Deepening Forces of Connection: Navigating Complexity Together

Join Ian Sanderson, Joanna Macy Earth Guardian Fellow, for a dynamic 2-hour online workshop designed as a continuation and deepening of the principles explored at the Reconnecting for a Just and Regenerative Future Conference in April 2025. And in case you missed it, Ian’s session at the conference entitled “Forces of Connection” will be sent out and included with your ticket confirmation.

Together, participants will move beyond recognizing interconnection to actively practicing ways of relating and patterning that honor the complexities of reality. We will integrate Indigenous-informed frameworks, systems thinking, and emergent co-creation!

Workshop Overview

In a world where nothing exists outside of its relationships, this workshop invites you to step into the field of connection itself—exploring not just what is related, but the living forces that bind us and give meaning to our reality. Drawing on Indigenous wisdom and thinkers like Tyson Yunkaporta ("Sand Talk"), as well as modern Regenerative Development frameworks, we will move from understanding to lived experience, challenging the pull of binary, reductionist thinking and cultivating awareness of the intricate, generative patterns that sustain knowledge and community over time.

What to Expect

Deepening Practice: Structured exercises will invite participants to notice, name, and explore “forces of connection” present in their own contexts, going beyond simple identification of relationships to sensing the energies within and between them.

Emergent Co-Creation: The session will offer interactive spaces for shared sense-making, where participant voices, experiences, and insights shape the unfolding process. We’ll hold the possibility of emergent activities that may surface and weave together the richest ideas and principles present in the group.

Pattern Recognition: We will use real-time collaborative methods to help uncover new patterns and connections that can inspire sustainable action and deeper relational skillfulness.

Practical Application: Throughout the session, participants will anchor insights with practical strategies for navigating complexity in work, activism, and daily life.

Naropa University welcomes participants with diverse abilities. If you require accommodations, please contact Kristin Anderson-Bohan at kbohan@naropa.edu at least two weeks prior to the event.