Category: Sustainability

  • Collapse Now and Avoid The Rush

    Collapse Now and Avoid The Rush

    “We use these situations either to wake ourselves up or put ourselves to sleep.” Pema Chodron (1996) When Things Fall Apart This short post is largely a personal reflection on barriers that keep us from thinking about the possibility (inevitably?) of social collapse. Unbelievably this is the first post of mine for nearly 9 months!…

  • Reconnecting through land-based crafts and skills in socio-ecological systems

    Reconnecting through land-based crafts and skills in socio-ecological systems

    Where I reflect back over this weeks two events, the first of our safe-to-fail ‘experimental’ initiative Land Skills for Wellness and Sustainability introducing crafts, skills and nature based learning to students, faculty and staff at UWaterloo for wellness and sustainability benefits. With a bit of complexity and flow theory thrown in. Connecting to the Land…

  • Thoughts on Moving into Right Relationships

    Thoughts on Moving into Right Relationships

    As the Winter turned into Spring I have been getting outside as time permits using my forestry skills to fell some trees for trail clearance, thinning and mushroom log harvest and cutting some cedar for construction projects. We are reopening a trail next to Cold Creek which hasn’t been used for so long it’s got…

  • Democracy: An Appropriate Scale?

    Democracy: An Appropriate Scale?

    I’m very grateful to live in a democracy , but its clear that democracy is struggling to deliver for everyone, everywhere, right now. Could that be because it has an appropriate scale? There is something about our culture in the Globalized North that we tip our hats to hierarchies of power, and expect the most…

  • Good Neighbours

    Good Neighbours

    I am pleased to say I had a good few ideas for this week’s short blog (again Thursday not Wednesday, sorry), but after attending an excellent webinar from the University of Guelph’s History Roundtable yesterday, i had to get a few lines down about it. As a researcher who often looks backwards to go forwards,…