Integral Ecology: The Way to a Sustainable, Healthy and Peaceful Civilization

Integral Ecology: The Way to a Sustainable, Healthy and Peaceful Civilization (2008) is a new book by Srečko Šorli, Dr.Dušan Klinar and Nataša Kern - researchers from the Scientific Research Centre BISTRA. In the book, the authors argue that "awakening consciousness on a global scale is an indispensable element of sustainable development." And the Scientific Research Centre BISTRA attempts to help facilitate this process through their website, with articles in journals, and conducting lectures on “Integral Ecology and Sustainable Development” in schools, universities, and conferences.

The book promotes a “conscious lifestyle” that combines ecology, public health, energy use and social peace. The book suggests ways to create awareness and harmonize public opinion with regard to the necessity of utilizing an integral approach when dealing with complex issues. As the authors write:

"Recent scientific theories offer a holistic vision in which society and human beings are a consistent part of evolution of the universe, of global cosmic dynamics. All over the universe, life has tendency to develop into intelligent and conscious organisms such as we, humans. Consciousness is seen as a cosmic phenomenon that acts actively in the evolution of life and human being. It manifests into humans as awareness of how mind creates our material circumstances of life. Becoming conscious of how the human mind functions will give us the possibility to choose projects and take decisions that will sustain us into the future."

The authors provide a compelling account of how the emerging field of Integral Ecology is both multidisciplinary science and an “Awareness Campaign” for a life in harmony with nature and in peace with people of other nations, religions and cultures.

READ THE ENTIRE BOOK (pdf): HERE

Contact Authors at: sorli.bistra@gmail.com

Generating Transformative Change

“Many of us find ourselves in a time where the world and our lives seem to ask of us, what can we give with the time we have here? How big can we dream? How can our work be the deepest expression of the contribution we are here to make? How can I make that contribution and have the life I want to have?”

Pacific Integral, a leading edge education and consulting firm, offers a way forward: Generating Transformative Change in Human Systems (GTC). GTC is an 18 month Professional Certificate Program offered through the Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS) at Bastyr University.

The program provides an initiation into the practical living of an integral life as it relates to transformation in human systems – the latest knowledge and theories, leadership approaches, integral life practice, integral assessment, learning community and fields, action inquiry, engagement in your emerging work and global issues. GTC is an intensive learning experience for integral change leaders that provides a platform from which you can create your own transformation to a greater level of service, success, and fulfillment.

An introduction to Generating Transformative Change in Human Systems:



LEARN MORE: HERE

Integral Life for Generation Next

Next Step Integral has announced the first "Integral Next Seminar: Exploring and Embodying Integral in the 21st Century”, taking place August 10 – 15, 2008, at the Pema Osel Ling Retreat Center, Santa Cruz, California:

The seminar, the first of its kind, will bring together 20 to 35 year-olds from around the globe who are discovering how integral consciousness, when put into action, can be an incredibly powerful tool for transformative change and leadership.

Living an Integral Life nurtures and challenges body, mind and spirit, thereby facilitating next steps in personal evolution. This leads to a deeper discovery and understanding of who we are, our relationships, and the gifts we have to offer the world. Indeed, an increasing number of people are recognizing that living an Integral Life is key to co-creating a just and sustainable world.

In a community of peers participants will learn about and examine Integral Theory and its application to our lives and the world at large. We will also explore and celebrate what becomes possible when we truly come together to re-envision ourselves, our culture, and our collective future."

LEARN MORE: HERE

Integral Theory into Integral Action: Part 8

In the recent issue of the Integral Leadership Review, Mark Edwards and Russ Volckmann continue their pioneering dialogue on Integral Theory with Part 8 of Integral Theory into Integral Action.

In Part 6 of this dialogue, Mark laid out an elegant way of mapping and thinking about 1st, 2nd and 3rd person at micro, meso and macro levels, as well as the mediating factors in the relationships among these. In Part 7, Mark pointed out the importance of including an “ecological lens” along with a developmental lens in redressing the imbalanced focus on developmental to the exclusion of ecological in much of the theory related to integral development.

So far in their discussions Edwards and Volckmann have identified several “lenses” that can be used in more flexible and nuanced analysis, touched on the neglected issue of power in integral theory, and the importance of collaborative approaches in building metatheory.

READ MORE: HERE

Integral Education Seminar 2008

Next Step Integral has announced its 2008 Integral Education seminar called “From Cradle to Kosmos”, taking place August 1–6, 2008, at the Whidbey Institute on Whidbey Island, in Washington State.

