our values
Learner led, experiential education ~
following participant curiosity to co-construct Meaning & engagement.
Process > product
(not that product isn’t also great, but centering process).
Promoting Growth Mindset.
Cannot promise specific outcomes - but do commit to supporting everyone on their journey, meeting them where they are at.
Promote holistic wellbeing.
Recognise multiple pathways of development.
See this as work of the head/heart/hands; attending to health of mental/ physical/ emotional/ social/ spiritual realms.
Culturally responsive practice.*
*(Ladson-Billings, 1994)
Shape equitable programmes that deeply honour indigenous lands and practices, inclusivity and diversity, ongoing work of this, hoping to keep moving towards justice and equity.
Seed Scholars does not wish to culturally appropriate, but to work toward decolonising the field, naming and honouring past/present/future ancestors of our own identities and the identity of the places where we spend time
Recognise the intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) of pursuing this work in a holistic way
Welcoming and safe space.
We seek to provide a welcoming space to a wide diversity of people where no one feels unfairly prejudiced against. We do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring of staff, selection of volunteers and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients and volunteers.
Place-based: programmes attend to specific sites, and the cultural, natural, and built heritage there. Build ecological awareness and regeneration through this lens.
Honour cycles of seasons, work in tandem with them, not against them.
Seeking right relationship - rooted in justice, gratitude, and our natural cycles & Seasons.
Honouring, developing and growing relationship with the human and more than human web of living beings and lands we inhabit (rooted in teachings by Joanna Macy).
Centring the whole person/whole place/whole ecosystem of living and non-living world - relationships as the key to all other work
Toggling with local/global - active citizenship, agents/stewards nudging toward positive change (climate action, ecological regeneration)
Relationships built on gratitude and mutual reciprocity (Robin Wall Kimmerer teachings)
Acknowledging the (essentiality of the) twin heads of light and shadow.
Some things are paradoxes to be managed/not problems to be solved (Ester Perrel teachings).
Ongoing heart work of finding the balance between urgency and relaxed, elevated and grounded, the inevitability of learning to hold the ever presence of joy and grief all at once.
Life, Death Life Cycles - Trifecta of Birth/Death/Rebirth (Clarissa Pinkola Estes teachings, The Trailblazery).
Deep humility in the work with land and relationship.
My work is imperfect - I am a teacher/learner; this is a dialectical praxis; I have a lot of unlearning and learning to do - please know I approach this work humbly and with great reverence for the land, human and more than human world, my ancestors and the ancestors of the land on which I live, love and practice.
That being said, please hold me accountable! I commit to trying my best AND I know at times I will fall short, and will work to do better.
Collaboration, not competition.
Leave positive traces through regenerative practices/ minimise negative impacts.
Professional Standards.
We will adhere to legal requirements and to commonly accepted best practice.
We will ensure to be up to date with all legal, professional, technical, environmental and safety matters. We will respect the responsibilities of other institutions and professions that share a common interest in protecting the land and sharing knowledge that promote awareness and respect of the natural environment.