We are now facing an escalating polycrisis: a cluster of interdependent and compounding events due to climate crisis, loss of forests, soils and clean air along with rise of intense conflicts and inequalities. This polycrisis has deep roots in colonialism, racism, human supremacy and from a spiritual point of view “a mind of separation”.

In this talk, we will explore how we can begin to belong. How we can work on relationships with our own grief and stresses, our human community members and the more-than-human world so that we can create Islands of Belonging and Resilience amidst rising seas levels and rising waves of conflict. We will draw upon the work of leaders and thinkers (Gandhi, Wangari Maathai, Thich Nhat Hanh, etc.) who in their own ways saw deep connections between spiritual growth, psychological healing, socio-political justice and the intimacy with the more-than-human world of forests, waters, rocks and other non-human beings.

There will be a 15-minute Q&A portion at the end of the talk. 

This keynote talk is the first session in Kritee Kanko's two-part series that includes an interactive iPause guided practice session on Nov.  2 at 9:00-9:45am PT. Attendees are encouraged to register for one or both of these sessions, as well as for other sessions in the Contemplation by Desgin Summit.

Kritee (dharma name Kanko), PhD is a Climate Scientist, Zen Buddhist priest, Educator and Founding Spiritual teacher of Boundless in Motion, a non-profit and a trauma-informed meditation community based in Boulder (Colorado).  She is an ordained teacher in the Rinzai Zen Buddhist lineage of Cold Mountain and a co-founder of Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center. Professionally, she served as a Senior Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), one of the leading environmental nonprofits in the world that is focused on confronting the climate crisis, for about 12 years.  She has served as a  faculty for many organizations for courses at the intersection of climate crisis, racial justice, trauma healing and spirituality including One Earth Sangha, Al Gore’s Climate Reality, 350.org, Stanford University, World Council of Churches, San Francisco Zen Center, Mind & Life Institute and Lama Foundation.  Her experience is that identifying and being with our personal and ecological grief in the presence of a loving community is necessary in these times. She finds herself committed to serve and learn from young adults, LGBTQ, black, indigenous and other people of color. Through her nonprofit and with her collaborators, she leads retreats and workshops that are at the interface of inner healing (through silent meditation and grief/rage sharing circles including those only for BIPOC groups) and outer strategic actions for climate and social justice. Her articles and interviews have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Harvard Health, Yale Climate Connections, and California Public Radio.

CBD 2023: Islands of Belonging and Resilience in a Sea of Climate Chaos with Kritee Kanko, PhD is part of the FREE Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 24- Nov. 2, 2023.

The full Summit schedule is posted at: http://contemplation.stanford.edu/summit. All events are FREE and online.

Registration opens September 12, 2023