““Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking. “
~ Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Dear Systems Thinkers
We hope you were able to attend the June gathering this past June 21st. It was a rich discussion about the systemic view of the Ukrainian war.
If you were unable to attend, or if you want to rewatch the discussions and presentations, please check the recording here.
Some links offered during the alumni gathering include:
The questions explored during the breakout rooms included:
- how can we, as citizens and communities, work towards persuading our leaders and those in power that they will be getting much more with cooperation than with war? And
- How can we educate ourselves and others about the systemic interdependence of ecological sustainability, social justice, and peace?
In the shared discussion and harvesting, many ideas and questions emerged, creating a rich and respectful exchange. One of the questions was about the relation of this war with capitalism. Della shared this resource: A guide to a just transition away from capitalism written by the folks at Movement Generation in English and Spanish as well as David Korten’s article here.
One of our alumni, Francesca, did a short presentation and Fritjof translated it into English for all, you can read it here:
“ I would like to reflect on some words: ‘belonging’ and ‘relationship’, in reference to the word ‘conflict’ and look at these words from a systemic perspective, as emergent properties of a non-linear dynamic.
Conflict from a systemic perspective can be seen as an emergent property of a relationship.
When we talk to someone our needs of belonging, of recognition, of performance inevitably emerge; most of the time the level of awareness of our needs is not adequate to the context in which we act. We act by projecting emotions, fears and needs and having no tools, we often use conflict and don’t notice! We do not see the relationship and the other becomes the excluded, the different the one who does not belong: in this way we do not learn from the system of belonging
And so conflict keeps us bound: we want recognition, belonging, we don’t know it and we conflict because it becomes the only way not to lose the ‘bond’ with the other. We are interconnected and this has significance for our networks of relationships.
We must have the courage to deepen our knowledge of ourselves and observe how we emerge in relation to the system and what is the impact on the relationship. The choice of conflict shows the inability to manage the relationship according to a systemic perspective and when we act in complex contexts in an inappropriate way confrontation becomes conflict and then war, it breaks the innate capacity of the relationship to be regenerative when approached systemically.
There is therefore a big gap between how nature works and how people think and act: we must learn how life works, innately creative and regenerative, and embody this value in us. Without relationships we ‘are not
Every decision presupposes the assumption of a risk and the responsibility to bring into play a relational perspective and value: when we make the other understand that we want to know his or her thoughts, without judgement and without necessarily agreeing, immediately, in that relationship the need to be right ceases and authentic listening emerges. Which is that of love.”
There were many great discussions and resources such as books and articles shared, we invite you all to use the Alumni Network to continue sharing about this important topic where we were made to remember that perspectives differ depending on where we stand in the world and that our only sources are the media, which is not always objective and may not capture the complexity of things.
Hazel Henderson Obituary
Fritjof also shared a brief obituary for her friend and colleague of many years, Hazel Henderson, you can read the full obituary here.
Alumni Network
We would like to remind everyone that you can access the Alumni Network by using the same login and password you had in the previous course you finished. If you have lost or forgotten your login or password, please connect with me and I would be happy to rest them.
At the Network you can:
- Join or create groups about topics, languages, or countries
- Ask others to be connected with you through “friend requests”
- Post information, questions, and resources in the different forums
- Attend our gatherings which we offer four times a year aligned with solstices and equinoxes
- Submit projects you are working on, relevant to systems thinking and systemic approach, so they can be highlighted in the alumni newsletter
To stay connected please remember our networks:
Public FB Group ~ https://www.facebook.com/capracourse/
Alumni & Participant FB Group ~ https://www.facebook.com/groups/451419885536806/
Twitter ~ @capracourse
Instagram ~ @systems.view.of.life
LinkedIn ~ https://www.linkedin.com/company/capra-course AND https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-systems-view-lab
Vimeo ~ https://vimeo.com/capracourse
Alumni Network ~ https://alumninetwork.capracourse.net/