Building nature connected communities
connection, belonging, inspiration
Deep in all of our roots, there are stories of our ancestors living in healthy, regenerative communities—villages where people of all ages were in deep relationship with the land, each other, and themselves. This workshop is an experiential, nature based gathering designed to help us remember these old ways and learn to apply them to our modern communities.
It Takes A Village to…
Engage the gifts of our elders
Create essential rites of passage for our teens
Ensure parents are supported and thriving
Welcome our babies into a world of open arms
Feel deep gratitude and kinship with nature.
Understand our gifts and how to apply them in service to the people
Jon Young and 8 shields institute have been teaching and refining this work for 30 years. Each year these workshops are run in over 300 locations worldwide, proving their effectiveness as a model in reestablishing deep nature connection to ourselves, our communities and the natural world around us.
Who is this experience for?
This experience is for those who seek to understand how to create and live in a healthy regenerative community that is deeply connected to nature. It is ideal for corporate executives, program administrators, parents, educators, grandparents, teachers, mentors, psychotherapists, coaches, community leaders, and lovers of nature.
What is involved?
Guided by Jon Young, alongside an Australian and New Zealand facilitator team, each day includes personal and group activities. These are largely outside and include the ‘Art of Questioning’, Inner & land based Tracking, Naturalist Education, Sensory Awareness, Inspirational storytelling, Creative Arts, Ceremony and Discussion.
You will walk away with tools and embodied practices of regenerative community design, mentoring techniques, deep nature connection, and an amplified passion for learning. This will support you to be more successful in your relationships, your career, your community, and in life in general by enhancing your ability to experience empathy, compassion and sensitivity to your surroundings and others, and increasing your awareness. Our hope is to activate and inspire you to create healthy communities right in your own back yard!
When:
Where:
Includes accommodation – camping on site, and three wholesome main meals provided each day. Participants are expected to cater for their own snacks.
“This is nature education as it should be : mysterious, timeless, hopeful, evocative, and playful”
-David Sobel, author of “Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education”