Re-awakening the Sacred: Business and economics
Following a successful talk last year on gift economy and a new economic paradigm, St Ethelburga's are exploring this theme for a second time.
Central to the idea of re-awakening the sacred is that all of life is sacred, and as money and business are fundamental to life they play a very important role in realising the sacred in life. How can we use money in a way that honours the sacred? What is the role of business in a world that appears increasingly dysfunctional? What is the real purpose of money and business in the world that we live in?
Jonathan Dawson is co-Head of Economics at Schumacher College, a sustainability educator and a socio-economist with wide experience as a researcher, author, consultant and project manager. He was until recently a member of the Findhorn ecovillage community in Scotland and the President of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), the umbrella organisation for sustainable community initiatives worldwide. He has worked for 15 years as a consultant and project manager in Africa for clients as diverse as the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and the European Union. He is the author of a number of books, the most recent of which is Gaian Economics: Living Well Within Planetary Limits.
Giles Hutchins applies twenty years business experience to the emergence of a new paradigm. Formerly a management consultant for KPMG, more recently Global Sustainability Director for Atos International, co-founder of BCI: Biomimicry for Creative Innovation, ambassador forEmbercombe, adviser for Akasha Innovation, he speaks and writes about the transformation to new ways of operating inspired by and in harmony with Nature. He is author of the books The Nature of Business (Green Books) and The Illusion of Separation (Floris Books).
Giles blogs at www.thenatureofbusiness.org, facebook community https://www.facebook.com/businessinspiredbynature and tweets@gileshutchins