Life has been extremely busy over the past month or so which made me all the more thankful for a few hours to slow down and speak from my heart with several friends about inner and outer climate change.

The conversation was held at the Ohio State University Urban Arts Space in the newly renovated LEED certified Lazurus building. I was honored to have a chance to work with Rick Livingston on hosting this event and we couldn’t think of a better space for this conversation to occur.

Who was called?

A wide net was cast for the invitation but a take-away for me in this conversation is that there is a real need for some focused invitation in the future. In attendance at the conversation were many wonderful people who had already started to explore what their inner climate change was happening in response to what they see as the global climate change crisis.

My dream for this conversations potential however would be to bring people in who do not currently feel that immediacy or crisis, or perhaps even a connection to global climate change. I believe it is important to engage with those individuals and find that place of commonality between the two sides of this issue. As one participant last night spoke, “This issue is inclusive because of its ramifications. So even if you deny the reason for climate change happening there is still room for you to participate in guiding action.”

Harvest

Even without the realization of my dream of full inclusion on this conversation there was still an amazing synergy that took place. I can’t thank the participants in this conversation enough, they were all lovely. Below I would like to share the visual harvest from the evening with you.

What’s happening to the inner climate?

If you’re like us, you’ve been keeping one eye on COP15, the UN conference on global climate change, taking place in Copenhagen Dec 7 – 18, and wondering what its outcome might mean for the planet. Instead of waiting to hear the news, why not take action to help define the future?

In Copenhagen, Toke Moeller, Monica Nissen and other practitioners of the Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter will be holding a space alongside the official conference proceedings. They have also issued an open call to form “Inner Climate Learning Villages” across the world, in order to further the ripple of awareness spreading out from COP15. What is a Learning Village? “A gathering, large or small, where people come together to engage in meaningful conversation and joyful connection around how our “inner climate” is affecting what we see happening in the outer world.”

In short, whatever else happens in Copenhagen, there is an opportunity to come together in new and supportive ways to explore possibilities for a common future. Can you add your voice and wisdom to this crucial conversation? On Dec 10/17 from 5 to 7pm we’ll be gathering at the Urban Arts Space around these questions:

• What relation do you see between the inner climate and outer climate change?
• What change in the inner climate would help us to imagine a sustainable future?
• What story about sustainability are we learning to tell?

The Urban Arts Space is located in the Lazarus Building in downtown Columbus, 50 W. Town Street.

We hope that you will be able to join us for this conversation. Come beforehand for refreshments and to explore the current exhibits at the UAS; stay afterwards for the Marotta Hour, an evening of music hosted by Larry Marotta.

Please RSVP to livingston(dot)28(at)gmail(dot)com by Tuesday 12/15 so that we can arrange our space appropriately.

Looking forward to talking with you.

Rick Livingston & Andrew Miller

I believe it is important to always make yourself open and available to be connected to new people and ideas through your current networks. This week I was given the opportunity to connect with a new friend who is working with the Sirolli Institute. Needless to say I wanted to understand a bit more about this organization and I found this video.

Dr. Ernesto Sirolli presents the experiences that underpin his work and provide direction for those of you looking to make a change in the world. The video is about 30 minutes and well worth the investment.