Upcoming events:
12th May 2024 – 4-6pm, Totnes – Hairy Barista
I will be offering some of my poems on death and dying at this event in Totnes as part of Dying Matters Week. For more details click here.
14th May 2024, Location TBC
This 1 day course course is an opportunity to deepen into the beautiful and practical skill of foraging whilst opening up ways to engage with others around creative and challenging themes. To book click here.
Nature Connection in a Complex World – exploring roots, responsibility and reciprocity in our work
18th July 2024, Dartington, Devon
This 1 day training will be based on a shared inquiry of cultures of care, solidarity, radical forgiveness, decolonisation, activism and compassion as we explore roots, responsibility and reciprocity in our work. To book click here.
Eco-facilitation: Skills for Experiential Environmental Education – How do we enable connection with nature from a deep understanding that we too are part of nature? How does this change how we work with groups?
5th September 2024, Dartmoor, Devon
This workshop introduces creative practices and simple inquiries to help open deeper connections within the natural world. The day will include some basics for working with groups in this context, as well as opportunities for finding your own approach to facilitation in this field. To book click here.
Other Current Work:
Mentoring – I have spaces for a few new clients so do get in touch for an introductory chat.
A Pedagogy of Death, Decay and Destruction – an ongoing research, and practice interest of mine, into the generative forces of death and collapse, which I have recently been funded to explore further (many thanks Lankelly Chase). For more details click here.
Radical Ecological Pedagogies – this is a ULEX project I have been co-creating, including From the Roots Up – exploring the power of radical nature connection and ecological learning for collective action. We have developed a free online curriculum covering these topics – explore it here. Kara Moses and I are also exploring how to bring this work into communities of place and practice. Get in touch if you’d like to know more. Some questions this work speaks to are:
- How can we learn from nature – and as nature – in ways that can empower movement building and radical change?
- How does an ecological way of thinking and experiencing the world shift how we understand change, power and culture?
- What are the implications of integrating radical analyses of structural power into ecological and nature connection work – and vice versa?
- How can nature-based methods be a practice for unlearning human supremacy and other systems of oppression? To foster the critical thinking and discernment necessary for affecting systemic change?
- How do current activism and nature-based education perpetuate or repeat patterns of extraction, separation, power over and human centricity?
- How can the disciplines of nature connection, ecological learning, ecopsychology and deep ecology better motivate and sustain collective action?
[the pause… in practice] un/consultancy and trainings are in development. If you’re interested in a conversation about how we might bring the pause to your organisation, group or community, please get in touch.
The Emergence Network – As lead curator for ‘Vulture’, along with Bayo Akomolafe and Geci Karuri-Sebina, we’re developing ‘Vulture’ as an offering of post-activist engaged practice, working with existing groups to collaborate on responses to their context. Do stay in touch and check out our other work here.
Recent Events:
A Council of All Beings, with a difference…
17th March 2024, On The Hill, near Exeter
Informed by Joanna Macy’s powerful practice, A Council of All Beings, we will focus on listening for insights only from species, elements and patterns in nature that perform the essential tasks of death, decay, collapse, destruction and decomposition. More details and booking…
Creative Lab – exploring a pedagogy of death, decay and destruction
28th March 2024, Caddaford Barns Studio, Devon
An opportunity to collectively deepen the exploration into death, decay and destruction. More details and booking…
Letting Life Lead: Working with Societal Challenges through Systemic Constellations
30th October – 1st November 2023, Hawkwood College, Stroud
The retreat is for organisational leaders, social entrepreneurs, change agents and activists working on major social, cultural, environmental or political challenges. The retreat will provide a space for you to work on the personal, organisational and wider systemic dimensions of whatever challenges you are working on, using practices from Systemic Constellations.
If you’re interested in coming, please do let me know. Also, if you have questions, or would like to have a chat about the event, please get in touch.
Early bird registration closes on 22 September.
22nd to 24th September 2023, Dartington
I am doing a session on Sunday 24th September called From the Roots Up: When ‘we’ say ‘radical’ what do we mean?.
In this interactive talk Toni, Anairda and Phoenix Ramen will explore their own practice as facilitators, artists, women and activists working at the intersections of ecological and social change in Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay, Dartington and beyond. Where do issues of class, race, gender meet questions of anti-capitalist, decolonial and love based agency?
