4. Village Building & Designing Community Events with Natural Cycles - Deborah Benham & Root Cuthbertson

Connection 1st principles can be applied to wedding planning, and other community events, with each archetype contributing in a valued way.

In this episode, Deborah and Root share their origin stories, Village Building experiences, and how they used 8 shields principles with help from their community, to design an unforgettable wedding. Jon reflects on where Village Building comes from and how it has led to vibrant communities all over the world. Root reflects on his marriage to Deborah, and the sense of connection they feel with one another and their wider communities, emphasizing the importance of reciprocity and mutual support. They share stories about the growth of The Art of Mentoring and how the village at the last event in Scotland was supported by musicians, storytellers, bards, traditional elders, families and a full complement of guilds and layers based on age and experience. Now Deborah and Root are building community with their new intergenerational neighbors, and feeling grateful for simple acts of support and connection, building community and finding common ground.

Using 8 Shields practices creates a sense of community, relieves stress and generates a wonderful loving spirit.

About Deborah

Deborah's PhD, MSc, and 15 years of experience are in marine mammal conservation, ecotourism, and interpretive wildlife guiding. Her work on non-disturbing interactions with sea otters is still being applied by tour guides in Monterey Bay, California. For 6 years she coordinated an accreditation program for dolphin-watching tours in Scotland, while consulting on international multi-stakeholder sustainable wildlife tourism projects. For 12 years she co-managed a sustainable living center associated with the Findhorn ecovillage in Scotland. She became an 8 Shields practitioner in 2011, and began co-leading the Village Builders program with Jon Young in 2015. Deborah is co-leader of the online courses Pathways to Village Building, Designing for Peace, and Introduction to Regenerative Community Building.

Connect with Deborah on Linkedin

About Root

Root designs experiential opportunities for learning by creating strong containers for the graceful facilitation of group energy. He holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Education, and certificates in Sustainable Curriculum Design, Participatory Facilitation, and Ecopsychology. He has co-led short courses on regenerative cultures and cultural mentoring for Schumacher College, Findhorn College the ALT program in Thailand, and is a certified trainer in Gaia Education eco-social design. With his wife Deborah Benham, he has delivered trainings on Sociocracy, Designing for Peace, Positive Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship, and Culture Repair.

You can find all of Deborah and Root's links here.

Visit https://www.livingconnection1st.net/ for more information about our work in nature connection and people connection.