writing is a result of my days there. Full poem on Lifeworlds Website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where does your body end and the Earth begin? In this episode, we explore the real and poetic parallels between human health and planetary health, and how nature’s language moves in our bodies.  Joining me is Dr. Mackenzie Hall, a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine, who helps us trace the Earth’s vital systems through the lens of humans as ecological systems. We ask: How could one imagine the Earth’s vital organs as reflected in human anatomy?How does the Earth balance and health and detoxify, and how might this mirror how we work with our own bodies?  How does the body's energetic system hold, manage and deal with pathology? How do we listen for the Earth’s pulse?How could this affect how we work as earth protectors and regenerators?  This brings up a profound point: if we are to ensure the Earth’s aliveness, we have to feel it as our own body. And, if we can sense the Earth’s rhythms as our own, can we also become its white blood cells, human agents of healing embracing and embodying its circulatory wildness? Episode Website Link:  https://www.lifeworld.earth/episodes-blog/theecologyofhealth Show Links: Aaro WellnessThe Web that has no Weaver"Understanding Chronic Illness"Alexa’s Article: Our Planet’s BloodEarth’s Frequencies: Schumann ResonancesYellow Emperor's Classic (Classical text upon which all Chinese Medicine is based)Biocubes.net: Infographic on living and human biomass on earthMeditation: The Cosmos in Your Food Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd & The Rising by Tryad CCPL. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David McConville is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher who explores how technology shapes our perspectives of Earth—from local places to our cosmic context. Our conversation examines how worldviews influence infrastructure, using Los Angeles as a case study. We explore the paradigm of "living infrastructure," discussing how David's studio Spherical collaborates with communities and organizations to develop mapping and co-design tools. Even if you’re not in LA, this episode offers valuable insights into how communities can work together to create resilient infrastructure systems that honor their unique cultural needs and local environments. Links: SphericalSpherical LabsLiving Infrastructure Field KitDawn Danby + David McConville : When Utopia is Oblivion Bio: David McConville is co-founder and lead cosmographer of Spherical, a strategic design and integrative research studio based in xučyun / Oakland, CA. His PhD in Art and Media from Plymouth University examined how cosmological perspectives shape cultural imaginaries and ecological practices. Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I share some reflections on Season 2, before diving into our first listener-guided Q&A! You’ll be hearing from fellow listeners who enquired on topics like: Earth-centered governance De-extinction Alternative economies Language and stories about nature Which lifeworld I’d inhabit Green tech and individual agencyWhat is the purpose of humans?Thank you to everyone who sent in these thought-provoking questions. Episode Website Lifeworlds resource pageFaith in NatureEarth Law CenterZoopsTreaty of Finsbury ParkAlexa's When We Carved SpiralsIan McGilchristColossalBritt WrayVenemous LumpsuckerMultitudes FoundationPlanetary BoundariesRegeneration.orgDrawdownFlock TogetherGood NatureForest BathingLast Child AliveRegeneratorsBio LeadershipCapital InstituteDanielle Rees: [email protected] GiantsBerksharesKenya Sarafu CreditGrassroot Economics Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you could inhabit the future? In this episode, we dive into the work of Superflux, the visionary design studio turning imagination into tangible worlds. From multispecies banquets and rewilded ecological sanctuaries to mythic friezes that re-enchant cityscapes, co-founder Anab Jain shares how embodied experiences can transform how we see — and shape — the world. Join us as we explore speculative design, active hope, and the power of imagination to move us beyond ecological breakdown and into interspecies thriving. A celebration of wonder, possibility, and the art of asking: "What if?" Episode Website Link Show Links: Superflux websiteThe Quiet EnchantingCalling for a more than human politicsDesignweek on speculative designAnab Jain’s IXDA Keynote on More-Than-Human Centred DesignNoema Magazine: Radical Design for a World in Crisis9 Dimensions for evaluating how art and creative practice stimulate societal transformationsRecent Interviews: Financial Times, ICON, Wallpaper, Offscreen Magazine, STIRworld, Business Insider, NPR RadioTo send your Q&A to Alexa for the Lifeworlds special episode Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes. Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is my take on ancient and intuitive sensory experience that taps into the innate intelligence of the human body, a blend of body compass, Zen Beginner's Mind, a shamanic medicine walk and Goethean science. The practice asks you to find a place in the natural landscape where you could walk undisturbed for some time, and have an encounter with an element of nature. A true act of lifeworld-ing! I guide you through a short introduction and the instructions. Attached on the website page is a link to the full instructions in PDF, and listed here in much briefer bullets below. I recommend listening in full, then using either of the instructions when you choose to do the practice itself. Abbreviated instructions ·     Before entering into the natural landscape, you’ll walk to a threshold place, and stop. ·     Here you will physically draw a threshold that you will walk across. ·     Once you’ve done that, pause, connect with the land, speak your intention, ask for permission. ·     Cross the threshold, and start walking towards where you feel a tug. Be conscious of the way your body can intuitively lead the way. Use the senses. ·     At some point, you may come across a being in the land that catches your attention. It could be a spiders web, a stone, a patch of moss, a dead bough of a tree, a stream, a blade of grass, truly anything. Approach, introduce yourself. ·     Spend a moment in presence with them, in beginners mind. ·     Use Goethe’s Exact Sense Perception instructions –then imagine it transforming. Then release to receive. Let it communicate back to you. ·     Stay here as long as feels right. ·     When it comes to the time to go, thank this natural being and start walking back to your threshold place. ·     When you cross the threshold, thank the land and when you’re ready, step across back into the other world. ·     Gently wipe out the threshold door and take some time upon returning to digest anything that may have arisen for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.