Coaching Community Collaboration
How might I, as a coach and facilitator, contribute more helpfully to the climate and societal challenges the world is facing today. And what might that require of me and my coaching practice? These are the two questions that have occupying much of my time this year and so I’ve decided to organise a coaching community collaboration, made up of unlikely bedfellows – a retreat in nature and an on-line book club.
The retreat will take place in Hazel Hill woodland retreat centre from 24th to 26th September 2024, a place I know and love well, where the nature teaches and the humans learn and heal. Here we will explore together as a community our personal and professional practices as they relate to the challenges we face.
The on-line book club will happen every two weeks on Thursday evenings starting 25th July and running for eight sessions, using as its source material the wise instructional structure of Ecological and Climate-Conscious Coaching and the great supporting work of the Climate Coaching Alliance. We will use the book’s structured approach, with some work in between sessions to explore our role as coaches.
Both the retreat and the book club are open to any coach or facilitator who is looking to looking to develop their practice in service of the planet.
I’m building this work on three foundational beliefs I hold, that I offer here for you to hang out with:
The world is in big trouble. Whether you are optimistic or pessimistic about the future, it is getting increasingly hard to deny that we are in challenging times. I am being deliberately vague with the word ‘big’ - make if it what you will.
The coaching profession is being called, summoned if you like, to help with the unfolding crises we face. I have written about why this might be the case and am seeing it more and more.
Our coaching practices are probably in need of evolution and development to meet the changing needs of those we serve. I’ve written about this too having been inspired by the writing of Hetti Einzig in The Future of Coaching.
You may not choose to share these beliefs, but I thought it helpful to explain where I’m coming from.
The source material I am planning to use in this collaboration is as follows (another set of three):
Joanna Macy’s The Work That Reconnects. I am actively learning this inspiring and practical material at the moment and finding it really resonates with how I imagine my practice developing. Her work on the Great Turning (the shift from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization) provides much hope.
Jem Bendell’s Deep Adaptation movement. I’ve been a. relatively passive participant in the Deep Adaptation forum for several years now, but the power of the source material continues to challenge my thinking and feeling. In particular I like working with the 4Rs (resilience, reconciliation, relinquishment, restoration) and some of the practical recommendations for preparing for the worst.
As mentioned above, Ecological and Climate-Conscious Coaching by the Climate Coaching Alliance is a text, community and a process all rolled into one. This will be the principal book we work through at the book club.
If you are interested in being part of the Coaching Community Collaboration there are probably some questions you have that I’ll attempt to answer here:
The collaboration is based around both the retreat and the book club. However, you are welcome to take part in one or the other, rather than both, if that works for you.
The retreat will cost £380 (no VAT as it can be accounted as training). This includes two nights accommodation, all meals, facilitated content and some nature conservation training.
If you want to attend the retreat but cannot afford the cost please offer what you can. Similarly if you are materially blessed please feel free to offer more, knowing that anything over £380 will either help contribute to someone else’s attendance or beconsidered a donation to Hazel Hill Trust.
The book club will be free. We will follow the Climate Coaching Alliance Book Circles format, which includes a helpful guide for each session.
The book club will run every two weeks 7.30 - 9.00 pm (UK time) from 25th July. The eagle-eyed among you will notice this means four sessions before the retreat and four after. You don’t have to attend every session, but we won’t be offering recordings.
The retreat centre is in rural Wiltshire, near Salisbury. It is off-grid and deliberately ‘back to basics’. Having said that, all rooms are clean with comfortable beds and the communal spaces are welcoming.
The book club will run on Zoom.
Please do contact me by email, nick@stillwaters.world, if you would like to book a place on the retreat, or book club or both. And don’t be afraid to get in touch if you have questions, concerns, challenges or ideas.