EcologyShifts in Spring

EcologyShifts is a community-learning and change-making experience that focuses on personal growth, organizational and sector change toward a just and equitable environmental field.  EcologyShifts officially launched November 10th and 11th of 2022 and is now 6 months into its 18-month cycle.  This brief is contributed by Deb Bicknell, Host Circle member.

Beginnings often include the unexpected. They can be beautiful, bumpy, unpredictable, tender, exciting and possible. We are learning and shifting together as a whole community which includes a Host Circle and 18 participants from 10 different organizations. Some key programmatic elements of the experience include: 

  • Retreats (at the beginning, middle and end of the process) 

  • Online learning sessions 

  • Guest speakers from within and outside Maine

  • Organizational action and implementation 

  • Site visits and community workdays 

Throughout this initial cohort, EcologyShifts will continually shift and change. This emergent process allows for us to learn alongside one another, gather learnings and imagine anew.  

Some of the conversations we have had so far focused on:

  • Sharing equity related change-making work in the times we are in - times of great change, chaos and collapse. We discussed “life-boat equity” (a type of deeply committed equity work) which calls us all to do focused, intentional, thoughtful change-making work now.  

  • Topics related to decolonization and an exploration of key elements.  

  • Exploration of our compass of reactions related to this work -gaining awareness and working with comfort, stretch and panic within ourselves. 

  • Engaging with a whole-body experience of equity, focusing on emotions of hope, grief, panic, inspiration.   

  • Commodification of diversity, equity and inclusion work and conversations related to authenticity in the work.  

  • Values based organizational change-making and beginning explorations into applied learning, including discussion of challenges as well as sharing of collective wisdom and resource sharing. 

We look forward to learning alongside a larger extended community as we move forward with EcologyShifts.  This spring we are excited to welcome Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson to our community who will offer a workshop to the EcologyShifts cohort followed by a public talk on June 6th at Thomas College. Please join us! 

Laura Dover