Integral education is an emerging field, propelled by people who seek to push the envelope of what education can be. Integral education also stands out as one of the most pertinent and practical means of creating positive change in ourselves and the world. This seminar will bring educators of all age groups together from around the globe, educators who are seeking the necessary vision, skills, and processes to fully serve students and the world that we inhabit.

Presenters will include: Diane Musho Hamilton, Susanne R. Cook-Greuter, Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, and more.

VISIT THE SEMINAR WEBSITE: HERE

School of Integral Health Studies

Akamai University in Hawaii recently announced a new degree program in Integral Health Studies. Programs in the new 'School of Integral Health Studies' offer comprehensive interdisciplinary studies of the integral determinants of health and wellness, grounded in Integral Philosophy and broad empirical inquiry, leading to the award of the undergraduate (Bachelor's degree) and/or graduate (Master's degree) in Integral Health Studies.

Studies include an applied component which provides students with working knowledge of a range of epistemological/research skills, with the aim of greatly enhancing understandings and applied capacities in health service, health education, health research and related professional roles in diverse contexts.

Encompassing conventional, holistic, complementary, alternative, public, ecological, energy, spiritual, mind-body, cultural, and integrative perspectives on health within a coherent, unifying and practical framework (as opposed to "integrative" and "holistic" models which lack cohering explanatory frameworks), Integral Health studies are underpinned by an interdisciplinary developmental meta-model that places importance on the healer's own integral development, epistemological breadth, and capacities to see interrelated movement of the greater whole.

The Integral Health Study program's theoretical underpinning is grounded primarily in Ken Wilber's evolutionary AQAL Integral philosophy and its development through other leading Integral Theorists (e.g. McIntosh).

LEARN MORE: HERE

SDi and Palestinian Nation-Building

A recent event sponsored by The Center for Human Emergence Middle East inaugurated the “Palestine 21” project, which aims to empower Palestinian citizens to design their own state. The convention was organized by Palestinian leaders inspired by the geopolitical work of Dr. Don Beck, the American founder of the Global Centers for Human Emergence (CHE). "For the political ‘Road Map’ involving Israel and Palestine to be successful, the ‘Palestinian Development Map’ must first be implemented,” Dr. Beck said at the event.

READ MORE: HERE

Singularities and the Future of Media

“As science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke has pointed out, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The gap between today and tomorrow is closing at a staggering rate, while the future continues to become more and more surreal. A perfect example comes from the work of inventor/futurist Ray Kurzweil, who often talks about a point sometime in the next 50 years when our rate of technological progress begins to approach the infinite—an event he calls "the Singularity."

This essentially represents the event horizon of our own technological evolution, beyond which we simply cannot imagine. Is there actually something to the concept of the Singularity, or is it just a sort of mythical Rapture for tech geeks? What are the implications of such exponential advancement of technology to human consciousness?

As data becomes more and more free, and therefore more and more ubiquitous, how can the Integral vision help us navigate the "global brain" currently under construction?”

KEN WILBER ON THE SINGULARITY: INTEGRAL NAKED

Integral Transformative Justice

Fleet Maull, a leading voice in alternative approaches to incarceration and rehabilitation, has recently designed a new mindfulness-based, cognitive behavioral, and transformative approach to personal growth, education, life skills and leadership training for incarcerated juveniles and at-risk youth, called "A Path to Freedom."

He will present this new approach in a public lecture, "Integral Transformative Justice: A New Model for Corrections in the 21st Century," tomorrow, Friday Feb 15, 2008 at the Harvard Divinity School; and will conduct an experiential training in how to use the curriculum with incarcerated and at-risk youth populations, on Saturday.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT: HERE

Maull also founded the Prison Dharma Network (PND), which has provided books on meditation and contemplative spirituality to over 25,000 prisoners in over 900 prisons around the world. PDN is an international, nonsectarian, contemplative support network for prisoners, prison volunteers, and corrections professionals. PDN's mission is to provide prisoners, and those who work with them, with the most effective contemplative tools for self-transformation and rehabilitation.

PDN supports prisoners in the practice of contemplative disciplines, with an emphasis on sitting meditation practice and the practice and study of Buddhist teachings and other wisdom traditions. PDN provides integral transformative justice trainings for prison dharma volunteers and prison staff.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT: HERE

Integral Peacemaker Training

Building on a rich tradition of spiritually grounded peace and social change work, and extensive experience in cutting-edge leadership training, the Peacemaker Institute offers an intensive peacemaker certification program and a year-round schedule of other trainings, workshops and retreats for professionals and volunteers from around the world seeking to create a more peaceful world.

