The name – Nature Academy Learning Lab
History tells us that “Academia” was a forest outside Athens where Plato went and conducted educational dialogues with his students about life’s biggest questions.
Our vision is to contribute daily to the work of a sustainable and fair world where development takes place in harmony between humans, society, and nature – to Nourishing Life.
Our broader Vision:
– ”A human being is part of the whole ca/led by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and his feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our desires and affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
– Albert Einstein
Our understanding is that knowledge of the basis of life and nature is as self-evident to learn and teach as the alphabet and mathematics fundamentals are to the world’s children. As profitability, leadership, and politics are to decision-makers.
Our offer – Nature-based Leadership
In our vision, people learn in and from nature; we let ourselves be inspired by new, exciting developments and innovations from the genius of life and nature. With this attitude, we begin to respect, revere, and be thankful for life and make decisions for future generations in mind. In our vision, we all have, through our insight and knowledge about how everything is interconnected and all of our need for each other comes from the optical illusion of which Einstein wrote:
–” Let’s widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and nature in its beauty…”
Or main focus
Systems thinking – cultivating the capacity to see the whole web of relationships and events in the larger context of emerging patterns unfolding over time rather than focusing only on the detail of any particular piece. A web of interconnections creates complexity, and a problem can be challenging and complex in three ways: socially, dynamically, and generatively complex. Ordinary problem-solving approaches work well for simple challenges. However, when we want to solve complex problems, we need to use an extraordinary approach in which stakeholders look together at the system as a whole and work through an emerging solution.
Quest—Reflection in solitude has been an essential method for reaching insight and enlightenment throughout human history. Nature Academy offers this through the programs Nature Based Leadership and Nature Quests for personal development.
Breakthrough Conversations ”Dia”- means “through” or “flow,” and – ”logos” means “logic” in Greek. The word ”dialogos to see through to meaning” is a prerequisite for consensus and, thus, cooperation. Studies show that success and efficiency often rise or drop depending on the quality of the dialogue.
Learning Lab —Transformative development is offered through Learning Labs, which are methods and tools for collective reflection that support urgent questions for individuals and groups. If we have the opportunity, we can employ nature as both a classroom and a teacher.
WiLD stands for old Wisdom and new insights, applied to Leadership and in Dialogues 🦅
Dr Peter Senge, the MIT systemic change specialist, advised Göran nearly three decades ago to listen, learn and translate Indigenous #wisdom and their #regenerative worldview and lifestyles into our modern way of living. Based on years of experience in #naturebasedleadership training, he saw a need for transformative leadership in a critical time of flux. His learning and insights evolved in a fruitful co-evolution in partnership with SoL (Society for Organization), SSE Executive Education (Stockholm School of Economics), The Natural Step (the world-leading Sustainability advisor), and Perlan, the leading coaches in Gestalt Therapy.
Together with his indigenous teachers and partners, Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp, Sami Elder Laila Spik, Faith-keeper Oren Lyons, Miccosukee Elder Andy Buster, and Tracker John Stokes, the methodology of Nature Academy was created, and #nature has been his Learning Lab, classroom, and teacher since. Göran has also developed methods, tools, and programs for sustainable development among friends and partners, like Onondaga faith-keeper Oren Lyons and Professor John P Milton, founder of Way of Nature.
As the founder of Nature Academy, Göran has been involved in several exciting internationally renowned organisations for over three decades. Examples of these are the Ekskäret Foundation, which, in 12 years, has had a global impact on adult development, leadership, and societal development. Albaeco, one of the founders of and in close collaboration with the Stockholm Resilience Center, has received international attention in sustainability. Tällberg Foundation has been a unique Tink Thank with global top executive leaders who discussed the issue of ”How on Earth Can We Live together?”.
This film about Nature Academy Learning Lab summarised his understanding then, and much has stayed the same. -”To achieve development that really leads to results, we don’t need expert counsel, better consultants, or more committed managers; the key is rather to be found in our common, fundamental way of thinking.” Take a look at the film:
#natureacademy #regenerativeleadership #learninglab #naturebasedleadership
Collaborators
Ekskäret Foundation
Ekskäret Foundation is a partner organization to Nature Academy, and Göran has been a board member since 2011. The mission of the Ekskäret Foundation is to make sense of the world and create and allow brave spaces for people to explore and work on their inner growth. Studies show that having a ”safe place” in connection to nature, where we dare to challenge ourselves, can be an essential catalyst for personal development. Ekskäret supports and contributes to these brave places by creating contexts and locations for transformative learning, where skills can be developed to handle better the rapid change and the constantly increasing complexity of our world. Skills can increase our capacity for deeper understanding and wisdom, engaging individuals to become active co-creators in the world we create. The board consists of representatives of collaborative partners who have contributed important skills and inspiration during the development of the foundation and its operations.
