Elevating Ecological Consciousness
We are not separate from the natural world, and to heal our planet is to heal the current narrative of separateness.
Deep Ecology Installations, Climate Science Education, & Rights of Nature Advocacy
Grounded In Motion’s work centers on what it looks like to deepen human-earth connection, advocate for the Rights of Nature and biodiversity protection while reframing what education and installations can do to remind us of our coexistence with the natural world through embodied experiences.
Grounded in Motion is part of a growing movement of activists, academics, artists and change-makers that understand that our cerebral ways of knowing about climate change and biodiversity loss are not enough.
In order to transform, we must not only know - but feel. Honoring our roles and responsibilities toward the ecosystems that sustain us.
Grounded in Motion designs educational and artistic experiences that reconnect humans with the natural world, using practices and techniques that facilitate deep emotional connection and restore the feeling of belongingness to the Earth.
Through multimedia sound exhibits, art installations, and ecological systems courses and frameworks, we bring these practices of embodied knowing into academic institutions and cultural spaces, helping students and visitors deepen their sense of reciprocity and interconnectedness with the Earth while processing biodiversity loss and maintaining a vision for future ecological flourishings.
“Our planet is a pulsing body of life. Honoring Holocene is an EP of sonic poems that only very minimally begin to express my deep recognition of this animate Earth; my awe and astonishment for all its magic and wisdom of ecological connectivity.” These soundscapes are used within Deep Ecology Installations, Contemplative Ecological Consciousness Sessions, and Climate Activism Curations. It has been beautiful to compose with all those who are part of this process, Federico Diaz, Agustin Uriburu, Nuci Nebieridze, and Benjamin Furman. As we release these tracks we are so appreciative to collaborate with the incredible Jeanne Simmons, whose artworks profoundly evoke our entanglement, by so compellingly forging a physical braiding between Earth’s rich matter and our bodies.
Writing these pieces is also part of processing grief for that which is being lost or unattended, and the fragile relational tissue we must remember to continue weaving.
Carine Gibert is the founder and lead facilitator of Grounded in Motion. Deepening our awareness of our beautiful, yet fragile, interdependence with the natural world drives her vision. The learning journeys she designs offer a different kind of educational roadmap, one that investigates how the union of art, contemplative wisdom and climate science can lead to greater awareness of the interconnectedness of the earth’s living systems. Her courses, installations and curated exhibits feature ecological learning design frameworks, contemplative practices, writing exercises and composed soundscapes that focus on deep ecology while giving space for eco grief and joy.
Carine has been teaching and facilitating for the past 2 decades including courses at the Lycee Francais de New York, International School of Zug and Luzern, UWC World Colleges, Mind and Life Institute, Harvard University, the Association for the Advancement of International Education, and the Community Environmental Defense Fund. She is a mentor for fellows attending the Learning For Action course at TerraDo. Carine has performed as a contemplative poet for Courage of Care, Forever Sabah Institute, and the Contemplative Practices for Higher Education (CPHE) Conference. Recently she gathered with other Earthy Storytellers at Surya at Georgetowns Earth Commons and Lab for Performance and Politics.
The idea of putting nature’s patterns and principles at the heart of what we do as we take our next steps along the path of the human story may seem radical to some. That’s because so many have forgotten our close kinship with nature - ours is a coexistence that goes hand in hand with an interdependence essential to our very survival. We believe that nature oriented solutions should be centered as we address climate change. Read more about Who We Work With and the kinds of Projects that are possible.
We coexist biologically with the soil, with carbon cycles, with water cycles, and with all the trees and wetlands that hold an ingenious network of systems that have sustained sentient beings since the dawn of time. Shifting our ecological consciousness means looking deeply at the narratives that are all around us, spike our nervous systems, and result in ever more human-centric approaches to solving for climate change. To achieve real sustainability means explicitly emphasizing the role nature plays in our lives and existence, raising the ecological consciousness by advocating on behalf of nature itself as the holder of wisdom and the nuanced mechanisms to maintain the abundance of biodiversity as well as the balance of the magical Gaia.
Partners and Clients
Educating for Ecological Consciousness - United World Colleges
This collaboration between Grounded in Motion and the international school network United World Colleges centres on designing and articulating the school’s mission and framework, aiming to develop UWC into a strong and innovative force in the Sustainability Education space. The framework emphasizes a strong sense of place, a deep understanding of landscape, and the connection between education and its local geography, thus allowing students to become stewards of the Earth.
Mycelium Installation
Created to evoke wonder and appreciation for our planet’s biodiversity and our humble place within it. In collaboration with Berlin based artist Clare Celeste and Argentinian guitarist Federico Diaz it aims to enmesh visitors in thousands of hand cut images of flora and fauna, a reminder that we are all inextricably connected to the larger web of life. The artworks serve as gathering spaces for reconnection and healing so we may find our place as stewards of life. “As we forge plans for expensive carbon capture technologies, we destroy soil ecosystems that do this work more effectively.” This collaboration is a celebration of the wisdom of the soil and its underground networks. The soundscape and pedagogical workshop were designed to strengthen the relational tissues of our movements for justice and ecological healing, involving contemplative practices, writing exercises and moments of silent walking to give space for eco grief and joy.
“Grounded In Motion creates spaces to help us reconnect with natural world, process grief and advocate for the waters that surround us. The learning journey emphasizes how we can encourage our more than human relatives to flourish rather than moving us towards climate anxiety and fear.”
— Pooja Sahni - Indian Institute of Technology