Coming Home to Life

In this episode, we discuss regenerative learning with transformational educators Manish Jain and Dr Benjamin Freud. Manish Jain is a leading advocate for un-learning, de-schooling, and deepening place-based knowledge systems. He is the co-founder of Swaraj University, India’s first self-designed people’s university where each student can follow their own unique learning path, and Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development based in Udaipur, India. He also helped launch the global Ecoversities Alliance, a network of alternative universities aiming to reimagine higher education. Dr. Benjamin Freud is an educator, learning dialogist, writer, and podcaster. Benjamin is the Head of Upper School and Strategic Lead,Regenerative Education at Green School Bali, where he oversees the Middle and High School learning programs. He currently leads the design and implementation of the school’s Biomimicry for Regenerative Design (BiRD) curriculum, a first of its kind approach in K-12 that creates learning experiences in service of Life. Episode hosts: Dr Daniel Christian Wahl works internationally as a consultant and educator in regenerative design, whole systems design and transformative innovation. His vast catalogue of forward-thinking work (notably his book Designing Regenerative Cultures ) has inspired and enabled people from all walks of life to apply regenerative design to their own contexts. Philipa Duthie is a PhD student at the Nulungu Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame Australia. Her research explores relational ecologies of belonging and the revitalisation of Place-relationships. Along with co-hosting, Philipa is also the producer of Coming Home to Life .

In this episode, we discuss the importance of ecological design and living systems awareness with renowned environmental educator, Professor David Orr, and acclaimed ecological designer, Professor Seaton Baxter OBE. David Orr is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College in Ohio, USA. He is a founding editor of The Solutions Journal and founder of The Oberlin Project, an all-encompassing joint venture by the town and college to create a thriving, sustainable, and environmentally friendly community in Oberlin. Orr is author of eight books, including Ecological Literacy, Earth in Mind , and Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse . Seaton Baxter OBE is an Emeritus Professor at both the University of Dundee, Scotland, U.K. and the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Seaton lead the new MA in Ecological Design Thinking for 3 years at Schumacher College, Devon, U.K. before retiring from academia in 2016. Seaton has been on the Board of Scottish Natural Heritage and has worked with several environmental NGO’s in the voluntary sector. He was awarded an OBE for his services to Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish environment in 1998. Episode hosts: Dr Daniel Christian Wahl works internationally as a consultant and educator in regenerative design, whole systems design and transformative innovation. His vast catalogue of forward-thinking work (notably his book Designing Regenerative Cultures ) has inspired and enabled people from all walks of life to apply regenerative design to their own contexts. Philipa Duthie is a transdisciplinary researcher at Nulungu Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame. Her work explores how ecological, literary, philosophical and scientific understandings of the natural world can contribute to a relational ecology of belonging. Along with co-hosting, Philipa is also the producer of Coming Home to Life .

In this episode, we discuss courageous optimism, climate grief and collective action with political strategist, author and podcaster, Tom Rivett-Carnac. Tom Rivett-Carnac has spent more than 20 years working to address the climate and ecological crises. He previously served as Climate Strategist at X, the Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X), as Special Adviser to the Board of the Global Covenant of Mayors, and as a co-founder of Mission 2020. From 2013 to 2016 he was Senior Advisor to the Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention, a position from which he contributed to major parts of the strategy leading to the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015. Together with Christiana Figueres, he is the co-presenter of the climate podcast, Outrage + Optimism , and co-author of The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis . Episode hosts: Dr Daniel Christian Wahl works internationally as a consultant and educator in regenerative design, whole systems design and transformative innovation. His vast catalogue of forward-thinking work (notably his book Designing Regenerative Cultures ) has inspired and enabled people from all walks of life to apply regenerative design to their own contexts. Philipa Duthie is a transdisciplinary researcher at Nulungu Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame. Her work explores how ecological, literary, philosophical and scientific understandings of the natural world can contribute to a relational ecology of belonging. Along with co-hosting, Philipa is also the producer of Coming Home to Life .

In this episode, we discuss language, perception and sensuous engagement with the more-than-human world with cultural ecologist, Dr David Abram. David Abram is a cultural ecologist, geophilosopher, and the founder and creative director of the Alliance for Wild Ethics (AWE). His books include Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology and The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World . David is the recipient of various fellowships and awards, including the international Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction, David recently held the international Arne Naess Chair in Global Justice and Ecology at the University of Oslo in Norway.

In this episode, Daniel and Philipa welcome Dr Tyson Yunkaporta back for an extended yarn on relatedness and making embassy through community. Tyson Yunkaporta is an Aboriginal scholar, educator, maker, researcher, and poet. He is the founder of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University in Melbourne, and the author of two books, the bestselling “Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World ” and the recently published “Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking ”. Tyson’s work focuses on applying Indigenous methods of inquiry to resolve complex issues and explore global crises.

