Systems thinking expanding in the health field?

Like in most fields there is no shortage of systemic health issues that would benefit from attention by practitioners and researchers well versed in Systems Thinking in Practice (STiP). It is thus good to discern a trend of increasing interest and application of STiP in the health field.  Take this paper for example:

Rethinking health systems strengthening: key systems thinking tools and strategies for transformational change

1. R Chad Swanson¹,*,
2. Adriano Cattaneo²,
3. Elizabeth Bradley³,
4. Somsak Chunharas⁴,
5. Rifat Atun⁵,
6. Kaja M Abbas⁶,
7. Korina Katsaliaki⁷,
8. Navonil Mustafee⁸,
9. Benjamin Mason Meier⁹ and
10. Allan Best¹⁰

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA, ²Health Services Research and International Health, Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Trieste, Italy, ³Yale School of Public Health, Global Health Leadership Institute, New Haven, CT, USA, ⁴National Health Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand, ⁵Imperial College Business School and Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK, ⁶Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA, ⁷International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece, ⁸Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK, ⁹University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA and ¹⁰Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, University of British Columbia, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

1. ↵*Corresponding author. Brigham Young University, 1668 North 1590 West, Provo, UT 84604, USA. 

 Abstract

While reaching consensus on future plans to address current global health challenges is far from easy, there is broad agreement that reductionist approaches that suggest a limited set of targeted interventions to improve health around the world are inadequate. We argue that a comprehensive systems perspective should guide health practice, education, research and policy. We propose key ‘systems thinking’ tools and strategies that have the potential for transformational change in health systems. Three overarching themes span these tools and strategies: collaboration across disciplines, sectors and organizations; ongoing, iterative learning; and transformational leadership. The proposed tools and strategies in this paper can be applied, in varying degrees, to every organization within health systems, from families and communities to national ministries of health. While our categorization is necessarily incomplete, this initial effort will provide a valuable contribution to the health systems strengthening debate, as the need for a more systemic, rigorous perspective in health has never been greater.

My colleague Helen Wilding advises that Chad Swanson has recently been working with a group of interns to disseminate the potential of systems thinking to build capacity in global health.  They received funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to do this. They are planning a social media launch (facebook, twitter, a blog and LinkedIn) and are also preparing a number of 'white papers'.

Their website/blog is up and running.  

I wish them well 

Sometimes our institutions work...but not often enough

Last week the US Supreme court ruled out patenting of natural human DNA.  This was an important ruling. It was pleasing to see a unanimous decision. But as noted in this article there are still doubts raised in a myriad ways.  What about patenting genes in other species?  What about distortion of R&D investment due to the attenuation of action?  By this I mean that this action - which may not turn out to be that major - still does not address the main social issues that the technology provokes.  We have an institution-attention attenuation disorder!  Or in other words our historical institutions are not agile enough in our contemporary circumstances. Whilst this ruling overturns 30 years of patent laws it still leaves open the right to patent synthetic genetic material thus raising questions about what the boundaries will become beween synthetic and natural?

I am using institutions here to include organisations, policies, rules and norms i.e., in the new institutional sense.  Collectively we need to be more aware of institutional shortcomings as the news reporting this week was replete with examples of institutions heading for systemic failure!  Firstly there was the English graduate loans leak pointing to a potential systemic failure of governance (i.e., a failure to honour commitments and back-dating new rules). The leak also raises questions about the on-going viability of the institution of student loans itself. Policy makers seem to be seeking incremental, perhaps devious, changes to an insitution that is deeply flawed in the first place. This is a recipe for ultimate systemic failure as incremental tinkering gets nowhere.  

