Happy New Year from the Lifeboat Academy!
Getting Ready for 2025 Lifeboat Builders
We are getting very excited about our 2025 Lifeboat Builders cohort. We have a solid critical mass of committed folks, a healthy pool of interested folks and room for a few more (if you want to invite a friend or nominate yourself!)
Here’s what’s going on in January:
We’ll be hosting multiple Lifeboat Builder Orientation Sessions the week of January 6th, including times that are Europe and West Pacific-friendly. The sessions are a chance to get your questions answered as well as meet some of the other Lifeboat Builders.
Please complete this time poll to let us know your availability.
We’ll post the sessions to YouTube as well in case the times don’t work for you.
The kick-off event will be our Lifeboat 101 session which gives everyone a chance to get to know each other and build our syllabus for the spring. We’ll schedule the date in consultation with everyone when we have our finalized list of committed folks, but we are aiming for the week following our Charrette – so somewhere around the beginning of February. (A “charrette” is a format for quick, intense planning sessions.)
Speaking of the Charrette, we encourage all the lifeboat builders to get involved in our guilds and the charrette. Both are a great way of learning collaboration and project management tools and practicing reciprocity.
- Charrette – Online January 24 to 26
- Also invited to help with planning / facilitation which happens at or around the first Coordination Circle (January 13th)
- First Guild Meetings – Encouraged to attend
- First meetings include:
- quick guild on-boarding (going over Driver Statement)
- brainstorming project ideas – responding to RFPs / to be presented at Charrette
- Outreach & Network – January 7th
- Finance & Legal – January 10th
- Heartwork & Philosophy – January 16th
- Research & Learning and Farm Guilds TBA
- Times negotiable depending on interest.
- First meetings include:
Please take a minute to update your interest in the guilds so that we can keep you in the loop.
In the meantime, be thinking about your “book report” (what are the 3 to 5 main resources or influences and how have they shaped your project) and your project pitch (what are you trying to do, why is it important to you, and where’s your growth edge).
Let us know if you have any questions! Ben will be available for office hours for questions or help with book reports or project planning. Use this Calendly link to schedule a time or email if you can’t find a time that works.
And our nominations for Lifeboat Builders are still open, so if you’d like to nominate yourself or someone who could use support with a local resilience project, click the button below.
Need support?
Schedule a 1-1 meeting during Office Hours to get support about anything related to personal and collective resilience, group collaboration or community building. We’re available to provide support and mentoring for Lifeboat Builders (or people who are thinking about it) and/or point you to someone who has the resource you’re looking for.
December 2024
We’re Still Accepting Nominations for
the 2025 Lifeboat Builder Cohort
The polycrisis is intensifying. We’re feeling it – stress, fear and anxiety about the rise of fascism, increasing climate catastrophes and the soaring cost of living. If you’re feeling freaked out and aren’t sure what to do about all of this, you aren’t alone.
To navigate these times, we need to find innovative ways to fundamentally transform how we think about and work with the land and each other. We can’t predict the future, but we can start to build resilience where we are with the people around us. We can be Lifeboat Builders.
At the Lifeboat Academy, we’re developing a fleet of lifeboats – local, place-based resilience networks working together for mutual support and learning. We offer peer support spaces and mentorship with seasoned lifeboat builders, as well as practical skills for effective collaboration, project development and conflict navigation.
Our work is based on reciprocity and pay-it-forward, so cost isn’t a barrier.
We’re currently accepting nominations for our 2025 Lifeboat Builder Cohort.
You can nominate yourself or anyone else that you think could use some support with building their local resilience network.
Join us for our final events of 2024:
See event descriptions on the left-hand side of this page to sign up.
Upcoming Guild Meetings
Outreach & Network Guild
Tuesday, Dec 10 @ 2pm PST / 4pm CST
Finance & Legal Guild
Friday, Dec 13 @ 10:30am PST / 12:30pm CST
Stewardship Council Annual Meeting
Monday, Dec 16 @ 4:30pm PST / 6:30pm CST
Heartwork & Philosophy Guild
Thursday, Dec 19 @ 2:00pm PST / 4:00pm CST
All are welcome at guild meetings, even if just to sit back and watch!
If you’d like to attend a meeting, please email us at friends@lifeboat.academy.
Need Support?
Schedule a 1-1 meeting during Office Hours to get support about anything related to personal and collective resilience, group collaboration or community building. We’re available to provide support and mentoring for Lifeboat Builders (or people who are thinking about it) and/or point you to someone who has the resource you’re looking for.
Thanks for being a part of the Lifeboat Network!
October 28 – November 10
Lifeboats – The Backstory
by Ben Kadel
People often ask where the Lifeboat idea came from.
