Alastair McIntosh's Home Page

Click picture for hi-res photo downloads (Photo: Sara Bain, Skye)

Shortcut links to Key Material

Twitter: @alastairmci

New publications this past year

Upcoming events public itinerary

Booking me & accountability

Contact information

Other Key Links

[An idea of speaking topics]

[Rare third party resources]

[Interviews, podcasts, videos, TEDx]

[BBC Thoughts for the Day]

[Letters to the Press]

Published articles

Full chronological index

Classified index (below):

Recent additions, past year:

The Future of Lough Neagh - my report on the study tour of The Lough Neagh Partnership to Hebridean community land trusts (Nov 2024)

Hope - a reflection for the Iona Community (Sep 2024)

Review of The Orgreave Stations - liberation theology and the 1984 Miners' Strike (Jun 2024)

A Sermon to the English on Land Reform, Dark Mountain special issue on "the land", (Jun 2024)

The Man of Calling - festschrift chapter for Prof Ulli Kockel, on the Tao of leadership in teaching (May 2024)

Two articles: Magne Oftedal's Leurbost Gaelic & Ishbel Maclennan obituary, Lochs News, Isle of Lewis (Apr 2024)

'Don't be angry with the river', report on GalGael Trust trip to Iona, with link to Testimony to the late boat designer Iain Oughtred (Apr 2024)

First Principles and Second Sight - video, in one-to-one conversation with philosopher Iain McGilchrist (Dec 2023)

Prayer for the Day on BBC Radio 4, six texts PDF and audio link, 25 Nov - 1 Dec (Dec 2023)

Two articles: On 'unmediable violence' & Quaker charism beyond war, in The Friend (Nov 2023)

Data Set on our solar & heat pump renewable energy system, 64% reduction in CO2 emissions (updates)

Interviews selected press, radio, TV & podcast (to date)

[BBC Thoughts for the Day (to date)

Twitter feed

All publications

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. The tabs above for are for main themes, and links on the left include a classified index of my publications and some other key ports of call.

I grew up and was educated on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland,. Together with four years in the 1970-80s working with appropriate technology in Papua New Guinea, my background gave me a grounding that has shaped my life's work. Much of this has focussed on land reform, community empowerment and the psychology and even spirituality of the wider human condition.

Since 2004, my wife Vérène Nicolas and I have lived within the parish boundary of Govan in the City of Glasgow where I am a founding trustee of the GalGael Trust. This works to "demonstrate ways of living with greater humanity in our times", helping one another to rebuild community and to counter unjust social structures that impact upon a hard-pressed urban area. Véréne is French. We met in rural Ireland in 1996, and she works with transformative learning and collaborative leadership.

Nearly all of what I've posted on this website has been previously published or delivered as an address. The resources here include landing pages for my books, the text of speeches, academic papers, articles and letters in the press, poetry, reports and some broadcasts. There's direct links to the past year's publications at the bottom left column of this page. Video etc. is either on the interviews menu, or provided as Zoom recording links for the current and previous year in my public itinerary lower down this page.

Since 1996, my work has been mainly freelance as a human ecologist, writer, speaker, researcher and activist. I am a Quaker, an honorary senior research fellow (honorary professor) in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, and as a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology was Scotland's first professor of human ecology at the University of Strathclyde. I have also held honorary fellowships at the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages (University of Ulster), the School of Divinity (University of Edinburgh) and the Schumacher Society.

What I do and stand for

This website broadly represents my work in human ecology - the study of and participation in relationships between the natural environment and the social environment. My approach to this integrates depth psychology and the spiritual. I understand the spiritual to be the inner ground of being in which our outer lives are held. In this, I am especially influenced by liberation theology in Christianity and other faiths, this being theology that liberates theology to liberate humanity. In choosing what to work on, I therefore ask questions like:

	Does what I do feed the hungry?
	Is it relevant to the poor or to the broken in nature?
	Is it meaningful?
	Does it give life?

