MARSH BARN,

Burton Road, Bridport, DT6 4PS

                                                 LECTURES on EVERYTHING

                                            Tel: 078 33 79 56 29; (01308) 458 116

                                                 Email: eendymion@yahoo.com

    the 32nd LECTURE on EVERYTHING in collaboration with                                        DORSET AGENDA 21

                     Friday, 9^th December, 8pm, Marsh Barn, £6

                                                    HUMAN NATURE

                   - AN INTRODUCTION TO ECOPSYCHOLOGY -

            Ecopsychology has been described as a language expressing the relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world with enough depth to reveal the underlying dynamics of the current environmental crisis. As such, it combines psychological theory, experimental findings and practical exercises to question assumptions about humanity's place in the world. Ecopsychologists emphasise the role of direct experience in changing the way we behave and how we see ourselves. We explore how human wellbeing is intimately linked to the health of the ecosystems we live within, and highlight common structures and practises that serve to “disconnect” us from more reciprocal relationships with our environment. Much of the work in the field is within a therapeutic context, making use of ecological models and metaphors to develop different perspectives, and widening the view of what we call “social” to include non-human entities such as other animals, collective plant life (e.g., woods) and the places and landscapes that we call home. This talk will provide an introduction to this area, helping the audience to see how they are an integral part of the place they are in: who we are is intimately connected to where we are.

Paul Stevens is currently Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Bournemouth University and Editor of the European Journal of Ecopsychology (http://ecopsychology-journal.eu/). He is interested in ecological and evolutionary perspectives on self and society, including wider issues of understanding and promoting sustainability by looking at systemic perspectives of how humans interrelate with the rest of the natural world.

‘what loneliness/ to be blind in broad daylight-/and deaf, what loneliness/ when the song’s in full swing’