As I was talking through a possible response with one of my collaborators, we realized it’s a challenging story to tell because it involves loops in space-time — the current idea is the result of a previous one that evolved from the one before that, etc. — so how many versions do you need to go back to get the full backstory? Somehow, no matter where you start it feels like you’re already jumping into the middle of the story.
So maybe we should start at the end and work backwards. Ultimately, through all these different iterations, we’ve become convinced that the multiple crises we face are the result of applying mechanistic / analytical thinking to a relational world. The Lifeboat Academy is our best bet for how to transition to a more relational way of being in the world.
read more on Medium
Upcoming Events:
See event descriptions on the left-hand side of this page to sign up.
Upcoming Guild Meetings
Outreach & Network Guild
Tuesday, Oct 29 @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT
Finance & Legal Guild
Friday, Nov 1 @ 10:30am PT / 12:30pm CT
Coordination Circle
Monday, Nov 4 @ 4:30pm PT / 6:30pm CT
Heartwork & Philosophy Guild
Thursday, Nov 7 @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT
Please email us at friends@lifeboat.academy if you’d like to attend a guild meeting.
October 14 – 27
Hot Off the Press
Building the Lifeboat is the Lifeboat
As the reality of the polycrisis is dawning on more and more people, we keep hearing the same questions: What can I do? Where do I start? How can I get ready for something when I don’t even know what’s gonna happen?
This week, we’ll be hosting our next DIY Lifeboat webinar to answer these questions. The webinar provides a simple 5-step process that anyone, anywhere can use to grow their own local resilience network in the face of whatever might be coming down the pike, starting right where you are now. It introduces you to a toolkit of techniques and processes that can help jumpstart your local resilience building effort and offers a number of supports to keep you on track.
But there is a core concept underlying all the pieces and parts that is beguilingly simple, but absolutely essential. Without understanding the core concept, the tools are ineffective. Understand the core concept and the tools become mostly incidental.
Building a lifeboat is not about an end product nor is it merely an attitude. Building a lifeboat is a practice. Building the lifeboat is the lifeboat.
read more on Medium
Upcoming Events:
See event descriptions on the left-hand side of this page to sign up.
Upcoming Guild Meetings
Outreach & Network Guild
Tuesday, Oct 15 @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT
Finance & Legal Guild
Friday, Oct 18 @ 10:30am PT / 12:30pm CT
Coordination Circle
Monday, Oct 21 @ 4:30pm PT / 6:30pm CT
Heartwork & Philosophy Guild
Thursday, Oct 24 @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT
Please email us at friends@lifeboat.academy if you’d like to attend a guild meeting.
All Upcoming Events:
Fall Semester 2024 (online events)
Ongoing Circles
Connect the Dots Club: Mapping the Territory
This is an opportunity to explore many different aspects of building a resilience network, deeper relationships with one another and our shared understanding of this work.
This series is especially designed for seasoned Lifeboat Builders.
- Tuesdays, September 17 – October 8 at 5pm PT / 7pm CT.
Connect the Dots Club: Deep Adaptation
Join us for Deep Adaptation, a new series in the Connect the Dots Club. This series is designed for both seasoned Lifeboat Builders and those just starting out.
This is an opportunity to explore many different aspects of building a resilience network, deeper relationships with one another and our shared understanding of this work. We’ll be exploring the 4 Deep Adaptation questions using a circle process:
- Resilience: what do we most value that we want to keep and how?
- Relinquishment: what do we need to let go of so as not to make matters worse?
- Restoration: what could we bring back to help us with these difficult times?
- Reconciliation: with what and whom shall we make peace as we awaken to our mutual mortality?
Tuesdays, October 29 – November 19 @ 5pm PT / 7pm CT.
Agreements Circles
The Agreements Circle gives you a chance to build deeper connections with other Lifeboat Builders and the motivations you have to do this work. It also gives you a chance to experience the power of the circle process so that you can guide others in the process.
- Fridays at 10:30am PT / 12:30pm PT: September 27, October 25, November 22, and December 20.
- Mondays at 2pm PT / 4pm CT: September 30, October 28, and November 25.
Navigation Sessions
Navigation sessions use a lightly structured circle process to create rich opportunities for shared learning and support – especially good for making sense of the challenges and tensions that arise when building community. We’ll be choosing a common tension for Lifeboat Builders for each session.
- Fridays at 10:30am PT / 12:30pm PT: October 11, November 8, and December 6.
- Mondays at 2pm PT / 4pm CT: October 14, November 11, and December 9.
Live Webinars
How to Build a Lifeboat: a DIY guide to building your own local resilience network – This webinar provides an overview of a simple, practical 5-step process that anyone can use to start to build a personal resilience network, starting where you are with the resources you currently have available.
