We hope that all of you are managing with the changed normality, and  staying safe and well. We send our courage and well wishes to those of you who are sick or have sick relatives and friends. Many are now unemployed, many without food. It is a time when those of us with privilege have more time on our hands, and those with less, are working ever more and at risk, serving us to stay safe in our homes. It is difficult to know what to do and how to address this, how to begin to think about it. Many in our network are making masks and ventilators. Many are volunteering. For those who need to stay at home in complete isolation this is not possible except online and in new and innovative ways. 

This filmed talk ‘A Pandemic’s Impact on Peace (from the Kroc School of Peace and Justice at University of San Diego with the San Diego Diplomacy Council ) has some sobering figures to share. We urge you to bring this kind of information into your online classes where you can. Our students must do things differently than we have been doing. They must begin to understand how growth and greed have created not only an unsustainable and unjust world in the long term but right now. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNMPePKF6eE

We would like to offer some hope and courage at this time as well – we will be offering a virtual Critical Conversation retreat on June 26th and 27th in place of our usual retreat in the forest. Borrowing from the Australian ‘Reset Reading group – Ideas for a just future’ – “Everything is being reset – what happens how is up to us…”

Everything is being reset – what happens now is up to usCritical Conversations virtual retreat June 26th and June 27th
Before Covid 19 emerged we had been reflecting on the two critical discussions we had around Trust and Degrowth in 2018 and 2019.  Both retreats brought us together to explore the importance of social change, the principles of peace and social justice, and the challenges that keep the changes we want to see in the world from happening. We believed and still do, that we touched on something special, and while it has been difficult to sustain the interest, the passion and the readiness for action we sensed during the retreats, we believe it is within our reach to turn an annual gathering into mutually sustaining processes and practices for collective change. This is ever more true today. We realize that we need a deeper dive and greater commitment to exploring how we can turn our individual nodes into interconnected ones, guided by our obligations to one another and to the radical hope of a more just future, which underlie the world we want to build together. It is from this ethos of collaboration and interdependency as well as our current dystopian reality that we would like to organize a third retreat, focusing on our common ground, what brings us together, and how we can harness our efforts through mutual support and collective action. 

This third and virtual retreat will take place over the course of two days – June 26th and 27th. Whilst you will not be expected to be online the whole time, the same zoom link will be available for the whole period and we will move in and out of the online space involving different forms of interaction over the two days to allow for as much one to one and small group discussion as possible. We aim to bring the experience of a retreat – an extended period of reflection with others – to the online arena. If you have outside space we will encourage you to take your mobile devices outside during this time, as far as possible and enjoy the early summer weather. We invite you to join us in this online experiment and share this with friends and colleagues who need to feel connected at this time and create a call for action.  

To register for this free virtual event please email cbaillie@sandiego.edu. We will limit numbers only to allow for richer conversations so you may wish to reserve your place now. 

Love and courage 
Caroline Baillie on behalf of ESJP