Spiritual Ecology Festival

Fri 6th June
Sat 14th June
Sun 15th June

A three-day event exploring the interconnections between ecology, spirituality and peacemaking.

With talks, workshops, panel discussions, film screenings, live music, contemplative spaces and community action.

Helena Norberg-Hodge
Sicelo Mbatha
Alastair McIntosh
Kalyanee Mam
Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Pooja Bhale
Nessie Reid
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Justine Huxley
Gaiea Sanskrit
Francesca Price
Faye Lu
Sandra Salazar
Rachel Rose Reid
Rosebell Abwonji
Manchán Magan
Simmy Singh
Farhana Mayer
Dr Ruth Valerio
Dr Guy Hayward
Xiaoan Li
Kay Michael
Maritza Arizaga McCudden
Solutions not Sides
Francesca Masoero

Spiritual Ecology Festival

Friday 6th June
Saturday 14th June
Sunday 15th June
Helena Norberg-Hodge
Sicelo Mbatha
Alastair McIntosh
Kalyanee Mam
Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Pooja Bhale
Nessie Reid
Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Justine Huxley
Gaiea Sanskrit
Francesca Price
Faye Lu
Sandra Salazar
Rachel Rose Reid
Rosebell Abwonji
Manchán Magan
Simmy Singh
Farhana Mayer
Dr Ruth Valerio
Dr Guy Hayward
Xiaoan Li
Kay Michael
Maritza Arizaga McCudden
Solutions not Sides
Francesca Masoero
A three-day event exploring the interconnections between ecology, spirituality and peacemaking. With talks, workshops, panel discussions, film screenings, live music, contemplative spaces and community action.
View Festival Pricing
Extra Concession - £85
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Concession - £135
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
General Admission - £180
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Feeling Generous - £255
This will entitle you to entry to all festival events held on Friday 6th - Sunday 15th June. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Extra Concession - £80For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Concession - £130
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
General Admission - £175
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Feeling Generous - £250
This will entitle you to entry to all festival events held on Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th June. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Extra Concession - £40
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th only.
Concession - £75
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only.
General Admission - £100
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only.
Feeling Generous - £150
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Extra Concession - £40
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only.
Concession - £75
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only.
General Admission - £100
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only.
Feeling Generous - £150
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Concession - £75
This will entitle you to watch all filmed events live held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June only.
General Admission - £100
This will entitle you to watch all filmed events live held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June only.
Feeling Generous - £150
This will entitle you to watch all filmed events live held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it.
Concession - £10
This will entitle you to access the film screening held on the evening of Sunday 15th June only.
General Admission - £15
This will entitle you to access the film screening held on the evening of Sunday 15th June only.
Feeling Generous - £30
This will entitle you to access the film screening held on the evening of Sunday 15th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it.
**We do not want cost to be a barrier for participation in this event, and we do have some bursary places available. Contact harriet@stethelburgas.org for more information.**
Extra Concession - £85
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Concession - £135
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
General Admission - £180
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Feeling Generous - £255
This will entitle you to entry to all festival events held on Friday 6th - Sunday 15th June. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Extra Concession - £80
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Concession - £130
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
General Admission - £175
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Feeling Generous - £250
This will entitle you to entry to all festival events held on Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th June. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Extra Concession - £40
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only.
Concession - £75
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only.
General Admission - £100
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only.
Feeling Generous - £150
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Saturday 14th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Extra Concession - £40
For those who need it. This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Friday 6th, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June.
Concession - £75
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only.
General Admission - £100
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only.
Feeling Generous - £255
This will entitle you to entry to all events held on Sunday 15th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it. Thank you!
Concession - £75
This will entitle you to watch all filmed events live held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June only.
General Admission - £100
This will entitle you to watch all filmed events live held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June only.
Feeling Generous - £150
This will entitle you to watch all filmed events live held on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it.
Concession - £10
This will entitle you to access the film screening held on the evening of Sunday 15th June only.
General Admission - £15
This will entitle you to access the film screening held on the evening of Sunday 15th June only.
Feeling Generous - £30
This will entitle you to access the film screening held on the evening of Sunday 15th June only. By purchasing this ticket, you're helping us to offer a space to someone who cannot afford it.
**We do not want cost to be a barrier for participation in this event, and we do have some bursary places available. Contact harriet@stethelburgas.org for more information. **

Tiokasin Ghosthorse is a member of the Itazipcola and Mnicoujou Lakota of the Sakowin Oyate, and who draws upon the language, history, culture, philosophy, and traditions of the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Tiokasin has a long history of Indigenous activism and advocacy. He spoke as a 15-year-old at the United Nations in Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Tiokasin was a 2016 Nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize from the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. Tiokasin is the Founder, Host, and Executive Producer of First Voices Radio and a master musician known for performing worldwide in over 50 countries.