In practice, this means working with professional groups, communities and key individuals within them to develop their vision, courage and capacity for practical change. It is the question of what gives life that most binds my work together, work that often involves holding seeming contradictions together in tension, and trying to approach matters with what the Celtic monks called "the inward ear of the heart" (Adomnán, Columba, II:13).

My books have variously been described as "weaving a dizzying range of ideas into a single bright fabric" by the poet John Burnside, "an inspiration to anyone who cares about their own connection to place" by Professor Carolyn Merchant, "a life-giving vision for our collective future" by Professor Michael E. Mann, "solid on the science yet dedicated to the human spirit" by Professor Katharine Hayhoe, "careful, sober reasoning" by Mary Midgley, "a spiritual journey" by Starhawk, "world-changing" by George Monbiot, "life-changing" by the Bishop of Liverpool and "truly mental" by Tom Yorke of Radiohead.

Places at which I have spoken or taught include:

	Environmental organisations including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, WWF International, the Society for Ecological Regeneration and Schumacher College;
	Religious bodies such as the World Council of Churches, the Holy Trinity Sergyev monastery and Iona Abbey;
	Military institutions (on nonviolence) regularly at the UK Defence Academy, also the Royal College of Defence Studies, the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, the Irish Military College and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy;
	Business groups including Groupe Credit Mutuel, Shell plc, Nokia Research Centre and Lafarge (on whose Sustainability Stakeholders' Panel I sat for a decade);
	University institutions including the Russian Academy of Sciences, Duke Divinity School, INSEAD business school, the Glasgow School of Art and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama;
	Festivals including the Edinburgh International, Ashville Wordfest, Greenbelt, HowTheLightGetsIn and the Lochs Agricultural Show back home in the Isle of Lewis.

Background and availability for events

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). A CV and short bio is here.

Since 1996 I've made my living on an entirely self employed basis - writing, broadcasting, 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 are all given here. I undertake live and online events, and have the technology to offer blended events using Zoom.

The pandemic has caused most face-to-face events to have been cancelled or shifted online from 2020 into early 2022. However, I am fully vaccinated, and for in-person invitations can offer to bring and operate Zoom-adequate cameras and studio-quality wireless microphones to enable blended events.

I run this website to represent myself professionally. Its main purpose is to make my published work readily available and to give events information. Forgive it being a homespun website. I use antique FrontPage software from the last century, but it does a good enough job and I know how to manage it myself. Treat it as a retro experience.

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 can be DM'd without requiring to follow. I do not normally use other social media.)

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, WhattsApp and Zoom: but unless it is a pressing matter please first try to 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.

If you are viewing in iOS or similar "Reader" mode, temporarily "hide reader", or otherwise turn it off, to view the timetable below and links above and to the side. Reader modes generally only let you see plain text. They don't display a full web page with boxes, tables, etc..

