Welcome! Please introduce yourself

Hi Everyone its great to connect with you virtually here in Loomio and looking forward to seeing you in the flesh next month. Here is my bio for your interest:

In my early work as a performance and video artist I explored the ways that my abstract trance videos might induce relaxation. This led to postgraduate research into the impacts of environment on health, and on to a community arts practice. After working in therapeutic communities in New Zealand for five years I moved to Australia to develop and implement health education programs with Save the Children, Papua New Guinea. After finishing this contract I received an Australian government scholarship to complete an interdisciplinary PhD in Contemplative Education. My PhD, which examines pre-conceptual experience in contemplative education, is the first of its kind in Australia, and it led to contract research and teaching in contemplative education, transformative learning, contemplative ethics, law, mathematics and art, and mindful leadership. I have been an invited speaker at a number of universities in Australia and the USA and in 2015 I completed a fellowship at the Mind and Life Institute, Massachusetts where I researched ‘contemplative methodology’. In 2016, I was a research fellow on the Heart of Health project, examining the effectiveness of meditation for nurses in a number of the large hospitals in Sydney, Australia, and I currently research systemic change in large organizations at UNSW, Sydney. Most recently, after reflecting on the economic rationalism driving tertiary education in Australia I have become aware of the need for systemic change and have been working with the Co-operate Sydney and the New Economy Network Australia (NENA) groups in Australia. I am currently facilitating the Subjective Experience in the New Economy working group for the upcoming NENA conference in September 2017: https://neweconomy.org.au/about/working-groups/subj-experience/ and curating a video of interviews with individuals working at the nexus of subjective experience and the New Economy.

Hello fellow contemplative commoners!

The software didn't let me paste my bio sketch, so I post it as attached file. Hope you can open it.

Hello, everyone – it’s great to connect with you! 

I am happy to be part of this networks since I am working on the issue of inner transition in sustainability science, practice and teaching (cf. Wamsler et al 2017). I am particularly interested in researching the role of mindfulnesss for sustainability, with focus on mindful climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

I am Associate Professor in Sustainability Science at the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) in Sweden, former Co-director of the Lund University Centre for Societal Resilience, Research Fellow at the Centre of Natural Disaster Science (CNDS), and Honorary Research Fellow of the Global Urbanism Research Group at the Global Development Institute (GDI) of the University of Manchester.

At LUCSUS, I am responsible for the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program, which includes both research and teaching activities on contemplative practices and sustainability. In this context, during 2015-2016 I have integrated an experimental learning lab on mindfulness in sustainability science, practice and education into two Master’s level courses at Lund University. The lab was developed and conducted in cooperation with the Student Health Centre and five students. In addition, I have recently designed a new Master’s level course titled ‘Inner Transition and Sustainability’.

Regarding my academic and professional background: I am trained as an Architect, Urban Planner, and International Humanitarian Aid worker, I hold a PhD on Urban Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, and a postdoctoral lecture qualification (Habilitation) in Sustainability Science. I have been working at different academic institutions (in Sweden, Germany and the UK), and as an International Consultant for various organizations (e.g. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the German, Austrian and Belgium Red Cross, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swedish Organization for Individual Relief (SOIR/IM) and various local NGOs).

Related news, links and references:
• Personal webpage: http://www.lucsus.lu.se/christine-wamsler
• Contemplative Sustainable Futures Programme: http://www.lucsus.lu.se/research/urban-governance/contemplative-sustainable-futures
• Recent academic publication: Wamsler C., Brossmann J., Hendersson H., Kristjansdottir R., McDonald C., Scarampi P. (2017) Mindfulness in sustainability science, practice and teaching. Sustainability Science. Open access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-017-0428-2
• Forthcoming publication: Wamsler C., Brink, E. (2017) Mind the gap: The role of mindfulness in adapting to increasing risk and climate change (forthcoming).
• Recent popular science article titled "What is the link between sustainability and mindfulness?", published in Lund University Research Magazine: http://www.researchmagazine.lu.se/2017/05/09/what-is-the-link-between-sustainability-and-mindfulness/
• Recent article in The Conversation titled "How mindfulness can help the shift towards a more sustainable society": https://theconversation.com/how-mindfulness-can-help-the-shift-towards-a-more-sustainable-society-79127
• First mindfulness-sustainability framework: First framework for analysing the mindfulness-sustainability nexus. See Wamsler et al. 2017.
• Learning lab: During 2015-2016 an experimental learning lab on mindfulness in sustainability science, practice and education was integrated into two Master’s level courses. The lab was developed and conducted in cooperation with the Student Health Centre and five LUMES students. See related information in Wamsler et al. 2017.