In this episode, Philipa and Daniel talk about post-activism, border transgressions and making sanctuary with Dr Bayo Akomolafe and Dr Tyson Yunkaporta. Bayo Akomolafe is a widely celebrated international speaker, post-humanist thinker, philosopher, writer, activist and professor of psychology. He is the author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak . Bayo is the Founder of The Emergence Network and and a Global Senior Fellow at the University of California Berkeley. He is also the Inaugural Scholar in Residence at the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Tyson Yunkaporta is an Aboriginal scholar, educator, maker, researcher, and poet. He is the founder of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University in Melbourne, and the author of two books, the bestselling “ Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World ” and the recently published “ Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking ”. Tyson’s work focuses on applying Indigenous methods of inquiry to resolve complex issues and explore global crises.

In this episode, Daniel and Philipa discuss the practices that can help us reconnect with the living world with renowned author and activist, John Seed, and deep ecology practitioner, Skye Cielita Flor. John Seed is the founder and director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia. Since 1979 he has been involved in the direct actions which have resulted in the protection of the Australian rainforests. He has written and lectured extensively on deep ecology and has been conducting Councils of All Beings and other re-Earth ing workshops around the world for 25 years. With Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Professor Arne Naess, he wrote "Thinking Like a Mountain - Towards a Council of All Beings" (New Society Publishers) which has now been translated into 12 languages. He is an accomplished bard, songwriter and film-maker and has produced 5 albums of environmental songs and numerous films. Skye Cielita Flor is South African born, now living on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne Australia. She is an Animist, Deep Ecologist, Grief Ritualist and Folk Medicine practitioner who is passionate about facilitating people through journeys that assist in the reclamation of Living Earth Perception, Ecological Awakening, Mythic Imagination and Ritual Rhythms.

In this episode, Philipa and Daniel discuss the kindness at the heart of reality with author and biophilosopher, Dr Andreas Weber. Dr Andreas Weber is Dr. Andreas Weber is a biologist, philosopher, nature writer, and mystic. He focuses on a re-evaluation of our understanding of the living. He proposes to view – and treat – all organisms as subjects and hence the biosphere as a meaning-creating and poetic reality. Andreas is Visiting Professor at the UNISG, Pollenzo, Italy and a honorary teacher at the University of the Arts, Berlin. He has published more than fifteen books, including Enlivenment: Toward a Poetics for the Anthropocene , The Biology of Wonder , and Matter & Desire: An Erotic Ecology . Andreas shares his work in two on demand courses with Advaya: The Ecology of Love and Heart Wisdom , both of which are available on the Advaya platform. Upcoming seminars and retreats are also listed on his website: https://biologyofwonder.org/seminarsretreats

In this episode, Daniel and Philipa are joined by award-winning permaculture teacher and designer, Morag Gamble, and best-selling author and integrator, Jeremy Lent. Together, they discuss the urgent need to realign our patterns of meaning with the life-sustaining patterns of our planet to create thriving, regenerative cultures. Morag Gamble is an award-winning permaculture teacher and designer, who has been at the forefront of the permaculture revolution for over 30 years. She is the founder of the Permaculture Education Institute and the Executive Director of Ethos Foundation , a permaculture education charity for refugees. She hosts the Sense-Making in a Changing World podcast, exploring what a thriving one-planet way of life looks like with leading ecological thinkers, activists, authors, designers and practitioners. Jeremy Lent , described by Guardian journalist George Monbiot as “one of the greatest thinkers of our age,” is an author and speaker whose work investigates the underlying causes of our civilization’s existential crisis, and explores pathways toward a life-affirming future. His award-winning book, The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning , explores the way humans have made meaning from the cosmos from hunter-gatherer times to the present day. His new book, The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place in the Universe , offers a coherent and intellectually solid foundation for a worldview based on connectedness that could lead humanity to a sustainable, flourishing future.

In this episode, Daniel and Philipa talk with best-selling author author, physicist, and educator, Dr Fritjof Capra about how adopting a systems view of life can help to address our current crisis of perception. Dr Fritjof Capra , Ph.D., is a scientist, educator, activist, author and systems theorist. Capra received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna in 1966 and spent 20 years doing research in theoretical high-energy physics, including at the University of Paris, the University of California, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre, and the University of London. He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco State University. Capra first became popularly known for his best-selling book, The Tao of Physics, which explored the ways in which modern physics was changing our worldview from a mechanistic to a holistic and ecological one. Over the past 30 years, Capra has been engaged in a systematic exploration of how other sciences and society are ushering in a similar shift in worldview, or paradigms, leading to a new vision of reality and a new understanding of the social implications of this cultural transformation. His book, The Systems View of Life, presents a grand new synthesis of this work—integrating the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life into one unified vision. He offers a course, The Capra Course , based on the material in his book.