Tiokasin Ghosthorse

Scelo C. Mbatha is an expert Wilderness Guide and Wilderness Facilitator, a book author of Black Lion Alive in the Wilderness, with over 24 years of experience in the field and a lifetime steeped in traditional knowledge, gained through the teachings of his Zulu elders and direct contact with the land as the son of the Wilderness Ranger. His ecological studies and training in deep ecology have further developed his passion for sharing the spiritual power of the natural world.

Scelo C. Mbatha

Alastair McIntosh (Scotland) has been described by BBC TV as “one of the world’s leading environmental campaigners.” A pioneer of modern land reform in Scotland, he helped bring the Isle of Eigg into community ownership. On the Isle of Harris he negotiated withdrawal of the world’s biggest cement company (Lafarge) from a devastating “superquarry” plan. He then served, unpaid to avoid conflicts of interest, on the company’s Sustainability Stakeholders Panel for 10 years to help further corporate social and environmental responsibility.

Alastair McIntosh

Helena Norberg-Hodge, linguist, author, filmmaker and pioneer of the new economy movement, is the founder and director of Local Futures. Based on decades of experience in indigenous cultures, in particular Ladakh and Bhutan, Helena has been promoting a big picture understanding of the foundations of human, as well as ecological wellbeing. Her work has gained her the Alternative Nobel prize, the Arthur Morgan Award and the Goi Peace Prize. Helena is author of the inspirational classic Ancient Futures, and Local is Our Future and producer of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness, of Planet Local and Closer to Home.

Helena Norberg-Hodge

Kalyanee Mam is an award-winning filmmaker exploring themes of war, displacement, environmental destruction, resilience, healing, and hope. Born in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era, she immigrated to the U.S. in 1981. Her documentary A River Changes Course won Sundance’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. She has worked on Academy award winning Inside Job and directed shorts like Lost World, Fight for Areng Valley, Between Earth & Sky, and Cries of Our Ancestors.

Kalyanee Mam

Francesca Price is Executive Director of the Real Farming Trust and an expert in campaigns, communications, and events. With over 30 years of experience in broadcast and print media, she has worked with NGOs such as the Gaia Foundation, Beyond GM, and the Sustainable Food Trust.

Francesca Price

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is an Emmy- and Peabody-nominated filmmaker, Naqshbandi Sufi teacher, and founder and executive editor of Emergence Magazine. His films include Taste of the Land, The Last Ice Age, The Nightingale’s Song, Aloha Aina, Earthrise, and Elemental. He leads retreats world wide on Sufism and spiritual ecology and lives and teaches in Inverness, California.

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

Justine is the Co-Founder of Kincentric Leadership, which strives for a future in which humans co-create with a living intelligent Earth.  Kincentric Leadership convenes a global community of practice stretching from Hawaii to Japan, and is publishing a suite of practical tools to enable leaders from all walks of life to embed kinship as a foundational principle within the strategy, operations and decision-making of their organisations and communities.

Justine Huxley

Faye Mingyi Lu is the Director of WildBound, where she designs regenerative leadership programs that reconnect people with nature,community, and self. Her work is rooted in ancestral wisdom, ecological consciousness, and cross-cultural collaboration, drawing from her experiences with Indigenous communities worldwide to foster regenerative futures across generations and geographies.

Faye Lu

Sandra Salazar is a community horticulturist and tutor, and the founder of Go Grow With Love — a platform led by women of African Caribbean heritage (the Soil SiStars), dedicated to nurturing inner transformation and collective healing through nature-based wisdom, spiritual ecology, and heart-led practices. With a background in holistic wellness, community facilitation, and ancestral traditions, Sandra weaves personal and ancestral healing into her work. She creates spaces for deep connection with self, others, the Earth, and the Stars. Sandra is passionate about reclaiming indigenous ways of knowing and supporting regenerative cultures rooted in care and reciprocity.

Sandra Salazar

Nessie is Director of the Global Diversity Foundation. She lives on an organic farm in Wales, cares for a herd of cheeky Welsh Black cows and is a Spiritual Ecologist with a focus on agroecology, food sovereignty, health, and land connection within both the UK and abroad. She has worked in Indonesia, India, Japan and within Europe on local and Indigenous communities’ rights to land for growing food, as well as the preservation of traditional artistic and cultural practices. She has a degree in Archaeology and the Study of Religions with Hindi from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Nessie Reid

Pooja Bhale is a conservation biologist and founder of Protecterra Ecological Foundation, promoting ecological behavioural change. She resides at The Farm in Pune, living in a canvas tent alongside several animals. A visiting faculty member, sportswoman, and spiritual practitioner, she integrates conservation with education, shamanism, and meditation.

