Home Work & Campaigns My Books Published Articles En d'Autres Langues CV/Short bio/Misc Search this Website

 Alastair McIntosh's Home Page

 

Poacher's Pilgrimage: an Island Journey is now out in paperback from Birlinn (UK/world) and Cascade (USA)

"This is the book I've been waiting to read all my life" - Cameron McNeish, mountaineer & BBC broadcaster

"Fascinating, provocative and, occasionally, very funny" - Joanna Kavenna, Times Literary Supplement

"I felt I had been led to holy ground" - Brian D McLaren, Foreword to the Cascade edition 

Video clips: Opus Earth author interview (5 mins); BBC TV Adventure Show (12 mins) Royal Society Ed TEDx (12 mins) 

 

Click picture for hi-res photo downloads

Shortcut links to Key Material

@alastairmci

[Contact information]

[Upcoming Events public itinerary]

[Booking me & accountability]

 

[Published articles - chronological]

Published articles - classified index:

  1. Community

  2. Globalisation

  3. Nonviolence

  4. Sustainability & climate

  5. Land Reform

  6. Superquarries

  7. Epistemology

  8. Scottish constitutional

  9. Psychology & ethnology

  10. PNG & South Pacific

  11. Theology & philosophy

  12. Consciousness studies

  13. Mythology & poetics

  14. Spirituality

 

Other Key Links

[An Idea of Speaking Topics]

[Index of rare third party resources]

[Interviews, podcasts, videos, TEDx]

[BBC Thoughts for the Day]

[Letters to the Press]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New This Past Year:  [Report of West Papua Province study tour to Hebrides (Jul 2019)]  [Doom and Dharma - spiritual politics of regenerative culture, in The Ecologist (Jul 2019)]  ['Mindrolling' Podcast with Raghu Marcus (June 2019)]  [Towards Third Millennium Christianity - PCN public lecture (Jun 2019)]  ['Spirituality and Social Activism' - book chapter with Matt Carmichael (May 2019)]  [GalGael Trust Isle of Iona visit report (Mar 2019)]  [Theological conversation with The Wee Flea (Jan 2018, 65 min video)]  [Three Reflections on Extinction Rebellion - in The Ecologist on psychology and spirituality, and in The Friend on discernment (Jan 2019)]  [State of the Nation Lecture 2018 - St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh (text with audio link), Nov 2018)]  [Obituary of Tom Forsyth of Scoraig, pioneering land reformer] (The Herald, Aug 2018)]  ['High Profiles' in-depth interview on my work (Jul 2018)]  [Derrick Jensen interview on Resistance Radio (Jul 2018, 45 mins)]  [Keynote address for 25th Anniversary of the Assynt Crofters' Trust (July 2018)] [5 Year data set on our solar & heat pump combo system - 64% cut in domestic carbon emissions (2018)]  [Interviews - press, radio, TV, podcast (to date)]  [BBC Thoughts for the Day (to date)]  [Twitter feed] 

 

Hello, and a warm welcome to the website of Alastair McIntosh. Thank you for visiting my home page. See below for contact details and my public itinerary. Also, the tabs above for main themes, and links to the left for a classified index of publications and some other ports of call.

Since 2004 I've live within the old parish boundary of Govan in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, where I am a founding trustee of the GalGael Trust. This works with multiple facets of urban poverty in seeking to release blocked flows within the human spirit. Since 1996, my work has been mainly freelance. I am a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology (CHE) of which I was previously director, an honorary senior research fellow (visiting professor) in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, and have held honorary fellowships or professorships at the universities of Strathclyde (Department of Geography & Sociology), Ulster (Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages) and Edinburgh (School of Divinity).

I run this site to represent myself professionally. Its main purpose is to make my published work readily available. Forgive it being an amateur website that is self-maintained, using antique FrontPage software from the last century. If you've only landed here to get the retro experience, then make yourself at home.

Nearly all of what I've posted has been previously published or delivered as an address, usually involving peer review. It includes items from local newspapers, the national press, academic papers in refereed scholarly journals, magazine contributions, published letters and poetry, reports, speeches and some broadcasts. There are also sections with my interviews, podcasts and video, and of rare 3rd party resource material. The latter is where I've scanned important but hard-to-find documents that are essential to my work or that of folks with whom I work.