In this episode, Daniel and Philipa talk with award-winning author and regenerative leadership expert, Carol Sanford. Carol draws on her experience working with business leaders to explain the importance of working on change in an indirect way. Carol Sanford is a consistently recognized disruptor and contrarian working side by side with Fortune 500 and new economy executives in designing and leading systemic business change and design. Through her university and in-house educational offerings, global speaking platforms, best selling multi-award-winning books, and human development work, Carol works with executive leaders who see the possibility to change the nature of work through developing people and work systems that ignite motivation everywhere. For four decades, Carol has worked with great leaders of successful businesses such as Google, DuPont, Intel, P&G, and Seventh Generation, educating them to develop their people and ensure a continuous stream of innovation that continually deliver extraordinary results. Carol is a founder and designer of The Regenerative Business Development Community with lifetime members of almost 500 members, meeting in locations around the world and now online with leaders from multiple companies learning together in bi-quarterly events as well as an Annual Regenerative Business Summit. Her best-selling books have won over 15 awards so far and are required reading at leading business and management schools including Harvard, Stanford, Haas Berkeley and MIT. Carol also partners with producing Executive Education through Babson College, and The Lewis Institute at Babson.

In this episode, Daniel and Philipa talk with Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organiser, Dr Lyla June Johnston. In this episode, Daniel and Philipa talk with Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organiser, Dr Lyla June Johnston. Lyla June shares lessons from her Diné, Tsétsêhéstâhese and European heritage and highlights the importance of engaging with, recognising and respecting Indigenous wisdom traditions as we seek to reinhabit our world regneratively. Dr Lyla June Johnston is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal, collective, and ecological healing. She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. She recently finished her PhD on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.

In this episode, Philipa and Daniel talk with filmmaker, writer and educator, Nora Bateson, about what it means to think like an ecology. Many of us are guilty of imagining that we can neatly measure and therefore manage the world around us. But an essential aspect of life is its continued motion. How might we learn from the patterns and nature of this motion in order to think ‘like an ecology’? Nora Bateson is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, as well as President of the International Bateson Institute. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems. Her book, Small Arcs of Larger Circles, released by Triarchy Press, UK, 2016 is a revolutionary personal approach to the study of systems and complexity.

In this episode, Philipa and Daniel are joined by peace pilgrim, activist and former monk, Satish Kumar, who shares his insights on the importance of building community as a way of living locally and connecting globally. When faced with global social and environmental challenges, we can assume that we should be entirely focused on solving the problems ‘out there’. But without paying attention to our inner world and inter-being - the ways in which we relate to one another - can we really reimagine our world and enable flourishing futures for all? Peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, and former monk, Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for over 50 years. Aged 9, Satish renounced the world and became a wandering Jain monk. Inspired by Gandhi, he decided at 18 that he could achieve more ‘back in the world’, campaigning to turn Gandhi's vision of a peaceful future into reality. Satish founded The Resurgence Trust , an educational charity that seeks to inform and inspire a just future for all. He was the Editor of the charity's change-making magazine, Resurgence & Ecologist , for over 40 years. He co-founded Schumacher College , which he continues to serve as a Visiting Fellow.

In this first episode of the second series, co-hosts Philipa Duthie and Daniel Christian Wahl talk to Biomimicry pioneers Janine Benyus and Dr Dayna Baumeister about the practice of learning from life’s enduring patterns and wisdom. Over 3.8 billion years life has evolved to create the conditions conducive to life. In comparison, the history of human innovation is vanishingly brief. What might we learn if we looked to nature as our teacher, not only for inspiration in physical design but in ways of learning, relating and collaborating? Janine Benyus is a biologist, author, innovation consultant, and self proclaimed “nature nerd.” She may not have coined the term biomimicry, but she certainly popularized it in her 1997 book ‘Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature’. She is Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8 and the Biomimicry Institute . Janine has introduced millions to the meme of biomimicry through two TED talks, hundreds of conference keynotes, and a dozen documentaries. In 2022, Janine was awarded the annual RSA Bicentenary Medal for her remarkable contribution to regenerative design. Dr Dayna Baumeister ’s foundational work has been critical to the biomimicry movement, establishing it as a fresh and innovative practice, as well as a philosophy to meet the world’s sustainability challenges. As an educator, researcher, and design consultant, Dayna has helped more than 100 companies consult the natural world for elegant and sustainable design solutions. She is Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8 .

