Reconnecting for a Just and Regenerative Future

Reconnecting for a Just and Regenerative Future
April 11–13, 2025

There is no ecological liberation without collective liberation!

Join us for a transformative three-day in-person or virtual conference at Naropa University, the birthplace of contemplative education, as we celebrate 50 years of visionary learning.

The conference will focus on social-ecological justice through a collective liberation framework, addressing our current polycrisis and envisioning pathways toward a just, resilient, and regenerative future for all. Engage in dynamic discussions and hands-on workshops that challenge the status quo and inspire courageous action to resist ‘Business as Usual.’

Registration

At the Reconnecting for a Just and Regenerative Future Conference, we believe that access to knowledge and community should not be limited by financial constraints. To honor the diverse experiences and systemic challenges faced by individuals in our community, we are proud to introduce our Pay It Forward / Pay What You Can pricing model with pricing at set intervals between $108–608. See The Gift Economy: Pay It Forward / Pay What You Can Pricing Option.

What You Will Experience

Join us at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado to experience:

  • Authentic Community Connection: Engage deeply with like-minded individuals, fostering lasting relationships in a vibrant academic atmosphere.
  • Interactive Learning: Participate in small group workshops and discussions that encourage collaboration and creativity. Engage in social events, art, poetry, and music that offer additional avenues for connection and relaxation outside formal sessions.
  • Nourishing Meals: Enjoy delicious, healthy meals that fuel your body and mind throughout the event, while providing opportunities to connect over shared dining experiences that enhance networking.
  • Participate in somatic practice experiences to build even more capacity for resiliency and wellness.
  • Experience spring in the Rocky Mountains while creating friendships and stories to last a lifetime!

Luminaries

We are proud to present our initial lineup of keynote presenters.  We will announce more luminaries in coming days. In addition to our keynote luminaries, we will also feature an exciting lineup of somatic practice, meditation, yoga, art, and community-based offerings. This lineup will be announced closer to the conference.

Jeanine Canty head shot

Jeanine Canty, PhD

Jeanine M. Canty, PhD, is a professor of transformative studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, telecommuting from Boulder, CO. Formerly the chair of environmental studies at Naropa University, she continues to teach at Naropa and at Pacifica Graduate Institute’s ecopsychology certificate program. A lover of nature, justice, and contemplative practice, her teaching intersects issues of social and ecological justice, ecopsychology, and the process of worldview expansion and change. She is author of Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing our Collective Narcissism and Healing our Planet (Shambhala Publications, 2022) and her most recent edited book is an expanded, second edition of Ecological and Social Healing: Multicultural Women’s Voices (Routledge, April 2025).

Eileen and the in-betweens band shot

Eileen and the In-betweens

a queer leftist folk group based in Albuquerque, New Mexico with extensive touring experience across the US and Canada.
Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish

Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish

Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish brings over 28 years of experience uniting sustainability with social justice. As a former U.S. State Department BoldFood fellow (Uganda) and U.S. delegate for the Colorado River in Mexico, Michelle has represented her community on national and international stages. Amplifying voices at the intersection of equity and environmental stewardship, she has served on the Colorado Water Equity Partnership and the State of Colorado’s Biochar Working Advisory. She has seeded multiple social impact ventures including: Candelas Glows nuclear guardianship project, “Once and Future Green” consulting firm, and FLOWS (Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability), a local Environmental Justice organization highlighting and building Frontline community leadership in sustainability, racial justice, and beyond.

Michelle coaches Frontline communities, governments, and institutions in community-led climate solutions with transformative anti-oppression and ecological design tools. Michelle is also a mother, permaculture educator, and a poet, currently featured at Meow Wolf Denver.

A Villasenor-Galarza

Adrián Villasenor Galarza, PhD

Adrián Villasenor-Galarza, PhD, is devoted to explore the sustainable and regenerative expression of humanity’s deep potentials. He is the author of of “Bioalchemy,” “Sanación ancestral,” “Corazón del cielo, corazón de la tierra,” “El llamado silvestre de la naturaleza,” “El Gran Giro” and the Spanish translator of Joanna Macy’s and Molly Brown’s seminal book “Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide of the Work That Reconnects.” He works with groups and individuals internationally on personal transformation, elemental healing, eco-ritual, and earth education.

Joel Glanzberg

Joel Glanzberg

Joel contributes over 25 years’ experience as an applied naturalist to land and community development projects throughout the United States. Through assessing, understanding, and communicating the inherent patterns present in natural systems, Joel helps clients identify principles and guidelines for appropriate and healthy development.
 
An active author and educator in the fields of permaculture and ecological design, Joel is skilled in cross-cultural communication and teaching. He has taught throughout the United States as well as in Africa and South America, and worked with a variety of Native American tribes and communities. His research has focused on the application of traditional land-use practices to the design of modern infrastructure.
Lydia-Harutoonian

Lydia Violet Harutoonian

Lydia Violet Harutoonian is a modern-day renaissance woman, combining her scholarship, leadership skills, spiritual passion, and musical talent to create spaces that grow personal inspiration and community development. Her passions for justice, education, and healing come through in the myriad of programs and performances she is a part of every year, whether collaborating with First Nations in Canada, herbalists in Costa Rica, prison activists in Scotland, or American feminist hip hop artists. She founded and runs the School for the Great Turning, an educational organization based on her 14-year-study with international activist and scholar Joanna Macy. Through the school Lydia facilitates spaces for education and healing for hundreds of students every year, both online and in-person.