I live with my wife, Vérène Nicolas who I met in Ireland in 1996. I was running a study tour and she was working on a farm, having a background in agriculture, economics and rural development. These days her work is mainly with transformative learning and collaborative leadership in community-based organisations. Both of us are Quakers.

 

What I do and stand for (updated September 2019)

 

What is found here broadly represents my work in human ecology - the study of and participation in relationships between the natural environment and the social environment. Some define human ecology in terms of population, environment, resources and development (PRED). My approach also integrates the psychological and spiritual backdrop to being a conscious human being in a living world. Much of my work is informed by the combination of practical action, study and reflection. In this, I am especially influenced by liberation theology - theology that liberates theology to do what it should do. In choosing what issues to work on, I therefore ask questions like:

bullet"Does what I do feed the hungry?"
bullet"Is it relevant to the poor or to the broken in nature?"
bullet"Does it contribute to understanding and meaningfulness?"
bullet"Does it give life?" 

In recent years, it has been the last of these questions that most binds my work together. To do human ecology, like doing theology, is to pull on a tangled ball of string. You cannot unravel one loop until you've understood the network of connections. For me, such interconnection is the essence of reality and the basis of consciousness. It is about the spiritual, which is to say, life as love made manifest. It is the innermost structure that underpins the outer forms of things, including their psychology, ecology, politics, economics and forms of collective religious expression. That is why I believe that what the world most needs today is a deepening of spiritual vision. Science gives outer sight, but spirituality complements this with insight. Such understanding is the key to my work and ability to maintain hope, even where the grounds for optimism might be frayed.

 

My background, writing and activism

Born in 1955, all of my school education (1960-73) took place in the community where I was raised, on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles. A traditional Scottish education allows for a generalist worldview. I hold a BSc in geography from the University of Aberdeen (1973-77) submajoring in psychology and moral philosophy, a financial MBA from the University of Edinburgh (1980-81), and a PhD by published works in liberation theology, land reform and community empowerment from the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages, University of Ulster (2008). For a CV and short bio see here.

My work is mainly represented through the books and articles linked from the tabs along the top of this page. The best known are Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power (2001) and Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition (2008). My books have variously been described as "world-changing" by George Monbiot, "inspirational" by Rowan Williams while Archbishop of Canterbury, "careful, sober reasoning" by the philosopher Mary Midgley, and "truly mental" by the singer Thom Yorke of Radiohead.

My two most recent books draw together much of my life's work. Spiritual Activism - Leadership as Service (Green Books, 2015) is co-authored with Matt Carmichael. It is a practical guide, based on a quarter century of postgraduate teaching, and was named Book of the Year by Sir Jonathan Porritt, formerly chair of the UK Government's Sustainable Development Commission.

Poacher's Pilgrimage: an Island Journey (Birlinn, 2016; Cascade 2018 in USA) has been described by the Rev Kathy Galloway of the Iona Community as "a quite wonderful book - a theology of justice and peace and love re-presented through human ecology." I use a twelve day walk through remote and rugged terrain on the island of my childhood to explore the roots of war and alienation in our times. It breaks through into an ecology of the imagination, and spiritual insights for the third millennium.

My best-known work includes Scottish land reform as commenced with the Isle of Eigg (1990 - present), the Harris superquarry battle (1992 - 2004), the spirituality of community, identity, belonging and place (1986 - present), nonviolence and understanding war (1976 - present), the psychospirituality of climate change (2006 to present), and radical human ecology (1990 - present). For further information on my current work and campaigns click here.

Less well-known is my work with South Pacific education, development and ethnography (1980-91 in Papua New Guinea and 2012 onwards in Indonesian West Papua), sustainable tropical forestry (1984-95), micro-hydro electric and alternative energy (1978-86 and 2012 onwards), the depth psychology of cigarette advertising (1995-96), corporate social responsibility in the cement industry with Lafarge (2004-13), NGO marketing, PR, finance & management (1980-1990), parapsychology and consciousness research (1973-1980), cultural psychotherapy, conflict and power analysis (1994 - present), the GalGael Trust, urban poverty and cultural renewal (1997 - present) and applied liberation theology (1977 - present).

