CIIS Transformative Inquiry Faculty to Present at 35th Annual Bioneers Conference

Editor’s Note: The following is an article previewing the upcoming panel discussions of Dr. Jeanine Canty and Leslie Davenport at the 35th Annual Bioneers Conference from March 28-30, 2024. The Bioneers Conference is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Founded in 1990 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by social entrepreneurs Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, Bioneers acts as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. Visit Bioneers 2024 to view the schedule of presentations or to register to attend the conference.  

Professor Jeanine Canty of the Transformative Studies online doctoral program, and Leslie Davenport, Program Lead for CIIS’s Climate Psychology Certificate program, are scheduled to appear on panels during the 2024 Bioneers Conference. This nationally renowned event brings together some of the nation’s leading academics and social innovators to discuss and explore “breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet.” Dr. Canty, author of the recent book, Returning Self to Nature: Undoing our Collective Narcissism and Healing our Planet (Shambhala 2022), will lead a community conversation, "Becoming Change Agents By Fostering Skillful Transformation," which will prompt participants to utilize transformative learning theory to facilitate authentic ecological and social change in both paradigm and action. Dr. Canty is excited to return once again to the Bioneers Conference.

“I will lead a community conversation that prompts participants to utilize transformative learning theory to facilitate authentic ecological and social change in both paradigm and action,” Canty explained. “The community conversations seek to help attendees to find skillful edges with the powerful learning that happens at Bioneers."

Leslie Davenport, who is also the recent author of the children’s book, All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal With Climate Change, will lead a panel discussion, "Exploring the Psychological Dimensions of Climate Change," the first-ever climate psychology presentation at Bioneers.

“With more of us awakening to the reality of the climate crisis, our collective psyche is experiencing a huge emotional toll, with distress rising in tandem with climate impacts,” Davenport explained. “The tools and perspectives from climate psychology help us channel eco-anxiety, eco-grief, and rage into action, and develop emotional strategies to stay engaged in climate solutions without becoming overwhelmed.”

Explore this and related topics further with CIIS' Department of Transformative Inquiry and the Climate Psychology Certificate program at CIIS.