Mutima Imani head shot

Mutima Imani

A Social Justice Visionary, Master Trainer and Facilitator working to Heal the Heart of Humanity by providing 21st Century Tools for Personal/Professional Development and Transformation. Imani is a Global Diversity Specialist who understands and inspires people to think locally while planning globally. Highly skilled at bringing diverse groups together to resolve conflicts, Imani works with people conducting Civic Leadership Training and Restorative Justice Circles and is a Work That Reconnects Facilitator. Imani has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Phenomenology; Imani is passionate about how all things work together.

Monica, smiling, in front of a vase of flowers.

Monica Mueller—Lenz Foundation Joanna Macy Center Residential Fellow

Monica Mueller, PhD, is a philosopher and educator with a passion for the world and a commitment to fostering understanding and collective action. Currently on sabbatical from Portland State University, she holds a doctorate in Ethics and Social/Political philosophy from Binghamton University. Her work spans various philosophical domains, including Feminist Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, and Phenomenology. Monica is dedicated to anti-oppression advocacy and transformative education, particularly in carceral settings. She authored “Contrary to Thoughtlessness: Rethinking Practical Wisdom” and approaches her teaching and research with both playful curiosity and academic rigor.

Eileen O’Shaughnessy - Joanna Macy Center Nuclear Guardian Fellow

Eileen O’Shaughnessy—Joanna Macy Center Nuclear Guardian Fellow

Eileen O’Shaughnessy—Joanna Macy Center Nuclear Guardian Fellow – (she/her) is a fourth generation Irish-American nuclear abolitionist organizer, educator, and musician living on Tiwa lands in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Eileen teaches courses on nuclear issues, environmental and racial justice, and gender studies at the University of New Mexico and the Central New Mexico Community College. She is completing a PhD in Educational Thought and Sociocultural Studies at UNM. In 2016, Eileen co-founded the grassroots organization Demand Nuclear Abolition (DNA). DNA is a multi-racial and multi-generational space for students, activists, and artists to dismantle nuclear colonialism through education, activism, and art. When she’s not teaching, Eileen is also a professional musician and plays original social justice folk music solo and with her band “Eileen & the In-Betweens”, which has toured around the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Kathleen Rude head shot

Kathleen Rude

Kathleen Rude is an environmental activist, shamanic practitioner, and author with a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and an M.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan. Her passion for environmental advocacy began at age 10, leading to a 15-year career as an environmental writer. Initiated into indigenous spiritual practices by Blackfoot, Northern Ute, and Lakota elders, Kathleen is also a senior facilitator of The Work That Reconnects, mentored by eco-philosopher Joanna Macy. She has authored the novel “The Redemption of Red Fire Woman” and is currently writing “How To Be An Every Day Difference Maker.” As a board member of Nuclear Energy Information Service, she promotes sustainable renewable energy while blending her diverse experiences to inspire others toward positive change.
Ian Sanderson Headshot

Ian Sanderson—Joanna Macy Center Earth Guardian Fellow

Ian Sanderson – Joanna Macy Center Earth Guardian Fellow – is a member of the Mohawk Nation’s Turtle clan from Ontario, Canada, has dedicated over 25 years to fostering awareness and reconnection with self, community, and nature. With a background in Indigenous Studies and extensive experience in outdoor education and community-based programs, he currently serves as core faculty in Environmental Studies at Naropa University. Sanderson’s work spans diverse contexts, from wilderness settings to urban environments, integrating Indigenous, Eastern, and Western philosophies to promote personal transformation and socio-ecological change. He co-owns the Boulder Quest Center, teaching To-Shin-Do ninjutsu, and is involved with the Joanna Macy Center, applying complexity and Indigenous systems-thinking to inspire revitalization

Leslie Quilty head shot

Lesley Joy Quilty

Lesley Joy Quilty is a creative consultant, leadership presenter and coach, facilitator of psychedelic-assisted ceremonies, and professional clown.

Lesley’s work as a clown began in the Findhorn Community in Scotland, where she has lived and been a student of Joanna’s since 1986. Trained at Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre in northern California, initiated through many years of touring theatre and circus in North America and the UK, Lesley was employed for fifteen years as a Clown Doctor in children’s hospitals and hospices throughout Scotland, supporting and empowering children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. As Racy the ‘Eco-clown Consultant’ she creates and performs at environmental, educational and corporate conferences and events. She believes in the power of insightful humor to increase compassion, courage and connectedness and to fuel positive change.

Sponsors

Gratitude to our sponsors the BESS Family Foundation, the Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, the Ladybug Foundation, and Naropa University.
 
