Explore how reconnection can be a powerful force for change.
We have long been championing a narrative of individualism, survival of the fittest and ‘every man for themselves’. This illusion was shattered during COVID when it became clear that without all members of our society - the health workers, the growers, the shop keepers, the delivery drivers, not to mention loved ones - we cannot survive. We are an interconnected eco-system, bound to a local and global community in infinite ways.
Not only are we interconnected with each other, this is actually the secret to human’s rapid evolution. History shows us that it is our collaboration, not competition, that has been our greatest force.
How can we now reconnect with each other, in our community, across generations and across borders and ideologies, to rise up to meet this moment together? And how can we reconnect with the natural world or to a greater web of consciousness, to truly realise the power of unity?
This discussion has been especially curated for CHANGE Festival. Speakers include Kim Polman and Alan Lane and others to be announced soon, with Amisha Ghadiali as host.
Kim Polman
A polyglot and a public speaker is an avid advocate of a modern version of the Golden Rule: “Treat others and the planet as you wish to be treated”. On this very philosophy she co-curated, Imaginal Cells - Visions of Transformation, a collection of essays from thought leaders addressing the most pressing issues of our time, which led to co-founding Reboot the Future Foundation. Kim is also co-founder and Chair of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, a charity dedicated to improving literacy for blind and visually impaired children in Africa.
Alan Lane
Alan Lane is Artistic Director of Slung Low- directing shows in partnership with many of Britain’s theatres and places as wide ranging as the National Theatre of Croatia, a sari shop in Manchester, Buckingham Palace and in a village in Purulia, Southern India. In 2017 Slung Low headlined Hull UK City of Culture 2017 with Flood by James Phillips: a 4 Part epic which won a Royal Television Society Award Yorkshire for innovation in drama. In 2019 Slung Low took over management of the oldest working men’s club in Britain, The Holbeck in South Leeds: they run this venue as a Pay What You Decide creative and community space. During the Covid crisis of 2020 the company was the ward lead for Holbeck and Beeston for social care referrals with responsibility for 7500 homes: delivering 15,000 food parcels.
Benedict Macdonald
Benedict Macdonald is a conservationist and nature-writer. His first book, 'Rebirding', highlighted the need for mass-scale nature restoration across the UK, and was the winner of the Richard Jefferies Prize and inaugural winner of the Wainwright Conservation Prize 2020. His second book, 'Orchard: A Year in England's Eden' was published in August 2020. Benedict previously spent ten years as a wildlife television producer, where he worked on series including The One Show, Springwatch and as a field director for Our Planet; a conservation series narrated by Sir David Attenborough. As a conservationist, Benedict now works as Head of Nature Restoration for the Real Wild Estates Company, a new venture specialising in ecosystem restoration at scale, and has recently founded the organisation Restore, a lobby group for the economics of nature restoration and species reintroduction in the UK.
Hosted by Amisha Ghadiali
Amisha is a gifted facilitator, author, mentor and host of the globally acclaimed podcast The Future Is Beautiful. She is interested in where our inner and outer worlds dance. Her podcast and learning platform weaves together Politics, Spirituality, Creativity and Sustainability - to inspire us each to rise up, move beyond silos and Co-Create a Beautiful Future. She has extensive backgrounds in sustainable fashion, socially conscious entrepreneurship, activism, meditation and yoga. She works one-to-one with her Beautiful Leadership Mentoring program guiding others to live their values from a place of both collective and personal wellbeing. Amisha wrote a book called “INTUITION” during the global lockdown of 2020 which was published by DK Books.
The RISE UP discussion series has been created in partnership with Reboot the Future, a foundation that is helping to build a generation of people who refuse to believe that the future is foreclosed and Amisha Ghadiali, host of The Future Is Beautiful, a podcast, a space for deep long conversations about things that matter
Time and Date: 16.00-17.30 Saturday 6th November
Cost: £8.00 (discounts available for multiple event purchases)
Age: 12+