Hi Christine @christinewamsler It is great to read about your work and I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the workshop to hear more! Some years back I was involved in a contemplative environmental art practice and I integrated a little of that into my PhD on the contemplative state of consciousness in education. Here is a little about my work in contemplative education: www.thecontemplativeacademy.com The fieldwork I did in this area showed how significant contemplative creative experience in nature was for positively changing people's relationship to the natural world. My work has shifted somewhat into contemplative education and the idea of the contemplative state of consciousness as a fundamental stage of learning - I'm presenting on findings from that early research at the AELA conference in November here in Australia: https://www.earthlaws.org.au/ I've also been thinking about the connections between subjective contemplative experience and the new economy/the commons and am currently facilitating the working group - the subjective experience in the new economy working group for the NENA conference coming up in September: https://neweconomy.org.au/about/working-groups/subj-experience/ I hope to come to another contemplative commons workshop and looking forward to connecting then. All the very best with the wonderful work you are doing. Kind Regards, Patricia

I was delighted to meet everyone in Potsdam and look forward to contributing to the formation of our collaborative platform, notably our Association.

I am a lecturer at the School of Law at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland, focusing on the 'attention economy' and the commons. My background includes stints as a researcher in the parliaments in both Belfast and Dublin, and activism in fields ranging from resistance to the arms trade in Derry, ethical investment and the circular economy. I am also politically active with one of the larger political parties on the island of Ireland.

I am particularly keen to support or participate in research bids touching on our shared interests in:

• The contemplative commons ('mindful commons')
• The Attention Economy and critical approaches to contemplative practices
• Engagement with the commoning communities, practices and critique

I have just published A Political Economy of Attention, Mindfulness and Consumerism: Reclaiming the Mindful Commons ( Routledge 2017).

Hello everyone,

I'm happy to connect with you and to be part of this network. Unfortunately, I couldn't come to meet you in Potsdam, but I'm looking forward to the next opportunity!

Briefly about me:
I'm a PhD student at Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Organizational Behavior. I'm currently working on developing my dissertation topic and methodology, and I intend to do research on the topic of workplace spirituality and well-being. In connection to this, my interests include: meaningful work, mindfulness, individual, organizational and societal well-being, spiritual leadership, compassion and transcendental motivation. At the moment I'm in a early stage of my research, still struggling to get published :) so I'm open for collaboration, if anyone is interested.

As a side note - I'm yogi and vegan, hence my interest to incorporate the personal lifestyle into the work life, instead of separating the two. I believe that what we do in our private life and at work matters, and we cannot justify the work behaviors with the profit imperative any longer, nor separate it from who we are in our private life.
I must say that initially I intended for my research to be more of a critical management approach, but I was not encouraged to do so, therefore I still consider how to 'carefully' introduce this topic within the discourse of management and organizations in my community of researchers.

Hi Natasha @natashagjorevska I read your introduction with interest and think your work sounds fascinating. I work in the area of contemplative inquiry and education so I'm not sure if what I am about to suggest will be helpful for you but I was recently at the New Economy Network Australia conference https://neweconomy.org.au/ where I met Peter Westoby whose work may be of interest: http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/1365
He also introduced me to a group that he works with called the Proteus Initiative: http://www.proteusinitiative.org/current-and-coming-programmes-workshops-and-courses
While someone else introduced me Inner Transition from the Transition Movement: https://transitionnetwork.org/do-transition/inner-transition/ If you'd like to send me your email address to: [email protected] I can also introduce you to Robin Krabbe who is a member of the working group I facilitate: https://neweconomy.org.au/about/working-groups/ and doing some great work in Tasmania that may be of interest to you, plus her PhD will I think be of interest to you. By the way you would be most welcome to join our working group: Subjective Experience in the New Economy. Kindest Regards, Patricia

Hello Patricia, thank you for your kind comment. I have sent you an email. :) Best wishes, Natasha

Hello everyone, I am a "Johnny Come Lately" to this wonderful group. I thank Zack and Patricia for inviting me. Here's a bit more about me:

Hi Michael @michaelkimball thanks for your introduction - work work sounds fantastic and I look forward to hearing more about it! Kind Regards, Patricia