Another example appeared in today's edition of The Observer.  I refer to the undoing (or abandoning) by the Conservatives of a genuinely innovative institutional reform - an 'open primary' that resulted in the election of Sarah Wollaston.  The institution worked like this: 'in 2009 every registered voter in Totnes was sent a form' by the Conservatives and a paid envelope to return it... the selection process was 'thrown open to the people'.  It is clear that the current government no longer has the stomach for this important democratic innovation.  It is bad enough that citizen engagement is being undermined,  but Helm's article also points to more profound examples of systemic failure of governance. Top of my list are the ways in which the House of Commons operates. As any viewer of Borgan - the fictional show about the Danish PM - knows the Danish Parliament has a very sophisticated electonic means of voting. One can speculate that this allows for more democracy compared to the Whip controlled (read Executive controlled) voting process in Westminster. It is the institutions that have passed their use by date (such as voting procedures in the Commons) that we need to fear and get rid of. As Helm's article shows many of these are associated with process issues that undermine democracy in action. 

Michael Rosen's well argued open letter to Education Secretary Michael Gove (Michael Rosen's letter from a curious parent) explicates yet another example of governance reform heading off in the wrong direction. Behind these institutional innovations sit Ministerial powers that have never been so great.  The governance checks and balances (e.g. local authorities; boards of governors) have all but disappeared in the key decision-making processes.

Writing in 1980 the late Russ Ackoff claimed that the 1940s marked the start of the 'systems age'.  If such an age has ever really been with us then examples of the type above point to a descent into a new 'dark age'  in which the doctrines of reductionsim, mechansm and analytical mode of thought along with unfettered and outdated ideology (and in Australia rampant misogyny) have gained a new supremacy.

Rhine Walking

A walking holiday in the Middle Rhine (Mittel Rhein) in the last week of spring seemed a good bet weather wise.  But with only 1.5 sunny days our bet only sort of paid off!!  None-the-less we enjoyed the walking, much of it on the well marked Rheinsteig.

We set off from Bingen am Rhein on Saturday 25th May and arrived here in Koblenze today, the 1st June - and a very cool and overcast beginning to summer.  Our overnight stays were in Oberheimbach, Kaub, St Goarshausen (two nights), Bornhofen, Rhens and Koblenze.  There was much to take in for a systemic muser!  The decline of the small-holder based Middle Rhine wine industry (whilst at the same time discovering some very fine dry Reislings and Spateburgunders); effects of volatile weather on the local tourist industry; the complex and busy river traffic on the Rhine; the impact of history on the landscape; good food and overall excellent hospitality.

Systems news from publisher Triarchy

From Triarchy Press:

"Our ‘Systems Thinking in practice’ books – like John Seddon’s or Simon Guilfoyle’s on policing – don’t require any previous knowledge of the subject. But many people who've used them do get curious about Systems Thinking and how it works.

 

In my office, or at conferences, visitors will often pick up Systems Thinking for Curious Managers and say, ‘Ah, this is what I’ve been looking for - short and clear’. It starts from Russ Ackoff’s view of Systems Thinking and sets out 15 Systems Thinking principles with a brief explanation of how each of them works in practice.

• For example, the section on Change introduces a simple but radical Systems Thinking way to plan and introduce change in any organisation. It also explains why benchmarking and continuous improvement aren’t such good ideas.

• And the section on Feedback Loops (which are at the heart of all Systems Thinking) explains about unintended consequences, shows why democratic politics often sinks into a populist slanging match and explains how that same downward spiral can happen in any organisation, leaving leaders/managers watching helplessly.

If you or colleagues need a short guide to the basics of Systems Thinking, Systems Thinking for Curious Managers is the ideal place to start. [Use promotion code altThink to get a 20% discount any time before 23rd May.]"

"Pretty much everyone who knows the work of Russ Ackoff agrees that he offers fascinating insights into leadership, management, strategy and business.

 

Ackoff invites us to look at work and organisations differently, but usually avoids suggesting many practical techniques and approaches. Which is why we’ve encouraged our authors to develop and elaborate his Systems Thinking/Design Thinking approach in very practical ways.

