At EMCC Belgium, we are convinced that each one of us needs to integrate environmental and societal concerns into our interactions and that, as coaches, we have a societal role to play. It is also the nobility of our profession

The poor results of COP25 and of the European Union’s Zero Carbon 2050 objective have motivated us to encourage reflection and action among us. A first initiative took place on October 26, 2019, and others are planned throughout 2020.

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Who drives Be.Planet ?

Françoise Bacq, 61 years old. www.emccbelgium.org/fr/trouver-un-coach/recherche/view-submission/85. I have worked in “big business” for over 25 years, as a lawyer, management consultant and executive coach. Intellectually invigorating experience, but humanly and spiritually "drying".

In my tireless search for the "unattainable” star, I became a psychologist, psychotherapist, Jungian analyst, somatotherapist. Then, in recent years, following a succession of grief cycles that needed to be completed, I felt driven to go on a ‘vision quest’ in the wilderness, in Peru, Portugal, Scotland and Spain. Experiences that opened me up and led me to, inter alia, become a sculptor, and literally ‘fall in love with’ and commit myself to Nature.

I realized how much, without loving oneself, one cannot truly love the planet or take care of it. And, even more, that efficiency-driven solutions will not suffice if our commitment is exclusively anchored in our rational left brain keen on efficiency. We need to engage with our heart, our instinct, our feelings, our boldness, without knowing at all times where it might lead us. This is what I want to achieve with you and with EMCC

Legacy from my first profession, I gladly play the ‘devil’s advocate’. By nature, I can be ‘provocative’ to allow the diversity of points of view to be expressed. On the societal crisis, I have some clear opinions that will show through, no doubt. But “even if I don't agree with what you say, I will fight to death to protect your right to say it" as Voltaire supposedly said. May this apocryphal quote be our ‘mantra’.

Anyway, it is not Be-Planet's intention to debate but rather to think jointly and act in support of an Earth where we could be living in harmony…

The spirit of Be.Planet

COP 25 stirred itself up in vain, only to decide to postpone all decisions until next year. As for the European Council, it issued [and not even unanimously] a “2050 Low Carbon Economy Roadmap" that merely refers to the objectives of the Paris Agreement, already bypassed by reality..

This procrastination transfers the weight of no-change onto the next generation. A procrastination that is akin to "passivity" in the sense of Transactional Analysis. We know how it can end ... in violence.

As Board member, we believe that EMCC’s DNA calls us to respond to this procrastination with action, and to this passivity with commitment. At our level and within our reach, of course. But it won’t be enough to do our ‘hummingbird’s share’, as the Latin American legend suggests. Individual action would keep us stuck in our individualistic culture, it would only mean doing ‘more of the same’

Since the danger of withdrawal is correlated with planetary destabilization, we suggest that we also become ‘sardines’, as in the Italian movement against fascism born in November 2019.

The reference to sardines comes from the expression ‘packed like sardines in a tin’ and refers to the need to fill the public space as much as possible, but also alludes to the defenseless nature of these small fish, which nevertheless travel in groups. (Wikipédia).

We invite you to get interconnected, to think together, with our differences, and to act, if not together, in mutual support to one another. As coaches, but also as citizens, parents, colleagues…

Whatever we do, the spiral of destructivity is already racing ahead. Choosing which action to implement matters less therefore than taking an action. Even if the fate of the planet is unchanged, in any case it will get us out of fear, denial, passivity and ultimately violence ... at least if this action stems from our thoughts, our heart, our soul and is supported collectively. And this might precisely be one of the challenges of the planetary crisis.

Let's go further ... What if we are called to address this crisis internally as well, at the more spiritual level of our relationship to the world, life and respect? Short of what, it could be that all our external solutions are merely ‘plasters on a wooden leg’… 

"Passivity" in today’s geopolitics

In Transactional Analysis, passivity means ‘how do I go about not solving a problem?’

TA distinguishes 4 passive behaviors, in rising order:

- 1° Abstention: one is literally passive and does nothing.
- 2° Over-adaptation: one does what one fancies is expected from them, without really giving it a thought.
- 3° Agitation: one wastes energy in all directions and scatters it in useless activities.
- 4° Violence or "incapacitation": one gets overwhelmed and acts out destructively against oneself others (aggression, suicide, murder).

While TA is a psychotherapeutic framework conceived for interpersonal relationships, it is easily transposable in current geopolitics. :

- 1° The problem is not even on the agenda or sent away to some working group.
- 2° Laws are passed immediately as an answer to public anxiety.
- 3° Large mass gatherings and committees, ineffective COPs and talkative European Councils are held…
- 4° Tear gas and rubber bullets are launched, borders closed. Intolerance towards others and fascist movements spread.

Let's meet to talk about it, think together, and act

The Be.Planet initiative started on October 26, 2019 with a “forest bath” and a reflective afternoon: Coach ou Mentor, levier sociétal

It continues in 2020 with:

• Sunday 02/02/2020 morning: Forest bath "Shinrin Yoku". More info: click here.
• Sunday 01/03/2020 morning: Forest bath "Shinrin Yoku". Cancelled because of the wind.
• Sunday 29/03/2020 morning: Forest bath "Shinrin Yoku". Cancelled because of Coronavirus
• Monday evening 11/05/2020: The Economics of Happiness. Film and exchanges. More info: click here.

 

In addition, EMCC France is organizing a seminar on 26-27 June 2020 on the theme : "From the infinitely small to the infinitely large: Towards a shared planetary consciousness". Let's be many to join this (EMCC Belgium members benefit from the same advantageous rate as EMCC France members). More info by clicking here

An interview with Pierre Rabhi, founder of the Colibris movement, as part of this conference: https://youtu.be/ew-jgJXSdRE

 

What next ?

Depending on our discussions, the follow-up could take several forms:

• Inspiring and creative guests…
• “Coaching circles” (in groups of 6-8) according to the framework of “Theory U” by Otto SCHARMER (MIT), in order to progressively move from thought to creative vision, and to have the future emerge through action.
• Provided we are sufficiently numerous (8-12 people), a “vision quest” in the wilderness, in Portugal, Italy, Scotland, or Spain (Asturias) could take place in 2021.

« Poetically always, on earth man lives » (Hölderlin)