Accidental Gods

Accidental Gods

Another World is still Possible. The old system was never fit for purpose and now it has gone- and it's never coming back. We have the power of gods to destroy our home. But we also have the chance to become something we cannot yet imagine, and by doing so, lay the foundations for a future we would be proud to leave to the generations yet unborn. What happens if we commit to a world based on generative values: compassion, courage, integrity? What happens if we let go of the race for meaningless money and commit instead to the things that matter: clean air, clean water, clean soil - and clean, clear, courageous connections between all parts of ourselves (so we have to do the inner work of healing individually and collectively), between ourselves and each other (so we have to do the outer work of relearning how to build generative communities) and between ourselves and the Web of Life (so we have to reclaim our birthright as conscious nodes in the web of life)? We can do this - and every week on Accidental Gods we speak with the people who are living this world into being. We have all the answers, we just (so far) lack the visions and collective will to weave them into a future that works. We can make this happen. We will. Join us. Accidental Gods is a podcast and membership program devoted to exploring the ways we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations yet to come. If we're going to emerge into a just, equitable - and above all regenerative - future, we need to get to know the people who are already living, working, thinking and believing at the leading edge of inter-becoming transformation. Accidental Gods exists to bring these voices to the world so that we can work together to lay the foundations of a world we'd be proud to leave to the generations that come after us. We have the choice now - we can choose to transform…or we can face the chaos of a failing system. Our Choice. Our Chance. Our Future. Find the membership and the podcast pages here: https://accidentalgods.life Find Manda's Thrutopian novel, Any Human Power here: https://mandascott.co.uk Find Manda on BlueSky @mandascott.bsky.social On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandascottauthor/ On FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/MandaScottAuthor

  1. Pull from the heart, don't push from the head: Spreading Stories that Work with Matt Golding of Antidote

    6 DAYS AGO

    Pull from the heart, don't push from the head: Spreading Stories that Work with Matt Golding of Antidote

    How do we create stories powerful enough, moving enough, inspiring enough - and grounded enough - to shift the trajectory of our culture onto a totally new pathway?  This week's guest, Matt Golding, has spent his entire professional life exploring what makes stories go viral, gaining awards, big contracts and a deep instinct for how to help people see the best in themselves in ways that can shape new narratives.  Since the early days of the internet, Matt has been breaking rules and breaking new ground. He's a strategist, writer & filmmaker using story to excite people about the possible future that's emerging all around us - that works better for the majority. He believes the stories we share shape the culture we inhabit, and with a background in viral campaigns, he's fascinated with how we can use creativity, heart and humour to shape stories people share - that unlock a more positive future.  As director of impact and social change studio, Rubber Republic, he was as the forefront of a movement that used shareable content campaigns to engage mass audiences with a better future. Historically, he worked with brands like Disney, eBay, Channel 4, BBC, Fiat and Yorkshire Tea, but since 2019 he has committed only to work with organisations 100% committed to creating a future that functions for all. He's the founder of ANTIDOTE - a positive storytelling platform sharing stories of collective action by ordinary people that are changing our world for the better. Matt says that it's 'an experiment in reshaping how we find and tell collective action stories to see if we can get them more mainstream traction and appeal, and make them more invitational so we can get more people to be inspired into action.'  Which is as Thrutopian as it gets. And, on top of all this, he's co-host of the recently launched - and absolutely brilliant - podcast  'Screw This, Let's Try Something Else...' sharing stories of ordinary communities creating extraordinary change. And then finally, on top of all of this, there's a postcode search tool, so you can get involved in transformative things wherever you are (in the UK - though at some point, someone will stretch it worldwide) In a crazy-making world, join us for a dose of inspiring sanity, creativity and hope. LinksAntidote https://www.antidotelive.studio/ Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/screw-this-lets-try-something-else/id1863391095 Postcode Search Tool (find collective action near you): https://www.antidotelive.studio/near-you Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgolding/ Substack: https://mattgolding.substack.com/ Rubber Republic https://www.rubberrepublic.com/ —About Accidental Gods—We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass Our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme is 'FINDING YOUR SOUL'S PURPOSE' which will run on Sunday 22nd March 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member of Accidental Gods - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here Manda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls.  Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.

