Thomas Steininger and Elizabeth Debold will open the event and the topic of Defending the Open Society. What is the deeper value of the open society? What are we learning from the Ukrainians about the power of trust and standing in and for openness?

Dr. Thomas Steininger: I have been cultivating transformative “We Space” practices for nearly 30 years. As a philosopher, practitioner, and spiritual mentor, I have dived deeply into the practice of meditation and into an exploration of the evolution of human consciousness, particularly the current transition from a hyperindividual “I” culture to a co-conscious “We.”

Dr. Elizabeth Debold: For the last forty-some years, I have sought the answer to the question: how can we transform the dynamics of relationship and complexities of desire between women and men so that we all can thrive and reach our full human potential?

In 2019, the Emerge Network held a gathering in Kyiv. As the war broke out, Ivo Juriaan Mensch and Jonathan Rowson began hosting weekly dialogues with friends and contacts in Ukraine. These calls open a window to the power of networked collective action inspired by love of one’s culture, home, freedom, and sovereignty. We are honored to have some of the participants in these conversations to join us and “share the culture.”

Ivo Juriaan Mensch is Senior Adviser and active in all strands of Perspectiva. His diverse background makes him perhaps the quintessential expert generalist; he developed a career as an integral development coach and worked over a decade as a journalist and communications consultant after ending careers in tech, yacht carpentry and greenhouse construction. Ivo’s inquiries for Perspectiva focus on practices for collective action and insight, inner development and emergent design as a response to our times of transition. He is an ordained priest in the Soto Zen Buddhist lineage, but devotes most of his energy aimed at realisation currently in the Diamond Approach, for him a true ‘path with heart’. You can find Ivo on Twitter.

Kateryna Yasko (Ukraine) is an organizational psychologist, a trainer for the development of emotional intelligence, trust, cooperation, effective communication, and peaceful conflict resolution, and co-founder of the consulting company U-Integral. Her academic background is in the area of international relations and law (MSc), business (MBA), and psychology (MSc). She bases her programs on the principles of Ken Wilber’s Integral approach and Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, and is certified in Spiral Dynamics Integral and in Susanne Cook-Greuter’s Maturity Assessment Profile. Kateryna is also head of the public association “International Institute for Integral Development” and a founder of the educational initiative EMPATIA.PRO, specializing in bringing  holistic approaches into educational leadership and learning cultures. 

Taras Nazarov is a molecular geneticist at Washington State University and second lieutenant of mechanized infantry of The Ukrainian Armed Forces reserve. 

Having part of the family in the US and part in Kyiv, Ukraine, they engaged in grassroots network building for global support to Ukraine. With Hanna Husakova and Alesia Bolot they created Unity of Ukraine – a network that connects volunteers, non-profits, businesses, diplomatic missions and governmental organizations. They work directly with Medical Forces, General Staff of Ukrainian Army, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health and multiple local organizations in Ukraine, other parts of Europe, and United States. 

Mihail Krikunov, Ph.D., Professor, certified marketer (Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK, 1999), Certified Leadership Trainer (Development Dimensions International, USA, 2020). Dean of the Kyiv Business School, President and co-founder of Ukrainian Bildung Network, member of the Supervisory Board of the Maidan Open University, Kyiv. Lecturer, elite corporate trainer, adult education methodologist, MBA program developer, management and marketing consultant and corporate top manager, career and business mentor.

Mihail has more than 30 years of experience in management and teaching, research, business consulting, training in marketing, management, strategy development and executive trainings. He is International Economic Development Council, Washington, USA, research fellow; visiting professor at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. Member of ILA – International Leadership Association, USA, MRS – British Society for Marketing Research, MBA / EMBA programs’ professor at various business schools. Author and teacher of  number of popular online courses (Strategic Thinking, Social Marketing, Critical Thinking, and others). Specializes in strategic development, practical aspects of marketing and management, improving management efficiency, complexity theory’s applications in management, industry clusters’ creation and development, leadership development in professional areas, effective thinking for managers, adult education. Author of experimental teaching methods based on experiential learning and arts-based learning. He often speaks at national and international professional forums and conferences on business management, marketing and cluster development. Author of more than 70 scientific papers, member of the team of the European bestseller “Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers”, Wiley, 2010.

Liliya Luts, Co-Founder of the New Thinking School in Ukraine, is an organizational consultant, Professional Certified Coach (PCC ICF), NLP Master,  Coach in the methodology of diagnostics of leadership maturity (Leadership Development Framework).

We begin with an interview with Olha and Oleksiy who share with us the unique musical culture of Ukraine. They speak also of their efforts to support Ukraine. This will be followed by a piano duet featuring classical Ukrainian music.

