Resurgence & Ecologist magazine Issue 327 • July/August 2021
Small is beautiful

In this issue, we celebrate 30 years of transformative learning with a special section on Schumacher College in South Devon, with features by Alan Boldon, CEO of the Dartington Trust, and Ann Pettifor on the origins of the Green New Deal.

In the Ecologist section, Kieran Lynn reports on a conservation partnership in Australia where traditional knowledge is helping to save the country’s endangered wildlife, Laura Alcock-Ferguson reports from the home of the ‘Survivor Tree’ in Scotland, and Vandana K visits a collective in the Indian Himalayas.

The Keynotes essay in this issue is by psychotherapist Steffi Bednarek, who explains why in this time of toxic normality, we need soulful connection with the world. In our Wisdom & Wellbeing section, Nat Dyer speaks to author Frank White about viewing the Earth from space, and in our Arts features Gary Cook explores an immersive audio and video installation ‘What Listening Knows’.

We hope you enjoy our selection of free articles from this issue of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine.

Highlights

Losing Touch with Heaven: Isabella Tree
Agriculture at a Crossroads: Renuka Odedra
The Power of Partnership: Kieran Lynn
A Time of Derangement: Steffi Bednarek
Economy, Ecology and Equity: Ann Pettifor
Science and Spirituality: Satish Kumar

Featured articles

Losing Touch with Heaven

A proposed development plan will adversely impact the pioneering rewilding project at Knepp, West Sussex, preventing it from connecting with areas of nature nearby and creating much needed wildlife corridors. Isabella Tree reports from Knepp, and urges the government to honour its environmental pledges.
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Roots and Fruits

Vandana K visits an all-women producers' collective in the Indian Himalayas that provides work, support and small loans to women living in rural communities. Products are sold locally and online, and members act as custodians of the forests — protecting trees, checking for forest fires, and preserving natural springs.
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The Power of Partnership

Australia is the continent with the world's highest mammal extinction rate. Kieran Lynn reports on a groundbreaking conservation partnership that is bringing together conservation science and traditional knowledge to save Australia's unique wildlife.
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The Overview Effect

That's the term coined by Frank White to describe the spiritual and ecological awakening that arises from seeing the Earth from space. Nat Dyer talks to him about space, philosophy, and the need for a cognitive shift and discovers, "The overview effect is the truth of who we are and where we are in the cosmos"
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Beyond Organic

Biodynamic Farming, originating from the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, goes beyond all the prerequisites of organic farming, and treats soil fertility, plant growth and livestock care as one ecologically interrelated system. Coreen Grant visits the first biodynamic farm in Moldova and learns why this system of farming is coming of age.
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Hear Here

Gary Cook reviews 'What Listening Knows', a new show by artists Sonia Leber and David Chesworth that celebrates the act of listening. "Displayed across three enormous screens, the video, combined with a special soundscape, employs 'the microphone's gaze' to encourage us beyond the comfort zone...into an acoustic dimension."
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Picture Credits

Cover image: Slime mould © Andy Sands / naturepl.com; Losing touch with Heaven: Juvenile cuckoo © Charles Burrell, Knepp Wildland; Roots and Fruits: Monthly meeting of Self Help Group courtesy of Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation; The Power of Partnership. The northern quoll © Wayne Lawler / AWC; The Overview Effect: Illustration by Lucille Clerc; Beyond organic: Linocut by Martina Gracin; Hear Here: Anthills Listening, 2021, from the photographic series What Listening Knows by Sonia Leber and David Chesworth.

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