    1h 29m
  2. Open Mind, Open Heart: Evolving the nature of Eldering with Alain Gauthier of the Regenerative Elder Process

    11 MAR

    Open Mind, Open Heart: Evolving the nature of Eldering with Alain Gauthier of the Regenerative Elder Process

    In a culture where age is, at best, ignored, how do we rebuild a cohort of genuine Elders fit for the rapid transitions of the 21st Century: those who can combine the wisdom of wide boundary perspectives with the humility that allows flexibility of thinking, feeling and being? This is one of the core questions of our time and this week's guest is working to find answers. Alain Gauthier is co-founder and coordinator of the Regenerative Elder Process at the Elders Action Network. With John Izzo, he is co-host of The Way Forward Regenerative Conversations podcast and over his long life, he has been an international consultant, facilitator, coach, researcher-educator, and author. His book Actualising Evolutionary Co-Leadership: To Evolve a Creative and Responsible Society was published in 2014 - and is only available on Kindle (sorry) - but it is nonetheless a fascinating and inspiring read. A graduate from HEC (Paris), with an MBA from Stanford University, Alain was once a senior consultant at McKinsey & Company, As you'll hear, a life-changing experience led him to co-found Core Leadership Development in Oakland, California and to focus his professional work on developing co-leadership, partnering and coaching capabilities. Now in his eighties and as an elder, he devotes his time to co-creating conditions for elders to explore how they can live a regenerative life and collaborate with younger generations in transforming education and community life.    Over the last seven years, he has been an active member of the Elders Action Network (EAN), where he initially led a visionary planning process and now co-leads the Regenerative Elder Process (REP) – which, this April (2026) is offering for the seventh time an in-depth exploration called Embodying Regenerative Worldviews. He co-leads the REP Community and is a member of the Advisory Council of Elders Rising, EAN’s educational arm. This was a rich, deep and heart-felt podcast.  Enjoy! LinksElders Action Network https://eldersaction.org/Regenerative Elders Process https://eldersaction.org/regenerative-elder-processIntroductory Exploration of Regenerative Elder Process https://sutra.co/space/2eqo2s/register - New Cohort April 2026 Alain's book (only on Kindle) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Actualizing-Evolutionary-Co-Leadership-Creative-Responsible-ebook/dp/B00JE4FRHY/The Way Forward Regenerative Conversations Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-way-forward-regenerative-conversations/id1651941803 Peter Senge's Centre for Systems Awareness https://systemsawareness.org/person/peter-senge/Jeff Carreira’s Mystery School https://mysteryschool-memberscircle.com/Otto Scharmer’s Presencing Institute https://www.presencing.org/ About Accidental Gods - What we offer. We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered as part of our Accidental Gods Programme, it's 'FINDING YOUR SOUL'S PURPOSE' on Sunday 22nd March 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are here. You don't have to be a member - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here Manda and Louise both offer one-to-one Mentoring Calls.  Manda is fully booked just now, but if you'd like to contact Louise, details are here.

    1h 6m
  3. Change is Coming!  Solstice Reflections with Della Duncan, Nathalie Nahai and Manda Scott

    24/12/2025

    Change is Coming! Solstice Reflections with Della Duncan, Nathalie Nahai and Manda Scott

    At the end of a turbulent year that has seen the masks come off the death cult in ways that were probably predictable, but still shocking, we reconvene our December Solstice Traditional conversation. Manda is joined by Della Duncan of the Upstream Podcast and Nathalie Nahai of 'Nathalie Nahai in Conversation' to explore the things that have stood out for each of us in our explorations this year—and to look forward to the year about to begin for what will be our baselines. Della Z Duncan is a Renegade Economist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a co-host of the Upstream Podcast, a Right Livelihood Coach, a faculty member at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics, a founding member of the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, and the designer and co-facilitator of the Cultivating Regenerative Livelihood Course at Gaia Education. Nathalie Nahai is an author, keynote speaker and host of the Nathalie Nahai in Conversation podcast enquires into our relationship with one another, with technology and with the living world. She’s author of the international best-sellers Webs Of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion and, more recently, Business Unusual: Values, Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience which has been described as “One of the defining business books of our times”. She’s a consultant, artist and the founder of Flourishing Futures Salon, a project that offers curated gastronomical gatherings that explore how we can thrive in times of turbulence and change. Before we head into the conversation, I want to invite you to our transformative online course,  Dreaming Your Year Awake,  which takes place on Sunday the 4th of January from 16:00 - 20:00 UK time (GMT).  This is a time to go inwards, to be kind to ourselves, to explore all that we can be and want to be. It's your chance really to delve deeply into the year just gone, and look ahead at how you want to shape your attention and intention for the year that’s coming, for each of us, individually and together to ask ourselves how we are going to navigate all the coming turbulence with grace and courage?  This, too, is part of our Accidental Gods tradition and we have people who’ve come year after year to give themselves the gift of time and space and the company of people who share the journey. So please do come along, we would love to share this time with you. What we offer in more detail: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered by our Accidental Gods Programme it's  'Dreaming Your Year Awake' (you don't have to be a member - but if you are, all Gatherings are half price) on Sunday 4th January 2026 from 16:00 - 20:00 GMT - details are hereIf you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