 

Availability for Events, livelihood and travelling

Since 1996 I've made my living on an entirely self employed basis - writing, broadcasting with the BBC, keynote speaking at events, workshops, retreats, taught courses and consultancy. For availability see my public itinerary, and a rough idea of the kind of things I talk about at this list. My personal financial accountability, my suggesting scale of charging for events, and my approach to travel in the face of climate change is given here. We now have good broadband so I am able to connect for online talks and presentations if required.

Places at which I have spoken or taught in recent years include the universities of Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Exeter, Bath, Cape Breton, Saskatchewan and Florida, the Russian Academy of Sciences (Economics Dept), INSEAD European Management School, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Glasgow School of Art, the British Council, the Irish School of Ecumenics at the University of Ireland, the World Council of Churches, Groupe Credit Mutuel, Shell plc, Nokia Research Centre, Lafarge SA (where I sat until 2013 on their Sustainability Stakeholders' Panel), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Schumacher Lectures and Schumacher College, Greenbelt Festival, the Society for Ecological Regeneration, Friends of the Earth, WWF International and UK, Australia's Rainforest Information Centre, Transition Towns, the Diocese of Liverpool, the Iona Community, the Scottish Crofting Foundation, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Learning and Skills Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government, the Jakarta Institute of Theology, the Defence Academy's Joint Services Command & Staff College (JSCSC, on nonviolence), the Royal College of Defence Studies, École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, the Irish Military College and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

 

Where now? - Riders on the Storm

I spend about half of most days dealing with correspondence and seeing visitors. It is a joy to get such feedback, though I often struggle to cope with it efficiently. I give priority of time to activists and young scholars (masters and doctorate candidates) working with social, environmental or religious change. When we can, Vérène and I get out in our canoes and we about once a week we have a shared meal with our neighbours at the GalGael Trust, a mile down the road.

One major area of work this past year that builds on themes opened up in Poacher's Pilgrimage is exploring a Christian spirituality that might be fit for purpose for the third millennium, one that rests on principles of nonviolence rather than authoritarian control. I may work on a short book on this during 2020. As of the autumn of 2019, I am working on a short book on climate change for Birlinn, Riders on the Storm. Here is the draft publisher's blurb.

Dangerous climate change means that massive social change is essential if much of the earth can remain habitable. What needs to happen will challenge our politics, our economics and our technical capacity. But above all these, it will be a challenge to our humanity. In this succinct and passionate new book, Alastair McIntosh examines the drivers in the human psyche that have allowed unfettered consumerism to threaten the planet. He argues for a radical shift in our consciousness of what it means to be human at this stage in our evolution. His message is not one of optimism, but of building on soul and meaning in these troubled times. Of building the capacity for resilience and regeneration that can make us riders on the storm.

 

Back  to Top of Page

 

Contact Information:

 

Alastair McIntosh

26 Luss Road

Glasgow

G51 3YD

Scotland / Ecosse

 

 

Email - mail@AlastairMcIntosh.com (preferred first point of contact)

 

Mobile (cellphone): +44 (0) 7444 580 380 (preferred second point of contact)

 

Twitter: @alastairmci (I am not on other social media, I can be DM'd without requiring to follow)

 

For work issues please try to avoid phoning outside weekday working hours. Remember time zones - we're in GMT or BST in summer (i.e. GMT+1). If you need to discuss something that requires much thought I prefer an email first if possible to arrange a mutually convenient calling time. I am on Skype, Facetime and WhattsApp but unless it is a pressing matter please first arrange any call by email or text.

 

 

Directions to our home/office:

 

Public Transport: For public transport in Scotland, it is worthwhile downloading the Traveline Scotland app. If coming from central Glasgow, take the subway (underground train) to either Govan or Ibrox. They're each one mile from our house. From Govan is a more interesting walk, but Ibrox is a simpler route and less congested if we're picking you up by car (see below if walking). From either Govan subway station or the city centre (Renfield St), you can get a McGills Route 26 bus to the second stop on Craigton Road, from where we're the next street up on the right. The fare is £3.60 from town as of the start of 2018). They're every 10 or 16 minutes during the day, but the timetable is unreliable. Our house is no. 26, half way along Luss Rd on the right. If coming from city centre's Queen St or Central stations, the stops for the 26 bus are on Renfield Street (extending onto Union Street). Taxis up from Govan are about £4, from city centre about £12, and from the airport about £20.

