From Living the New Story –  Series 2

Ousmane Pame PhD, is Founder & President of REDES (Network for Ecovillage Emergence & Development) in the Sahel, which is transitioning 35 Mauritanian and Senegalese villages into an ecovillage hub. As President of the Global Ecovillage Network-Africa, he co-organised the first World Ecovillage Summit in Dakar. As Mayor of Guédé Chantier, Senegal, he transformed the municipality into an eco-community. An educator, community leader, and lecturer at Dakar University, he has taught French and English languages, and African literature and traditions, in American study abroad programmes in Senegal, and was resident Academic Director of Living Routes at the Dakar Earth Rights Ecovillage Institute. Ousmane is also a Fellow of the Findhorn Foundation

1. Ousmane feels that with the crises we are facing today, only positive change in our collective consciousness will change the course of our world. With this in mind, what consciousness or worldviews do you sense are needed to support both individual and societal transformation?

2. What initiatives are you witnessing in your part of the world to regenerate ecosystems, restore cultural heritage and create abundance, peace and justice? What initiatives are you already engaged with, or can you begin to engage with, to be a part of the regeneration process right where you are?

3. Ousmane opened his talk with this phrase: “A mind is like a parachute; it doesn’t work if it doesn’t open.” What happens to you when your mind closes and how does this affect you in relationship to yourself, others and your view of the world? Similarly, what happens to you when your mind opens and how does this affect you in relationship to yourself, others and your view of the world?

4. Recall a time in your life when you experienced Ubuntu – the oneness of our shared humanity in interconnectedness with the web of life. What effect did this have on you and on those around you? How did you feel? What is possible in this state?

5. Ousmane emphasised that we need a story that serves to feed our collective intelligence and imagination for the full development of our collective wisdom. Imagine a blank canvas in front of you. Invite a new story to emerge; a story that serves to underpin the regeneration of our societies. Engage all of your senses, all of your ways of knowing. Draw it, write it, paint it, dance it, sing it, pray it – use whatever medium works well for you. What does it look like? What does it feel like? How does it serve? You may wish to create a brief Facebook Live video or post to share your creation as a gift to fellow journeyers. You might also like to build on it throughout the journey as new insights, visions, awarenesses and inspiration emerge.