    1h 15m
  4. Step by Radical Step: The Route to a Flourishing New Economy with Colleen Schneider

    10/09/2025

    Step by Radical Step: The Route to a Flourishing New Economy with Colleen Schneider

    Our western (Trauma Culture) economies run on two falsehoods - we might go so far as to call them lies. The first is that economies have to grow to be 'successful'.  The second is that government spending is limited by the tax take.  That is, they need to take money in as taxes in order to spend it out into the economy.  Both of these are untrue, and understanding that they are untrue, and the political forces of ignorance and mendacity that keep them in place, is essential to our moving forward into a future that works. We cannot continue to maintain the death cult of predatory capitalism. We cannot continue with a Zombie economy that extracts, consumes, destroys and pollutes as if there were no consequences.  So what do we do? Both ecological economics and Modern Monetary Theory have been around for a while.  Degrowth theory is more recent, but it's being taken more seriously. What I haven't seen up till now is a fusion of these: a set of policy ideas worked out in which we acknowledge how money actually works, and look at how a national -or global - economy could be structured to lead us forward into a world where people and planet flourish together. I don't think this is the final destination, but it's definitely a step on the way. Our guest this week is someone particularly well positioned to answer these questions.  Colleen Schneider is a Doctoral student in Social-Ecological Economics & Policy in Vienna. Her key research areas: Ecological Economics, Environmental Justice, Monetary and Financial Systems in a Post-Growth Economy, Climate Policy.  She says, "I take a sociological and anthropological approach to understanding money as fundamentally a social relation. Money, and the monetary system (as with our economic system) are things we've created, and can create otherwise. I draw on historical examples to help understand how the institutional structure of the monetary system and our ideas about money came to be what they are, and to challenge those. [I seek to] de-naturalize money and point to ways to structure the monetary system as democratized, and (at least somewhat) localized -to realize money as a public good. I focus more specifically on how monetary and fiscal policy can be directed toward meeting human needs within environmental limits, while maintaining macroeconomic stability." So this is the focus of today's conversation.  This is a field about which I am passionate - I absolutely believe that if everyone understood how money actually works in our current world, a lot of the power inequities that we currently experience would end.  We have endeavoured to minimise the use of jargon, though we did talk about monetary and fiscal policy and I wanted to make it clear that Monetary Policy is about keeping prices stable - about using interest rates to influence inflation, that kind of thing . Fiscal policy is about the spending decisions - do we have austerity or don't we, do we fund social goods or don't we, do we decide to pour money into the military, or don't we… and the nature of taxation - what rates do we levy, what are the bands and what loopholes do we leave wide open so our friends can escape paying taxes altogether - while everyone continues to pretend that government spending is limited by the tax take. Which is nonsense. Taxation is about levelling the playing field. It's not about paying for the NHS. So there we go. Colleen spends her entire life working in this field, producing fascinating papers and a chapter in a forthcoming book that completely blew me away. So she speaks to these things far more eloquently and intelligently than I can.  Enjoy! Colleen on LinkedIn Colleen's papers: How to Pay for Saving the World - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800923002318 Democratizing the Monetary Provisioning System - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15487733.2024.2344305 On universal public services to end the cost of living crisis - https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/economic-growth/cost-of-living-crisis/2023/01/state-end-cost-of-living-crisis-climate-change Papers by others: The political response to Inflation: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/mexico/governments-survived-inflation Workshops: Public Money for Public Good: Why MMT Matters | ViennaSeptember 27th and 28th Gleis 21, Bloch-Bauer-Promenade 22, 1100 Wien, Austria https://events.humanitix.com/public-money-mmt-vienna   Public Money for Public Good: Why MMT Matters | Sheffield (Colleen is not a part of this one, but says that wonderful people are running it!) September 20th and 21st  https://events.humanitix.com/public-money-mmt-sheffield Regenerative Economy Lab - Money and Finance Workshop Vienna, October 23rd and 24th https://www.regenecon.eu/ Online masters program on which Colleen teaches - grounded jointly in ecological economics and modern monetary theory: https://www.torrens.edu.au/studying-with-us/employability/industry-led-learning/co-delivery-partners/modern-money-lab Documentary 'Finding the Money'. https://findingmoneyfilm.com/ MMT group based in the UK : https://modernmoneylab.org.uk/ What we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered by our Accidental Gods Programme it's  'Dreaming Your Death Awake' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 2nd November - details are here.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

