Forty years after a commitment made at Ecovillage Findhorn led to the creation of one of Scotland’s best-known conservation charities, Trees for Life founder Alan Watson Featherstone will return to the conference platform there this October with a new call to action.
Featherstone founded Trees for Life in 1986 after making a public commitment at an environmental conference at Ecovillage Findhorn to help restore Scotland’s depleted Caledonian Forest. Since then, Trees for Life has grown into a major rewilding charity, working to restore the Caledonian forest and its wildlife across the Scottish Highlands.
He will be joined at Healing Our World: From Despair to Repair by leading sustainability expert and author Mike Berners-Lee, whose influential books include How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything and There Is No Planet B. Chair of the National Emergency Briefing and a professor at Lancaster University, Berners-Lee will give the opening keynote address, while Featherstone will close the main conference programme with a new call to action.
The conference, taking place at the Park Ecovillage Findhorn in Moray from 16–20 October, will explore how people can move beyond the sense of powerlessness created by climate change, biodiversity loss and other global challenges, highlighting practical examples of ecological restoration and positive change.
Conference organiser and Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Director, Dorota Owen, said: “It can feel as though all the news is bad news, but there are plenty of reasons for hope. This conference is about moving beyond despair and shining a light on the people, projects and practical solutions that show us a different future is possible.”
Other speakers include Phoebe Tickell, Ross Jackson, Sally Bogale, Pupak Haghighi, Galen Fulford and Donnachadh McCarthy, with a programme spanning ecological restoration, education, economics, water, activism and the arts.
Participants will also be able to explore the Park Ecovillage and its environmental projects through guided tours, workshops and discussion. The main conference programme runs from 17–19 October, with arrival activities on Friday 16 October and follow-on activities on Tuesday 20 October.
In-person tickets cost £200 until 1 October and a three-day livestream with replay access is available for £30. For more information and booking go to tinyurl.com/heal-our-world; on the Web visit www.ecovillagefindhorn.uk – email bookings@ecovillage findhorn.uk
Healing Our World: From Despair to Repair is part of Ecovillage Findhorn’s Phoenix Rising Conference Series. Press contact: Dorota Owen, dorota@ecovillagefindhorn.uk