 

Amongst the Triarchy books that do this best are:

• Bill Tate’s book on leaders and leadership
• David Wastell's book on 'Technomagic' - IT-based solutions to public sector problems
• Simon Guilfoyle’s book on targets, measurement, performance and statistics (it's about policing but applies to any organisation)
• Rose Armson’s book on problem-solving and decision-making using a Systems Thinking approach
• John Seddon’s books on Systems Thinking in the Public Sector.

If you or colleagues need clear, practical guides to applying Ackoff's Systems Thinking in practice, do have a look at any of these books. [Use promotion code altThink before 23rd May to save 20%]"

Keep an eye on myEcoCost

Project leader Rob Mostyn writes:

"We are now 7 months into the myEcoCost project. It has been quite challenging building up a momentum and aligning the thoughts of so many contributors but the progress we are making is sound and I am very pleased with the foundation work.

We have an official website now, we have completed our requirements gathering and the system architecture is starting to take very good shape. We are also starting to write papers for academic conferences later in the year.

Several weeks ago one consortium partner addressed a cleaning industry conference. The topic was about the 200 or so eco labels in use around the world and the challenge consumers face in making sense of it all. In brief he said "it isn't going to work". He went on to mention his involvement in myEcoCost and some of the big industry players expressed an immediate interest in the idea. So word is starting to get around.

It would be wrong to think of this as "our" project. With the Commission's financial support it is now a European project and I would like to express my gratitude once again to the Commission and its reviewers who rated our application so highly.

Here is an overall summary of what the project is up to:
*  The theme of the EU Commission's funding call was "Innovative resource efficient technologies, processes and services".
*  The tag line for the project is "Forming the nucleus of a novel ecological accounting system".
*  The ultimate objective of the concept is to inform individual consumers on a day-by-day basis whether they are living sustainably or not, with the intent that people will modify their consumption in order to lead one planet lifestyles.

We believe this is the beginning of society finding its way to living sustainably and ensuring there is a habitable planet for us in 500 years time. Thank you so much for your interest in it to date.

And now I have a favour to ask.

The best way to keep informed is to receive our project newsletter and so I would like to invite you to register on the website to receive it. This will keep you abreast of the achievement of the project in a more timely fashion, with a newsletter being sent every 2 months or so. It will always be brief and to the point and there is no risk of email addresses being passed on to third parties. If you go to www.myecocost.eu (drop the "www." if you are on a Mac using Safari) and then click on "subscribe" in the lower right corner of the window underneath Project Newsletter. And in case you don.t want to register for yourself. you could do it for us! The more people registering for the newsletter has our dissemination statistics look that much better. ;-)"

Only a touch of summer

In 'my' England sunny days have been rare this year.  Fortunately two have fallen on a Sunday or bank holiday Monday. All gardens from Kent to Shropshire are behind what most regard as 'normal'.  A friend in Kent who records the date of his first daffodil said they were later by a month this year.   Sometimes the interactions of temperature and daylength (that can control flowering) produce effects I have not seen before - such as daffodils still flowering among the bluebells at Chirk Castle last week-end.  At Hodnet Hall a day later the lilac, rhododendrons and other flowers were further along.

Does George Osborne know?

Readers of this Blog have perhaps become aware of the critiques I and others offer regarding mainstream economics.  The latest imposition that economics has made on our lives is not based in theory (so it seems) but appears to have been due to a failure of spreadsheet management and arithmetic. 'Eminent' Harvard economists whose work has been used by many for the wave of austerity programmes around the world have been shown to have made a mistake with serious implications:

"in their Excel spreadsheet, Reinhart and Rogoff had not selected the entire row when averaging growth figures: they omitted data from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada and Denmark. In other words, they had accidentally only included 15 of the 20 countries under analysis in their key calculation.

When that error was corrected, the “0.1% decline” data became a 2.2% average increase in economic growth."

I wonder if this was an example of practice to support a pre-held theory?