    1h 15m
  5. The Crisis and the Call: Journeys through Species-Wide Soul Initiation with Sara McFarland

    03/09/2025

    The Crisis and the Call: Journeys through Species-Wide Soul Initiation with Sara McFarland

    As the old system is splitting apart, a few brave souls are already working to hospice this old system, acting as Death Doulas to the Great Dying—as well as helping people to awaken the seeds of a new world within.  One of these is our guest this week. Sara McFarland is a Soul Initiation and Wild Mind Mentor and Guide, Artist of Consciousness and a Death Doula for the Great Dying. Their website says, 'I believe Earth is always moving towards transformation and renewal—to our eyes, it may look like rupture or being stuck, a dead end or a tragedy. And, like Earth, we are always Whole, regardless of the part we are currently stuck in. Resiliency is part of (our) nature. I do not offer the solution to your "problem" - what are often labeled problems, I understand as symptoms of disconnection from the Web of Life and the Trauma of Civilization. Both blessing and curse, they are the place where our gold is buried and shaped. I use all of the tools-physical, energetic and spiritual- I have learned and received, to support you towards wholeness and the building of inner resources in order to reduce your stress level, to learn to love yourself and to stand in your power. ' I came to know Sara earlier this year when I was invited onto the Starter Culture podcast.  We talked for an hour and it felt like about 3 minutes and that we could have talked all day and not run out of avenues to explore, rabbit holes to excavate. Our conversation today took entirely different routes but was felt just as generative to me. Sara lives right at the emergent edge of the transformation of our world, helping to midwife the Soul Initiations of people who are called to ask them for help, and stepping into the Mystery at all its levels to act as a guide, mentor, healer in a world in transition.  Sara's website https://www.saramcfarland.com/ What we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered by our Accidental Gods Programme it's  'Dreaming Your Death Awake' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 2nd November - details are here.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

    1h 11m
  6. 06/08/2025

    From Darkness to Radiance: Lights On Learning with Julia Black

    In the midst of the Great Transformation, one of the most exciting changes taking place is in our capacity to find what makes our hearts sing - to find our flow, to find what it is that we can do best, that we can do with all our hearts and souls—that leaves us radiant; that lets us lead with our Heart Minds, letting our Head Minds relax into service to life. Getting here, though, is not a trivial pursuit.  And finding ways for parents to lead their children into this place of discovery and switched-on joy is a critical step of our evolution as a species.  So when I read the book 'Lights on Learning: a parent's blueprint for happy, fulfilled and curious kids',  by Julia Black, founder of the Lights on Learning programme, I was genuinely delighted. Julia Black of Lights on Learning is a mother of two young adults, a BAFTA and Grierson nominated documentary director, social entrepreneur, educationalist, and Master Neurocoach. She hosts an online global community for parents who want to bring the latest thinking from neuroscience, positive psychology and passion-led learning into their homes. Her vision is of a world where all children love learning, and she sees parents as the key to that future. Julia says, 'I’m a social entrepreneur to my core, driven by a deep passion to give children the freedom to learn through their strengths. When we find that thing we were born to explore, we enter the realm of infinite possibilities. This is where I love to play with potential - beyond the edges of our comfort zone.'  This is such an inspiring book. It's full of examples of young people and their parents who have found the ways to switch on their flow, their love of life, their gratitude, compassion and joyful curiosity. It's clearly laid out, expresses the science of neuroplasticity and flow clearly and easily and opens doors by which all of us can step into what Julia calls 'Radiance' the fullest expression of our being - and where we can see that this is one step on a spectrum and sometimes we need to step into Darkness to see where our blocks lie and to find the courage and resilience to keep pushing through the hard stuff, to find where our edges are and to step beyond them. Lights On Learning has the core values that 'Courage Counts', 'Authenticity Rules' and 'Growth Spirals' - which feel like essential values for our time. Lights on Learning website https://www.lightsonuniverse.com/Lights on Learning book https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/lights-on-learning-a-parent-s-blueprint-for-happy-fulfilled-curious-kids-julia-black/7786461?ean=9781781338933 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lightsonmum/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thelightsonmumInstagram https://www.instagram.com/lightsonfamilies/ MentionsRon Berger 'An Ethic of Excellence'Dr Shannon Irvine https://drshannonirvine.com/ What we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering offered by our Accidental Gods Programme it's  'Dreaming Your Death Awake' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 2nd November - details are here.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

