Consciousness & Spirituality, Activism & Leadership
Rights of Nature: Law and the More-than-Human: Regenerative Activism & Deep Change
Regenerative Activism Online Event with Paul Powlesland, Gita Parihar, Gee (Guhyapati), Shivali Fulchand, Carlotta Byrne, Laura Guarch
‘Rights of Nature: Law and the More-than-Human’ is the third session of a 4-week online series exploring how we respond to the challenges of our time for deep change at every level.
Arguably, the view that humans are at the centre of things, above and superior to all that is non-human, is one of the fundamental flaws at the heart of our dysfunctional civilisation. And yet so much of our society is grounded in this assumption. In various ways, these speakers are all working at the edge of our understanding of agency, personhood and the extension of legal and cultural frameworks to embrace a fuller understanding of who we are and our relationship to nature. What might society and our legal system look like when we recognise rivers as sacred, forests as an aspect of our own breathing, and humans as plain members of the earth community? Where do such worldviews already exist? How might a radical shift in our society that redefines what it is to have sentience change our culture and translate into concrete frameworks for protecting and asserting the rights of nature?
Participants: Gita Parihar, Carlotta Byrne, Shivali Fulchand, Paul Powlesland and Laura Guarch.
We are living at a critical moment which contains both great peril and promise. The challenges we face are simultaneously socio-political, cultural and spiritual. It is a historical point of disruption demanding radical transformation.
COVID19 has exposes the gaping vulnerabilities in the system. This pandemic, combined with the fierce urgency of the climate crisis, the twilight of neoliberalism, impoverished political leadership, and an increasing sense of distributive injustice, are the cracks out of which something new must emerge.
The times are calling for renewed energy and adaptive capacities. To meet this crisis, we need strategies for deep change on multiple levels.
To answer this call we are bringing together activists, doers and thinkers who are trying to get under the surface of crisis, people who are asking deeper questions and constructing deeper responses.
This is the third in a series of annual ‘Regenerative Activism’ gatherings convened and hosted by Advaya, Ulex Project and Gita Parihar. This year it will be held online over 4 weeks exploring:
Session 1: New Economy and Systemic Transformation
Session 2: Climate Justice: Identity, History and Power
Session 3: Rights of Nature: Law and the More-than-Human
Session 4: Resilience in times of Uncertainty
Through the series we will:#
- Bring together people immersed in tackling the climate crisis, activists working on radical alternatives and pragmatic responses, and those creating new stories for deep cultural regeneration.
- Look for new understanding at the intersection between hard political realities and paradigm shifting insights.
- Seek to go beyond radical critique to find pathways for radically transformative action.
Why this gathering?#
Although we can see that “the old is dying and the new cannot be born,” the contest for our future is very much alive. But do we have the depth of analysis we need? Can we strategise effectively amidst such complexity? Can we find the deeper resources we need to face the steep climb or descent ahead? How can we realise the deep shifts in both socio-political structure and in consciousness that this crisis asks for?
The patterns and symptoms are clear enough: The once looming collision with non-negotiable ecological limits is now here; the previously indomitable expansion of neoliberalism has stalled; the confluence of post-democracy and big data threatens a shocking political impotence; nationalist populism turns against international solidarity. These are symptoms of a profound dysfunctionality.
Beneath the symptoms lie the mutually interdependent conditions of socio-economic structures, needs, mindsets and world-views - that together entrench the failing system. The deep change we need involves transformative strategies that address both structure and consciousness.
A note on tickets:#
Eventbrite allows you to choose a relevant date, but tickets gives you access to all 4 evenings regardless of what day it states on the ticket. We will send the zoom links to the email you use here, so please use a correct address.
Pricing is tiered. The ‘pay-it-forward’ ticket is an option for those who find themselves in a position to support the event. It allows us to charge a low price as standard, and opens access to activists and those on a low income to attend. This is a non-profit collaborative gathering.
Regenerative Activism
Paul Powlesland #
Paul is a civil barrister, environmental activist and storyteller
Gita Parihar #
Gita was Head of Legal at Friends of the Earth until July 2016 and has spent 12 years working with and for campaigning organisations, using her skills as a solicitor to bring environmental cases and advise at international negotiations on issues like climate change. This gives her a deep familiarity with the rewards and challenges of environmental activism. Alongside her legal work, Gita is passionate about exploring approaches to saving the planet that sustain us as human beings. Gita is a trustee of the UKYCC and the Climate Justice Fund and currently studying for an MA in Spirituality and Ecology at Schumacher college.
Gee (Guhyapati) #
Guhyapati has been spearheading a pioneering Eco-Dharma community in the Pyrenees for many years, and wants to see some of the principles of that movement brought to bear in our own lives of practice, giving rise to new projects that will re-shape the personal, economic, political and ecological landscape of the 21st Century.
Shivali Fulchand #
Shivali is a junior doctor and has taken a year out of clinical practice after selection for a national medical leadership fellowship
Carlotta Byrne #
Carlotta Byrne coordinates the Earth Jurisprudence Programme at The Gaia Foundation.
Laura Guarch #
Laura Guarch is a singer, composer, performance maker and workshop leader from Catalonia based in the UK.