Malcolm Hollick, PhD
All my adult life - more than 45 years - I’ve been interested in the big challenges facing humanity and the earth. As a university student, I became concerned about the plight of the poor and hungry. This led me to become an agricultural engineer specialising in soil and water conservation. Following doctoral research on water harvesting, I joined the academic staff of The University of Western Australia, and my interests widened.
I undertook studies of laws and policies relating to management of the environment and natural resources - particularly land and water. This ultimately led me to write a textbook on the evaluation of development projects covering economic, environmental and social factors, and including meaningful involvement of the public.
Throughout these years, I was also strongly interested in the impact of technology on society, and the concept of Appropriate Technology. I wrote an unpublished book on this subject, entitled “Humane Technology,” that argued for technological progress to be guided by human needs in their broadest sense.
By this time, I was calling myself a generalist, because I no longer fitted any disciplinary box. In my efforts to understand and resolve the challenges facing humanity, I had explored the contributions of many disciplines, including engineering, economics, law, politics, psychology, sociology, philosophy and other disciplines. They all had contributions to make, but none of them held the answers I was seeking.
Once again, my focus widened. I helped to organise three annual conferences on “Pathways to the Future.” Designed for a mix of senior high school students and the general public, these explored the interconnected issues of war, environmental destruction and poverty. This led me to help establish the Indian Ocean Centre for Peace Studies which played a significant role in redefining peace studies at the end of the cold war. As part of this involvement, I co-edited a book on conflict over natural resources in south-east Asia.
Following the breakup of my family, I became interested in Buddhism, and particularly the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Later, I joined the management team of the Australian Transpersonal Institute which ran courses in personal and spiritual development.
My last project as an academic was a study, with my partner Christine Connelly, of the contribution of ecovillages to sustainable development. Following six months of travel to intentional communities in Australia, the USA and Europe, we published a report on our findings.
While on this study tour, we decided to join the famous Findhorn spiritual community and ecovillage in northern Scotland, where we lived for 12 years. (http://www.findhorn.org/). While in Scotland, I wrote “The Science of Oneness: A worldview for the twenty-first century.” In this major work, I take a fresh look at the findings of modern science, and integrate them with insights from many spiritual traditions. I present a scientifically valid vision of cosmic reality as conscious, creative, loving, and purposeful. And I challenge us all to guide the evolution of humanity and the Earth in positive directions. (More information)
Still wanting to uncover the root causes of the human predicament, Christine and I embarked on a new book in 2008. It is about the impact of trauma on individuals, communities and civilization, and has the same title and sub-title as this blog. We concluded that humanity will not be able to overcome the major challenges of war, violence, poverty and environmental destruction until we take effective steps to reduce the incidence of trauma. This is also the focus of this blog.
Christine Connelly, BSc
I have always been a therapist of one kind or another. For 35 years, I worked as an occupational therapist as well as being a wife and mother. During this time I mainly helped to rehabilitate people with physical disabilities, including a few years as part of a team adapting information technologies for use by those with high levels of disability.
Alongside this professional practice, I explored many alternative therapies. Following my marriage to Malcolm and our move to Scotland, I trained in specific techniques of trauma healing, and developed my own unique approach to therapy. Today, I am still learning new modalities and integrating them into my self-healing and therapy work.
Our study and experience of intentional communities and ecovillages led me to see psychological issues as the main barriers to achieving sustainability. Having collaborated with Malcolm in our study of trauma, and from my own experience, I am convinced that this is a root cause of humanity’s problems. More recently, as part of my own healing, I have been exploring the issue of diet, and believe incorrect diet is also a major contributing factor.
While in Scotland, I trained in textiles art, and use this as a form of therapy for my personal healing journey. My focus on intuitive thinking and writing complements Malcolm's more academic approach.
