What it is

Are you concerned about the state of our planet? Are you suffering from eco grief? Do you want to be part of the solution to climate change and biodiversity extinction? But you don’t know what to do? You are not alone. Hence, we designed this course to help you find your compass in navigating this difficult time. Consequently, this compass will help you obtain clarity, affirm life, overcome doubts, and become a more effective and happier agent of change.

The Barn Academy will immerse participants in a deep regenerative experience. Here, participants will build connection with themselves and with each other. You will learn how we cannot move away from “unsustainability” without a positive vision. This workshop will offer this positive vision. The workshop will equip participants with tools for accepting our role as humans, overcome fear and focus our limited energy. Consequently, the course will offer a coherent learning environment on a regenerative farm. This includes a farm tour and regeneratively grown food. Finally, the workshop also includes physical activities that practice connection.

Why it’s relevant

The 21st century is the “human” century.  Now, humanity collectively can either over-exploit the Earth’s resources and over-stress its ecosystems. This will push our civilization beyond climate tipping points and the planetary carrying capacity. Or alternatively, humankind takes responsibility and transitions from the extractive paradigm of the last centuries into a paradigm of care and stewardship. All the elements, tools and technologies for such a transition are readily available today. But humans cannot muster the energy to act jointly! There is no certainty that humans will actually take on this transition because we remain procrastinating. Yet, we are certain that the current path leads to disaster. So what’s to lose? Why not try an alternative path?

This workshop will help you find your personal role in this transition. To do so, it will equip you with tools to find purpose within your individual living context.  This allows you to find clarity, focus and happiness. In acceptance that no individual can change the course of time by oneself.

Format

The Barn Academy combines frontal theoretic input, group discussions, a farm tour, physical connection exercises, and good food. At Persephone, we believe that the magic happens just a bit outside of our comfort zone. So we will respectfully invite you to take that step. Please bring good boots as well as comfortable cloth for light exercise.

Interested in other learning formats?

• The core concept of the Barn Academy can be adapted to a wide range of groups and formats. Prefer a series of half-day or evening workshops? Or school visits, student groups, coaching of conservationists and activists, or a special type of re-connecting with a group of friends? Please review Topics and Formats, connect with us to discuss special arrangements.
• On our farm, please also see residential hands-on training opportunities, in the form of a paid internship (full season) or a   WWOOFing/WorkAway experience.

Who is involved?

The Barn Academy is led by Dr. Thorsten Arnold. Thorsten’s lifelong journey in climate resilience has equipped him with broad experience and skills that range from Earth system and climate and environmental science, ecological farming, grief management, Aikido teaching, public speaking, empowerment of leaders, and instigating farmer co-operatives. Depending on group size and funding, we have lined up additional coaches to augment the experience.

Who is the target audience?

Do you feel paralyzed by the stream of negative environmental news? Whether we are aware of it or not, this paralysis has significant impacts on our personal mental and physical health, and impacts all of our relationships – starting with our children and/or grand children.

We designed this workshop for people who deeply care about the global crisis of climate change and biodiversity extinction. Many of you are puzzled about what to do as we feel paralyzed. Do you find yourselve trapped in activities with little impact? Whether you are an urban advocate or a rural farmer, a retiree or a student, a media influencer or a chef – if you want to be a better leader in this transition, you can benefit from this two-day retreat. We give you tools to achieve clarity about the role that you can play. In this most important work of our days.

What are potential impacts?

The barn academy offers a message of acceptance, intrinsic hope and internal activation. It equips participants with tools for finding a personal path of engagement and positive action. Your path must reflect your individual abilities and limitations while strategically contributing to the larger whole. With this clarity, we are empowered to find focus and impact, community and inner balance.

For greatest impact, we ask participants to do some homework before they arrive. Please download and answer this personal questionnaire and bring it to class (only you will use it!). We ask you to start thinking about your personal fears, your abilities, your aspirations and values.

Location

The Barn Academy is hosted at Persephone Market Garden & BnB. We can offer up to 7 private rooms accommodating one or two people each. We also offer a yoga & Aikido studio for putting out your mats, and unlimited camping area.

Persephone Market Garden is a biointensive regenerative microfarm that was inspired by Singing Frog Farms. We produce vegetables using no-till organic practices. We also graze a small flock of sheep and mixed poultry some rare breeds. The quiet and beautiful 100 acre property offers a mosaic landscape and a number of trails for recharging your batteries and letting the soul dangle.

Choosing hope

“I derive happiness from having accepted my context. I strive to live my role on this earth with intention.  We live in a moment of time where humankind collectively has the power to destroy or to heal. We cannot turn away from this reality, and no technology can change that. By choosing the escape route of denialism or procrastination, we actually chose destruction. We know that unconsciously – so I choose hope and healing.”

“Nobody is really a qualified expert in this topic. I am hosting this course as a learner, who has spent much time on this already. But I will learn at least as much from your ideas as you will learn from me.”