 

If walking from the subway exit at Ibrox, turn right onto Copland Road. Up to the lights and turn right. Pass alongside the Rangers football stadium, go straight on over the first roundabout, straight over the second roundabout, on to the lights, turn right down Craigton Road, and Luss Road is the 5th exit on the left (depending on what you count as an exit).

 

By Car: If coming on the M8 from east or west, exit at junction 24 (Helen Street), signposted for Govan. Head downhill and over the lights to a roundabout, as if heading to the Clyde Tunnel. Turn left at the roundabout then right at the lights into a residential area, Craigton Road (signposted to "Elderpark Workspace"). Luss Road is the 3rd on the left (or 4th depending on what you count). 

 

If coming by car from the North via the Clyde Tunnel, as you exit the tunnel prepare to take the first left just at the tunnel's end. Be careful - it comes on you very quickly and it's easy to overshoot. This brings you out onto Govan Road with a very large roundabout. Turn right at this, onto Drive Road, passing a Elder Park on your left. At the end of Drive road, keep the park on your left by turning left onto Langlands Road. Take the 3rd right, just before you lose the park, onto Arklett Road, then 2nd right is Luss Road.

 

Avoid the M8 approaches if you can when there's a football match on at Ibrox. There may also be parking congestion at such times. Taxi drivers from outwith this area do not know it well. Tell them that you want Luss Road which is off Craigton Road, and to take the Helen Street exit if coming from the M8.

 

 

 

Alastair McIntosh's Itinerary of Main Events

This table shows roughly which dates I'm booked up for. It also shows what sorts of events I take on. For information on booking me for events please click here. For an overview of my typical speaking topics click here. Gaps in the timetable do not necessarily signify availability, especially over weekends, as this is not my private diary. Dates marked for delivery of Thought for the Day mean that I have to be near a BBC studio early that morning, and have time on the previous day for preparation - though these dates can be swapped with another presenter. Events marked "s.t.c." are "subject to consent/confirmation", and it is best to confirm events with the organisers' information before turning up.

2018 (last year)

This Year - 2019+

 

 

  1. Seminar on Land Reform, Theology and the Rekindling of Community for Neopolis (Manchester University accredited masters' programme), Glasgow, 1400 - 1800 Sunday 7 Jan, 2018. Bookings here.

  2. Delivering The Immortal Memory at the GalGael Trust's Burns' Supper - on the theme of Immortality. Thu 25 Jan.

  3. Talk at Glasgow School of Art (themed with "Celtic Connections"), on An Ecology of the Imagination: Suffering, Faerie and Some Farther Reaches of Human Being, Sat 27 Jan 2018, details t.b.a..

  4. GalGael Trust Board Meeting, Mon 29 Jan, Glasgow.

  5. Receiving Scotland's Children's Commissioner at the GalGael Trust, 1330 Tue 30 Jan.

  6. Short course to Senior Command & Staff Course, Irish Defence Forces Military College, Curragh, Co. Kildare, based on St-Cyr material on the themes, The Nonviolent Challenge to Conflict and The Depth Psychology of Conflict, Wed 14 - Thu 15 Feb.

  7. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Thu 22 Feb (preparation previous day).

  8. Leading GalGael Trust weekend to Iona Hostel, Fri 9 - Sun 11 Mar.

  9. Public talk on the bardic function, with readings from Poacher's Pilgrimage, organised by Fife Writes, 1930 Thu 22 Mar, (changed venue) PJ Molloys, 7 Canmore St, Dunfermline.

  10. GalGael Trust board meeting, Fri 23 March, 1200.

  11. Public lecture, Towards Third Millennium Christianity: Activism, Nonviolence and the Mystical Imperative, Sanctuary of the Augustine Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality & Peace, chaired by Prof Jolyon Mitchell, director of the Centre for Theology & Public issues, Uni of Edinburgh, Sat 24 March. Bookings.

  12. Lenten talk: Walking with Nonviolence in the Third Millennium, in the home of Sir Steven Runciman of Eigg & The Crusades. Hosted by his descendent, Rev Ann Shukman, 3 - 5 pm Sun 25 March, Elshieshields Tower, Lochmaben, nr Lockerbie, DG11 1LY. By donation, bookings.