THE EKSKÄRET ISLAND – (where the oak trees grow), located in the Stockholm archipelago in Sweden, is where the Ekskäret Foundation springs from. The island intends to offer a place to reconnect with others, yourself, nature, and life. Enhancing the capacity and resilience of individuals to support the transformation of organisations and society. The island provides a breathtaking venue dedicated to curious and explorative initiatives, such as the Protus youth camps, courses in personal development, and other exploratory meetings for inner growth and social transformation.
29K – a non-profit, open-source, personal growth platform combining the best science-based tools with deep human connection – made available wherever you are, whenever you need it – for free.
Inner Development Goals (IDG) – is a collaboration between the 29k, The New Division and Ekskäret Foundation. The IDGs provide an essential framework of transformative skills for sustainable development and a field kit (in co-creation now) on developing these necessary skills – open-source and accessible to all. The current IDGs framework represents five dimensions and 23 skills and qualities, which are especially crucial for leaders who address SDGs, but fundamentally for all of us! It is the greatest possible accelerator to reach the Sustainable Development Goals and create a prosperous future for all humanity.
EKSKÄRET NATURE QUEST—Göran is one of the pioneers who introduced methods for transformative development in Sweden and Europe. Through close collaboration with people like John P Milton, he has conducted numerous ”Nature Quests” with Swedish and international top leaders. Göran possesses unique knowledge about how these techniques work and are implemented, which is of high value for Transformative Leadership.
Albaeco
Albaeco is a partner organization to Nature Academy, and Göran has been a board member since 2014. Albaeco is an independent organization that has been working since 1998, providing companies with strategic environmental communication, science communication, consulting, and environmental training. The organization does everything from popular science writing to courses and strategic sustainability consulting for the public and private sectors. We aim to translate complicated research findings into communicative insights about the interactions between nature, society, and the economy. Some clients include UNEP, the Swedish Ministry of the Environment, the House of Sweden, Sida, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, SIWI, Norwegian EPA, Stockholm Environment Institute, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, The Swedish Research Council, H&M, Coop, ICA, Orkla Foods and Houdini Sportswear. Albaeco is connected to an extensive network of international researchers from the natural and social sciences through long-term and close collaboration with the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), based at Stockholm University. Albaeco co-founded the SRC in 2007 and has, over the years, assisted SRC and many other research institutions in their efforts to reach out with research findings to the media, politicians, government agencies, and resource users at local, regional, and international levels.
Society for Organisational Learning
Nature Academy has been deeply engaged in the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL) at MIT, Boston, since the middle of the ’90s and founded SoL Sweden in 1999. Göran has been a board member since then. Göran became a driving force within the design team and created the first Core Course outside of the USA in Stockholm in 1999. He has worked with Peter Senge and Otto Scharmer as a facilitator. Inspired by the Organization Learning theories, he has used these ”transformative learning disciplines” in various projects. His work includes community building, corporate strategic development, and leadership training. Working with communities and decision-makers, Göran focuses on developing a balance between social ethics, environmental awareness, and sustainable economic development. In 2004, Göran co-facilitated the SoL annual meeting in Boston and the full-day keynote experience – Nature as the teacher and the classroom.
with my friend Christer Magnusson in the centre.
SSE Executive Education (IFL)
Nature Academy has been involved in different co-projects over the years. Göran has also been a faculty member since the ’90s and has been coaching project managers at SSE Stockholm School of Economics in Theory-U, and Nature Based Leadership training programs. (SSE is ranked best in the Nordic Region in the Financial Times executive education ranking).
IFL Learning Manifesto – a book that describes the essence of executive education to provide a source of inspiration and a contribution to the dialogue on how we create effective ways of developing leadership to make one of the world’s best business environments. Göran, as one who has contributed to IFL’s knowledge-creation processes in various ways, was invited to contribute with his reflections and perspectives on the book’s subjects (Download PDF).
Tällberg Foundation
Nature Academy held a role as Knowledge Partner and Göran as Senior Advisor at Tällberg Foundation between 2005 and 2013. The Tällberg Foundation designs learning processes to pursue new creative ideas and consciousness of the broader context. It operates through educational programs, reporting, and research. It also increasingly works in an advisory capacity. The Tällberg Foundation is a search organization that improves the understanding of the wider global systems contexts to inspire the designs of better logic, policies, processes, strategies, structures, technologies, and institutions. The end game is to provide operational answers to the question, “How on earth can we live together – we humans and us with nature?”. Guiding The King on a Nature Walk in Tällberg – A mission I always will remember 🙏🏼
WiLD Pathfinder
Together with, and inspired by, professors and faith-keeper Oren Lyons and John P. Milton, Gennvi developed methods and tools for leadership training for corporate leaders that resulted in the concept of Transformative Leadership, Transformative Dialogue, and WiLD Pathfinders programs (Wisdom, Insight, Leadership, and Dialogue). Watch interview
United Spaces
Göran was one of the co-founders and part-owners of United Spaces in 2000. It is probably the world’s first co-working space, now with ten offices in five major cities in Sweden, and was sold to Castellum in 2019.
Contact: Phone +46 8 7163677, mail gennvi@natureacademy.se