Resilience Journeys transform the world’s most remarkable ecosystems into immersive learning laboratories and collaborative spaces for global leaders.
The Journey
Hosted in majestic natural environments, Resilience Journeys harness the power of nature and insights about resilience to transform the vision and practices of global leaders.
Resilience in Action partners with our hosts to provide content on the ecology of the region, the nature of human-environment dilemmas, innovations for building resilience in the local region and in other complex systems, and new leadership models related to strengthening resilience in individuals and organizations – including emergence theory and contextual leadership.
Lectures and discussion sessions with local scientists, businesses and indigenous leaders are complemented by intensive peer exchange and hands-on activities that prepare leaders to practice resilience at three levels:
In their personal lives – becoming stronger and happier people;
In the organizations they lead – building their capacity to create organizational environments that foster adaptation and innovation; and
In complex systems – learning how to map and guide the complex inter-relationships between humans and the natural environment towards greater resilience.
Locations
Resilience Journeys are currently offered in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest.
The region is an ideal setting for the Journey, as it is a prime example of a highly resilient system, as well as a microcosm of the conservation and development dilemmas we face globally and the challenges inherent to building resilient human-ecological systems.
The Journey is hosted by an eco-lodge partnership between Rainforest Expeditions, a company founded by Kurt Holle, and the Ese Eja indigenous community.
“For me, the Resilience Journey came at the perfect time. One week after I returned, my company ran into substantial challenges with one of our assets and the market value of our company dropped 40% in a matter of days. That same week, one of my key employees left.
Because of the Resilience Journey I dealt with these challenges in stride and was much more resilient than I otherwise would have been. Because of the resilience journey, I was eating better, working out daily, sleeping more regularly, focusing more diligently on cultivating important relationships and despite the stress and economic downturn, I felt better than I had in years.
The market in our industry is currently terrible; however, we are operating with a resilient attitude and we have substantial cash resources so we are going to use this period as an opportunity to acquire assets and grow. Since my return, my team’s enthusiasm has increased substantially. One of my investors said to me, ‘Nolan – I have been talking to you for years and I have never heard you so enthusiastic about the future.’ That investor then proceeded to invest millions of dollars in our company the same day.
When I returned from the Resilience Journey, one of my close friends who is very candid with me said, ‘You seem pretty excited now, we’ll see how you feel in a month.’
It has now been three months and things haven’t worn off.”
— Nolan Watson, President and CEO, Sandstorm Gold Ltd
