Consciousness, Cosmology & Climate Change

A COROS DIALOGUE CO-SPONSORED BY THE SEATTLE WALDORF SCHOOL

Friday, November 9th 7:00pm & Saturday, November 10th 9:00am-5:00pm
Seattle Waldorf School Main Campus
2728 NE 100th Street,
Seattle, Washington

FRIDAY LECTURES:

Imagination, Morality and Climate

The current climate debate is being waged at two levels: one level is the myth of facts, characterized by the belief that scientific facts alone will solve the crisis; and the second level involves the fact of myth which describes the sacred and mysterious relationship between human destiny and the destiny of the earth as a living being. The conference will address the historical patterns that have led to this situation and suggest possible avenues of progress for the current climate debate.

Gaia’s Role in Climate Change:

An act of vengeance or a breath of fresh air? On a changing planet that is not alive, as is presumed by our scientific climate models, the future of humans and other lifeforms appears fraught with difficulties and disasters. But what of our future on a living, breathing, and conscious earth? Understanding Gaia, the theory of how the living earth has self-regulated and adapted to changes over 4 billion years, can provide deep insights into the likely fate of our planet and our species.

Dennis Klocek, Founder of the Coros Institute for the promotion of dialogue between individuals in the sciences, the arts and business with a common commitment to spiritual values arising from the contemplative life; Director of the Consciousness Studies Program at Rudolf Steiner College, CA; international lecturer; author of many books including, The Seer’s Handbook; Drawing from the Book of Nature; and Weather and Cosmos; and known as Doc Weather to those who visit his website docweather.com for weather predictions and articles on climatology.
Lee Klinger, Ph.D, scientist and tree expert with over 25 years of professional experience in the fi elds of botany, ecology, environmental chemistry, and earth system science; known for his many contributions to the science of Gaia theory, and helped to found the Gaia Society, now part of the Geological Society of London; for many years staff scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder; scholarly appointments include the University of Colorado, the University of Oxford, the University of East London, Naropa University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and currently working on methods to mitigate the severe decline of oaks and other trees.

SATURDAY WORKSHOPS (SIGN UP AT DOOR)

Finding Gaia: Fractals in Nature

Fractals, self similar patterns or behaviors that occur over several orders of magnitude, are found everywhere in nature. Fractal theory suggests a deep underlying natural order in which each part of a system can be found to be a representation of the whole system. Guided by a discussion of fractals, we will examine the local environment for clues to Gaia’s composition and character.
Dr. Lee Klinger, Ph.D. (see Bio on front)

Practical Applications of Consciousness, Cosmology & Climate Change

Beginning with simple exercises designed to familiarize participants with fundamental climatological concepts, we will analyze historic climate warming indices. Two case studies of unprecedented global warming events since 1900 will be studied using the dialogue process as a model for the research. The goals are first to illustrate how dialogue process can be used in a scientific context and second to show how cosmological events can be used as a backdrop for phenomenological research in climate studies.
Dennis Klocek (see Bio on front)

Reasoning Towards Responsibility: Climate Change & Moral Imagination

How do the assumptions which underlie our moral judgments compare to those with whom we typically disagree? In what way could this be significant? Is there such a thing as moral imagination? If so, is it something that can be taught, cultivated or practiced in a disciplined way? How does the possibility of moral imagination affect our sense of responsibility and its impact on the current issues of climate and earth stewardship?
Jeffrey Hipolito, Ph.D., faculty member at Everett Community College, currently teaching philosophy and literature; published author in literary journals, such as Journal of the History of Ideas; and a contributing author to the soon to be released, The Oxford Handbook of Coleridge, Oxford University Press.

Globalization, Climate Change and Human Inter-connectivity: What is the Intent of Human Will?

As a clear consequence of our economic activity in the world, climate change is fundamentally an economic issue. Global warming can become for each individual, a threshold to the ruling economic ideas of our time. How does the development of globalization and these ideas reflect the evolution of human consciousness? Participants will actively explore the economic zeitgeist in order to understand the inter-connectivity of the human community and the issues that need to be addressed for healthy social and economic life.
Alexander Rist, an economist, formerly engaged with the Swiss National Government Department of Environment and Transportation, also the Conference of the European Ministers of Transport (ECMT) in Paris; currently employed by King County’s Solid Waste Division; Board member of the Puget Consumer Co-op (PCC), Seattle; and Chairman of the Board of the Seattle Waldorf School. Alexander has written about economic development along the US-Mexican border with a particular emphasis on issues of environmental degradation.

Climate Change on the Local Level: Sustainability & Community Activism

How do the concerns of local cities and towns connect to a global environmental challenge? How does climate change create new opportunities for groups to work effectively to impact the ordinary business of our lives together? This workshop looks at how we may connect awareness and action in order to do three things:

  1. Create opportunities to learn about sustainable living principles and practices;
  2. Develop tools to monitor our community’s progress toward long-term sustainability;
  3. Foster dialogue among diverse constituencies and their development of local models.

Chantal Stevens, Executive Director of Sustainable Seattle. With over 20 years of experience in public policy and environmental management, she has been active in watershed planning efforts, public education and volunteer engagement. She currently serves on the board of the Community Indicators Consortium and the Puget Consumer Co-op (PCC), the largest food coop in the US.

Cost

Conference Fee:$75 – $150 sliding scale.
(Amounts above $95 can be considered a donation; receipt is available upon request. Thank you.)