Exploring the power of radical nature connection and ecological learning for collective action
6th-11th July 2023 – Modbury (nr Totnes), Devon, UK
A residential camp where we will be exploring the power of radical nature connection and ecological learning for social change.
Nature Connection in a Complex World
exploring roots, responsibility and reciprocity in our work
1 day training, 15th June
This day will be based on a shared inquiry of cultures of care, solidarity, radical forgiveness, decolonisation, activism and compassion as we explore roots, responsibility and reciprocity in our work.
How do we enable connection with nature from a deep understanding that we too are part of nature? How does this change how we work with groups?
1 day training, 31st August
This workshop introduces creative practices and simple inquiries to help open deeper connections within the natural world. The day will include some basics for working with groups in this context, as well as opportunities for finding your own approach to facilitation in this field.
Exploring the power of radical nature connection and ecological learning for collective action
training for trainers, 22nd-30th April in the UK
This Training for Trainers, hosted in Devon (UK). aims to support trainers, facilitators and educators who want to use nature-based and eco-systemic approaches of education and facilitation for activists and change makers seeking to empower defence of the earth and struggles for social justice.
an opportunity to deepen in to this beautiful and practical skill whilst opening up ways to engage with others around creative and challenging themes.
1 day training, 11th May
This course is an opportunity to deepen into the beautiful and practical skill of foraging whilst opening up ways to engage with others around creative and challenging themes.
From The Roots Up Course in Germany (application and full details soon), December 2022
Systemic Constellations Workshop at Hawkwood College, Stroud, with Toni Spencer and Charlie O’Malley, 25-27 May 2022. SOLD OUT, get in touch for waiting list
Being Nature: Body, Awareness, Ecology One day workshop, 16 June 2022, Dartington Estate.
Being Nature 5 day camp, 24-28 August 2022, Dartmoor.
Facilitation Skills for Experiential Environmental Education One day workshop, 1 September 2022, Dartington Estate.
Pause… on the hill A residential retreat in Devon, 8-12 June 2021. Time to pause, potter, play and pray together.
Kissing the Void, Deep Adaptation and the creative spirit 9-14 July. A retreat in Devon.
VULTURE: A WAKE A collaborative research lab into the textures of our troubled times at Dartington Hall (SW England) In September 5-9, 2021 Part of the ongoing Vulture project I curate with The Emergence Network)
Being Nature: Body, Awareness, Ecology One Day workshop September 14th, Dartington
Facilitation Skills for Experiential Environmental Education One Day training September 15th, Dartington
BORROWED TIME SYMPOSIUM an international symposium at Dartington Hall (SW England) October 31 – November 2 2021
BORROWED TIME: on death, dying & change A series of events hosted by art.earth. I’m part of the curatorial team. Check out the series. In particular here are the 2 events I’m running or co-hosting:
Living Deep Adaptation A 7-week online journey, combining personal inquiry, shared experiments and practical action. Action Inquiry in to what it is to live the principles of Deep Adaptation in practice, including my additional 4 Rs…
the pause at St Ethelburgas: A day of practices, poetry and personal experiments online and in your home. 10th May
What do you do when there is no hope? Myself and Bayo Akomolafe in conversation Listen to the talk here
Wilds Beyond Climate Justice An Emergence Network event. Session exploring ‘A Pedagogy of Destruction’ plus co-curation of closing ceremony
Conflict Transformation Online Summit “Coming Down to Earth”. A Journey to explore pathways towards Regenerative Cultures in a Time of Breakdown. We had conversation between 4 of us Emergence Network Curators, exploring conflict, emergence, the otherwise and more…
Deep Adaptation and the Regenerative Power of telling the Truth
Kissing The Void: Deep Adaptation and The Creative Spirit (A ‘pause’ retreat)
Vulture: Courting The Otherwise in a Time of Breakdown
Deep Adaptation public talk December 2018 with Jem Bendell
A Deep Adaptation Deep Dive with 50 people for 5 days, December 2018
Other ways to access my work:
Poetry: Currently the best place to find my poems is on my Patreon site.
Mentoring: If you’re interested in having me as a mentor click here for info and booking
Facilitation, artist in residence, consultancy: If you’d like to have a conversation about working together please get in touch here.
Become a Patron: If you know the value of art in times of crisis, and what it takes to make it; if any of my work has touched you and you’d like to see more, you can support me here on my Patreon site. From £1 a month upwards and you’ll get sent poems and other shapes of artistry. It’s about more than money!
Toni Spencer 