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More About the Conference

Naropa University serves as a leader in higher education known for embracing inner discovery and learning. This conference will explore Dr. Joanna Macy’s powerful experiential technology, “The Work That Reconnects,” awakening social-ecological interconnection through themes of the 4 Dimensions of the Great Turning: Holding Actions, Life-Sustaining Systems, Shifts in Consciousness, and Nurturing Life.

Participants will engage with facilitator-scholars in eco-dharma, climate resiliency, nuclear guardianship, regeneration, permaculture, social justice, and more while developing practical skills for personal and collective transformation.

Interested in volunteering, sponsoring, or general questions? Please contact reconnect@naropa.edu.

All conference details are subject to change.

Online Option

If you can’t attend in person, don’t worry, all plenary events will be livestreamed for online participation. And we have opportunities for online participants to connect and network too.

Bonus to All Conference Guests

As a bonus, all attendees will have on demand special access to video recordings from the conference and 6 unique live webinars with our Joanna Macy Fellows and scholar practitioners, following the conference to further our commitment in creating an ongoing community of just and regenerative change makers. 

Together, we’ll explore how to reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the living Earth to create a more just, regenerative, and resilient world. Register now to secure your spot!

The Gift Economy: Pay It Forward / Pay What You Can Pricing Option

We recognize that systemic oppression and economic disparity affect many individuals differently. Our goal is to create an inclusive environment where everyone can participate, learn, and grow, regardless of their financial situation. This initiative is designed to:

  • Eliminate Financial Barriers: We want to ensure that cost is not a barrier to attending our conference. By offering flexible pricing, we aim to make our event accessible to all. 
  • Honor Diverse Experiences: We acknowledge the various forms of systemic oppression that impact economic stability. Our pricing model reflects our commitment to inclusivity and respect for the unique challenges faced by individuals in our community. 

How It Works

  • Pay What You Can: Attendees are invited to select a ticket price that aligns with their financial situation. Whether you can contribute the full amount or a reduced fee, your participation is valued. Tiered Pricing: $108, $158, $208, $258, $308 (cost of attendance), $358, $408, $458, $508, $558, $608. Anything more than the designated cost of attendance supports others in being able to attend, anything less is considered a discount. We are happy to offer these rates to you on the basis of gift economy.
  • Pay It Forward Option: For those who are able, we encourage you to consider contributing above the standard ticket price of $308. Your generosity will help subsidize tickets for others in need, fostering a spirit of community support and shared growth. 
  • Confidentiality and Respect: We understand that discussing finances can be sensitive. This option is designed to be respectful and confidential, allowing you to choose what feels right for you without judgment.

 

YOU ARE READY.

This is where experiential learning meets academic rigor. Where you challenge your intellect and uncover your potential. Where you discover the work you’re moved to do—then use it to transform our world.

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Academics

Contemplative education brings together the best of Western scholarship and Eastern world wisdom traditions. Therefore, your pursuit of wisdom at Naropa means learning both about academic subjects and about your own place in the world. This innovative approach places Naropa on the cutting edge of the newest and most effective methods of teaching and learning.  

Admissions & Aid

If you’re seeking an education that resonates with both personal fulfillment and global impact, Naropa could be your top choice. At Naropa, you will experience a comprehensive curriculum that integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational approaches. Explore how Naropa can fuel your journey of intellectual and spiritual development.

Life at Naropa

Through its incredibly vibrant and welcoming community,  “Naropa offers a home for those who aren’t willing to conform to convention—the mystic, the healer, the prophet, the rebel, the artist, the revolutionary, the oddball—those who are incredible contributors to the evolution of society and of our planet.”—Core Associate Professor Zvi Ish-Shalom

The Naropa Difference

How is Naropa different from other universities? At Naropa, a liberal arts education balances rigorous academics with powerful interpersonal skills and self-awareness to educate the whole person. Naropa’s contemplative approach is inspired by Buddhist philosophy and the conviction that we can build a diverse, contemplative, enlightened society when we have transformed education to affirm the basic goodness of every person. 

About Naropa

Located in Boulder, Colorado, Naropa University is a Buddhist-inspired, nonsectarian liberal arts university that is recognized as the birthplace of the mindfulness movement. Naropa offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs that emphasize professional and personal growth, intellectual development, and cultivating compassion. 

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Naropa Campuses Closed on Friday, March 15, 2024

Due to adverse weather conditions, all Naropa campuses will be closed Friday, March 15, 2024.  All classes that require a physical presence on campus will be canceled. All online and low-residency programs are to meet as scheduled.

Based on the current weather forecast, the Healing with the Ancestors Talk & Breeze of Simplicity program scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday will be held as planned.

Staff that do not work remotely or are scheduled to work on campus, can work remotely. Staff that routinely work remotely are expected to continue to do so.

As a reminder, notifications will be sent by e-mail and the LiveSafe app.  

Regardless of Naropa University’s decision, if you ever believe the weather conditions are unsafe, please contact your supervisor and professors.  Naropa University trusts you to make thoughtful and wise decisions based on the conditions and situation in which you find yourself in.