Source a Spokesperson on Deep Adaptation

The concept of Deep Adaptation to impending societal breakdown due to climate disruption is spreading around the world. It was first coined in a speech by Professor Jem Bendell in December 2016, but spread rapidly since his Deep Adaptation Paper went viral. The topic is vast, touching on all aspects of our personal and professional lives, in all corners of the globe. There are now many people seeking experts to speak on this topic around the world – from journalists, broadcasters, and event organisers. If you are seeking a credible speaker on this topic, please read on…

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Professor Bendell only does a few talks, interviews and workshops (videos here). To respond to the demand, the Deep Adaptation Forum is prototyping a roster of Deep Adaptation Advocates. These are people of many different kinds of experience and expertise, who are known to Professor Bendell as having something interesting to say on the Deep Adaptation agenda. They are located around the world. Some can travel and all can speak by video link. Some do not charge a fee but some may need to. Any payments are handled directly, not via the Forum.

Please note that Prof Bendell is not available for any talks before April 2020 (you can check his diary of appearances and courses in 2019 and 2020).

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Here is the current list of advocates in alphabetical order. All speak English. If you do not specify someone we will try to source the advocate nearest to your event (if online video participation is not an option).

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Melissa Allison, journalist in Seattle, WA, USA. Spent more than 15 years reporting business news for major daily newspapers in the U.S; now editing an economic research/housing site; does somatic experiencing, yoga, meditation, recording and listening (Cheri Huber tool); “I believe we will succeed best if we work toward a soft landing, particularly in the area of food security, and toward our own spiritual growth, the latter in order to both make the most of our lives and ensure that we don’t add to the pain for ourselves and others.” Available by online video and across USA and Canada.

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David Baum in Seattle, WA, USA. Moderator for the Positive Deep Adaptation (PDA) Facebook group, engaged with people coming to grips with climate breakdown and societal collapse. “Our lives as we have known them will change drastically. We must accept this, grieve, then find new meaning built on a revelation that truth and love are primary in human life. I have read thousands of posts expressing all manner of emotion and thought about our situation and how to cope with it. I have a thorough understanding of how people react to Deep Adaptation when encountering it for the first time. I can be helpful in interpreting key concepts.” Available by online video and worldwide in person.

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Naresh Giangrande, BSc chemist in Totnes, UK. Researcher and online facilitator for Gaia Education; Facilitator, Trainer, and cofounder of Transition Network. Focuses on community resilience building and communicating climate science. “Our civilisation in the global North is dead, and the sooner we accept this fact the sooner we can get on with the important tasks doing whatever needs to be done next. The more people that understand and accept this the more likelihood we have of minimising harm.” Blog post, Radio interview, Ecociv podcast. Online and UK engagements only.

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Alan Heeks, MA Oxon and MBA Harvard, living in Dorset, UK.

Director & founder of nonprofit Seeding our Future, working with individuals, communities and businesses; social entrepreneur; writer; “This crisis is a huge call for love and compassion: for ourselves and for all life including Gaia.” Recent blog, short video, web site about happiness. UK and online engagements only.

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Shu Liang, MA Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation, living in Holland. Founder and director of Stichting Day of Adaptation, a non-profit based in the Netherlands which does local level climate adaptation capacity building through collective and experiential learning (fun and interactive activities). Masters thesis, Linkedin profile. Available online and in Europe only; also speaks Dutch and Mandarin.

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Kay Michael, Southern England. Cofounder of Culture Declares Emergency; cofounder and co-curator of Letters to the Earth. holds a Permaculture Design Certificate; Theatrically trained. “It is our broken culture (of separation, consumerism, extractivism, individualism) that has led us to this place; and now radical imagination is required to revolutionise that culture into a wholly regenerative one that can support us through the difficulty.” Workshop video. Available by online video and potentially worldwide in person.

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Cordelia Jilani Prescott, BA musician, in Northern England. Certified Leader and Mentor of the Dances of Universal Peace International; teacher in the Sufi Ruhaniat International (a Universal Western Sufi Order) “I work to bring comfort and solace through deep loving connection, and to help strengthen inner and outer peace and the ability to be with intense and difficult feelings. I use chant, movement, and other practices as a framework and container, facilitating circles of people to be more fully alive, to feel safe together, to share love and deep connection and to touch a sense of the sacredness of life.” Recent blog post, web site. Available by online video and potentially worldwide in person; also speaks French.

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Herb Simmens in Washington DC, USA. Author of A Climate Vocabulary of the Future. “I immerse myself in the climate literature and attend climate meetings and workshops all over the western world and have done so for about five years now. By recognizing the urgent need for a deep adaptation perspective we can save lives, reduce harm and conflict and enhance planetary welfare.” Blog post, interview, web site. Available by online video and potentially worldwide in person.

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Cecilie Smith-Christensen, tourism and heritage manager in Oslo, Norway. Applying the Deep Adaptation approach within the tourism and heritage sector; parenting sensitive to our predicament. Web site. Available by online video and potentially worldwide in person; also speaks Norwegian.

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Toni Spencer, MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice living in Devon, UK. Course mentor, trainer and teacher for Call of The Wild with Wildwise /Schumacher College including grief tending, deep ecology and embodiment. Web site; Bristol talk with Jem Bendell. Available by online video and UK-wide in person.

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Simona Vaitkute, MAs in Diplomacy & Philosophy in Lithuania. Works in education including wilderness and life skills for youth. “We need to prepare our children for the likelihood of major disruptions to our way of living; families, communities and schools can use the 4R frame of DA to create learning plans that are suitable for their unique circumstances.” Available by online video and short flights from Lithuania; also speaks Lithuanian.

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Dean Walker, Oregon USA.
Dean Walker has been designing curriculum, facilitating and coaching in the field of Collapse-Awareness, for the past six years – drawing extensively on his prior 30 years of Executive and Personal Development coaching and training. He is the author of The Impossible Conversation: Choosing Reconnection and Resilience at the End of Business as Usual. His body of work now includes: Individual and Group – Transformational Resilience Coaching, Safe Circle Support Groups, Deep Academy online learning series, and workshop design and facilitation. “The calling of these times is for reconnection with the Web of Life.” Dean is available any time for online interviews – and live speaking and workshop events across the USA and internationally. Youtube channel, interview, web site.

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As a member of the Deep Adaptation Advocates group, these people provide both emotional and technical support to each other, as well as receiving support from the Forum (resources permitting). If you would like to be considered and trained to be an advocate for the Forum, please first join the Campaigns, Advocacy and Lobbying group of the professionals network of the Deep Adaptation Forum and become active there for a few weeks before approaching the curator of that Forum with your enquiry.