    1h 20m
  7. People's Charter for People Power - with Katy Rubin and Oli Whittington of Our House

    16/07/2025

    People's Charter for People Power - with Katy Rubin and Oli Whittington of Our House

    We know that our 'democracy' is, in fact, a kleptocracy that is not fit for purpose IF that purpose is the continuation of complex life on earth. The sociopaths who have stolen control show no signs of shifting to something that works, so it's way past time that ordinary people across all walks of life embraced the tools of participatory democracy and wrought the new system that we need - a new House of the People which would, finally, accrue power to those with wisdom and enact governance of, for and by the people and the planet.  To do this, we need people who are intimately aquainted with these tools, who live them, breathe them, find joy and creativity in them and know how to share them in ways ordinary people understand.  Our House is a collective that exists to do exactly this and in today's episode, we're talking to Katy Rubin and Oli Whittington, two of its core team, to find out what it does and how and why - and, crucially, where it could take us if we all jump on board.  Katy Rubin is a Legislative Theatre practitioner and strategist based in the UK. She is founder of The People Act hub for creative civic practice. She works in partnership with local and national governments, advocacy organizations, and community groups to co-create equitable and innovative public policy through participatory processes that are joyful, creative, and inclusive. Katy is also a member of the Our House UK collective, a Senior Fellow with People Powered: Global Hub for Participatory Democracy, and a Senior Atlantic Fellow at London School of Economics, as well as former executive director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. Her Legislative Theatre work with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was awarded the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy’s 2022 award for Best Practice in Citizen Participation. Oli Whittington is the initiator and co-lead of Our House, drawing on his background in participatory design and democracy. Oli’s work has focused on unpacking and addressing the concentration of power, including leading democratic innovation at Nesta, Shift Design’s participation practice, and as a participatory designer in Arup’s urban innovation studio. Together, they are working around all four nations of the UK to help bring the tools of participatory democracy to communities of place, purpose and passion.  They are helping to facilitate local participatory processes with a view to creating National Charters for each Nation and then bringing people together to decide whether we want a united Charter for the whole of the UK or remain separate.   To me, creating a governance system that is fit for purpose is absolutely essential to our moving forward through the pinch point of the Great Transition.  If we can't find coherent, constructive, compassionate, courageous ways to work together, we're sunk—and while there might be courageous, compassionate people within the current system, the overall system is not any of these.  So I dearly hope that by the end of this, you'll want to become involved. And if you're listening to this podcast as it goes out on the 16th of July 2025, you should know that there's an online event on the 18th which in an open invitation to anyone, anywhere who wants to start building an open democracy.  Please do sign up, there's a link in the show notes.  Our House website https://ourhouseuk.org/Our House Event on 18th July 2025 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/power-to-the-people-shaping-a-peoples-charter-tickets-1415315900959 Movement Mapping https://movementecology.org.uk/2025/04/27/mapping-participatory-democracy-movement.htmlEast Marsh United https://eastmarshunited.org/Legislative Theatre Resource Hub https://www.thepeopleact.org/Charter 88 and the Constitutional Reform Movement https://academic.oup.com/pa/article-abstract/62/4/537/1538934? What we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering 'Dreaming Your Death Awake' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 2nd November - details are here.If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

    1h 18m
  8. This is how we build the future: Teaching Regenerative Economics at all levels with Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann

    04/06/2025

    This is how we build the future: Teaching Regenerative Economics at all levels with Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann

    How do we let go of the sense of scarcity, separation and powerlessness that defines the ways we live, care and do business together? How can we best equip our young people for the world that is coming - which is so, so different from the future we grew up believing was possible? This week's guest, Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann is an educator, regenerative - and I would say renegade - economist who is Project Lead at the Regenerative Economics for Secondary Schools and Lead Author of the online textbook of the same name. Jennifer has taught economics for nearly thirty years, but as you'll hear, the Global Financial Crash led her to rethink the rules and structures of the system and now she's one of the world's leading thinkers on Regenerative Economics - how we can refocus away from business, markets and the structures of neoliberalism towards ways of being that are grounded in reciprocity, respect and responsibility, in the realities of being human in the twenty-first century.  In 2023, Jennifer stopped working as a teacher and is now focused full time on shifting the paradigm in the education system and beyond, moving us away from the toxic mindset of scarcity, competition and the rise of oligopolies, towards an understanding of our place as integral nodes in the web of life. Her new two year curriculum is one of the most ambitious I've ever seen. It builds a solid, damning critique of the old paradigm and offers credible, structured routes through to a new one that would allow us all to flourish within a thriving ecosystem, to have not just an economy, but a way of being that is predicated in reciprocity, care, sharing and the kinds of lives we yearn to lead, but don't yet know how. Truly, this is evolutionary and if we can spread these ideas far enough, wide enough and root them deep enough in all that we are and do, I genuinely believe this is at least part of the key to the continuation of complex life on earth. Because, yes, we are that close to extinction. And yes, there is still time to veer from the cliff's edge. So if you do nothing else this week, please share this conversation and the links within it to anyone and everyone you know who cares about shifting the paradigm - or even is involved in the education system at any level.  Enjoy. Jennifer on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-brandsberg-engelmann/Regen Economics on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/regenerative-economics-for-secondary-schools/Regenerative Economics for Secondary Schools - Project website (including online textbook with a creative commons license). 5/7 topics have been published + a Topic on systems thinking. https://www.regenerativeeconomics.earth/homeReimagining Economics: Five Transformative Shifts for Secondary Schools (Version for England) - A discussion paper to help curriculum authorities consider key changes to economics curricula. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R8e3wRmHYzqPl0Mfvv34oHv610F2RH8xveQ79xoZzYs/ Regen Economics online Textbook https://www.regenerativeeconomics.earth/regenerative-economics-textbook/about-the-bookRegen Economics Open Letter on D.E.A.L https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/open-letter-for-a-course-in-regenerative-economicsDoughnut Economics book https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Kate-Raworth/Doughnut-Economics--Seven-Ways-to-Think-Like-a-21st-Century-Economist/21739630 Teach the Future - Curriculum for a Changing Climate (Track Changes) Project Where the Regenerative Economics for Secondary Schools got its start https://www.teachthefuture.uk/tracked-changes-project How captured economics stole our climate — and how we can reclaim it (Part 4/4) Katy Shields' article in Medium with a brilliant causal loop diagram showing the reinforcing feedback loops that prevent change in the economics discipline https://medium.com/@katyrshields/how-captured-economics-stole-our-climate-and-how-we-can-reclaim-it-part-4-4-6de66f5255af Katy is also the co-producer of the Tipping Point podcast, a true-crime style podcast about the Limits to Growth report and how it was undermined by economists https://tippingpoint-podcast.com/ David Bollier, the expert support for Topic 2: Commons, recently released the second edition of his book Think Like a Commoner https://thinklikeacommoner.com/ What we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life. If you'd like to join our next Gathering 'Becoming a Good Ancestor' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 6th July - details are here.If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here. If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

    1h 21m

About

Another World is still Possible. The old system was never fit for purpose and now it has gone- and it's never coming back. We have the power of gods to destroy our home. But we also have the chance to become something we cannot yet imagine, and by doing so, lay the foundations for a future we would be proud to leave to the generations yet unborn. What happens if we commit to a world based on generative values: compassion, courage, integrity? What happens if we let go of the race for meaningless money and commit instead to the things that matter: clean air, clean water, clean soil - and clean, clear, courageous connections between all parts of ourselves (so we have to do the inner work of healing individually and collectively), between ourselves and each other (so we have to do the outer work of relearning how to build generative communities) and between ourselves and the Web of Life (so we have to reclaim our birthright as conscious nodes in the web of life)? We can do this - and every week on Accidental Gods we speak with the people who are living this world into being. We have all the answers, we just (so far) lack the visions and collective will to weave them into a future that works. We can make this happen. We will. Join us. Accidental Gods is a podcast and membership program devoted to exploring the ways we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations yet to come. If we're going to emerge into a just, equitable - and above all regenerative - future, we need to get to know the people who are already living, working, thinking and believing at the leading edge of inter-becoming transformation. Accidental Gods exists to bring these voices to the world so that we can work together to lay the foundations of a world we'd be proud to leave to the generations that come after us. We have the choice now - we can choose to transform…or we can face the chaos of a failing system. Our Choice. Our Chance. Our Future. Find the membership and the podcast pages here: https://accidentalgods.life Find Manda's Thrutopian novel, Any Human Power here: https://mandascott.co.uk Find Manda on BlueSky @mandascott.bsky.social On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandascottauthor/ On FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/MandaScottAuthor

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