Led by Jenny Mackewn, with Special Contributors, Satish Kumar, Stephan Harding, Rob Hopkins, Mac Macartney, Dan Burgess, Bill Plotkin (via video/Skype link) and Otto Scharmer (via video/Skype link). Join us for an eight-month learning adventure that consists of a period of preparation, an intensive residential at Schumacher College and a subsequent community of practice group which meets by Skype or face-to-face meetings.
Co-creating the Emerging Future 2019: The Schumacher Certificate in Leadership and Facilitation

- Gain a model of new leadership and facilitation skills
- Meet and get to know inspiring leaders
- Develop capacity to inspire others
Co-Creating the Emerging Future 2019: The Schumacher Certificate in Leadership and Facilitation
Led by Jenny Mackewn, with Special Contributors, Satish Kumar, Stephan Harding, Rob Hopkins, Mac Macartney, Dan Burgess, Bill Plotkin (via video/Skype link) and Otto Scharmer (via video/Skype link)
An eight-month journey that consists of:
- A period of preparation
- A residential intensive
- An 8 month community of practice through Virtual or Face-to-Face meeting
I found a deep connection to myself and my true aspirations and values via the great facilitation provided by Jenny and the fantastic visiting professionals and the inspiring content.
Hege Saebjornsen, Head of Sustainability, IKEA
Programme Summary
Join us for an eight-month learning adventure that consists of a period of preparation, an intensive residential at Schumacher College and a subsequent community of practice group which meets by Skype or face-to-face meetings.
This is an opportunity to develop leadership and facilitation skills necessary for a fairer and more sustainable world for all of us.
The programme, which leads to the Schumacher Certificate in Leadership and Facilitation, has five interconnected approaches to leading and facilitating change in groups, organisations, communities and in the wider field:
- A new model of leadership and facilitation – especially designed to meet the challenges of an increasingly volatile, unpredictable and complex (or VUCA) world
- Skills - we develop our leadership and facilitation skills through immersive learning and
- The magic of practice – by practicing our leadership and facilitation skills during the intensive residential process and applying them in real life during an 8-month community of practice
- Getting to know inspiring leaders – who embody and bring to life the skills of the new leadership and facilitation
- An understanding of Theory-U – and how it informs and inspires new leadership
Who is the course for?
This course is for leaders, managers, facilitators, politicians and change agents from all sectors who wish to develop their leadership and facilitation skills in the service of life on earth, within a variety of settings such as groups, teams, organisations, communities and the wider field.
Full Programme Details
Before the Intensive Residential, a Period of Preparation:
Shortly after registering, one of the programme leaders will call you to help you:
- Identify tangible projects which you are already leading and facilitating
- Clarify issues and areas where you dream of taking a lead
- Find books or DVDs, YouTube films or TED talks to read, watch or listen to in preparation
You will also be asked to complete a questionnaire to encompass your needs as much as possible in our final planning for the programme.
An intensive residential from 3rd – 14th June 2019
The intensive residential explores the skills needed for taking a lead in the volatile, uncertain, complex world in which we now live. We understand the relevance of continuous and immersive learning for the leaders of today; we find out how to rapidly prototype; we create common ground; we learn to implement with fierce resolve and deep humility; we discover how to actively collaborate with nature; and how to sustain our resolve – even when the going gets tough. Throughout we are attending to letting go of the past - in order to sense and ‘Let Come’ the new.
We have time together as a group, time with our lead tutor and our special guest contributors, time on the land with nature, time to develop our ideas and above all time to practice. See a Walk Through The Week for details of the residential intensive.
The 8-month community of practice invites you to:
- Apply the skills you have learnt to your everyday or professional life
- Continue to develop the areas in which you are already taking a lead (or dreaming of taking a lead)
- Initiate new projects that you feel called to
- Maintain practices of inquiry, collaboration and co-creation by meeting in small groups (virtual or face-to-face)
The Schumacher Certificate in Leadership & Facilitation is awarded to people who:
- Complete the Residential Intensive
- Participate in the Community of Practice and
- Create ways to Show their Story of Taking a Lead in the Service of the Future
Previous groups have created reports, stories, films, collages, cartoon strips, animations, computer games and apps for mobile phones. The world is your oyster.
A Walk Through the 12-day Residential Intensive
On Monday, we gather at lunchtime for the first of many delicious vegetarian meals. We meet members of the College community; we discover the beautiful old buildings of Schumacher College and the attractive gardens, woods and forests which surround the College. We are introduced to the flow of the week and we explore what we mean by leadership with Jenny Mackewn. We identify a breakthrough question for ourselves – in order to help us focus on how to apply the course to ourselves and to both our professional and personal lives.
On Tuesday Jenny introduces us to a new Model of Leadership. On subsequent days we explore all aspects of this unique Leadership Model both intellectually and experientially. We practice Speaking Inspirationally and make a field trip to sea or moor.
On Wednesday, we hear from Schumacher’s Chief Ecologist, Stephan Harding, about the pressures on the earth’s system and the resulting dilemmas that we face as leaders. We move from the macrocosm of the universe to the microcosm of our own dreams by considering and flipping the dilemmas which will inevitably arise/emerge as we try to make progress on our chosen path.
On Thursday, we meet Satish Kumar, who helps us consider how to Lead with Fierce Resolve and Deep Humility – how to Sustain Energy and Commitment even when the going gets tough. Jenny Mackewn introduces us to different ways of Conceptualizing, Leading and Facilitating groups and explains leadership and facilitation projects envisaged for next week.
On Friday and Saturday, we embark on an immersive learning journey – a mini Vision or Purpose Quest which enables us to connect deeply to nature, to sharpen our sense of purpose and to Let Go our past mindsets and to Let Come our future.
On Saturday evening and Sunday, we relax and follow our own timetable.
On Sunday evening, we reconnect to reflect on the experience and theory of Theory-U – as encapsulated in the vision/purpose quest.
On the second Monday (10th June), we learn how to engage a wider audience with Dan Burgess of Swarm and Good for Nothing.
On Tuesday (11th June), Jenny explains and offers an opportunity for practicing Open Space Technology. In our small groups we finalise the design for the leadership and facilitation task.
On Wednesday (12th June), the small groups design, lead and facilitate a session for the rest of the group and we make a field trip.
We meet Mac Macartney, founder of Embercombe village and author of the book The Children’s Fire and Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Towns movement and author of The Transition Handbook.
As the second week draws to a conclusion, we consider the wider inquiry question – what can we do/change as a group? We start designing our community of practice (the next 8 months) and our final reunion called a Creative Feast – to which participants return in person or virtually – to tell the story of how they have applied their learning at Schumacher to the real world and taken action (however modest) in the service of a better, fairer and more sustainable world.