Participants and graduates are engaged in a wide array of community development, social change, and peacemaking activities, including conflict resolution, homeless advocacy, restorative justice, prison ministry, juvenile justice and at-risk youth programs, AIDS relief, social entrepreneurship, and human rights and peace work.

LEARN MORE WITH THIS VIDEO:

European Commission Funds Integral Research

The European Commission has recently approved a research proposal by Wendelin Kupers studying Integral Leadership and Communication in Non-Profit Organization. The two-year project will investigate the relationship between leadership and communication in non-profit organizations in Germany and Switzerland.

The study will assess and compare leadership and communication processes on subjective, inter-subjective and objective levels. The goal is to address the multiple communication processes involved, and identify impacts in individual and collective dimensions. As Wendelin concludes: “The granted research manifests that the European Commission supports integral research!”

LEAR MORE ABOUT WENDELIN'S WORK: HERE & HERE

Darwin Day Feature: Evolution & Education

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution revolutionized scientific thinking. Since the publication of The Origin of Species 147 years ago, this theory has been extensively and rigorously tested. Overwhelming scientific evidence from many disciplines exists to support this theory. From the vast body of scientific evidence that has accumulated, we have come to an understanding of all areas of the biological world - from our cells and DNA to our lakes and forests.

Evolutionary principles are the foundation of all modern biology and have led to major advances in fields as diverse as molecular biology, developmental biology, genetics, behavior, and paleontology. As such, evolutionary theory is a fundamental and necessary component of modern science education.

A new FREE! science journal, Evolution: Education and Outreach, will promote accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience. Targeting K-16 students, teachers and scientists alike, the journal will publish articles to aid members of these communities in the teaching of evolutionary theory.

READ MORE: HERE

The potential for engaged research and consideration of integral life dynamics is inherent in projects attempting to reach out to a wider audience. We hope future issues will deal more holistically & comprehensively with issues related to our understanding of general evolution. As such, articles and research might seek to integrate data on how culture, social organization and psychology inluence evolution on macro, meso and micro scales.

Integral and Holistic Nursing

by Barbara M. Dossey PhD, RN

Outside of nursing, there continues to be minimal understanding and recognition related to the depth of nurses’ knowledge, expertise, and critical-thinking capacities and skills for assisting others in achieving and maintaining health and well-being . So how can health professionals become more integral and holistic helping patients heal while opening to the mysteries of life’s journey and the wondrous stages of self-discovery?

Barbara M. Dossey: “As you read the following information on the integral model, remember that healing and an integral understanding are at the core of our holistic nursing philosophy and mission.”

READ THE (PDF) ARTICLE: HERE

The Development of Dialectical Thinking as an Approach to Integration

By Michael Basseches

In this article, Basseches offers a description of dialectical thinking as a particular kind of psychological phenomenon that reflects adult intellectual development. While relating this "psychological phenomenon" to various dialectical philosophical perspectives, Basseches moves on to reconceptualize dialectical thinking as a relatively independent mode of human thinking rather than as a particular ideology within intellectual history.

Basseches argues that intellectual approaches based on dialectical principles "integrate dimensions of contradiction, change and system-transformation over time in a way that supports people's adaptation when structures under girding their sense of self/world coherence are challenged". The article as a whole makes the case for consciously attempting to foster such development in all our work as an approach to integration.

READ THE ENTIRE ESSAY HERE: INTEGRAL REVIEW 1 (2005)

An Integral approach to the Social and Emotional Development of the Profoundly Gifted

By P. Susan Jackson

“Like all children profoundly gifted children have essential needs for connecting to others, for being understood, for expressing and exploring feelings and ideas, for reciprocal exchange and for friendship. The exceptional nature of PG children and their rarity in the population, however, generates inordinate socio-affective needs and unique challenges that must be addressed to insure full and optimal development.”

READ MORE: HERE

Gifted children, like many individuals, must embark upon a heroic quest towards self-understanding and self-realization. Jackson's brief essay outlines an integral approach to helping children become conscious participants in their own developmental matrix & embodied life.

P. Susan Jackson is the Founder and Therapeutic Director of The Daimon Institute for the Highly Gifted in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. The Daimon Institute offers service to highly and profoundly gifted children and adults supporting the educational needs and overall development of this special population.