Arran Civic Trust invites everyone to a talk by ALASTAIR McINTOSH Thursday, 7th APRIL 7.30pm Arran High School
Climate change, species extinction, war and alienation are just some of the threats that imperil the world that gives us life. Unless humanity learns how to rekindle community, all other efforts will wither on the vine. Arran Civic Trust believes the sense of community is a vital aspect to the island so has invited Alastair McIntosh to speak to that theme. He believes in and explores the ideas presented in a Schumacher Briefing called “Rekindling Community, Connecting People, Environment and Spirituality.” Many of us have been inspired by Fritz Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful” published in 1973, in which his vision is for the world in which capital serves humanity rather than humanity being enslaved by capital; and a world in which people and nature co-exist harmoniously. Alastair is a thinker and writer in the same tradition and explores three pillars of community – with one another, with the natural environment and with the spiritual ground of all being. www.alastairmcintosh.com
This importance of community is part of the overall consideration for Arran Civic Trust, which has invited Alastair to Arran to talk of his ideas. We all see changes on Arran; many think for the worse as we lose connections to people, design becomes more urban and housing more expensive. Alastair is one of the most influential advocates of community and values in Scotland. He grew up in a Hebridean crofting community on the Isle of Lewis. He believes that to build a strong community means more than just being a part of society. It also means asking what it really means to be a human being and what are our values, our sense of identity, and how this all ties in with having a sense of place. On THURSDAY 7th APRIL, 7.30pm at Arran High School, Alastair will talk on "Rekindling Community: Identity, Values and Place."
Alastair McIntosh is the author of books Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power(2001), Love and Revolution: Collected Poetry(2006), Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition (2008) and Rekindling Community: Connecting People, Environment and Spirituality (2009). Drawing on his experience with land reform on Eigg and the GalGael Trust in Govan, his talk will explore these questions, and pose questions for the meanings of community on Arran. At a time when issues of our community –housing (quality, quantity and design), health services, social services, rural community, and the profile of the community on Arran- are all being discussed and pondered upon, this will be an opportunity to gain new perspectives on some of the issues on Arran.
Alastair’s interest lies in the field of human ecology – the study of and participation in the relationships between the natural environment and the social environment. Some would define human ecology as simply being the relationships between population, environment, resources and technology. Alastair does not believe this goes far enough. We need also to incorporate the psychological and spiritual context of what it means to be human beings. When you take an interest in major issues of our time, it is like pulling on a tangled ball of string. You cannot unravel one loop until you’ve discovered the interconnections with all the rest. As such, Alastair’s work is extremely varied, but what joins it all up is a fundamental passion for that which gives life – with community that is social, ecological and even spiritual.
Everyone is invited to hear Alastair and to pose questions to him after his talk. A provocative evening is assured.
AGM of the Civic Trust is 11th April at 7.30pm atThe Ormidale Pavilion Brodick
Arran Civic trust Website is at www.arrancivictrust.org.uk
