Connected lives, what are the ingredients for connectedness and fulfillment? The international perspective.

Dr Ha Vinh Tho is the former Programme Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan (GNHCB) and Co-Founder of Eurasia Foundation, Vietnam. He is an international speaker on Gross National Happiness (GNH), happiness and well-being, and moving beyond GDP. Ha Vinh is the founder and chairman of Eurasia Foundation, a humanitarian NGO developing educational programs for children and young people with disabilities and ecological projects in Vietnam. He is a co-founder of the Peaceful Bamboo Family, the first Camphill Community in Vietnam: a community and vocational training centre for young people with disabilities that is also pioneering Biodynamic agriculture. He was the head of training, learning and development at the International Committee of the Red Cross. He has trained humanitarian professionals working in war zones and emergency response in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Living a Connected Life, Freedom from Exclusion Camphill Initiatives for Social Ecology Webinar 2022

A year-long online symposium series, looking to the future to new inspiration and relevance for the Camphill impulse in Ireland.

Camphill Initiatives for Social Ecology, a new organisation, is hosting the symposium to mark 50 years of the Camphill movement in Ireland [1972-2022]. The symposium is a reflective moment after 50 years of active community development where we hope to create an open exchange of ideas. The overarching theme for the symposium is Living a Connected Life. Through this theme, we will explore inclusion, self-advocacy, community building, care and support, inclusive research, meaningful work, active citizenship, belonging and friendship– all beyond the context of service.

We have invited speakers connected to the international Camphill movement and thinkers, doers and activists from Ireland and overseas whose work and lived experience provide a broader picture and context for Camphill's vision of social renewal as it diversifies in the 21st Century.

We aim to capture the collective insights and use them as a platform for launching new initiatives to help build more connected and inclusive lives for people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland.

The symposium begins with international speaker Ha Vinh Tho on the 23rd of March 2022 and continues throughout the year through monthly webinars. Please find the full information for the Spring/Summer programme. Each webinar will last two hours with a key-note speaker, followed by interactive break out-groups.

All welcome. The sessions are free, registration is essential via Eventbrite.