BEING HUMAN Conversation
THURS 11 MAY 2023
6PM – 8PM AEST
IN PERSON ONLY
Limited seats available
The Ethics Centre
Level 1, 161 Castlereagh St
Sydney, 2000
TICKETS
Tickets are no longer on sale for this event
"How do we think our way through the messes we’re in, when the way we think is part of the mess?" – Nora Bateson
We find ourselves at a profound moment in history. Our geopolitical environment is shifting in ways that are unpredictable. New technologies are developing to a point where it becomes necessary to re-evaluate what it means to be and to flourish, as a human. Finally, the Uluru Statement from the Heart offers the opportunity to explore and experience new ways of being in and of, the world.
How we address these and other profound questions of our time will have practical implications now and into the future.
Is there a way to make sense of all of this without entrenching the patterns of thought that have created so many of the problems we encounter?
What is essential in a rapidly changing world?
During this participatory conversation we will experience another way of being in relationship. Together we will explore shifting dynamics and the character of systems that may be ‘stuck’ or ‘unhealthy’. Through deep listening, we will hope to enable the co-creation of spaces, insights and opportunities for a healthy ecology.
You will be hosted by Catherine Donnelley, curator and co-founder of Liminal Nexus Collective, Voices from the Heart Alliance and Synergetic Circles; and Michelle Bloom of The Ethics Centre, who has over 30 years experience working in organisational and family systems, to bring health, balance, connection and wellbeing to our communities.
With deep gratitude to Aboriginal Peoples, Community and Land.
Hosts
Catherine Donnelley
Catherine has a deep commitment to co-envisioning regenerative futures. She asks how ‘Architecture’, from the literal to metaphysical, can play a role in raising awareness towards healing our relationships with ourselves, First Nation Peoples and Country. For the last two decades Catherine has been invited by universities to teach courses in the Built Environment and is respected for her dedication to deep listening, inspired thinking and care. Most recently, Catherine has co-founded a Collective and an Alliance for Uluru Statement from the Heart advocacy, aiming to activate the Humanities as a tool for change. Catherine recently curated a public participatory exhibition supported by local council and facilitates community wellbeing in her business Synergetic Circles.
Michelle Bloom
Michelle has over 30 years’ experience working in organisational and family systems to bring health, balance, connection, and wellbeing. Her early career began working in the mental health system, where she recognised that healing and health were only achieved through understanding the deep interconnectedness of the individual to all the other systems. Michelle then jumped into the corporate world and applied this thinking to her work with leaders and organisational cultures. She is currently the Director of Consulting and Leadership at The Ethics Centre.
Understanding Warm Data
A common approach to problem solving is to break a complex issue into its parts. Each part is then studied as a thing in itself before being the parts are reassembled to form the whole. This approach to problem solving typically produces ‘cold data’ – information about isolated objects. For example, we might obtain ‘cold data’ about haemoglobin levels following a blood test. Yet, this data – no matter how valid – will tell us nothing about the overall wellbeing of the person. That can only be understood if one examines the whole person – and the context of their life in society and in connection with the natural world.
Warm data is derived from and is about this wider context. As such it is a vital complement to ‘cold data’. However, instead of breaking things into their smallest parts, a ‘warm data’ lab embraces complexity and enables the exploration of the ‘whole’. It does so by recognising that every person represents an aspect of the whole and can shed light on the context out of which understanding emerges. Thus, participants in a Warm Data Lab are themselves a vital source of understanding which emerges through a facilitated process.