  13. Edinburgh launch of the paperback of Poacher's Pilgrimage The Lighthouse bookshop, 8pm Thu 29 March, ticketed.

  14. Waterstones in Oban, launch of the paperback of Poacher's Pilgrimage jointly with Matt Hopwood launching A Human Love Story, 1830, Tue 3 Apr.

  15. Ashville Wordfest, North Carolina, special guest 12 - 15 April (and out of Scotland 10 - 21 April). Other events around those dates in North and South Carolina as listed below (t.b.c. = to be confirmed).

  16. Interview with WETS-FM radio, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, morning 11 April.

  17. Launch of the USA edition of Poacher's Pilgrimage (Cascade, Wipf & Stock), Malaprops Bookstore, Ashville, NC, 6 pm Fri 13 Apr, t.b.c.

  18. Ashville Wordfest, NC, conference keynote address jointly with Norman Bissell: Geopoetics, Land & Cultural Renewal, 11 am Sat 14 Apr.

  19. Ashville Wordfest, talk on Scotland, Slavery and the Isle of Donald Trump, Sat 14 Apr, afternoon, t.b.c.

  20. Wake Forest University, North Carolina, speaking to Luke Johnstone's & Fred Bahnson's classes and evening public lecture on Working With Intergenerational Trauma: Scottish Land Clearance and Donald Trump, Tue 17 Apr.

  21. Duke Divinity School, North Carolina speaking to Norman Wizbra's class, on themes related to the land, power, community empowerment and Trump in Poacher's Pilgrimage, Wed 18 Apr.

  22. College of Charleston, South Carolina, Dept of Religious Studies speaking to Todd LeVasseur's class and public lecture, Thu 19 Apr, details t.b.c. (back to Scotland 21 Apr).

  23. Speaking in the Scottish Storytelling Centre's Folk Film Gathering, A Sense of Place: Film Ceilidh, 1750, Sun 29 Apr, Edinburgh Filmhouse.

  24. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 4 May (preparation previous day).

  25. Bothy conversation on Donald Trump's maternal Hebridean psychohistory at a John Sturrock mediation conference, Edinburgh, evening 9 May.

  26. Keynote address, Nurturing Seedlings, to the Belgium and Luxembourg Yearly Meeting of the Quakers, Maldeghem, Belgium, 10 - 11 May.

  27. Talk at National Library for Scotland on Poacher's Pilgrimage with emphasis on old maps and mapping, 1400 Tue 15 May, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, book free tickets.

  28. Talk on A Pilgrimage of Homecoming - exploring themes from Poacher's Pilgrimage with homeless people and other friends - at The Grassmarket Community Project, Edinbugh, 1630, Tue 15 May, details t.b.a..

  29. Helping to host Native American singer and teacher Wade Fernandez (Wiciwen Apis-Mahwaew) at the GalGael Trust, tickets £2.50 - £10.00.

  30. Lecture on Doing Radical Human Ecology: Reconciling Academia and Activism, to Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, University of Coventry, morning of Fri 25 May, details t.b.c..

  31. Speaking on Spiritual Activism to Young Friends General Meeting, Manchester gathering, 1415 Sat 26 May.

  32. Address on "Geopoetics, the Auld Alliance and the Harris Superquarry Campaign" at the Kenneth White (geopoetics) colloquium, Franco-Scottish Literary Exchanges: Translation, Diaspora and Nomad Thought, University of Glasgow, Tue 29 May (with Kenneth White present), bookings here.

  33. Leading a local excursion for the Franco-Scottish Literary Exchanges geopoetics conference, 1015 at GalGael Trust and 1330 at The Govan Stones, Wed 30 May. For the programme that follows at 1500 at the Alliance Francaise de Glasgow, book here.

  34. Public talk - Activism from a State of Grace (scroll down) - Upper Community Centre, Findhorn Foundation, 1930 Fri 1 June.

  35. Leading a week on Spiritual Activism: Leadership as Service, at the Findhorn Foundation, Sat 2 - Fri 8 June, bookings here.

  36. Speaking on "The Ten Beatitudes" at Columba Fest, Iona Community, Glasgow, Sun 10 June

  37. Keynote address on "Growing Up and Growing Back a Maritime Community” at the Sea Scotland conference on Empowerment in marine stewardship: Emerging opportunities for citizens and communities in Scotland, Bay Hotel, Kinghorn, Wed 20 June.

