The Schumacher Lectures

The 44th Annual E.F. Schumacher Lecture took place on Wednesday, December 4th, 2024 featuring Paul Hawken and Báyò Akómoláfé in conversation. This virtual event was hosted and moderated by Alex Forrester, Board Member of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics and Co-Founder of Rising Tide Capital.

In the culminating episode of the Schumacher Conversations series, distinguished farmer-activists Winona LaDuke and Leah Penniman connect to speak about climate-resilient agriculture, food justice, the solidarity economy, healing through land, and cultivating a resilient regional economy. Moderated by Jodie Evans, Schumacher Center board member and co-founder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace.

In the ninth installment of the Schumacher Conversation series, longtime stalwarts of the new economy movement, Neva Goodwin and Stewart Wallis, discuss regenerative agriculture, soil carbon sequestration, the well-being economy model, and the importance of diverse coalitions of changemakers. Moderated by Schumacher Center board member, Alice Maggio.

In the seventh episode of the Schumacher Conversations, Mary Berry and Bill McKibben emphasize the importance of imagining new models for living and being while resisting predominant economic, social, and ecological paradigms. They discuss the conditions necessary for implementing good farming practices on a wide scale as a way to combat the climate crisis. Moderated by Schumacher Center board member and CODEPINK co-founder, Jodie Evans.

In this Schumacher Conversation, longtime friends Wes Jackson and David Orr skillfully exchange stories to reveal hidden truths about the present moment. The discussion ranges from sustainable agriculture and a potential back to the land movement, to the role of politics and the need to repair racial and economic injustices. This conversation took place on August 13, 2020 and was moderated by David Bollier, Director of the Schumacher Center's Reinventing the Commons Program.

In this Schumacher Conversation, John McKnight and Gar Alperovitz discuss the centrality of community and appropriate scale in building a new economy, deliberate the necessary balance between the local and the global, and reflect on the importance of perseverance in creating meaningful change. The conversation took place on July 22, 2020 and was moderated by Jodie Evans, Schumacher Center board member and co-founder and co-director of CODEPINK.

Judy Wicks and Michael Shuman, the "head and heart" of the local economy movement, talk localism, sustainable business practices, racial justice, indigenous wisdom, and more in the inaugural episode of the Schumacher Conversations. The conversation took place on July 9, 2020, and was moderated by Merrian Borgeson, Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Otto Scharmer speaks on the necessary transition from an ego-centric economy to an eco-centric economy.

Charles (Chuck) Turner describes the transition from a materialist paradigm to a spiritual consciousness.

David Brower shares stories of ecological destruction taking place in all parts of the world, while embellishing his narrative with stories of people working for ecological restoration and examples of the "miracles of wildness." Brower also identifies a strong public wish to assist with ecological restoration and urges us all to participate in restoration projects.

Chellis Glendinning delivers an evocation of place, from where she lives in New Mexico, to other spots on the map where other people have learned to set their roots, connect with the land, and live their lives in effective harmony with their surroundings.

Thomas Berry outlines the conditions required for the emergence of an Ecozoic Era, a time for healing the damage done to Earth and learning to live in harmony with it again. Drawing on the experience of Native Americans, he urges renewed understanding of the Great Story: the combined stories of community, Earth, and universe.

William Schambra focuses on the Friendship Club in Milwaukee, an independent social club for recovering addicts, as an informative example of democratic self-governance within a system where the generosity of the rich is often seen as the only solution for helping working-class people.