Alastair McIntosh's Itinerary of Main Events This table shows roughly which dates I'm booked up for, with booking links and, often, links to previous events' video recordings. That is why last year's activity is in the left column and this year's and beyond on the right. For information on booking me please 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 sometimes be swapped with another presenter. Events marked "s.t.c." are "subject to consent/confirmation", and it is always best to confirm the time and venue of events with the organisers' information before turning up.
	2023 (last year)	This Year - 2024+
	As this year continues to see Covid uncertainty, I can offer Zoom facilities for up to 500 participants. I also have portable equipment for my events to offer blended meetings with excellent speaker & audience audio and wide-angle audience camera. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 27 Jan 2023 (changed date), (preparation previous day). Speaking on the panel at a public meeting on Falkland Estate’s Future: Learning from the communities of Eigg and Langholm, 1900 - 2100, Falkland Palace, Fife, Register here. Scottish launch of the new edition of Poacher's Pilgrimage: a Journey Into Land and Soul at the Pitlochry Winter Words Literature Festival, 1530 - 1630, Fri 10 Feb. At Work in the Ruins, I will be in dialogue with Dougald Hine about his new book, together with Caro Ross & Dougie Srang at the GalGael Trust, 15 Fairley St., Glasgow, 1930, Sat 11 Feb. Eventbrite tickets here, by donation, note that workshop will be cold so dress warmly. Delivering the Dick Balharry MemorialTalk 2023 to the Ramblers Association of Scotland to mark the anniversary of the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act - "Land Reform, Access, and the Renewal of Relationship" - both in-person in Edinburgh and blended by Zoom, 28 Feb. Video recording here and text version here. Lead speaker in the Maryport Arts & Literary Festival for the English launch of the new edition of Poacher's Pilgrimage: a Journey into Land and Soul, 1930 (doors open 1900), Sat 4 Mar, Senhouse Roman Museum. Building on the above at Maryport, a workshop the next morning, Sun 5 Mar, 0945 - 1130:The Pilgrimage of Life, details & ticket info at the event link above. Talk, The Basket of Community, as a contributor to the course KINSHIP 2023: World as Archipelago by Advia, 1800, Tue 7 Mar. Watch video. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 14 Mar, (preparation previous day). Leading the Quaker Westerly Gathering,The Pilgrimage of Life, Crianlarich youth hostel, Fri 17 to Sat 18 March, fully booked. On BBC Radio Scotland Sunday Morning With, discussing "after the Pandemic", Sun 19 Mar. A sharing and discussion on Ground Zero: Atomic Theology and Third Millennium Christianity with SCANA: Scottish Christians Against Nuclear Arms,1000, Tue 21 Mar., (by Zoom, members only). Private event pre the next day's Carbon Offsets conference, 1900, Wed 22 Mar. Keynote speaker in the Carbon Offsetting and Communities conference, on "Who is 'the community' and why does it matter?", Scottish Universities Insight Institute, Strathclyde University, 23 - 24 Mar. Podcast of my talk. Meeting with Open Seas to discuss marine protection, private, 1000, Sat 25 Mar. In conversation with the Isle of Iona artist Mhairi Killin, Looking North Through Art, University of St Andrews, 1330-1430, Wed 5 April. Watch video here. BBC Radio Scotland repeat of interview with Verene and I on pain, cultural trauma and Good Friday, 0600 - 0630. Listen to it here. Quaker membership interviewing, 1700, Tue 11 Apr., private event. Interview with Caspar Henderson, out on Loh Lomond, Wed 12 Apr., unavailable all day. Meeting with Tayvallich Initiative community representatives, 1800, Thu 13 Apr., private event. A sharing with Prof Laura Hope-Gill's creative writing class, Lenoir-Rhyne Uni, N. Carolina, by Zoom, 2030 Thu 13 Apr, private event. Talk on imagination in academic research methodology, Towards an Ecology of the Imagination in "Composting the City", University of Warwick,1915 - 2045, Tue 18 Apr, by Zoom. Community Land Scotland consultation on "rewilding" and land reform, 1300, 20 Apr, private event. Leading GalGael Trust retreat to Iona, Sat 22 - Tue 25 April.Read the report. Iona Community, to discuss leading Oct 2024 week at Iona Abbey, 1300, Mon 1 May. Our Seas consultation over HPMAs, 1500, Thu 4 May, private event. GalGael Trust Iona group post-event sharing, 1500, Thu 11 May. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 19 May, (preparation previous day). 1st research interview by Lucy Rist, University of Stockholm, about lecturing on peace to the military, 1100 - 1300, Fri 19 May, private event. Meeting with community leaders in Papua, Indonesia, Zoom to discuss theology of land and community empowerment, 0930, Thu 25 May, private event, but see Training for Transformation Papua. 2nd research interview by Lucy Rist, University of Stockholm, about community empowerment work in New Guinea, 1100, Mon 29 May, private event. Video interview with host Diego Mcall, University of Barcelona on newly released CLS discussion paper: The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Carbon, 2000, 30 May. Watch here. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 13 Jun, (preparation previous day). Recording podcast with host Craig Dalzell on CLS natural capital, 'rewilding' and land reform discussion paper, 1400, Wed 14 Jun. Listen here. Introducing the film Second Sight (Alison McAlpine) with the tradition bearer Margaret Bennett and the 'ghost car' in the Folk Film Gathering, Cameo Theatre, Edinburgh, 1800, Fri 16 June. Watch the video link at bottom here (£2.80). On BBC Radio Scotland's Sunday Morning discussing Marianna in Conspiracy Land BBC podcast series - conspiracy theories and the art of holding a conversation - 0830 - 0900, Sun 18 June, listen here for next 30 days. GalGael Trust board meeting, Glasgow, 1715, Tue 20 Jun. Story & poetry on the each-uisge, the Gaelic water horse as a latter-day ghost car (o yes!), at GalGael Trust's summer solstice gathering, in the Unexpected Garden (round the back of 15 Fairley St) 1800, Thu 22 Jun, all welcome. Hiding away in a house swap in the Hebrides, 7 - 20 July. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Thu 27 Jul, (preparation previous day). AGM of Our Seas, hosting at GalGael Trust's "unexpected garden" (GalGael being a member), evening Thu 27 Jul. Facilitating and feeding pilgrims with the Coat of Hopes COP26 at the Glasgow Quaker Meeting House, Sat 28-29 March. NatureScot meeting with Community Land Scotland, Scottish Land Commission, etc., to discuss Community empowerment and green finance/investment partnership,partly in response to my Discussion Paper, Tue 22 Aug, Battleby, private event. Hosting the Canadian-Scots-Maori scholar of indigenous peoples Lewis Williams, Thu 24 - Sun 27 Aug, s.t.c.. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 29 Aug, (preparation previous day). Taking GalGael to the Peter Howson expedition and Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, Wed 30 Aug.. Hosting Maori-Scots British Academy scholar Lewis Williams in a sharing on Indigenous environmental philosophy and the ethical remembering of who we are, 1800, Thu 24 Aug, GalGael Trust, Glasgow. Guest in discussion at Totnes Left Book Group of my book (with Matt C) Spiritual Activism: Leadership as Service, register for in person event in Totnes here (I'll be dropping in by Zoom for Q&A from around 1700), 1530 - 1800, Tue 29 Aug. Presentation on The Point of Modern Scottish Land Reform: the Eigg Trust and Community Cohesion at UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference, St Andrew's Building, School of Education, University of Glasgow, Tue 5 Sep, private event. Recording BBC Sounds podcast interview on land reform, 1700, Thu 7 Sept. Teaching a day workshop and possibly a public lecture, The Recovery of Indigeniety: Land, People and Imagination, Findhorn Community, Cullerne House, Forres, Sun 10 - Tue 12 Sep (fully booked). Public talk, requested by Findhorn residents, Discernment - 'an all-consuming fire' in the Universal Hall, Findhorn, 1900 - 2030, Mon 11 Sep, all welcome, free (contact Rebecca Miles). (This talk, shaped by the material shared above, will reflect upon 'he spiritual callings of our times some half a century since the 1960s counterculture reached the North of Scotland). Watch video here. In France, visiting wife's relatives & holiday, 14 - 27 Sept. