An Ongoing Discovery Of Being Ecological
Ecological Us explores the rich and expansive question, ‘How are we moving through this complex, relational, multigenerational, multicultural world as ecological creatures?’.
It does this through long-form essays, enquiries and ideas about moving through the world as an ecological creature, and the Ecological Us podcast, bringing the listener ‘into the room’ as a small group explores being ecological together.
In Ecological Us, we dive into interbeing and complex relationality, the more-than-human and worldviews and cosmologies, co-created edges and wholeness, my work on ecological organisations and ecological enquiry, and more.
The name ’Ecological Us’ reflects our ongoing nature as ecological creatures, wonderfully intertwined into a multigenerational, multispecies, multicultural world: weaved into each other through interbeing, place, neighbourhood, ecosystems, social systems, cultural stories, worldviews and cosmologies, histories, possible futures, the more-than-human, and this planet.
The name ’Ecological Us’ also holds the shift from a human centric perspective to a kin perspective, where we recognise how we and the more-than-human are co-creating this world together.
About Me And My Work
I’m Anna-Marie Swan, the author of Ecological Us. I used to shorten my name to Anna but I have since reclaimed its fullness. I don’t have any daily practices; the closest I get is following breadcrumbs that life kindly and mysteriously lays out before me. When I follow these, I generally find that my cells get rearranged for the better.
Living in Exeter, Devon (UK), on the edge of Dartmoor and the Jurassic Coast, has informed my ongoing discovery of myself as an ecological creature, and this ongoing discovery saturates my work, interests, and perspectives.
At the root of my current work is the ongoing daily enquiry: ‘What is it to move through this complex, relational, multigenerational, multicultural world as an ecological creature?’. From this root, arises two branches: my work exploring ecological organisations and my work exploring ecological enquiry.
Part of my Ecological Organisations work is as author of Ecological Organisations: A Design Lens, a free organisational design lens available in multiple formats (along with free educational resources) at ecologicalorganisations.org. Here, you can read all about the Creative Commons license that the lens is released under, as well the answers to FAQs.
You can also read more about what ecological enquiry is, how it can be practised within groups and organisations, and how you can join ecological enquiry circles in the ecological enquiry guide.
My Perspectives
My perspectives have been moulded by twenty-five years of chronic health issues that bring my gaze to my inner world with laser focus. At the same time, living in a queering body has widened my gaze far beyond my self, into animism, interbeing, ancestry, the more-than-human, living systems, place, ecology, and the magnificent, mysterious resonance of the natural and physical world.
My perspectives have also been moulded by the middle space I situate as a woman that’s no longer a young adult but not quite an elder, my white skin in whiteness-dominating systems, a middle-class upbringing in a class-based England, my lack of connection to my Croatian ancestry, and chocolate (less chocolate than I'd like and more chocolate than I probably deserve).
You can find out more about my work and how partner-clients and collaborators can work with me on my website. Of all social media, I’m mostly active on my LinkedIn page; please do reach out and connect.
In ecological solidarity,
Anna-Marie x
