Holistic Centers Network

Great Reasons to Attend the 2012 Gathering

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1. Join the first Gathering in Europe since 2000, after a decade in Canada and the US, meet participants from all over the world, representing different communities, business models and spiritual traditions

2. Experience the founding principles of the Findhorn Foundation – inner listening, love in action and co-creation with nature – as they are woven into everyday life within the community

3. Explore practical topics such as sustainability, education & programming, marketing & PR, governance & decision making, fundraising, staffing & volunteers, and children & eldercare

4. Connect with like minded souls dedicated to a more holistic, positive and sustainable future and gain insight into the work taking place all over the world [Read more…]

Fundraising Ideas to attend the 2012 Gathering

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If you’re keen to attend the Holistic Centres Gathering at the Findhorn Foundation in May 2012 and wondering how to fund your participation and travel related expenses, read on!

Staff here in the Foundation receive a small monthly allowance and often need to be creative to fund their travel to visit family or attend conferences etc., so we understand the financial restraints that people in other communities might also be experiencing.

[Read more…]

Exploring Holistic Education – Conflict Resolution

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COMPONENTS OF HOLISTIC LEARNING

By Dave Till and Christine Lines

This is the third article in our series on Holistic Learning, to read the introduction and view the other components to follow please click here.

3. Conflict Resolution

To quote Arnold Mindell, “conflict is neither good nor bad, it is just inevitable”. Dave Till explains that throughout his time as a lecturer in higher education he had to deal with conflict.

“Conflict between staff members, conflict between staff and management, conflict between students and conflicts between students and staff. Yet not once was conflict an official part of the learning even though it was so widespread and extensive in every educational group of which I was a part.”

“Outside of mainstream education, I learned many good things about the value of conflict especially from Mindell’s Process Work. Conflict is part of holistic learning. When we made room for it, conflict was welcomed and examined in the Findhorn Community Semester (FCS) programme within the Findhorn Foundation College.” [Read more…]

Happiness and Holistic Education

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Pottering in the garden the other day, I suddenly realised why I’d never really enjoyed school and how the whole subject of holistic education has now become so fascinating. To incorporate the emotional and spiritual self, as well as the mental and physical, feels so fundamental. No wonder I felt something was missing in those early years; a conscious foundation of peace and happiness.

I was born the year before the term “gross national happiness” was coined in 1972 by the King of Bhutan, the tiny, remote Himalayan kingdom. The phrase symbolised his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan’s unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. The unique approach, in many circles, of placing spiritual values first.

The assessment of gross national happiness (GNH) was designed in an attempt to define an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than only the economic indicator of gross domestic product (GDP). Results of the 2010 survey to measure the peace and happiness of the nation can be viewed online. [Read more…]

Carbon Offsetting for Flights

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If you’re planning to attend the Holistic Centre’s Gathering at the Findhorn Foundation in May 2012 and feel concerned about the carbon footprint associated with your flights, we recommend a great way to off-set carbon when you travel.

Carbon Retirement offers the only 100% guarantee in carbon offsetting. Every tonne is guaranteed to reduce European emissions by one tonne. Their unique method forces industrial companies in the developed world to pollute less, preventing emissions before they happen.

To understand how it’s different from other types of carbon offsetting please read this document about Responsible Carbon Neutrality. [Read more…]

Exploring Holistic Education – Group Dynamics

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COMPONENTS OF HOLISTIC LEARNING

By Dave Till

This is the second article in our series on Holistic Learning, to read the introduction and view the other components to follow please click here.

2. Group Dynamics, Group Roles and Role Play

Group dynamics refers to a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (intragroup dynamics), or between social groups (intergroup dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-making behavior and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas.

Every group has a life of its own and creates roles for its members (or perhaps the members gravitate towards roles of their own choosing). The dynamics of a group have certain laws and principles that can be learnt and understood.

Because holistic education is by and large learned and practiced within a group, knowledge of group dynamics becomes imperative. An understanding of roles that are likely to develop in a learning situation is both helpful and necessary. [Read more…]

Holistic Approach to Sustainability

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Excerpt from the Annual Report 2010 / 2011 of The Findhorn Foundation entitled “Pioneering Sustainable Solutions.”

The Findhorn Foundation pioneers a holistic approach to sustainability that integrates four aspects – spiritual, social, environmental and economic. By developing not just the externals of sustainability such as ecohousing, ecological sewage treatment systems and renewable energy, but also addressing the inner life of human beings and giving them an opportunity to experience being part of an interconnected web of life, the Foundation has become a unique centre for learning and a valuable and potent force for change.

Our holistic approach to sustainability is demonstrated in our three main areas of activity:

  • spiritual community
  • eco-village
  • learning centre

Community life provides the spiritual and social framework of sustainability upon which our ecovillage and economic activities are woven. The Foundation financially depends upon sharing our learning with others through our guest programme of workshops and events.
[Read more…]

Exploring Holistic Education – The Learning Community

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COMPONENTS OF HOLISTIC LEARNING

This is the first article in our series on Holistic Learning, to read the introduction and view the other components to follow please click here

1. The Learning Community

When a group forms for educational purposes, a learning community (LC) can be created consciously. The learning community is different to the conventional classroom. For instance; in the LC the teaching role can move round the group – it doesn’t stay with one ‘teacher’.

The ‘teacher’ is also there to learn and the teacher role becomes that of facilitator, or in the Findhorn Foundation a ‘focaliser’, the person who holds the focus. (The teacher can certainly be the one with the most information to disseminate, but information dissemination and absorption may not be the primary learning of the group!) [Read more…]

Spirit of the Future

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This week the Findhorn Foundation is sending out it’s 2012 brochure, celebrating 50 years of the community.

The new brochure is available to download as a pdf file from our website. We hope you enjoy the photographic tributes to Findhorn past and present, the variety of programmes on offer in this auspicious year, and its dedication to the next 50 fabulous years of personal and planetary transformation.

Whether you’re enjoying spring warmth in the southern hemisphere, autumn leaves in the north, the first snowfall of the season or equatorial humidity, please join with us in gratitude for the courage and focus of our three founders, Dorothy Maclean and Eileen and Peter Caddy, for the amazing unfolding of this community, and for how it has touched all our lives. [Read more…]

Holistic Education – What are we doing now?

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A new project to try and define holistic education as practiced here – both within the Findhorn Foundation, the Findhorn College and in the wider community – has recently been initiated by Dave Till, a co-worker in the Findhorn Foundation. With the help of people actively involved in holistic education and learning, he aims to create a comprehensive document that can be shared with other holistic centres around the world.

Dave explains, “This is a long-term aim. My interest started when I helped set up the Findhorn College with Malcolm Hollick and we started to define what holistic education meant to us in practice. The catalyst for re-starting this work now is the Holistic Centres Gathering that Christine Lines has helped to bring here in 2012.”

During his involvement with the College, Dave shared his background in Higher Education, (at what is now Salford University), and worked extensively with the Findhorn Community Semester (the US student programme). He then began recording the techniques, resources and knowledge that both made up holistic education as practiced here, and define it as different to mainstream education. [Read more…]

This gathering has been INCREDIBLE. As a small center based way out in Yosemite National Park, I really feel folded into the greater network. This feels so vital. Thank you for creating this!

Heather Sullivan, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Balanced Rock Foundation