Briefing No. 51
What we’re reading
On the Greenwood Place Bedside Table
The Art Of Fighting, Priya Parker
Priya Parker believes that “healthy conflict is the missing link between our longing to belong and our lonely reality.” In her new book, The Art of Fighting, Parker takes what she has learned in two decades as a facilitator to teach skills that are the lifeblood of community.
the GIVING RECORD
Philanthropy in Britain is rarely short of numbers. It is short of stories. Last week, together with Rhodri Davies and Rory Brooks, we helped to launch The Giving Record: a growing collection of stories about giving in the UK today. If you know a story of a gift that changed something, your own or one you have watched unfold, please add it to the collection. The more stories there are, the more this becomes a movement.
MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE
Barnaby Churchill-Steel uses virtual reality to expand perception and increase awareness of the rich natural world around us. VR can be a window into the mind of a mosquito or the roots of a tree - by deepening our understanding of the natural world Churchill-Steep seeks also to create a deeper sense of wonder.
FLOW
A self-sufficient cat, a capybara, a dog and a lemur find themselves sharing a small boat after a great flood in this beautiful film about extremely different creatures who must learn to cooperate with others to survive. It won an Oscar for best animated feature.
How neighbours save lives
Greenwood Place community member David Robinson recently shared with us a study carried out following the 2011 tsunami that struck Japan’s Tohoku coast. Daniel Aldrich studied more than 130 towns, looking at wave height, seawalls and demographics. Some towns lost far more people than others. What mattered most to community-wide survival numbers was whether people knew their neighbours.
positive tipping points
A timely new report from The Earthshot Prize and the University of Exeter looks at more than fifty places where progress could become self-reinforcing and unstoppable. We were particularly struck by the findings around marine conservation, where protected areas have grown fastest wherever coastal communities have seen the benefits for themselves.
race against the machine
“You are human, right? You need to sleep, you need to eat, you have moods. You don’t know if you’re going to get scooped by the trillion-dollar company.” On October 6, OpenAI announced an extraordinary series of breakthroughs that have shaken academic mathematics to its core. This article follows the publication of a team of researchers that just pipped the machines at the post….
The reith lectures
Few writers have done more than Robert Macfarlane to transform the way we think about nature and our place within it. His upcoming Reith Lectures will be available on BBC Radio from 19th October. They will argue for the urgent need to re-imagine humanity’s relationship with the living world.
Failing forward
We had some excellent conversations about failure at the Pathways to Change residential earlier this month and they reminded me of this report that Acumen brought out in 2023. A radical departure for a non-profit, the report discusses the many things that Acumen have tried that have not worked - understanding that talking about failure is what sets us up for both learning and eventual success.
The houses that stood
When a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar, these tiny bamboo homes didn’t budge.
from our community
How can technology support the lives of families and providers of children with serious illness? Global Treehouse’s Day In The Life brings the stories and solutions of clinicians and families to life.
and finally…
Greenwood Place is hiring: If you are an experienced, curious, grant-maker we’d love to hear from you. Take a look at the application pack here.
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
Greenwood Place provides philanthropy support, advice and execution for a small group of strategic philanthropists. We take an entrepreneurial approach to tackling tough social and environmental problems. We work closely with our clients to find the places where they can make the most difference, we support their learning and we partner with them to achieve real, lasting change.
The Greenwood is the place in Shakespeare's plays where characters go to grow, change and learn.