Tuesday, October 15 @ 5pm PT / 7pm CT.
Guild Meetings
Coordination Circle – Every other Monday @ 4:30pm PT / 6:30pm CT – September 9 – December 16
Outreach & Network – Every other Tuesday @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT – September 3 – December 10
Heartwork & Philosophy – Every other Thursday @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT – September 12 – December 19
Finance & Legal – Every other Friday @ 10:30am PT / 12:30pm CT – September 6 – December 13
If you’re interested in joining a guild, send us an email at friends@lifeboat.academy.
Most of our events are recorded and posted on YouTube.
View our Video Recording Policy here.
Monthly Calendars
September 2024
October 2024
November 2024
December 2024
Past Events
Sociocracy 101 – Join us for a live webinar where we go over the basics of Sociocracy – the framework we use for making decisions and setting priorities. We’ll go through the core concepts of Sociocracy and talk about how we apply these concepts to the processes we use at the Lifeboat Academy.
Tuesday, September 10 @ 5pm PT / 7pm CT.
FALL SEMESTER ORIENTATION
Join us for an overview of all things Lifeboat this semester. We’ll be introducing each of our Fall offerings, inviting you to create a Personal Development Plan to guide your experience, and explaining how to get involved in the Guilds to build skills in collaboration, facilitation and networking.
Friday, September 13 @ 10:30am PT / 12:30pm CT
Monday, September 16 @ 2pm PT / 4pm CT
Please choose one date to attend. Sessions will be recorded and made available if you can’t make it live. Sign up here.
6 Conversations About Lifeboats
Announcing a new, six-week emergent space
Join us for a six-week conversation series exploring different aspects of building a resilience network. Guided by a different question each week, we will develop our shared understanding of this work while building deeper relationships with one another. These sessions are inspired by a framework called Six Conversations.
Whether you’re a seasoned Lifeboat Builder or haven’t started yet, this emergent space offers rich learning opportunities.
Tuesdays on Zoom at 5pm PST
June 11 through July 16
Please sign up here. There are 12 spots and we’ll have a waitlist as well.
We’re looking for a soft commitment to all six sessions. The more sessions you attend, the more you’ll get out of the experience. Hope to see you there!
January 2024: Join Our Annual Planning Process!
Our annual planning process is happening right now and a great way to learn more about the project, meet other lifeboat builders, and find ways to get more involved. Everyone is welcome!
We’ll be walking through a series of exercises designed to help us learn from experience to identify the “20 that gets us 80.” Which ones sound interesting to you?
2024 Charrette Schedule
(All times are Pacific Standard Time)
All Sessions will be on Zoom – Join on Zoom
We’ll be using our Miro Board to capture and share ideas.
Friday evening:
6:00 to 7:30 pm – Opening Circle
This is an opportunity to get to know each other and talk about what is important to each of us, and what brings us to the Design Charrette.
Saturday:
9:00 to 10:00 am – Miro Board Walk-thru & Previous Session Recap
(if you’re already familiar with the Miro Board and the results of previous sessions, feel free to skip this session!)
10:00 to 10:30 am – Coffee break / Discussion Time
A chance to chat and connect with with fellow participants!
10:30 to 11:30 am – Guild Presentations
Each guild gets to share an update what they worked on in pre-charrette meetings and their ideas for the year.
11:30 am to 2:00 pm – Lunch / Break
Non-screen time. A time to reconnect with your place.
2:00 to 3:30 pm – Coordination Circle
We’ll all come together and the caretakers of each guild will lead us in coordinating between guilds to ensure balance and focus on the core mission for the year ahead, and explore how we can support one another to get things done.
3:30 to 4:30 pm – Badge Show / Arts & Crafts Time
This is a fun voluntary session for designing badges for each of the five guilds.
Sunday morning:
9:00 to 10:15 am – Morning Circle
Get a taste of our farm culture by coming to our online morning circle. We begin with a quick meditation and guided visioning exercise, then discuss what we need to show up at be present, ending with a daily mantra or personal reminder of how you want to live your day.
10:15 to 11:30 am – Guild Time (approximate times)
Each guild will have a brief chance to meet independently to set their next meeting, create an agenda of high priority discussions, and identify interested members and co-caretakers.
10:15 – Heartwork & Philosophy
10:30 – Principles & Governance
10:45 – Finance & Legal
11:00 – Farm, Food & Housing
11:15 – Outreach & Network
11:30 am to 12:00 pm – Closing circle
We’ll wrap up the 2024 Charrette and our time together.
All Sessions will be on Zoom – Join on Zoom