A New Story – Radical Adaptation
Unleashing the human potential for ecological transformation

This 5-day residential is an opportunity to experience our signature approach to learning, systems change and climate action. Each year it draws together a wide spectrum of people to jointly re-imagine our communities, our businesses and ourselves in the light of the planetary crisis, and unlock clear pathways for positive change.

The course is for anyone painfully aware of the unfolding metacrisis and seeking ways to act, transform and adapt. It is for community leaders on the frontline of climate change, seeking more immediate strategies and coping mechanism that can sustain their activism. And it is for people working in charities and businesses, wanting to explore how their organisation should respond and adapt to the complex challenges of the warming era.

The BMC approach brings together neuroscience, a thorough understanding of ecology and system change, and creative practice to equip you with the tools that unleash the hugely resourceful human in us all. Carefully designed to generate a highly collaborative learning space, we will unpick the stories that we tell ourselves about climate breakdown, re-imagine what we thought we knew, and create new connections together. We will apply both creative and cognitive experiences to improve our ability to learn, change, and adapt. And a final set of sessions will help you apply these new stories and skills in your home, community, and workplace.

What will I do and learn?

• Take an unflinching look at the latest science of ecological change. 
• Explore the long natural and cultural history of the earth and how things have come to be, whilst unpicking the stories that we tell ourselves about climate breakdown.
• Understand both the cultural and neurological processes that underlie our individual and collective response to the enormity of the ecological crisis and challenge ahead.
• Immersion in creative practice that will help you to overcome feelings of paralysis, and approach problems in new ways. 
• Acquiring methodologies that you can apply in your life to manage anxiety, develop mental clarity, improvise and adapt in order to navigate an uncertain world.
• Explore what the new era means for you, and brainstorm practical strategies for meaningful action in every sphere of your life.
• Co-create knowledge by drawing together ideas and expertise from renowned scientists, creatives, and the other participants.
• Cook and eat together, spend time on the land and in nature, swim in streams, sleep under the stars.

This course forms a great CPD opportunity for teams and individuals, contact us to find out about the discounts we can offer for multiple places and extended packages.

Who will I learn from?

Dr Hanna Poikonen

Hanna is a researcher in neuroscience of movement, dance and music, and she applies her knowledge in higher education at ETH Zurich and in rehabilitation at Örebro University Hospital. Based on her academic work and education in dance and somatic methods, she has created the WiseMotion method on neuroscience and creative movement which she has taught in North America, Europe, Asia, and on different online platforms.

Heather Ackroyd

Heather is internationally acclaimed for creating works that intersect art, activism, architecture, biology, ecology and history. In 2019, she co-founded Culture Declares Emergency with Dan Harvey in response to the climate and ecological emergency. They have been recipients of prestigious public art awards including a commission for the inauguration of the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge 2016.

Zena Edwards

Zena is a professional writer/poet performer, radical educator and creative project developer. She studied storytelling and performance at The London International School for Performing Arts and is founder of Verse in Dialog – an arts and engagement CIC that champions arts that serve. She regularly curates independent events advocating for climate and environmental justice, equity and decolonisation. Zena is a mentor in professional artist's development and creative campaigning and is a leading advocate for diversity for Culture Declares Emergency Movement. You can find more of Zena’s work on www.thefuryproject.com and www.createtotransformcoaching.com

Mark Lynas

Mark Lynas is the author of several books on the environment, including High Tide, The God Species, Seeds of Science, and Six Degrees which won the prestigious Royal Society science books prize. He also received the Breakthrough Paradigm Award in 2012. He advises former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed on climate, and works with the 48-member Climate Vulnerable Forum in this capacity. Mark is currently a visiting fellow with the Cornell Alliance for Science at Cornell University, which engages in pro-science advocacy and research around the world on issues ranging from GMOs to vaccines to climate.

Ben Rawlence

Ben is co-founder and director of the Black Mountains College. He is also an award-winning writer, activist, former speech writer to Sir Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy. His latest book The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth, describes some of the large earth systems changes underway and what this might mean in human time-scales. It has some significant lessons for how we imagine and prepare for the future.

Dr Natalia Eernstman

Natalia is BMC’s Creative Practice Lead, where she creates and manages our residential short courses, and will be Lecturing on our new Degree programme. She splits her time between BMC and Arts University Plymouth, where she leads the MA Creative Education. She is an artist, researcher and educator specialising in creating spaces where communities can learn their way into an uncertain climate changed future through artful and performative means.

Key Information

Date - Wednesday 12 July - Sunday 16 July 2023

Location - meet at Talgarth Car Park, LD3 0PQ. Our campus is a car free site, and we encourage participants to meet at Talgarth carpark to walk up to the campus ready to start the course. 

You ticket will pay for travel from and to Abergavenny train station, a place in one of our shared bell tents, all meals and course content.

Age limit - You must be 18 years old or above to take part in this course for safety reasons. If you are under 18 then have a look at our Ecological Futures Camp.

How much does it cost?

We would like our short courses to be as accessible as possible cost-wise, whilst ensuring we are still able to cover material and teaching costs. We, therefore, ask you to pay what you can towards this event based on our tiered system. We have tickets available at £650 (reduced rate), £850 (actual cost), and £1,200 (pay it forward)

Consider contributing more on the scale if you:

• have the ability to comfortably meet all of your basic needs
• have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money
• travel recreationally
• own the home you live in
• have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.)

Consider contributing less on the scale if you:

• have difficulty covering basic expenses
• are supporting children or have other dependents
• are an elder with limited financial support
• have unstable housing and/or limited access to reliable transportation

If you select an amount at the higher end of the scale, you will make possible future offerings and support our volunteers who are generously contributing time. Thank you!

Tickets are non-refundable. Depending on the uptake of the course we hold the right to cancel it, in which case you will be refunded.

Please note that spaces on this course are limited. We operate on a first-come, first-serve basis.

We have 1-3 fully-funded spot on this course available to a successful bursary applicant. If you are unable to pay for the course and would like to be considered for a free place, then please complete this form. You will be contacted by a member of our team 2-4 weeks prior to the course starting.

Accessibility

This course is rated as 3 (least accessible) on our scale of accessibility. Read more about our accessibility policy here.

Please see our booking terms & conditions upon checkout for more information.

We will follow the most recent COVID measures and protocols in order to keep everyone safe and healthy for the duration of the course.