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Wed 4 Oct, (preparation previous day). Delivering the annual ecotheology lecture to The Hazelnut Community, "Prayer as the Cosmic Root of Poetry", 1930 - 2100 Tue 17 Oct, Zoom video with discussion here. A sharing with a mainly BIPOC (black, indigenous & other people of colour) folk on course with Kincentric on The Recovery of Indigeniety, 1800, Wed 18 Oct. (private, Zoom). "Mightier than a lord?" Community Land Week event with simple shared meal at GalGael Trust, Glasgow, 1800 - 2100, Thu 19 Oct. A sharing on Soil and Soul with creative writing students at Lenoir-Rhyne University, N. Carolina, by Zoom, private evnet, 2300, Thu 19 Oct. Guest on BBC Radio Scotland, Sunday Morning, on sense of time through the stages of life (with Dr Ruth Ogden), then on rules of engagement and "just war" in contemporary war (with UN advisor Mark Mueller). Between about 0840 and 0920, Sun 29 Oct (Nb. clocks gone back), listen for 30 days at this link. Participant in Scotland's Land: one resurce, many uses, Scottish Futures Forum, Scottish Parliament, afternoon Mon 30 Oct, private event. Speaking in the New College Festival, Books & Belief, Edinburgh University Divinity with Merryn Glover & Alistair Moffat, about spirituality and Poacher's Pilgrimage, evening Fri 3 Nov. GalGael Trust board meeting, evening Tue 7 Nov, Glasgow. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 14 Nov, (preparation previous day). Teaching in Centre for Human Ecology's "Degrowth Course 2023", lectures and discussion on Land, People & Power and, How do we know what we think we know? The epistemology of Radical Human Ecology, Gullane, Fri 17 - Sat 18 Nov. In conversation in lieu of a sermon on the spirituality of climate change - with Doug Gay at Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church of Scotland, Glasgow, 1100, Sun 19 Nov. Presenting BBC Radio 4 Prayer for the Day, for 2 mins each morning at 0543 from Sat 25 and Mon 27 Nov to Fri 1 Dec (i.e. excluding the Sunday). PDF of texts here (listern links live for 6 months). GalGael Trust Annual Gathering AGM, 1800 Thu 14 Dec, 15 Fairley St, Glasgow (postponed from 7th). Public discussion with Iain McGilchrist, chaired by Jonathan Rowson, evening 1900 - 2040, Tue 19 Dec, by Zoom. Video recording here. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 29 Dec, (preparation previous day).	BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Fri 12 Jan 2024. Meeting with NatureScot (SNH) & Community Land Scotland for an update on communities, carbon & biodiversity issues,1400, Mon 15 Jan. Community Capacity Building with Papua, Indonesia, online training session 1 of 5, 0700 - 1100, Fri 26 Jan. Open Path Lecture (conversational) to mental health professionals, The Recovery of Psychology as Engagement with the Soul, Open Path Psychotherapy Collective, online 2 pm USA Eastern Standard Time, 1700 UK time, Thu 1 Feb. View recording (free) on Vimeo, here. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 13 Feb, (preparation previous day). A talk to the Interfaith Glasgow event - What will re-ignite the climate movement? Faith, hope or righteous anger? - St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow, 1400 - 1600, Sun 18 Feb. Free, in-person, register here [almost sold out as of 13th]. Ecology of the Imagination, an interview with Dr David Lorimer of the Scientific and Medical Network, recorded Tue 20 Feb, listen to podcast here. Community Capacity Building with Papua, Indonesia, online training session 2 of 5, 0700 - 1100, Fri 23 Feb. Speaking in Creativity, Community and Change, an event of Forth Environment Link and Creative Degrowth Network, on: "The Artist as Activist in Rekindling Community Spirit." The Barracks, Stirling, 1300-1700, Tue 27 Feb, tickets (in-person) here. [Sorry -sold out]. Speaking in the Maryport Arts and Literature Festival, Cumbria, on my books, Riders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being and Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power, Fri 1 - Sat 2 Mar (speaking Sat morning). Guest lecture on Land, Community & Power on master's course at Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh, Mon 11 March. Taking GalGael Trust participants to Isle of Iona, Fri 15 - Mon 18 Mar. Sharing with the staff of Community Land Scotland, Govan, Glasgow, noon Tue 19 Mar. Public