Water is our lifeblood and Clean Water (along with Clean Air and Clean Soil) is one of our core Three Asks, the non-negotiable baselines that underpin a flourishing future for people and life on our planet. Getting there, means everyone beginning to care at a bone-deep level, way beneath our conscious minds and having a sense of how we might get there, supported by evidence of what works (or doesn't) so that we can create positive feedback loops of growing community between the human and Beyond-Human worlds.

Living this into being is one of the core pillars of the Great Transformation and one of the groups working towards it is the River Dôn Project in Sheffield, one of the many projects overseen by Opus Independents. One of the project leads is Jonny Douglas, and he's today's guest.

Jonny imagines a world where the vast majority of people have the means and opportunity to find and fulfil their true potential. He has worked as a designer, a trainer, educator and facilitator in human skills and creativity in universities, colleges, schools and businesses. At Opus he is a Co-Founder and Network Coordinator of the UBI Lab Network and Technology Lead for the River Dôn Project, among other roles across the portfolio. He believes our only path forward is one of mutually assured flourishing and that now is the time to build those alternative realities, together.

I met Jonny last July at the Social Enterprise Network Summer Conference in Sheffield and the conversation about the River Dôn Project was one of the single most inspiring, thought -provoking I have ever had. So, with great delight, here we are, exploring routes to Mutually Assured Flourishing. Enjoy!

River Dôn Project website | Engagement Platform

River Dôn Project - Bluesky | Linked in | Instagram | Mailing list | Donate

Mentions in the Show

James Lock of Opus #279 https://accidentalgods.life/now-then-building-networks-of-citizen-power-with-james-lock-of-opus-in-sheffield/
Debs Grayson from Opus #283 https://accidentalgods.life/red-pill-blue-pill-green-pill-true-pill-creating-a-trustworthy-media-commons-with-debs-grayson-of-opus-independents/
Hospicing Modernity with Vanessa De Oliveira Andreotti ~ Festival of Debate, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZgq3h6pPxU

#Brilliant Minds: BONUS podcast with Kate Raworth, Indy Johar & James Lock at the Festival of Debate

https://accidentalgods.life/brilliant-minds-bonus-podcast-with-kate-raworth-indy-johar-james-lock-at-the-festival-of-debate/

Opus https://www.weareopus.org/
Festival of Debatehttps://festivalofdebate.com/

PechaKucha Sheffield

https://www.pechakucha.com/communities/sheffield

Sheffield Soup
https://sheffieldsoup.wordpress.com/what-is-soup/

Food Works

https://thefoodworks.org/

Sofar Sounds

https://www.sofarsounds.com/cities/sheffield

Dôn Catchment Rivers Trust

https://dcrt.org.uk/

For a deeper dive, other links are available on a Google Doc here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/172pnHQdb14dgQmphixCoFgea5j_kapzpSOeIlgZUko8/

What we offer: Accidental Gods, Dreaming Awake and the Thrutopia Writing Masterclass

If you'd like to join our next Open Gathering 'Dreaming Your Death Awake' (you don't have to be a member) it's on 2nd November - details are here.
If you'd like to join us at Accidental Gods, this is the membership where we endeavour to help you to connect fully with the living web of life.
If you'd like to train more deeply in the contemporary shamanic work at Dreaming Awake, you'll find us here.
If you'd like to explore the recordings from our last Thrutopia Writing Masterclass, the details are here

Be like Water: Becoming Nature Again with the River Dôn Project and Jonny Douglas