Well Being, the Heart of Sustainability

Meet Steven England, an experienced practitioner/guide in meditation and mindfulness, and one of Gaia Education’s esteemed Changemakers. In 2016, Steve completed the Training of Trainers (ToT) course at Findhorn. In the same year, he took the Gaia Education Design for Sustainability course (GEDS). Through the Design Studio, Steve collaborated with others to produce The Art of Sustainability (AoS)—a creative forum towards sustainable thinking, through experiential educational events, facilitation and consultation.

Steve has worked for decades in governmental and non-governmental organisations and is keenly aware of the challenges required to rethink for a sustainable future; he shares some of the exciting work he is effectuating to achieve this.

Engaging in conversation

“The challenge for sustainability practitioners working in mainstream society is addressing questions such as: What has sustainability got to do with me? What has sustainability got to do with my business? How do I teach sustainability etc.?

Finding ways to engage in conversations that feed into Sustainability in a human sized dimension so that people can get purchase is vital to engagement. This means speaking their language and relating sustainability to their needs.

The AoS is a Forum of three “languages”: Self (Sustainability begins with your Self), Academic (Education for Sustainable Development & Global Citizenship – ESDGC) and Corporate (Government and Non-Government). Interestingly, it is on the edges of these languages that offer the greatest diversity of thinking but also lead to the greatest confusion if not carefully handled.

The ToT helps by providing tools and methodologies to facilitate conversations. It’s also a lovely way of meeting others to share experiences and know you’re part of a growing family.”

Current pursuits

“Currently, developing events for these three languages is the main activity but the key challenge is financial. AoS is revenue based so has to be commercially viable.

For example, as well as our rolling annual programme The Wellness of Being (Self) we are preparing for our third ESDCG Workshop in 2019 (Academic) and in August this year launched our first Corporate course: Well Being, the Heart of Sustainability: An Experiential approach to Strategy, Team Building and Leadership skills for Sustainability which  we are currently promoting.”

If you would like more information on Steve’s work, or to collaborate with him he is contactable through the following methods: