Developmental Leadership at a time of Eco-Social Crisis. Co-lab starts February.

Rescue from rising seas

Co-Stewards: Dana CarmanHilary Bradbury and Alain Gauthier are convening an online co-lab to support developmental leadership in response to our eco-social crises. We start in February.

Our dilemma: Why, in the face of so much evidence, do we not act in our own best interests and respond to the climate crisis? Why does Greta Thunberg remain so unusual? Insights from leadership development and adult developmental theory help us understand and move toward skillful action.

In this co-lab we’ll build a community of learning and practice where we can apply these insights to our own real-life contexts, with our stakeholders. 

Our inquiries:

  • How do we transform our relationship to hope and despair in the light of climate collapse?
  • How do we become more effective bridges between diverse perspectives?
  • How do we acknowledge and transcend the anxiety we may have about interacting with others who have opposing views?
  • How do we reconcile our love and concern for the world and our ability to act wisely?

This co-lab is for those who want to engage in transformative action, that is action that is the fruit of reflexive awareness of self and context. The co-lab is about locating ourselves more fully in the sweet (sour?) spot between our inner landscape – where we may find a mix of uncertainty and compelling insight – and the outer landscape that demands wise action together with others. We’ll discover more about ourselves and the eco-social systems we are a part of as we imagine more regenerative roles we can play. The co-lab can be viewed as a developmental scaffolding that builds our capacity to engage with our whole self: body, heart, mind, and soul, so that we become more effective at engaging collaboratively with others.

We will assign pre-work with readings/videos that present a developmentally advanced perspective on ecological-social crises, e.g. from Karen O’ Brien, Jem Bendell to name a few. We will work within the ART framework that emphasizes reflexivity and action with stakeholders. Throughout we endeavor to become more aware of our untapped genius. For this, we will create together a robust “protainer.”

More details and registration at the co-lab page.  Spaces are limited. If you are interested, please send an email to admin@actionresearchplus.com so that one of the co-lab stewards can be in touch.