Pooja Bhale

Kohenet Rachel Rose Reid is a ritualist, singer, & storyteller, shining new light on lost stories. She is ordained by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute which was created to revive comprehensive knowledge of Jewish women & femme spiritual practice from antiquity to the present day. As co-founder of Yelala, she leads retreats, devotional song circles, and empowers Jewish and other people to create meaningful rituals for grief, love, transition, birth, & beyond. In addition to a variety of Jewish spaces, she has co-led combined Islamic and Jewish devotional chant in a variety of London venues, with Fahad Khalid, and led workshops for Medicine and Greenbelt Festivals, OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation, the Inayati Sufi Order and Rumi's Cave.

Rachel Rose Reid

Rosebell Abwonji is the founder of Jasiri Sustainable Futures (JSF), a movement based in Kenya that aims to revolutionize conservation by prioritizing initiatives led by local communities in the pursuit of environmental sustainability. Currently, Rosebell is pursuing an MPhil in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge, bringing a perspective that is both globally informed and deeply rooted in community values regarding sustainability and environmental justice.

Rosebell Abwonji

Manchán Magan is a writer & broadcaster, known for his work in exploring cultural identity and environmental consciousness. His dedication to fostering meaningful conversations has positioned him as a leading voice in contemporary Irish discourse. He has presented & produced countless television documentaries, and written books on his travels in Africa, India and South America and two novels. He writes occasionally for The Irish Times on culture & travel, presents the RTÉ podcast The Almanac of Ireland, and is author of the best-selling Thirty-Two Words for Field (Gill, 2000), and Listen to the Land Speak (Gill, 2022).

Manchán Magan

Simmy Singh is a violinist and composer whose work flows across classical, electronic, jazz and folk traditions. With Indian, English and Welsh roots, and a passion for diversity and connection, Simmy brings a rich, emotive voice to her instrument. Deeply inspired by the natural world, she sees music as a bridge to help others reconnect with the earth and their inner landscapes. Whether performing with orchestras at the Royal Albert Hall or collaborating with electronic artists in intimate settings, her music invites deep listening and heartfelt response.

Simmy Singh

Farhana Mayer is currently a Research Affiliate at the Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford. She is a former lecturer in Qur’anic Exegesis and Sufism at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, and in Sufism at SOAS. Her publications include An Introduction to Qur’anic Ecology and Resonances with Laudato Si (Laudato Si’ Research Institute | Randeree Charitable Trust, 2023); Spiritual Gems: The Mystical Qur'an Commentary Ascribed to Ja`far al-Sadiq (Louisville, Fons Vitae, 2011); and Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries: On the Nature of the Divine with F. Hamza and S. Rizvi (Oxford, Oxford University Press | Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2008). Farhana has a long-standing involvement in spirituality and interfaith dialogue.

Farhana Mayer

Environmentalist, theologian, social activist, author, Dr Ruth Valerio is Director of Programmes and Advocacy at Embrace the Middle East. Ruth lives with a vision to inspire and equip people to a whole-life response to poverty and environmental breakdown, helping build a movement that brings about lasting change for the poorest and most vulnerable. Ruth pioneered the Eco Church movement with A Rocha UK and longs to see the culture of the Church change so that caring for God’s earth becomes an integral part of church life, rather than an optional extra. Ruth is Canon Theologian at Rochester Cathedral and a regular media contributor.

Dr Ruth Valerio

Dr Guy Hayward is the Director of the British Pilgrimage Trust, which he co-founded in 2014 to promote the practice of 'bring your own beliefs' pilgrimage in Britain. He has been leading guided pilgrimages since 2016 and co-authored the book Britain’s Pilgrim Places. Hayward has been interviewed about modern pilgrimage for TV, Netflix, Radio 4 and he writes for the national media. Hayward completed a PhD at Cambridge on how singing forms community, co-founded the Choral Evensong Trust with Rupert Sheldrake to promote Britain's sacred choral tradition, and is half of comedy singing double act Bounder & Cad.

Dr Guy Hayward

Xiaoan Li, Ph.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a Senior Program Officer at the Fetzer Institute, a private foundation in Michigan with the mission to help build the spiritual foundation for a loving world. Since 2011, Xiaoan has been leading the work in education at the Institute that focuses on the question of how to promote the spiritual and moral development of young people in and through U.S. pre-K and K - 12 schools with the goal of better integrating the head and the heart, the mind, the body, and the soul. Xiaoan is currently leading the Institute's commitment to the natural world by exploring the sacred dimensions of our relationship with the environment and all other living beings.

