Conference

John Michael Greer's brings his wide experience of the appropriate tech movement and cultural history to bear on the predicament of the natural decline of the modern civilisation. He characterised the crisis, and his thoughts on what the experience will really be like for those who live through it (it's not what you might expect!) and explored the elements of a response - the concrete actions you can take and also the personal inner challenges we may have to face.

Mechanistic, linear thinking has helped create the wonders of the modern world. But is this worldview appropriate in a world of increasing complexity and uncertainty? Could it be an underlying cause of the ecological, social and financial crises we currently face? And is there an alternative?

In this workshop, Robin de Carteret explored a living systems worldview and led us through some simple games that model the complex dynamics in organisms, eco-systems, economy & society. We looked at concepts such as feedback, emergence, tipping points, edge of chaos and self-regulation.

The games are interspersed with inspiring images and film clips of natural systems exhibiting similar complex emergent behaviour. Robin explored the shift from a 'mechanistic', to a 'living systems' view of the world - one where we move from a paradigm of control, to one of participation.

A summary presentaiton of the fundamentals and insights from the 5 week course, exploring the tripartite economy of nature, human wealth and money, inspired by the frameworks presented in John Michael Greer's book, The Wealth of Nature.