Bio: Sean Steele is a writer, educator, musician, and academic. He holds an MA in the humanities from York University and a BA in philosophy and history from Concordia University. He is currently writing a PhD thesis that explores the emergence of the sacred within the context of secular music festivals. His scholarly writing has appeared in Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, The American Studies Journal, and The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning. Sean works as the research lead for Seedlings Forest Education, an organization that provides outdoor educational programs for children. He is an outdoor enthusiast who loves to camp, hike and climb in the forests and mountains of Vancouver Island.
Journeying into Miyawaki Forests - Blog Post 2 - Growing up Together
Sean Steele • Dec 27, 2023
Earth Literacies presents a new Earth Stories (blog) series exploring Miyawaki Forests
Journeying into Miyawaki Forests - Growing up Together | Blog Post #2
with Outdoor Educator Sean Steele
December 27, 2023
READ & WATCH BLOG POST #1 (if you haven't already)
When I found out that the organization I was helping to support didn’t get the grant to fund a Miyawaki forest on a small plot of land adjacent to a city park, I initially felt somewhat discouraged. But, almost immediately, I realized that this kind of news wasn’t about to take the wind out of my sails. The wind was just blowing in a different direction. Without the funding, the initial project I was hoping to get started was no longer possible. Intuitively, I knew that the time wasn’t right. There was too much to do within the timeframe to realistically see the project through over the next year. This initial project was not abandoned; it was just put on hold for the upcoming year.
Creating a new Miyawaki forest has, from the beginning, felt like a dream. All dreams, however, are grounded in reality. Dreams grow from the soil of what is happening and what is possible. When we dream, we project a possible future out into the world to see how it feels and to imagine how we might feel working to inhabit that world. There is, however, a balance between dreaming up what may be possible and practically working toward realizing the actual spaces that will make up the dream.
Helping to organize and plant a mini-forest on a tiny plot of land is hardly a possible future, but it points toward the kind of city I want to live in. It’s a step in a direction I find both exciting and accessible. It’s a direction toward the type of city interested in taking advantage of green spaces and preserving new spaces where wild things can grow. Spaces where children can feel the soil, observe and nurture new growth, and feel more connected to the places they live. Although I knew that the original vision of the Miyawaki forest was temporarily on hold, I still wanted to be part of a group of people taking a step toward helping to create, and live in, this kind of city.
For several weeks I had been in touch with a group of teachers and parents at a local school who were similarly interested in mapping out a project plan to plant a Miyawaki forest. We had shared a few resources via email, and the people I communicated with seemed similarly excited by Akira Miyawaki’s sensible approach to densely planting trees and shrubs which become self-sustaining forests within a few years. With the wind blowing in a new direction now that the initial plan was on hold, I realized that the best course of action was to join this group of teachers and parents.
I sent them an email explaining my situation. The response was quick and enthusiastic. The wind has carried me from one project plan to another. I will now be helping this group in their efforts, working as a volunteer in whatever capacity might be needed. I’m not easily discouraged, so we will find out what the new future of my involvement in the creation of a Miyawaki forest will look like. For now, I continue to dream of living in a city where there are wild places growing everywhere.
For the latest blog submissions to Earth Stories from Sean, as he documents his Miyawaki Forest Journey (and how you might do the same in your 'backyard'), check our Earth Stories Blog every couple weeks and / or subscribe to the Programs in Earth Literacies Newsletter where new articles will be posted and delivered via email.
A new Earth Stories Blog exploring Miyawaki Forests Blog Post #6 with Outdoor Educator Sean Steele
Above: Children helping to plant a Miyawaki forest as part of an IVN Nature Education program - Image source
A new Earth Stories Blog exploring Miyawaki Forests Blog Post #4 with Outdoor Educator Sean Steele
Earth Literacies presents a new Earth Stories (blog) series exploring Miyawaki Forests
Earth Literacies presents a new Earth Stories (blog) series exploring Miyawaki Forests. "It all started with a blank slate. Or, in this case, an empty patch of soil beside a park. As a research lead with Seedlings Forest Education, an organization in Victoria, BC that facilitates nature-based learning for children, it was my job to help the leadership team think about what they could do with a new parcel of land."