  38. Presentation to the National Museum of Scotland and filming of key items associated with my work on Scottish and international land reform, GalGael Trust, Glasgow, 1800, Thu 21 June.

  39. Speaking on the divine feminine at the Soul of WoMen conference, Allanton World Peace Sanctuary, near Dumfries, Sat 23 June.

  40. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Wed 27June (preparation previous day).

  41. Giving the keynote address on land reform and community empowerment for The Assynt Crofters' Trust 25th Anniversary Celebration, North Assynt Estate, 1100 Sun 1 - Mon 2 July.

  42. Holiday on Isle of Lewis Mon 2 Jul - Mon 9 Jul.

  43. Guest lecture on Nonviolence in The Realities of Conflict module of the Advanced Command & Staff Course, UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Thu 12 July.

  44. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Wed 18 Jul (preparation previous day).

  45. Running a training for the Global Environments Summer Academy at St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, Tue 31 Jul - Wed 1 Aug.

  46. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Wed 15 Aug (preparation previous day).

  47. Speaking on Poacher's Pilgrimage at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 1730 on Sun 19 Aug.

  48. On Lewis, touching base, Wed 22 - Sat 25 Aug.

  49. Visiting Verene's family & holiday, Wed 29 Aug - Wed 12 Sep.

  50. Addressing Quaker General Meeting Scotland on land reform and tax justice, Glasgow, 1100, Sat 15 Sep.

  51. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Wed 19 Sep (preparation previous day).

  52. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Tue 25 Sep (preparation previous day).

  53. On Scoraig & Lewis Wed 3 - Sun 7 Oct, meetings and family.

  54. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Fri 12 Oct (preparation previous day).

  55. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Fri 26 Oct (preparation previous day).

  56. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Wed 7 Nov (preparation previous day).

  57. Keynote address at Small Earth Conference on ecopsychology - 9 Nov lecture Reclaiming What Gives Life followed by workshop Towards Cultural Psychotherapy using land reform as a case study. Snape Maltings, Suffolk, Thu 8 - Sat 10 Nov.

  58. Lecture to the Garnethill Councilling Association, Exploring Cultural Psychotherapy, at the Garnethill Multi-Cultural Centre, Glasgow, 1030-1230, Sat 3 November (note change of original date).

  59. GalGael Trust board meeting, evening Tue 13 Nov.

  60. Book Week Scotland talk on Poacher's Pilgrimage, Blackness Library, Dundee, 3pm, Tue 20 Nov, free but book here.

  61.  Book Week Scotland talk for the Isle of Luing Community Trust - Rebels with a Cause: Land, Power & Community - Atlantic Islands Centre, 4 - 6 pm, Sat 24 Nov (note change of time).

  62. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish,Wed 28 Nov (preparation previous day).

  63. GalGael Trust AGM, evening Thu 29 Nov in Clydehall (because our workshop is too cold at that later-than-usual time of year).

  64. Delivering the St Andrew's Day Lecture, a state of the nation address, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, 1900, Fri 30 Nov 2018.

  65. Speaking at a private Open Seas meeting of divers, fishers and marine conservators in Oban the seabed impact of scallop dredging, 1900, Wed 5 Dec.

  66. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Mon 10 Dec  (preparation previous day).

  67. Speaking on media responsibility in reporting climate breakdown at Extinction Rebellion Scotland protest at the BBC, 1000 Fri 21 Dec.

  68. Holding the GalGael Trust Iona Christmas meal, reflection on the deeper issues. Thu 27 Dec 2018.

 

  1. Dundee Writers' Read event, In Conversation with Kirsty Gunn, professor of Writing Practice & Study, University of Dundee, on the Writing of Poacher's Pilgrimage. At Tonic, 1500 - 1700, Wed 23 Jan.

  2. A Conversation … between Presbyterian Rev David Robertson (the 'Wee Flea') and Quaker Alastair McIntosh, St Peter's Free Church of Scotland, St Peter's Street, Dundee, 7pm, Wed 23 Jan. Video of event online here.

  3. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 29 Jan (preparation previous day).

  4. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 19 Feb (preparation previous day).

