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.
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 can we learn from listening to diverse faith, spiritual and non-religious perspectives, about how to live in harmony with creation? 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? How can we root faith-led responses in practical action? Can spiritual ecology offer a ‘common ground’ for inter-religious encounter, even with and in spite of current painful divisions in the interfaith space? What are the challenges in bringing together urban and rural perspectives on faith, land and identity? 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.
The festival format means there will be events running concurrently throughout the venue. You can map your own course through the programme - attending probing talks and dialogues on theology, interfaith, and conflict, or moving from workshop to workshop, listening to music and participating in practical sessions - or a bit of both! There will also be plenty of opportunities to hear music, eat delicious food, and meet interesting people. Do join us!
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.
Overnight Planting Pilgrimage across london hosted by hidden community gardens and diverse places of worship. Join us as we plant trees by moonlight and share food, song, prayer, and ceremony.
Talks from Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Alastair McIntosh, Kalyanee Mam and more. Workshops from Nessie Reid, Gaiea Sanskrit, Solutions Not Sides, Faye Lu and more. Plus music, prayer, contemplative spaces and much more.
Talks from Pooja Bhale, Nessie Reid, Ruth Valario and more. Panel Discussion. Workshops from Justine Huxley, Guy Hayward and more. Film screening and Q&A with Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee & Kalyanee Mam.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nessie Reid is a political ecologist and performance artist advocating for radical change in food and farming. She manages the Oxford Real Farming Conference and explores human-spiritual relationships with food through The Milking Parlour. Previously, she researched Tibetan art, climate justice, and indigenous displacement in Asia.
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 rescued animals. A visiting faculty member, sportswoman, and spiritual practitioner, she integrates conservation with education, shamanism, and meditation.
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.
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, from the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation, is a peace activist, indigenous rights advocate, and master musician of the Lakota cedar flute. He hosts First Voices Indigenous Radio and teaches about Earth as a living, animate being. A lifelong educator, he has spoken at the UN and led spiritual ecology teachings at St Ethelburga’s.