talk for Glasgow Life, Climate, Community and the Crisis of Meaning, Mitchell Library, 1830 - 1930 Tue 19 Mar, free, info & tickets here. Community Capacity Building with Papua, Indonesia, online training session 3 of 5, 0700 - 1100, Fri 22 Mar. Te Tiriti based futures Anti-racism 2024 Event of the Tāmaki Tiriti workers - a breakfast (NZ) or fireside (Europe) chat about my book Soil and Soul, 1930 Fri 22 Mar UK time, 0830 Sat 23 Mar NZ time, Sat 23 Mar, for an hour. View video recording here. Speaking on a panel on "Carbon: Offsetting it, Capturing it and Reducing it", with Prof Steve Keen and Katie Gallogly-Swan, in the Scotonomics Festival of Economics, and drawing on my natural capital discussion papers. The Little Theatre, Dundee, 1150 - 1245, Sun 24 Mar, full programme & tickets here. Hosting an online Memorial Gathering "after the manner of Friends" for the late Iain Oughtred, boatbuilder, Quaker and artist in wood, wind and music. Thu 28 Mar, 1800 - 1930 GMT/UTC+0, zoom registration: https://bit.ly/oughtred Reconnecting, in the Isle of Eigg, Sat 6 - Sat 13 April. Panellist in webinar "Carbon Trading: Shifting Responsibility", by Scottish Ecological Design Association. See background papers on carbon offsetting published by Community Land Scotland here. Event at 1630, Thu 18 April, tickets here. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 30 Apr, (preparation previous day). Quaker response to Land Reform Scotland Bill 2024, 1200, Wed 1 May. Short talks on Beltane in Celtic lands, GalGael Trust, 1230 Wed 1 May for trainees and evening Thu 2 May for the wider community, based around BBC text, 15 Fairley St., Glasgow. Lecture to Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling students at The Garnethill Centre, Glasgow - Spirituality -1700 - 1915, Wed 1 May. Community Capacity Building with Papua, Indonesia, online training session 4 of 5, 0800 - 1200, Fri 3 May. Keynote address "Calling Back the Flow of Life to the Community" at conference Myth, Ritual and Practice for the Age of Ecological Catastrophe, European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment with the Lincoln Theological Institute, Potsdam, Germany, 17 - 19 May. Launch of festschrift for Prof Ullrich Kockel, 1600 - 1730, Mon 20 May. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Wed 22 May, (preparation previous day). Community Capacity Building with Papua, Indonesia, online training session 5 of 5, 0700 - 1100, Fri 24 May. Hosting a US student study group with Prof Laura Hope-Gill on creativity, community, writing and place, Glasgow, Fri 24 - Sat 25 May. GalGael Trust Board, 1700 - 2000, Tue 28 May. Contributing to Columba Week at Iona Abbey: a pilgrimage walk to St Columba's Bay (on the Tue daytime), a sharing on "Columba and a Hebridean Spirituality for Our Times" (Wednesday 7.30 pm) and a talk around my books in the Iona Community shop (Thu 4 pm): week 8 - 14 June, (now fully booked). Speaking on Kenneth White and the Shamanic Imperative at conference of the Advanced Research Centre and the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, The Life and Work of Kenneth White, University of Glagow, Fri 14 - Sat 15 June, bookings here. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, broadcast 0720ish, Tue 18 Jun, (preparation previous day). Isle of Lewis, family holiday, Fri 5 - Sat 20 July (corrected date). BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, preparation during daytime Thu 25 Jul, broadcast 0720ish the next day. Speaking to special collection for the GalGael Trust trips to Iona at Glasgow Quakers, morning Sun 28 July. Speaking at Young Friends (Quakers, Scotland and N of England) Summer Shindig camp, Sustainability Begins with Simplicity, Isle of Cumbrae, Mon 29 Jul, s.t.c.. Webinar of Lough Neagh Heritage Plan, Lough Neagh Partnership (Northern Ireland), invited speaker on Community Land Acquisition in Scotland, 1900, Tue 30 July. Watch the video here - my main input from 40 mins in. GalGael Trust Board, 1700 - 2000, Tue 20 Aug. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, preparation during daytime Thu 22 Aug, broadcast 0720ish the next day. Speaking in the 30th anniversary celebration of the Pollok Free State motorways protest, GalGael Trust, Sat 24 Aug, afternoon in Pollok woods and evening at GalGael's Unexpected Garden, near Ibrox subway. Speaking on community empowerment and leadership at the annual conference of the Development Trusts Association of Scotland, panel on Local Democracy with Lesley Riddoch & Tom Sneddon, Glasgow Caledonian University, afternoon, Tue 27 Aug. In discussion on Thinking Green About the Future with Laura Moodie at Kirkcudbright Fringe Festival, Cookery School venue, 1100 Fri 6 Sep (travelling down on 5th), booking t.b.a. here. In France with wife's family, Tue 10 - Sun 22 Sept. Discussion of liminal spaces and spiritual experience on Sunday Worship, BBC Radio 4, Sun 22 Sept, broadcast 0810, listen again online from about 8:15 in here. Discussion with medical professionals in "XR in Health", reading group of Riders on the Storm, by Zoom, 2000, Sun 22 Sept. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, preparation during daytime Wed 25 Sep, broadcast 0720ish the next day. Speaking on spirituality and sense of place in Dear Green Place, a weekend event of St Margaret's Episcopal Church, Newlands, Glasgow, afternoon Sat 28 Sep, free, info here. Leading a week with the Iona Community at Iona Abbey, Pilgrimage of Life (note changed title): a week to explore our lives as pilgrimage, deepening our resources to face climate change etc.. Sat 5 - Fri 11th Oct, details here - fully booked. Book reading and signing, Iona Community shop, Iona Abbey, 1600, Thu 10 Oct. A sharing at the Centre for Human Ecology visioning day, Pearce Institute, Govan, morning, Sat 12 Oct. Dialogue with Rob Benson's students at College of the Atlantic, Maine, USA, on Soil and Soul, by Zoom, 1800 (1300 EST) Fri Oct 18. Leading a study tour of The Lough Neagh Partnership to community land trusts in the Isles of Lewis and Harris, 19 - 27 Oct dates incl. other travel in the H&I. Study Tour itinerary: 22nd Ceann an Ora & local energy, welcome from David Cameron ex chair of Community Land Scotland; 23rd West Harris Trust, Bays of Harris Community Estate, St Clement's & Roineabhal, North Harris Trust, Harris Tweed Centre and/or The Social Distillery; 24th Galson Estate Trust, Carloway Estate Trust, Gearannan, Broch and Stones; 25th Stornoway Trust and Museum nan Eilean Stornoway. On BBC Radio Scotland's Sunday Morning programme discussing the American election, the UK budget and 'Let's Stop Shouting Day', from about 0910 - 0955, Sun 3 Nov, listen here. Keynote address, Celebrating Community Ownership: Deepening our Humanity, at the AGM of Greener Kirkcaldy, Sat 9 Nov, article. The Power of Silence: Three Quakers Share Personal Stories of Discovery, Scottish Interfaith Week, St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life & Art, I'll be sharing along with Nuala Watt and Mark Coleman of Glasgow Quaker Meeting, 1830 - 2100, Mon 11 Nov., free, no booking needed, details here. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, preparation during daytime Thu 14 Nov, broadcast 0720ish the next day. Seventy-Three Foundation community development planning retreat Papua provinces Indonesia, Stirlingshire, 18 - 21 Nov, private event. GalGael Trust board meeting, Govan, 1700 - 2100, Tue 19 Nov. "Land, Nature, Justice" - keynote address To Restore a Light Unto the Nations: Israel, Palestine and the Spiritual Power of Scottish Land Reform, an event of Highland - Palestine with Prof Mazin Qumsiyeh and Jessie Chang of Bethlehem University and local contributors, Boat of Garten, nr. Aviemore, 1400 - 1930, Sat 23 Nov. For info on this and Prof Manzin's and his wife's other Palestinian solidarity events in the Scottish Highlands, see here, and event registration here. A sharing on Mysticism: a Spiritual Awakening for Our Times for Glasgow Quakers Young Friends, 1930 - 2100 Mon 25 Nov, Glasgow Quaker Meeting House, 38 Elmbank Cresc., free and open to all in the age range teenager to 35. BBC Radio Scotland Thought for the Day, preparation during daytime Tue 3 Dec, broadcast 0720ish the next day. St Andrew's Day inaugural lecture to the National Convention on Scotand's Future, Edinburgh, evening 30 Nov, t.b.a.. Postponed probably to February 2025. GalGael Trust Board, 1700 - 2000, Tue 18 Feb 2025.

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Last Updated: 29-Nov-2024

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First created Sept 2000