  5. Keynote address, Colonisation and Decolonisation of the Soul, at the Malvern Festival of Ideas (on the theme of Crisis), 1415 Sun 3 March.

  6. Taking GalGael Trust trainees to Iona for a weekend of reflection, Fri 8 - Sun 10 Mar.

  7.  BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Mon 18 Mar (preparation previous day).

  8. Public talk on Healing Nationhood: Brexit, Peace and Identity chaired by my co-author Matt Carmichael (Spiritual Activism), All Hallows Church, Leeds, 1845, Fri 22 March - tickets.

  9. PCN (Progressive Christian Network) public lecture in The Future of Faith series, ‘Towards Third Millennium Christianity:  Activism, Nonviolence and the Mystical Imperative’, day event starting 1100, Sat 23 March, Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire.

  10. A sharing with staff at Ruskin Mill, Gloucestershire, on Building Community, 1100-1400, Tue 2 Apr.

  11. Research seminar lecture on Christianity for the Third Millennium, Dept of Religion and Theology (Jon Balserak), University of Bristol, 1630 -1800, Tue 2 April.

  12. Leading a Pilgrimage of Life week on the Isle of Skye, 8 - 13 April, info and bookings.

  13. Verene and I leading a community study tour from West Papua Province, Indonesia, to Lewis & Harris, approx Sat 20 Apr - Tue 30 Apr.

  14. Speaking at a Welsh community land event, The Green Valleys, in Cardiff, Wed 1 May.

  15. A sharing on spirituality in our times with the Brigidine Sisters and close associates in Kildare, 1900 Monday 6 May.

  16. Lecture to Senior Command & Staff Course, Irish Defence Forces Military College, Curragh, Co. Kildare, on The Nonviolent Challenge to Conflict, Tue 7 May.

  17. As part of a series of talks and meetings in the Americas, 15 - 27 May, linked to my books Spiritual Activism and Poacher's Pilgrimage (including DJT's psychohistory). a sharing with Quakers at New York 15th Street Meeting, evening Thu 16 May.

  18. Quaker Institute for the Future with the New York Open Center, public lecture, Pilgrimage of Calling Back the Soul, 7.30-9.30pm, Fri 17 May.

  19. Lecture/workshop with the above joint hosts in NY, Spiritual Activism: Calling Back Indigenous Soul, 10.00 am - 1 pm, Sat 18 May;

  20. Lecture to the Hawthorne Valley Association, Hudson, upper NYS, A Pilgrimage into the Heart of Place, 2 pm Sun 19 May, Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School.

  21. Keynote speaker at the Activating a Global Shift peace symposium with Matthew Fox, Pat McCabe, Philip Hellmich & Swami Brahmananda at the Sivananda Ashram, Nassau, 22 - 26 May. Evening satsang: The Revolution will be Spiritual. Workshop: Decolonising Land; Decolonising Mind. Morning satsang: Engaging the Powers of Nonviolence.

  22. A private sharing on the burning questions of spiritual vocation with the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, Dublin, evening Thu 30 May.

  23. Speaking/officiating at a private event in Ireland, 30 May - 6 June.

  24. Leading a weekend course on Spiritual Activism with Matt Carmichael at Woodbrooke Quaker Centre, Birmingham, Fri 7 - Sun 9 June.

  25. Speaking and workshop at Extinction Rebellion Scotland camp, on Spiritual Activism: Is the Climate Crisis a Spiritual Crisis? 1500, Mon 13 June, Hollyrood, Edinburgh.

  26.  BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Wed 19 Jun (preparation previous day).

  27. Panel discussion with Shane Claiborne for Red Letter Christians, Augustine Church, Edinburgh, 1030, Fri 21 June. Tickets here.

  28. Speaking at Solas Festival, Sat 21 - Sun 23 June, Perthshire, Scotland. On Saturday 1130: Donald Trump and the Highland Clearances. On Sunday 1100: Nonviolence and an Activist Christianity.

  29. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Wed 3 Jul (preparation previous day).

  30. Main stage speaker at Edinburgh Climate Festival, The Meadows, Sat 6 July.

  31. Guest lecture on The Nonviolent Challenge to Violence in The Realities of Conflict module of the Advanced Command & Staff Course, UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Thu 11 - Fri 12 July.

