Do men think that learning from living-systems (as part of a regenerative approach) is 'not for me'?
Sarah Elliott Spencer
Regenerative trainer and speaker, helping leaders and teams grow their impact, inspired by living-systems (nature). Supporting personal growth and organisational change. Fellow RSA, Design Council Expert. Author.
At our Regenerative Organisation Taster Session last week we had a question – why was there such an imbalance of women compared to men?
As usual with a regenerative approach we need to shine a light (observe without judgement) without jumping in to ‘fix’ things.
First, let us say that we did have lots of men sign up to Regenerative Organisation Fundamentals last year, and do have many men attend our Regenerative Organisation One or Two Day Experiences too.
And second, of course there are many men who are regenerative trainers who have ‘walked the walk’ ? Daniel Christian Wahl Bill Reed Giles Hutchins John Fullerton Paul Pivcevic and my permaculture trainers Tomas Remiarz and Paul Paine to name a few.
They share nature-inspired, regenerative frameworks and my experiences with Giles Hutchins at Springwood and Paul Pivcevic at The Wilderness was aligned with the approach that JK (Jennie-Kate) McQuinn and myself take – which is to head to the woods to immerse yourself in nature. (and we include nature-inspiration in our online offerings too).
But it’s important to recognise that there are many reasons why men might not be as open to nature-inspired approaches off the bat (and heads-up they are nothing to do with anything innately different in the genders and more to do with history, culture and upbringing).
We need to head into history (and learn from our indigenous cousins) to see that both men and women were steeped in regenerative approaches.? Being in, and learning from, living-systems was part of our ancestral worldview while we were gatherer-hunters.
Then things started to change, and various separations occurred between nature and humans, and between genders.? The rise of monotheism and then the mechanistic and reductionist worldview in Europe necessitated a suppression of nature as a source of wisdom (and the women who were intimately associated with nature). The witch hunts were one expression of this.
We live with this legacy today – men are much more likely to be rewarded (financially and socially) when they are associated with the purely technological solutions to one aspect of the current crises.
And, I worry this may put men at somewhat of a disadvantage when it comes to embracing regenerative approaches compared to women.?
Because it’s generally less taboo for a woman to be seen as ‘woowoo’ and ‘treehugger’ than it is for men.
However, to transition to a future that values ‘all Life’ over purely human needs, and create a future that will be healthy and long-lasting for humans too, we all need to come together.?
And we can’t get away from the fact that men have influence that would be a huge asset to regenerative change, when working in close association with women.
So where do we go from here?
To shine a light further, the kinds of ‘curious questions’ we would invite you into (all genders) are:
-??????? What are the historical, social and cultural factors that have defined my worldview with regard to nature and the genders?
-??????? How is the mechanistic and reductionist worldview showing up in my life and work? (you might want to take our Organisational Mindset Quiz for some insight
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-??????? Do I see reductionism as a useful tool, rather than the way the world actually works (which is as a complex living ecosystem)?
-??????? What are the barriers I face in stepping into the complexity of a living-systems worldview?
-??????? What emotional and psychological barriers do I face in adopting a regenerative approach?
-??????? What taboos do I need to confront?
-??????? What capabilities am I called to develop in myself? ( see The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) Capabilities for Life Framework for ideas).
-??????? Where can I see potential for regenerative change for a healthier, more effective, more resilient business/organisation (and world)?
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I’d love to hear from people of all genders on your experience of gender imbalances in the regenerative space and anything you've done to address them.
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If you would like to join us on our next Think like a Forest Regenerative Organisation Fundamentals Programme then you can find details on the website (￡100 off until 16 September, group sessions start mid-October).
#regenenerative #regenerativeleadership #genderimbalance #nature #naturebasedsolutions #organisationaldevelopment #landd
Green MBA ?? Negocios y Economías que cuiden y sostengan la Vida ?? Profesor @umamexico ?? Explorando la Regeneración ?? Viviendo en el bosque ??
5 个月I find your post very interesting, I've been asking myself the same question as I have been finding myself immersed in organizations and social groups where mainly woman attend or are my colleagues, for example in the University is notable that the groups of students are mainly women, and the staff is so imbalanced, I'm one of the four men working and we barely represent 10% of the staff (plus maintenance personnel, who are mainly men). I'm not saying in any way that it has made me uncomfortable, by the contrary. I'm sure that my context in Latin America is slightly different to others around the world, but my conclusions on asking and thinking about it is that women are more open not just to look inwards and have a deeper connection with nature beyond logic and control, but they are more open to questioning and being critic to the systems and ways of the dominant paradigm, and I think that is really valuable, as we as men are getting more and more challenged to move out from our comfort zones and do the work that a radical change of paradigms like regenerative development poses.
Working in communities at the intersection of entrepreneurship, health and habitat.
5 个月What would be required and what falls away or what would it add to your exploration to move to a living systems worldview, where each living system (human and natural) is n^1, and humans don’t seek to be like nature, but learn to play a role as co-evolutionary partners with natural systems? For me, the questions invite me to stop, observe and possibly release my attachments, and make room in my awareness for what is in front of me. And I have to remind me to remember in each event, to regenerate my understanding or I fall down into previously held thoughts and miss any insight or opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way. Mostly I fall down, but even a blind chicken finds a few pieces of corn now and again, as the saying goes. I keep practicing, maybe more comes into focus, and each kernel of corn is all the sweeter when I stumble into it and keeps me pecking on. It’s the quality of the questions, for me, that help light the path a bit and offer a direction to my exploration.
Helping leaders & teams thrive in unpredictable times by trusting themselves & making sense of emerging possibilities (including AI)
5 个月I'm coaching a male client in his 40s from the tech sector at the moment. We started with 'problems' he wanted to solve. We're now working with what gives him energy and listening to an intelligence bigger than the rational mind. All of this is supported by creative visualisations in nature. Starting with men to address practical problems and bringing nature in to support accessing intuition or deeper forms of wisdom seems to be a good strategy. There's no need to ask questions which need an opinion or a decision. Practical proof of the benefits creates motivation.
Organizational Game Designer
5 个月I think part of the challenge comes down to values because it is the different ways, traditions and sorts of knowing take which are also considered valuable in the Regen space. This asymmetry in what matters makes it hard to bridge the gap between mainstream culture since most people find it easier to close off to those differences. For example to get most nerds on board then it's often necessary to lean into propositional knowledge. Might have to explain things in a way where making logical sense is super important. Sharing the literal dream that my son had which led us to a question that the entire community was involved in exploring and inspired a re-imagining of this old tradition... may not get any traction in capital M Monoculture (that I affectionately like to refer to as Gen-pop). Some nerds care about a bunch of stuff so much that they are willing to work harder to resource themselves rather than use a bunch of cheap energy to live a materially easier consumer life churning, through however much as that takes in the process. I think that it is a "care about/for these things with us" vibe. You'll notice that the active word is "care" though. Who gets taught to care though growing up?
Regenerative & Biophilic Design Knowledge Development & Strategy? Consultant ? Author ? Curator ?| Nature | Community | Places |
5 个月Interesting, when I was studying for my masters in sustainable design with Jonathan Chapman as our course leader there was only one man on the course and the rest of the cohort was female. We often had a similar discussion about the reasons why. However, a few years later when I began teaching on that course the balance was more even. But I notice that on the Regenerative Leadership jouney that we are both part of - with Laura Storm at the helm - there are significantly more women in the sessions.