Xiaoan Li

Kay is a theatre-maker, creative producer and facilitator working at the intersection of arts and ecology. A co-founder of Culture Declares Emergency, she has produced Cultural Climate Assemblies and large-scale festivals centring environmental artists. She co-founded Letters to the Earth, co-edits the book and leads its creative programmes. Trained in Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, Kay co-curated the first Council of All Beings at COP26. Her work invites collective reflection and imagination in response to ecological crisis. She has spoken at COP26, COP27, and London Climate Action Week.

Kay Michael

Maritza Arizaga McCudden is an equity strategist, facilitator, and systems thinker at the intersection of environmental justice, community resilience, and transformative conservation. As a first-generation immigrant from Mexico living in rural Colorado, U.S., Maritza draws deeply from her cultural roots and personal journey, which are shaped by place, story, and a sense of belonging to community and nature. Her work is grounded in reciprocal relationships, centering on those most impacted by environmental inequity, and it emphasizes community-led conservation, equitable governance, and justice-driven sustainability.

Maritza Arizaga McCudden

Since 2010, Solutions Not Sides has promoted empathy, critical thinking, and conflict resolution through education on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Committed to non-violence and equality, their UK-based programme fosters humanising encounters, diverse narratives, and dialogue, empowering participants to challenge prejudice and seek solutions.

Solutions not Sides

Gaiea holds a degree in Sanskrit from the University of Oxford where she also had a singing scholarship. Since university she has combined a love of Sanskrit with exploration of the voice. Gaiea visits India yearly for a month to study with voice and Sanskrit teachers. She performs, writes and records songs, leads regular Kirtan (chanting) and Sanskrit, Philosophy & Meditation workshops in London, and is also a teacher of the Alexander Technique.

Gaiea Sanskrit

Francesca Masoero is an Italian curator, cultural organiser, and researcher currently working with GDF as Global Environments Network (GEN) Programmes Curator. With a background in critical theory and political economy, Francesca has been working in Marrakech (Morocco) since 2015, first as curator of the cultural space LE 18 and, since 2019, also as programme coordinator for Dar Bellarj Foundation, where she co-curates and leads the Ch[a]rita festival and the Collective Workshops.

Francesca Masoero

Speakers & Facilitators

Speakers & Facilitators


We live in a time of turmoil and uncertainty.

This gathering will bring people together from around the world, to share practical tools and deep conversation about how spiritual ecology may offer a way forward.

The lineup includes inspiring keynotes, panels, music, workshops, conversation, and community. You’ll meet farmers, artists, activists, scholars, musicians, poets, peacemakers, community growers, nature connection guides, conservationists, theologians, pilgrims and educators from across the UK and around the world. We hope to see you there! 

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY?

Spiritual ecology, or deep ecology, is a broad field that embraces academia, culture, faith and science. It springs from the premise that creation is interconnected and sacred. 

We live in a time of turmoil and uncertainty. This gathering will bring people together from around the world, to share practical tools and deep conversation about how spiritual ecology may offer a way forward. Whether you’re new to the concept of spiritual ecology or you’ve encountered it before, whether you belong to a faith tradition or are an atheist, there will be something here for you. 

Join us on the 6th, 14th and 15th of June for a festival exploring the interconnections between ecology, spirituality and peacemaking. As far as we know, this is the first spiritual ecology festival anywhere in the world - join us!

The lineup includes inspiring keynotes, panels, music, workshops, conversation, and community. You’ll meet farmers, artists, activists, scholars, musicians, poets, peacemakers, community growers, nature connection guides, conservationists, theologians, pilgrims and educators - from across the UK and around the world. We hope to see you there!

GET YOUR TICKET HERE
For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.

Mary Oliver, Upstream

Why Spiritual Ecology? Why Now?

We are living through a paradigm shift on the world stage. Geopolitical conflict is on the rise, and polarisation is driving our politics into more oppositional factions.  Issues of identity politics, national security, economic uncertainty, and cost of living crisis, are increasingly to the fore. Net Zero is becoming a hotly politicised and polarised issue. Tensions in the interfaith world have made cross-faith spaces more fraught, and there is a sense of fatigue and overwhelm about the state of the world. What does spiritual ecology have to offer into this civilisational moment?