CLICK THE VIDEO ABOVE TO PLAY I am sure you have all heard that we are made from stardust. The calcium in our bones and the iron in our blood was created in the dust of an exploding star. Over time the dust cools and gathers itself into planets on which life can emerge. You’ve seen images of enduring stars, you’ve seen images of exploding stars (supernovae), and you’ve seen images of steadfast planets. But have you ever seen virgin dust gushing out of a star getting ready to explode? The James Webb Space Telescope just obliged us with such an image (see image above) and it’s an amazing vista to behold! In this first-of-a-kind image, shimmering purple eddies of dust are being cast off in all directions by a very bright star (WR 124) at the center. This swirling dust holds the potential to become the rocks on a planet’s surface, the water in its oceans and the air in its atmosphere. Given enough time, it can become the flesh, bones, and blood of a living organism. With yet more time the organism can develop sentience to build telescopes powerful enough to catch stardust in the act of its cosmic emergence. What we are witnessing is the ultimate generosity of a star that through its last few laboured breaths is scattering the seeds of life into the fecund emptiness of its mother’s womb. These cosmic seeds, forged out of the fire in its core and nurtured for millions of years in its belly, are ready to put down roots in other parts of the galactic expanse. Together with the gas in which they swirl, these proliferous seeds will grow into families of planets and stars, ready to evoke the sacred process of life if conditions permit. Such is the bequest of the stars to the story of cosmogenesis, a glorious pilgrimage our universe is in the midst of undertaking. Sarbmeet Kanwal, PhD Click Here to view our next Earth Literacies program Quantum Wisdom: Second Pillar of the New Cosmology with Sarbmeet Kanwal, Ph.D
Programs in Earth Literacies team member, Parker Cook, captured the excitement of a 10-hour day of forest planting and community building in a delightful 1-minute timelapse video. You’ll want to watch it over and over – seeing different things each time. Below is a quick guide with 5 scenes to help you track the range of people and chores that resulted in this bioregion specific community of plants that will grow 10 times faster, with 20 times more diversity into a 30 times denser than typical multi-strata breathing machine! Scene 1 (below) You’re looking North, with the L-shaped school on the Eastern side. Three ‘sections’ of the forest bed have been prepared with a meter deep mix of soil and humus and a topping of straw. At the top of the pic there are two red tents. In front of them are 400 plants identified by species and arranged in tree/shrub/ground cover categories.
Meet today’s – and tomorrow’s – earth protectors
Richmond School District (in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada adjacent to Vancouver) established an Environmental Stewardship Policy in 1998 which states:
“As a result of our shared guardianship of this planet, implementation of this policy shall be the joint responsibility of the Board, students and staff in collaboration with parents and our community.”The Green Team at Richmond Secondary School has wasted no time taking up their part in this work.
In 2020, RSS was one of 10 schools nation-wide to win $20,000 from Staples in the “Superpower Your School” contest which invited students to address environmental challenges with new technologies. The Richmond team’s project was the installation of solar panels at the school, producing electricity that is added to the school’s power grid making its carbon footprint lower than other schools. A TV located in the foyer details the daily energy consumption so that all students can see their impact.
Betsey Crawford, a colleague of Gertie’s (yes, our Gertie Jocksch who leads the Earth Literacies Team) from The Deeptime Network, is an artist, photographer, seeker and storyteller. On her inspiring website, she shares her exploration of the world identifying and understanding the powers of the universe that are at work in all she experiences:
The Soul of the Earth Website: https://thesouloftheearth.com/powers-of-the-universe/
This is a rich resource for understanding the epic beginnings of the universe, our origins, and our possible futures. It’s a great companion to the deep study of the individual powers of the Universe as explained by Brian Swimme, and explored in the ongoing Programs in Earth Literacies sessions with Bernice Vetter and Margie Gillis, Wednesday from Feb 2 to 16, 2022 - click here to learn more or sign up for the next session.
It seems pretty obvious that we love and care for the members of our family. Many of us hold extended family and neighbours in our circles of care and concern. We include our geographical location in our sense of identity – “I’m from Saskatoon”, or “I was born in Montreal”. And recently, we have made beginning efforts to acknowledge and respect the original families on the land that we currently call our home. In his January, 2022 webinar, “The Call to Become Spiritual Earthlings”, Diarmuid O’Murchu directed our attention to our place in the history of the cosmos, to our location in/of the earth, and to the acknowledgement of the kin with whom we share our home. O’Murchu expanded on the concept of a bioregion as “a natural ecological community with characteristic flora, fauna and environmental conditions.” He distinguished between this naturally bounded place and the artificial construct of the nation state. If we are to live as responsible spiritual earthlings, we need to meet and care for the other members of our local, natural communities – our kin. Bringing it home! In June, 2020, The Nature Conservancy of Canada published Ours to Save, a catalogue of 308 different plant and animal species that live in Canada and nowhere else on Earth. Many of these elements of the evolutionary cosmos are threatened with extinction, and it is our neighbourly responsibility to protect them. Check out your Canadian bioregion and your kin at natureconservancy.ca/ourstosave . Study your home. Here are two bioregion audits you can use to check how well you know your kin, and your neighbourhood. The first was written by Leonard Charles, Jim Dodge, Lynn Milliman and Victoria Stockley for the Coevolution Quarterly, Winter, 1981. https://dces.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/128/2013/08/Where-You-At-Quiz.pdf The second is Tina Fields’ expansion on the 1981 list of questions, divided into categories to allow for deeper inquiry. https://indigenize.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/bioregional-quiz/ Ecolibrium3, an organization committed to building resilient communities in the Duluth, Minnesota area, give us many examples of actions directed at living well within a bioregion. https://www.ecolibrium3.org/duluthclimateaction/communityinitiatives/ Share your ideas Explore your bioregion. Who are your neighbours? Your kin? Who is healthy and thriving? Who needs care? What action have you taken/could you take to live as a spiritual earthling? Tell your neighbours … send suggestions to Programs In Earth Literacies in the comments below!