Higher Ed Council
The inaugural CUHF Threshold Council, brought together members of the CUHF higher ed community to consider what matters now for higher education. Two Council groups—one gathering in-person and one virtually—explored together what is truly needed for ourselves, our students and the world.
Can we as educators expand our awareness, revise our practices, meet and live (with our students) into the upheavals underway? Can institutions of higher ed re-imagine our role, responsibilities and possibilities in these unprecedented times? And how do we do this together, in community?
Youth Council
Over two sessions, in July and October, members of the Massachusetts Youth Climate Council—comprised of high school students throughout the state—met together at Clark University for deep listening and exploration.
Launched in 2023 by Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey and Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer (a member of CUHF’s Core Team), the Youth Climate Council is charged with advising the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience on climate policy and actions to make communities more resilient. They were joined by members of the Climate Chief’s professional staff.
Universe Speaks
In August, a special circle of visionaries came together at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, on the heels of the Vunja Seed Carnival—a three-day gathering that brought people together from and beyond Great Barrington, MA into sites of subversive possibility. The Council was convened by CUHF Founding Convener, Sarah Buie. CUHF Senior Fellow, Bayo Akomolafe, served as co-host.
Following the Council, participants continue to reflect on what is it that is taking place in society and on the planet… what brings us here, and what is being revealed in these threshold times?
Women Dharma Leaders
In September, a group of women in the eco-dharma sphere gathered to reflect together on what matters now in the world, our lives and our work. The Council intends to nurture and strengthen connection between female dharma leaders for the long-term; to learn more about the practice of council as a tool for deepening relationships within sangha; and offer a field of support in which to explore the challenges and joys of addressing the state of the planet in the context of dharma teaching.
This gathering grew out of a decade-long collaboration between Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Council on the Uncertain Human Future.
To Bear and Nurture
The final Threshold Council of 2024 will take place over three days in November at the Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe. Held by the powerful earth energies of northern New Mexico, this group of creative women—writers, artists, and activists, all members of CUHF—will explore the questions, experience and responses to our collective predicament as creative beings, mothers, parents, and those seeking to nurture new lives.
