January 2012 sees the publication of a major new human ecology textbook with a distinct CHE flavour. The book, Radical Human Ecology: Intercultural and Indigenous Approaches, published by Ashgate, is co-edited by CHE fellow Alastair McIntosh and contains chapters from former CHE director Ulrich Loening and CHE graduates and fellows Gerri Smyth, Iain MacKinnon and Nick Wilding. Alastair McIntosh explains:

The twenty or so contributors are international, over half of them women and an equal proportion from groups that might be considered indigenous/marginalised. The CHE contributions focus considerably on teaching human ecology in our experience and what it was like to have gone through the CHE course and then to apply it. The downside is that being an Ashgate research collection book of nearly 500 pages hardback, it is priced at £80 (£60 on Amazon). As such, it will be beyond the reach of many of those for whom it was written, but it would be really helpful if you could urge your library to consider buying it.

From the foreword by Richard J. Borden, Rachel Carson Chair in Human Ecology, College of the Atlantic and Society for Human Ecology:

“Below the clamor of a bustling world, this volume imparts the seeds of a radical alternative for human ecology. They lie beneath the surface: amid the whispered voices at the margin, in the praxis of traditional spirituality, along the dusty road of post-modernism, and from the ivy halls of science. This is not the human ecology of a prehistoric fireside or an academic symposium. It is an unconventional and timely pedagogy of hope”

Collaborating for Change: Communicating Across Differences to Unleash Energy & Resourcefulness

A series of training workshops for individuals and organisations based in Govan.

Organised by Govan Together with support from Climate Challenge Fund.

Introductory sessions – Friday 27th Jan or 10th Feb, 9.30-12.00
Followed by 3 day-long workshops:
Friday 24th Feb, 30th March and 27th April – 9.30-4pm
All at the Pearce Institute, 840 Govan Road, G51 3UU

All workshops are free. No commitment to all three is required. However attendance to the full day on 24th Feb is required to attend the following two. Places are limited to 20 and will be allocated in priority to people and organisations based in Govan. People not located in Govan can apply. You’ll be put on a waiting list and contacted if spaces are available. To register, please send an email to mail@verenenicolas.org indicating number of spaces required, name of the organisation (if applicable) and how many of the workshops you think you can commit to.

Workshop description:

In times of shrinking resources, our efforts to make Govan a resourceful and vibrant place requires we work more effectively together, foster a culture of dialogue, and achieve things at the same time as get on with people we work
with.

This series of workshops will equip you with tools to use in challenging conversations. You will:

• Learn to speak your trust and still stay in connection;
• Transform challenges into opportunities for collaboration;
• Be better equipped to know what to say in difficult conversations;
• Facilitate meetings more skilfully;
• Give and receive feedback without criticism;
• Be more able to foster trust, willingness and creativity among teams;
• Less often leave things unsaid and therefore feel re-energised in life and at
work.

The workshops will be collaborative at heart. Examples brought by participants will form the core of our work together and the basis of universal principles that will be applicable across workplaces and real life situations.

(Words inspired by “collaborating for change”, a course run by Miki Kashtan via BayNVC, www.baynvc.org)

Join us for our first Govan Together learning event of 2012. Pat Kane joins us for a talk, a shared meal, and a space for convivial discussion.

Radical Animal: how do we balance human nature, innovation and the challenges of climate change?

Tuesday 31st January 2012 17.30-20.30

The Pearce Institute, 840-860 Govan Road, Govan,, G51 3UU

The reality of climate change is now incontrovertible – but the facts still don’t seem to sufficiently register with the ordinary citizen, worker and consumer. Our language of societal progress is still essentially understood as consumption-led growth, and our current economic slump fixable by a restoration of retail confidence.

We need to examine how the thirst for novelty and innovation, deep rooted in human nature, can be redirected from status consumption to something more active, fulfilling and planet-friendly. Pat Kane will use his 10 years of inquiry into the power and potential of play to give some indications about how this might be done – turning the “radical animals” that we are in a different direction.

About Pat Kane:

Pat Kane, 47, is a musician, writer, activist and father. He is the author of 2004′s The Play Ethic (www.theplayethic.com), and his forthcoming “book-net” is Radical Animal: Innovation, Sustainability and Human Nature (www.radicalanimal.net) Pat consults to organisations and communities about the power and potential of play. He is also still one-half of Scottish pop group Hue And Cry (www.hueandcry.co.uk), whose 10th studio album, Hot Wire, is out in March.

Pat’s Guardian article on Radical Animal: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/26/green-consensus-versus-consumerism

Tim Kasser : A Revolution of Values: Materialism and its alternatives from stuart Platt on Vimeo.

On Monday 12th Dec 2011, CHE welcomed psychologist Tim Kasser to speak as part of our Govan Together learning series on ‘A Revolution of Values: Materialism and its Alternatives’. Filmmaker Stuart Platt recorded the event for us. Enjoy!

More information about Tim Kasser: Tim Kasser, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of Psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters on materialism, values, ecological sustainability, and quality of life, among other topics, and is also the author of three books, including The High Price of Materialism (MIT Press, 2002). Tim works extensively with a variety of activist and civil society organisations that protect children from commercialisation, that promote ecological sustainability, and that encourage a more “inwardly rich” lifestyle than what is offered by consumerism.