How can we make the most of our restorative time in nature? 

Of all our senses, listening can provide the most profound connection with the environment around us. And yet, we're not taught the skills of deeply listening, especially to the diverse voices of the natural world.  

Drawing on thirty years of experience, Andrew will get your ears tuned in. With vibrant sound recordings and visual presentations, he will introduce ways of appreciating birdsong, frog calls and insect choruses. His surprising understandings will inspire, giving you skills to listen with both the head and the heart. 

You'll hear the world around you in a completely new way. 

Mental and emotional wellbeing, nature connection, inspiration.

Whilst nature is vulnerable, it is also resilient in ways that may not be obvious to the eye.  

In 1994, Andrew documented the biodiverse soundscape of a temperate rainforest habitat in southeast Australia. In the 2019 megafires, it was immolated by a firestorm that reached 1000ºC. Five years later, he returned to witness a scene of remaining devastation; ancient trees standing as charred sentinels and majestic tree ferns reduced to incinerated stumps.  

Whilst these sights told of ecosystem catastrophe, the soundscape he encountered spoke of a surprisingly different story – one of renewal.  

Exploring this example, supported by other research data, Andrew considers the processes by which nature recovers from what may appear ruinous change.   

By reflecting on these natural processes, we can develop our own strategies for resilience.   

Environment, climate change, adaptation, conservation

Experience deep listening to nature.  

Andrew will guide a small group of participants into a sensitive, auditory perception of the environment around us. In silence, and walking slowly to calm our usually over-active minds, we will immerse ourselves in nature’s soundworld.  

Andrew will conclude by offering interpretation of what we’re hearing; identifying species by call, discussing vocal behaviours and why creatures use the sounds they do. 

This will be a practical, outdoor workshop, requiring appropriate clothing and precautions, and is suitable for groups of up to 15 participants.  

Life skills, mindfulness, lifestyle, nature attunement 

Contrary to the premise of western belief, the world is not a mechanism. As we're coming to realise, this thinking is flawed.  

The communities to which we belong – families, businesses, teams, organisations, societies, economies, the geopolitic – are, just like nature, complex living systems. They are founded in relationship, in which everything is interdependent upon everything else. A change in one area may have unanticipated consequences elsewhere. 

How can we learn to think in terms of interdependency, so as to recognise and nurture healthy systems? How can we develop systems thinking?  

Our best role model is listening to natural systems, and hearing how they function. Andrew discusses how, in doing so, we can:  

• value functional communications and relationships
• appreciate diversity as a strength, particularly at times of crisis
• identify feedback processes that generate ecosystem homeostasis
• recognise and avoid the three symptoms of impending system collapse. 

These principles may be applied to our human systems, with thought provoking implications. 

Adaptation, climate change, holistic thinking

We think of music as a cultural activity. But is it? What if music has biological and ancient origins, and is part of our human evolutionary journey? 

By exploring birdsong and the acoustic communications of the natural world, we can get a sense of what music is, and isn't. We can understand where our music making may have come from, and why it has become so deeply embedded in our animal being. The profound mystery of music begins to make sense.  

For creative and performing musicians, these understandings offer fresh context for artistic expression, particularly in the development of environmentally inspired art.  

Creativity, the arts, culture

The world currently faces a range of interconnected challenges - environmental, social and economic – which are increasingly impacting individuals, organisations and communities. 

Essentially, the issue comes down to: how can we live sustainably and safely on a planet with limited resources? 

Nature has solved this problem, and provides us with a model of sustainability. Because living systems are founded in relationships between organisms, communication underlies the continuance of life.  

This is where listening comes in. What can we hear when we listen to the environment around us? What can we learn about how living systems function, and how may we apply that to our human systems? 

This isn't mere philosophy. When applying learnings from nature to real world problems, we are practicing biomimicry – finding inspiration in the successes of nature.  

Sustainability, co-operation, diversity & inclusion   

Our economic and political systems are based on the virtues of competitive behaviour. Competition is essential to life; it brings out the best in us, punishes laziness, always leads to optimal outcomes and ... it's natural, right? 

Well, yes and no. The possibilities of both cooperation and competition exist in nature, but are responded to in very different ways. Cooperation between organisms is ubiquitous and forms the foundation of our biosphere's living systems. Competition, on the other hand, is often minimised, particularly between members of the same species.  

Natural selection demonstrates that creatures who avoid the costs of competitive behaviour are advantaged. ?us many species have evolved unique negotiatory behaviours. These include the patterns of birdsong at dawn, and the ritualised sparring of many animals.  

Through fascinating recordings and analysis, Andrew offers a nuanced exploration, 
contrasting competitive and co-operative behaviour throughout the natural world. He then asks: what about our species? How may we avoid the costs of conflict by prioritising and strengthening our own negotiatory processes? 

Cooperation, conflict avoidance/resolution, resource optimisation