In this series we’ve heard from key thinkers on what they are doing to nurture regenerative systems – locally, regionally and globally – and to create thriving futures for all life on this planet. In this final episode of the series, Josie and Daniel are joined by Paul Hawken, one of the environmental movement’s leading voices, to hear his perspectives on why now is the time for collaborative action and how we can all be part of the re-generation. Paul Hawken is a pioneering architect of corporate reform with respect to ecological practices. He is a well-respected author, economist, and activist, and the Founder of Project Drawdown, a non-profit dedicated to researching when and how global warming can be reversed. He has written eight best-selling books, including the hugely influential The Ecology of Commerce. His most recent book is Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation . Read the transcript

In this episode, Josie and Daniel discuss the importance of place with two leading voices in regenerative development -- Pamela Mang and Jenny Andersson. We are living through a period of seemingly insurmountable challenges – from the climate crisis to global disparities of health and wealth. How can we grapple with such complex and wicked problems – collectively or as individuals? Regenerative development practitioners Pamela Mang and Jenny Andersson argue that to do so we must start in our own homes – with the places and spaces around us. Pamela Mang is the founder of Regenesis Group with 30 years’ consulting experience with businesses, governmental agencies and community groups specializing in living systems thinking and educational and human development processes. She is a faculty member for The Regenerative Practitioner – a programme which has supported hundreds of people around the world to build their experience of regenerative development. Jenny Andersson is the founder of The Really Regenerative Centre . She works as a strategist, facilitator and educator, supporting organisations and communities to create visions for the future they want – together – and to find the energy, will and approaches to sustain long-term change. Read the transcript

In this episode, Josie and Daniel discuss the role companies can play in shaping our future with John Elkington and Louise Kjellerup Roper from Volans Ventures. The last decade has seen a shift in the discussion around corporate social responsibility and the role businesses can play in tackling the world’s challenges. In this episode, we ask our guests, John Elkington and Louise Kjellerup Roper whether the businesses of today are doing enough to build a better tomorrow and what a regenerative approach to business could look like. John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable capitalism. His book Cannibals with Forks in 1997 popularised his ‘Triple Bottom Line’ concept, and laid the foundations for sustainable business strategy. His 20th book was published in 2020 - Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism . Louise Kjellerup Roper is the CEO of Volans . She started her career with ‘cutting-edge’ software companies, before focusing on the role of business for good. Today, as well as being responsible for the work of Volans, she is a guest lecturer at both Cranfield University and the University of Exeter and part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s CE100 network. Listen to the transcript

In this episode, Josie and Daniel explore new models for structuring our economies with radical economists Kate Raworth and John Fullerton. The words economy and ecology have the same root in Ancient Greek – oikos , meaning home. In an era marked by climate breakdown and profound social challenges, what is our economy telling us about our home? And what is our home, planet Earth, telling us about our economy? In this episode, we discuss the rise of regenerative economics with guests Kate Raworth and John Fullerton. Kate Raworth is a renegade economist focused on making economics fit for 21st century realities. Her internationally acclaimed framework of Doughnut Economics has been widely influential amongst sustainable development thinkers, progressive businesses and political activists. Her Doughnut Economics Action Lab is now working with communities around the world to put it into practice in our neighbourhoods and cities. John Fullerton is an impact investor, writer, and unconventional economist and is the Founder of the Capital Institute . He is the author of Regenerative Capitalism: How Universal Patterns and Principles Will Shape the New Economy and is supporting business leaders explore what regenerative economics could look through his new course which brings together leading thinkers across economy, business and finance. Read the transcript

Josie and Daniel discuss regenerative cities with urban designers, Michael Pawlyn and Sarah Ichioka, authors of the book Flourish: Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency . From our cities, to our homes, to our public buildings, the spaces we inhabit determine how we live our lives and interact with the world around us. But what if our built environment is actually fueling our destructive lifestyles and furthering our disconnection with the living world? How can regenerative principles help us design buildings and communities that put life – all life – at the centre, and respond to our needs in the 21st century. It’s precisely these challenges that urban designers, Michael Pawlyn and Sarah Ichioka address in their new book, Flourish: Design Paradigms for our Planetary Emergency . Sarah Ichioka is an urbanist, curator and writer based in Singapore. She currently leads Desire Lines , a strategic consultancy for environmental, cultural, and social-impact organizations and initiatives. In previous roles , she has explored the intersections of cities, society and ecology within leading international institutions of culture, policy and research. Michael Pawlyn is an architect and biomimicry expert, he established architecture practice Exploration in 2007 and is co-initiator of Architects Declare - a network of architecture studios that have pledged to help- tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergencies. Read the transcript