Olha Chipak began her musical education still in her native country, Ukraine, at the Music School (class of I. Zhukovska) and at the Music College in Uzhgorod (class of Doz. V. Pasteliak). She completed her piano studies at the Lyssenko Music Academy in Lviv with diploma exams and concert exams (class of Prof. M. Krushelnytska and N. Pasteliak).

She started her concert activity still as a student, gave many concerts in Ukraine and Poland among others at the “Virtuosi Festival” in Lviv and at the Festival for the Anniversary of the National Philharmonic Orchestra (1998) in Kiev. Intensive was her cooperation with the symphony orchestras of the National Philharmonic and the Lviv Philharmonic. She became a laureate of the international piano competitions, winning many prizes.

Since 1998, special successes have been recorded in piano duo with Oleksiy Kushnir.

Together they studied as a piano duo at the hmt Rostock with Professors Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl. They have won many prestigious awards in competition. Many concert tours took place – in Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, USA, Russia, China and others, in the Konzerthaus Berlin, in the Sala Baldini in Rome, in the Glasunov Hall in St. Petersburg, in the Great Hall of the Warsaw Chopin Academy, in the National Philharmonic Hall in Kiev, in the Steinway Hall and Lincoln Theater in Miami, in the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, etc. at renowned international festivals such as “Heinrich Neuhaus Festival”, “Virtuosen” (Ukraine), Piano Festival in Trieste and “Mecklenburger Festspiele” as well as at the NDR, BR-Klassik, HR, radio and television in Ukraine, Poland, San Marino and China.

As a lecturer she gave master classes for piano and piano duo at the Landesakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ochsenhausen every year between 2007 and 2009 together with Gebrüder Stenzl.

Olha Chipak has been a lecturer for accompaniment and piano at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre since 2004.

Oleksiy Kushnir began his musical education still in his native country, Ukraine, at the S. Krushelnytska Music School (class of J. Moisjak) in Lviv. He completed his piano studies at the Lyssenko Music Academy in Lviv, graduating with a diploma and a concert exam (class of Prof. M. Krushelnytska and J. Örmeny).

Already at that time he developed solo and chamber music activities in Ukraine, Poland and France, among others with symphony orchestras of the Philharmonic Orchestras of Lviv and Kiev.

In 1996, together with violinist Ostap Shutko, he became the laureate of the international chamber music competition named Maria Canals in Barcelona.

Since 1998 special successes have been achieved in piano duo with Olha Chipak. Together they studied as a piano duo at the hmt Rostock with professors Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl. They have won an abundance of awards in competition.

Mainly thanks to new artistic contacts after the competitions many concert tours came about – in Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, USA, Russia, China a.o. in the Konzerthaus Berlin, in the Sala Baldini in Rome, in the Glasunov Hall in St. Petersburg, in the Great Hall of the Warsaw Chopin Academy, in the National Philharmonic Hall in Kiev, in the Steinway Hall and Lincoln Theater in Miami, in the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, Olha Chipak and Oleksiy Kushnir received international recognition.

Their interpretations have been heard and seen at renowned international festivals such as “Heinrich Neuhaus Festival”, “Virtuosen” (Ukraine), Piano Festival in Trieste and “Mecklenburger Festspiele” as well as on NDR, BR-Klassik, HR, radio and television in Ukraine, Poland, San Marino and China.

In 2007 her CD with piano duo works by Johannes Brahms, Max Reger and Sergei Rachmaninov was released (ZMS Records), which became the winner of the “Web Concert Hall

As lecturers they gave master classes for piano and piano duo at the Landesakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ochsenhausen every year between 2007 and 2009 together with Gebrüder Stenzl.

Oleksiy Kushnir has been a lecturer for piano since 2006 (major and compulsory subject in the Bachelor of Music program as well as major, core and minor piano in the teaching profession).

Anna will offer a series of evolving meditations that she calls Body Scan, Heart Connectedness, and Campfire of Love. Each meditation will be followed by a short period of silence. They form the sacred ground for a mutual dialogue on an eye and heart level.

Dr. Anna Gamma, Director of the Institute Zen & Leadership in Lucerne,
Switzerland, is leading training programs for leaders and executive coaches. She
also teaches Leadership programs as a faculty member at universities in
Switzerland. She holds various mandates in the business world. Her international
commitments lead her mainly to the Balkan region and the Middle East. Anna
Gamma is an authorized Zen Master and Director of the Zen Zentrum Offener
Kreis in Lucerne. She is sought as spiritual teacher, speaker and author. As the
long-time CEO of the Lassalle-Institut: Zen. Ethik. Leadership, she focused on
training programs on leadership and coaching.

Global Social Witnessing is the human capacity to mindfully attend to global events with an embodied awareness, thereby creating an inner world space that mirrors and brings compassion to these events. We shift from being a mere bystander, mentally processing the latest news, to an active witness, responding from our bodies and hearts, as well as our minds. Global Social Witnessing teaches us to gently turn our attention towards rather than away from challenging events in the world.