  32. "Elder in residence" with 2 talks at the Fiesta weekend event of Earlsfield Friary, Fri 12 Jul - Sun 14 Jul..

  33. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 26 Jul (preparation previous day).

  34. Keynote address at The Art of Mentoring, Falkland, afternoon Thu 1 Aug, s.t.c..

  35. Public talk at Findhorn Foundation, Universal Hall, Grounding in the Godspace, evening Fri 2 Aug 2019.

  36. Week long course on Spiritual Activism: Leadership as Service at the Findhorn Foundation, Sat 3 Aug - Fri 9 Aug 2019, info and bookings here.

  37. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 13 Aug (preparation previous day).

  38. Edinburgh International Book Festival - speaking on panel on Land Reform, 1000, Fri 23 Aug, s.t.c..

  39. On holiday in France, Wed 28 Aug to Wed 11 Sept.

  40. Speaking at Community Dialogue, on land, community and roots of peace, St Columb's Park House, City of Derry/Londonderry, 18-19 Sept.

  41. Public talk on War, Peace and Community in our Times organised by the Theravāda Buddhist nuns of the Milntuim Hermitage, Comrie, Perthshire, 1930 Fri 27 Sept, White Church Community Centre (note changed date).

  42. Keynote address at Love Ecology event, Midland Hotel, Morecambe, Wed 2 Oct, details t.b.a..

  43. Keynote address, The Religious Education of the Future of at the Annual Hampshire & Wessex Secondary Religious Education Conference, Hampshire County Council, Winchester, Fri 18 Oct, travel down Thu 17.

  44. Speaking on our work with community groups in Papua & West Papua Provinces, Indonesia, at the Centre for Human Ecology, Pearce Institute, Govan, Glasgow, 6 pm Wed 23 Oct, details here.

  45. Speaking on Soil and Soul - the Play with Alan Bissett at the Nicolson Institute school, Isle of Lewis, 1230, Wed 30 Oct..

  46. Trial performance and discussion of Alan Bissett's play based on my book Soil and Soul, Faclan book festival, An Lanntair, Stornoway, Wed 30 Oct - tickets here.

  47. Speaking on Soil and Soul - the Play at Sir E Scott School, Isle of Harris, 1200 Fri 1 Nov..

  48. Speaking on a panel at the AGM of the John Muir Trust, Augustine Church, Edinburgh, 2pm - 5pm, Sat 9 Nov.

  49. Lecture to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre on Aspects of the Second Sight in Hebridean Culture, 1930 Tue 3 Dec 2019, 25 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh, tickets here.

  50. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 3 Jan 2020 (preparation previous day).

  51. Leading Iona weekend for GalGael participants, Fri 20 Mar - Sun 22 Mar, 2020.

  52. Teaching a course on Spiritual Activism, Findhorn Foundation, Scotland, Sat 28 Mar - Fri 3 Apr 2020, booking info here.

  53. Keynote lecture to the Unitarians' General Assembly, The Revolution will be Spiritual, Birmingham, 7 - 8 Apr 2020.

  54. Guest lecture on Nonviolence in The Realities of Conflict module of the Advanced Command & Staff Course, UK Defence Academy, 23-24 Apr 2020 s.t.c..

  55. Probably on Isle of Lewis 6-13 June 2020.

  56. Public talk, In our Doom is our Dharma: climate change and consciousness, Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, 7pm Wed 17 June 2020.

  57. Address to the Nordic Gathering of Yearly Meetings of Quakers, near Gothenburg, Sweden, 25-28 June 2020. Possible teaching on spiritual activism in Stockholm afterwards.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Material published on this site is my sole responsibility and is not necessarily endorsed by any other person or organisation that might be associated with it, including funders, colleagues and my internet service provider. A considerable portion of my work is unpaid and should, therefore, not necessarily be assumed to be funded by charitable organisations that support elements of what I do. Details of how my work is resourced is public information and may be found by clicking here. Any third party whose material might be placed or cited here, and who considers that it should be taken down, should contact me through the channels given on this page. Any errors of fact in these pages will be speedily and gratefully corrected if I am notified of a problem. As for perceived errors of opinion ... that is what debate is for.

 

 

Back to Top of Page

 

 

 

Last Updated: 15-Nov-2019

www.AlastairMcIntosh.com

 

Sept 2000:  Hit Counter