We believe it’s important to hold a space for climate-forward conversations that can withstand the pressures and tensions of our increasingly polarised age. Spiritual ecology offers a place where those of diverse faiths and beliefs can meet on common ground. Modes of climate activism come and go. But deep ecology endures, and offers resilience where other forms of activism can burn people out. At the same time, there are important questions to explore together, about how the deep ecology movement can best respond to the rapidly evolving moment.

Beyond theology, identity, politics and belief - there is a felt sense of belonging with nature. The theologians teach about it, and the poets write about it, but really it’s something very simple. It’s the sensitivity to beauty, meaning and belonging that awakens when people turn to nature. This is a universal human experience which connects people across divides. We want to summon people to gather in this shared love of nature, and look at the problems of our world from this starting point.

This festival aims to give pragmatic tools for navigating the challenges of our time; inspiration for how to forge communities that can withstand differences; modes of being and seeing that restore deep kinship with Earth; and much more. Join us!

Recent scientific discoveries about interspecies communication (the mycelial networks that link forest plants), animal cultures (elephants who grieve their kin), and the mind-boggling mysteries of quantum physics (so full of inexplicable intimacies and entanglements)  - point to a natural world alive with mystery and depths of intelligence we’ve only begun to explore. Whether you call this mystery God, nature, science or beauty, will depend on the lens that’s most natural to you.

This festival invites people across all faiths and none to gather on the common ground of our belonging to creation, and to face the challenges of our age from this place.

Our CEntral organising questions

How can spiritual ecology help us design pragmatic solutions that place care for land at the heart?

Where issues of climate and conflict intersect, how can spiritual ecology point a way forward?

What does a faith-led response to climate issues look like in practice?

What can we learn from recent scientific discoveries about interspecies collaboration and communication?

What are the challenges in bringing together urban and rural perspectives on faith, land and identity?

How can spiritual ecology spaces depolarise?

What are the tensions, contradictions, and opportunities in the spiritual ecology world right now?

What does identity mean in contemporary deep ecology spaces, and how does this differ, depending on the national and local context?

The Planting Pilgrimage

Join us on Friday 6th June as we begin our walk towards the festival with an Overnight Planting Pilgrimage, creating a ring of sacred trees around central London. Setting out from St Ethelburga's we'll journey a 12-hour circle of the city, weaving together faith and ecological sites on a magical night walk. We'll be hosted by hidden community gardens and diverse places of worship, planting trees by moonlight and sharing food, song, music, prayer and ceremony. Join us as we come together in prayer to set our intention for the festival.

Taste of the Land - Film Screening and Q&A

Living the questions together is an effective way of preparing for an unpredictable future.

Daniel Wahl

We live in a time of turmoil and uncertainty. This gathering will bring people together from around the world, to share practical tools and deep conversation about how spiritual ecology may offer a way forward. The lineup includes inspiring keynotes, panels, music, workshops, conversation, and community. You’ll meet farmers, artists, activists, scholars, musicians, poets, peacemakers, community growers, nature connection guides, conservationists, theologians, pilgrims and educators - from across the UK and around the world. We hope to see you there! 

This festival aims to give pragmatic tools for navigating the challenges of our time; inspiration for how to forge communities that can withstand differences; modes of being and seeing that restore deep kinship with Earth; and much more. Join us!

What is Spiritual Ecology?

Whether you’re new to the concept of spiritual ecology or you’ve encountered it before, whether you belong to a faith tradition or are an atheist, there will be something here for you. Spiritual ecology, or deep ecology, is a broad field that embraces academia, culture, faith and science. It springs from the premise that creation is interconnected and sacred. Recent scientific discoveries about interspecies communication (the mycelial networks that link forest plants), animal cultures (elephants who grieve their kin), and the mind-boggling mysteries of quantum physics (so full of inexplicable intimacies and entanglements)  - point to a natural world alive with mystery and depths of intelligence we’ve only begun to explore.

Whether you call this mystery God, nature, science or beauty, will depend on the lens that’s most natural to you. This festival invites people across all faiths and none to gather on the common ground of our belonging to creation, and to face the challenges of our age from this place.

Our central organising questions

How can spiritual ecology help us design pragmatic solutions that place care for land at the heart?
Where issues of climate and conflict intersect, how can spiritual ecology point a way forward?
What does a faith-led response to climate issues look like in practice?
What can we learn from recent scientific discoveries about interspecies collaboration and communication?
What are the challenges in bringing together urban and rural perspectives on faith, land and identity?
How can spiritual ecology spaces depolarise?
What are the tensions, contradictions, and opportunities in the spiritual ecology world right now?
What does identity mean in contemporary deep ecology spaces, and how does this differ, depending on the national and local context?