THE REGENERATIVE HOUR: At home in the universe

Could we turn the 2020s into ‘The Regenerative Decade’? Welcome to a new series of talks about what that would imply. We talk ecology, deep adaptation, grief, compassion and passion, connecting with nature, resilience, revitalisation, restoration, revolution… – the bigger picture, in other words.

The aspiration of this series is to share understandings, observations and ways of thinking that could help us discover a renewed sense of direction and meaningful vision for the lives we live and the causes we fight for on this fragile planet we call home.

Our guest in the second episode of ‘Regenerative Hours’ is Dr Geoff Berry for a talk about our relationship with nature, the search for 21st century ethics, and the concept of “being at home in the universe”. 

Holistic vision guiding the movement
“We need both the global civil disobedience and the small, local, even ‘inner’ work – the loud and the quiet. It’s possible, in fact, to have an entirely holistic vision guiding the movement in this direction,” says Geoff, who does a lot of this kind of work. He publishes some of it at his website, www.naturecalling.org

. . .

Changing our thinking

Dr Geoff Berry’s film ‘Climate Science and Urban Planning’ explores new ways of adapting global society to the limits of nature, seeking the wisdom of Australian Aboriginal elders as well as climate scientists, leaders in renewable energy and urban planners.

First episode in the “City Living, Nature Calling” documentary series – www.naturecalling.org/film

‘City Living, Nature Calling’ was created, written and presented by Dr Geoff Berry. It features interviews with climate scientist Professor Will Steffen and environmental urban planner Professor Barbara Norman.

It is part of what is going to become a first-ever ecomythic documentary series.

This first film in the series explores the way modern societies have developed out of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, distancing us from close contact and identification with the more-than-human natural world.

Dr Geoff Berry is the Australian representative to the International Ecopsychology Society.

He explains on his home page:

“People naturally love their homes and want to protect their lifestyles. But modern life has gotten out of balance and we know we need to adapt to the ecological limits of the earth. In evolutionary terms, humanity spent most of its cultural history in close contact with the more-than-human nature all around us. But nowadays, the city has become our natural environment. Shifting our ‘homes’ from nature to cities fundamentally changes our thinking – and this is what leads us to the precipice of the ecological crisis.

Making cities more ecologically sustainable is possible but we need to explore how to do this. Nature Calling presents our challenges in clear language and places the current crisis in evolutionary context. This results in a fascinating and novel ‘ecological history’ of humanity, including an overview of the way the agricultural revolution promoted a way of thinking about the earth as a set of resources (or objects) rather than a home filled with extended kin (or subjects). We live in a world where this tendency has been increased exponentially by the fossil fuel power of the industrial revolution.

Today, in a digital culture, film combines with electronic social media, to become a powerful story telling tool. We use it to heal and evolve. We aim to help shift consciousness back towards treating the earth as a living home, filled with creatures and places we love, respect and defend. When people support this cause, they are supporting a movement towards positive change, the transformation of the human story on this planet back towards an ethic of care and compassionate co-existence, and away from the damage being done by exhaustive capitalistic industries.

Nature Calling tells the story of our environmental crisis in in an evolutionary context, which makes climate change part of that ‘deep’ human history. It recognises that our curiosity and inventiveness are innate, making technology part of the solution as well as part of the problem. The film combines this ‘big picture’ story of global shifts in consciousness with ways to work with local places, improving our homes in cities and nature in line with what we are learning about sustainable lifestyles and flourishing communities.”

→ Find more information on Dr Geoff Berry’s home page: www.naturecalling.org



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In the podcast, you also hear excerpts from:

Documentary: Regenerating a native forest


Defend nature

“Defend nature. Nature can regenerate. Protect, restore, and fund.”

Inspirational reading

→ The Conversation – 18 September 2019:
Humanity and nature are not separate – we must see them as one to fix the climate crisis

 #CLIMATESTRIKE

Send a letter of explanation

Geoff Berry has drafted a succinct one-page letter designed to help supporters get their workplaces on side in reference to the 20 September climate strike.

“This letter could literally triple the amount of people that join the strike!,” he reckons.

Dr Berry’s letter to employers

You can adapt and share the one-page letter he designed to help supporters get their workplaces on side on the 20 September global climate strike:

→ Download the Word document

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Acknowledgement

We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.

The traditional owners lived in harmony with the environment and with the climate for hundreds of generations. It is not clear – yet – that as European settlers we have demonstrated that we can live in harmony for hundreds of generations, but it is clear that we can learn from the indigenous, traditional owners of this land.

When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that…

The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore climate change are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How utterly disgusting, disrespectful and unfair is that?


The Sustainable Hour
The Sustainable Hour
info@climatesafety.info

Sharing solutions that make the climate safer and our cities more liveable

“The most important word in today’s world is ‘together’.”
~ Jan Eliasson, UN Deputy Secretary-General

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