Showcasing London Undergrowth: John Ridpath’s learning journey
John’s learning question:
How can we reconnect with nature in Finsbury Park? How can the Doughnut Economics model help us reassess our personal finances and habits with time and money?
My experience:
Back in November 2021 I saw an intriguing and timely post within a Slack community I’m a member of: ‘Wanted: Renegade Neighbourhood Economists’. Three organisations I have always admired (Civic Square, Huddlecraft and Doughnut Economics Action Lab) were looking for twelve people to host peer-to-peer learning journeys that applied the ideas of Doughnut Economics at a local scale.
At the time, I was halfway through a six-month learning journey called Becoming Crew, exploring the learning question: ‘How can I help people adopt the mindsets of a regenerative economy?’. At the time, going straight from learning journey to hosting another felt like a huge stretch. Thankfully, the Becoming Crew peer group (and particularly my buddies Dan and Eva) provided a supportive space for me navigate the challenges of applying and recruiting eleven other Renegade Economists for what was to become ‘London Undergrowth’.
Once the journey started I immediately learned so much from the diversity and creativity of the London Undergrowth peer group. Laura and Matteo invited us to use improv to explore the macroeconomic actors (state, market, household, etc). Andrea and Tim hosted a “distributed by design” dinner party. In our other sessions we made manifestos and clay models, used systems thinking to map local challenges, went on ‘knowledge walks’ to share stories, and used experiential theatre to model the difference between ‘rational economic man’ and ‘socially adaptive humans’.
During the journey I have learned that deep nature connection is one of the most powerful ways to achieve many of the mindset shifts expressed in Doughnut Economics. So in terms of my own enquiry, I ended up focusing on the first half of my learning question: ‘How can we reconnect with nature in Finsbury Park?’. Finsbury Park has some amazing green spaces: the park itself, Gillespie Park nature reserve, the Parkland Walk, and many smaller parks and community gardens. However, connecting more deeply with the more-than-human world can be hard for those living frantic, urban lives. I explored this theme with two experiments.
Two experiments in urban nature connection
My first experiment was to host an ‘Urban Nature Day’ for the peer group. I invited participants to walk silently through a local woodland, then find space for a solitary active meditation (a technique known in Nature Connection circles as a ‘sit spot’). Each participant reflected on their experience by writing a short sentence on a piece of paper. We then shared these reflections, and turned them into a collaborative poem.
In order to deepen my facilitation practice, I then signed up for a ‘Nature Facilitator’ course run by Change in Nature. The course took place over six days in a Devon woodland. We took part in many activities, practiced creating and delivering our own facilitated activities, and were invited to experience an overnight ‘wilderness solo’ on Dartmoor.
Armed with new facilitation frameworks and exercises, I returned to London and co-facilitated another experience in North London woodland alongside Julian Ellerby (a peer from the Becoming Crew learning circle). Billed as ‘Get Lost in the London Undergrowth’, we invited a group of Londoners to join us for systems games and nature connection activities, and reflected on what we’d experienced with charcoal art.
The chapters of Doughnut Economics that felt most relevant to my learning question:
Three things I learned:
- The ideas of Doughnut Economics are already alive in my neighbourhood. When I was looking for a venue for our meetups, I came across Space4: a ‘space for co-ops’ that hosts ‘a community of technology activists and social innovators’. They gave us access to the space, in return for giving back something ‘more valuable than money’. For Space4, that meant integrating our learning journey into their community. We’ve hosted two public Doughnut Economics workshops with Space4 so far, and will host a final session in September.
- There are models that can help me design more regenerative modes of collaboration and learning. The Change in Nature course provided an opportunity to experience and use the Eight Shields model. This nature-based model provides a more regenerative approach to building communities and designing learning experiences. It is designed to follow natural rhythms, and gives space to a range of ‘modes’. I was struck by how rest and reflection are seen to have an equal importance to ‘focus’ (a mode that can tend to dominate activism, work and education).
- Nature provides the ideal venue for transformative learning. My day job focuses on responsible tech and learning design. Typically, that work happens on Zoom (or maybe a conference room). Spending a week learning in nature made me realise how powerful a natural setting is to experience new ideas and change your world view. A shadow enquiry has emerged: ‘how can I make more of my day job happen outdoors?’
A question I’m leaving with:
What might we learn about time and money from the more-than-human world?
Get in touch with John:
@johnridpath (Twitter)
LinkedIn
ridpath.co