In the Pocket Project, it is our understanding that unresolved systemic, multigenerational trauma delays the development of the human family, harms the natural world, and inhibits our higher evolution. Adequate healing and peace-building starts from our capacity to presence what is actually happening, both internally and externally. We consciously develop our ability to gain a more precise and embodied sense of relatedness to events in the outside world. 

Through Global Social Witnessing, we relate to the cultural process and understand that the social body is developing through all of us. As human beings, we are a small movement within the bigger movement of the collective and of life itself. Through our presence and intentionality, we co-shape the events we witness.

Kosha Anja Joubert serves as CEO of the Pocket Project, dedicated to restoring a fragmented world by addressing and healing personal, ancestral, and collective trauma. She holds an MSc in Organisational Development, is an experienced facilitator, coach, and consultant, and has worked extensively in the fields of systems regeneration, intercultural collaboration, and trauma-informed leadership. Kosha grew up in South Africa under Apartheid and has been dedicated to transformational edgework ever since. She has authored several books and received the Dadi Janki Award (2017) for engaging spirituality in life and work and the One World Award (2020) for her work in building the Global Ecovillage Network to a worldwide movement reaching out to over 6000 communities on all continents. Read more…

Rami reminds us that Ukraine was the center and origin of most important mystic dynasties since at least the middle ages. He will share with us some Jewish-Ukrainian vocal incantations  as well as guiding us in “Bearing Witness.”

“Bearing Witness” has a deep spiritual, historical, and psychological significance that all relate to taking a stand through one’s presence. In Christianity and Islam, bearing witness refers to acknowledging and standing for the Light, Goodness, and Truth – no matter what the cost.

After the Holocaust in World War II and in contexts like the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission, bearing witness means bringing the truth to light so that a nation or people may grapple with their past. The core hope is never again.

In trauma therapy, where listening with empathy to someone’s story is a first step in healing, bearing witness brings the survivor back into human community through the empathic recognition that he or she has suffered a deep moral wrong.

Rami Avraham Efal is an independent Israeli visual artist, vocal ritualist, humanitarian & teacher, drawing from nondual Jewish & Buddhist traditions, woven with individual, collective, cross-cultural and ancestral trauma-informed healing & peacebuilding modalities. He has worked in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and with South & Northern Native American nations. Rami Avraham was recently deployed in eastern Poland, bearing witness to, and in support of, displaced Ukrainian refugees.

Sharing our worlds with each other; staying in the present of presence. This is particularly important when facing the devastation of war. Circling is a multi-stage relational practice and unique transformational modality. It is a dynamic group process that is part-art-form, part-skillful facilitation and part-relational yoga. 

Guy Sengstock (Founder & Co-Owner of The Circling Institute) is the founder and creator of the Circling™ Method. He has been facilitating transformation for individuals, groups and corporations internationally for more than 20 years. He has a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and is the co-founder of The Arête Center for Excellence and the Bay Area Men’s Circle, which is still thriving today.  He is an artist, philosopher, poet, body-worker, and visionary.

In this session, we will weave together different threads brought by the Ukrainians and the presenters. By creating a field of shared awareness, we will explore and expand our capacity to hold complexity without collapsing into division. How can we hold strong feelings without having them hijack the whole space between us? Can our perspectives come into synergy? How can conflict turn into creative friction?

When a conversation takes a turn into the sometimes uncomfortable and often contentious topics of race, religion, gender, sexuality, and politics, such as the Ukraine War, it can be difficult to know what to say or how to respond to someone you disagree with. Compassionate Conversations empowers us to transform these conversations into opportunities to bridge divides and mend relationships by providing the basic set of conflict resolution skills we need to be successful, including listening, reframing, and dealing with strong emotions.

John will be joined by Thomas Steininger for a dialogue on the critical importance and developmental step toward dialogos as an essential foundation for the open society. We tend to misunderstand what dialogue–or dia Logos really means. The word “dialogue” is often misunderstood to mean a conversation between two people. But the actual root of the word means “Logos”—the Word or divine wisdom—comes through (“dia”). There is a potential in dia-logos for something to happen between us that is both sacred and meaningful. 

John Vervaeke became internationally known through his impressive YouTube series, Awakening from the Meaning Crisis. Following this, through his many YouTube dialogues with scientists, philosophers, and activists, he has become an exemplar of the ethos of a new global dialogue culture. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and he is the director of the Cognitive Science program in the Consciousness and Wisdom Studies Laboratory. He has a vast body of scientific work related to consciousness, mindfulness, flow, and wisdom. 

This will be an “open mic” session. Everyone is invited to share experiences and perceptions from the day. Our underlying question is: how do we defend and develop an open society?