February 2024
A warm welcome to 2024!
Let’s pause and take a second to remember that we are mammals flying around space on a ball of water, earth and lava in an infinitely huge universe and that most of us have somewhere between 5 and 25 thousand days left to live…
So bearing this in mind, what will you do in 2024? And, perhaps more importantly, what will you NOT do?
Our hope is that we can support you in 2024 – your team, organisation or you as an individual.
It’s paradoxical that leaders, change-makers and researchers alike increasingly recognise a need to slow down whilst at the same time are being presented with an increasing pressure to step up and do more to mitigate disasters, illness and wars and prevent devastating climate and habitat destruction. If we don’t do something, who will? Our children and teenagers? They are largely disillusioned with the problems they are inheriting. Depression, anxiety and anger is rising.
It could be argued that there are positive and negative types of ‘more’. Doing more to make the world better and doing more in ways that are greedy and destructive. At Craigberoch we know that both types of ‘doing more’ can lead to burnout in individuals and lead to teams and organisations operating less effectively and working less creatively towards their impact goals and purpose.
The cultural paradigm we live in and the western lifestyle we are used to relies on more. We are led to believe that more money, more profit, more resources, more stuff and more success are the answers. These narratives are being constantly broadcast and reinforced by our culture and tend to lead to an accelerated and ultimately unsustainable way of life.
Can we slow down enough to remember what the real answers are, and remember what really matters to us?
In the end it comes down to our deepest values and how well we can navigate our lives in accordance with them. How can we connect and stay true to these in this whirlwind of modernity? And how can we change unhelpful narratives and ways of thinking to find new, more helpful and creative ones? And lastly how can we be more effective as change-makers, intrapreneurs, teams and entire organisations?
Our answer at Craigberoch is Deceleration. Over the past three years we have created a curriculum based around 4 pillars of Deceleration:
We immerse participants in nature to give them a renewed appreciation for the natural world and help them experience the proven mental and emotional benefits of being outdoors. We hope this reconnection drives a focus on sustainability in their lives and work.
We offer participants strategies and practices to develop resilience and improve well-being. We give participants the chance to stop ‘doing’ and make space for ‘being’ so they can connect with themselves.
We stimulate right-brain thinking to inspire innovative solutions to meet the environmental and social challenges posed by a fast-changing world.
We equip participants with the experiences and skills they need to work within teams, across their organisations or wider communities to solve complex, multifaceted global challenges.
Our programmes consist of three modular stages which include ‘Deceleration’ followed by Ideation and Activation in order to bring value led ideas to life.
Decelerate – Awakening creativity, igniting purpose and providing fertile soil for innovation.
Ideate – Shifting mindsets and sparking non-linear thinking.
Activate – Bringing these ideas to life.
This year, as well as our flagship Decelerator and Co-being events on Bute and in the Alps we are launching a series of themed programmes bringing together global change-makers from across sectors to innovate, collaborate and build partnerships.
If you would like to apply to join Global Health or Sustainability themed Ideation programmes (dates and locations will be announced soon), please click below.