Canada shows up 'spineless' Australia on Sri Lanka

In the words of Frances Harrison, today in London 'The Commonwealth has failed its first major test since it strengthened its Ministerial Action Group in 2011 to renew its commitment to human rights and democratic values.'

Australia's stance in this situation is shameful - and the shame crosses party lines.  In contrast Canada has shown moral courage, as evidenced by the actions of the Canadian Foreign Minister when leaving the London meeting:

"Asked about what the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamlesh Sharma says is positive engagement with Sri Lanka, Mr Baird [Canada's Foreign Minister] replied that he would rather accept the judgement and conclusions of the Commonwealth Journalists Association, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, The Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges, Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Council. All of these have pointed to a deterioration of civil liberties and human rights in Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war.

Mr Baird said Canada cared passionately about the issue of Sri Lanka and it wasn’t just going to “go alone to get along”. He added it wasn’t about accommodating evil, but about combating it."

Why is 'joined-up' governance so difficult?

This example from the UK leads me to ask yet again: why is it so difficult to do 'joined-up' governance?  This report's recommendations seem relatively simple yet, based on past experience, we could have little confidence that their enactment was feasible or possible.

"Cold Enough: Excess winter deaths, Winter Fuel Payments and the UK's problem with the cold

 Twitter hashtag: #coldenough

Around 25,000 preventable 'excess winter deaths' occur each year, and the annual cost of cold-related illness to the NHS has been estimated at £1.36 billion.

This report from the Strategic Society Centre provides a full strategic review of the government's response to this ongoing public health scandal, and what it should be doing in future.

The report identifies four government departments with policies that touch upon these issues:

• Department for Work and Pensions
• Department of Health
• Department for Energy and Climate Change
• Department for Communities and Local Government

However, despite progress achieved via policies such as the Cold Weather Plan, Winter Fuel Payments and the Warm Home Discount scheme, the report concludes the government's policy response is still characterised by:

• A fragmented, uncoordinated approach across different government departments.
• The domination of the issue of ‘fuel poverty’ over the health effects of the cold, and an over-reliance on incomplete government means testing data; and,
• The clear need to do better.

Recommendations of the report include:

• Introduce an annual public health campaign linked to the Winter Fuel Payment to further influence cold-related behaviour.
• Create a single national ‘at-risk’ register for the cold, integrating DWP, energy company, GP and local authority data.
• Give clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) responsibilities for excess winter deaths.
• Enable CCGs and Health and Wellbeing Boards to refer households for free home insulation under the government’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
• Make excess winter deaths and cold-related illness a Ministerial priority.

Download a copy of Cold Enough: Excess winter deaths, Winter Fuel Payments and the UK's problem with the cold
 

Author: James Lloyd, Director, Strategic Society Centre"

Education for Sustainability - UK study

Stephen Martin and colleagues have produced a timely paper based on a review of ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) in the UK.

Abstract:

"This paper discusses the current status of all aspects of education for sustainable development (ESD) across the United Kingdom (UK), drawing on evidence from its political jurisdictions (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), and setting out some characteristics of best practice. The paper analyzes current barriers to progress, and outlines future opportunities for enhancing the core role of education and learning in the pursuit of a more sustainable future. Although effective ESD exists at all levels, and in most learning contexts across the UK, with good teaching and enhanced learner outcomes, the authors argue that a wider adoption of ESD would result from the development of a strategic framework which puts it at the core of the education policy agenda in every jurisdiction. This would provide much needed coherence, direction and impetus to existing initiatives, scale up and build on existing good practice, and prevent unnecessary duplication of effort and resources. The absence of an overarching UK strategy for sustainable development that sets out a clear vision about the contribution learning can make to its goals is a major barrier to progress. This strategy needs to be coupled with the establishment of a pan-UK forum for overseeing the promotion, implementation and evaluation of ESD."

It is remarkable how many academics and thus Universities shy away from strategies that locate ESD as central to the overall curiculum and thus a key aspect of graduateness.

Creative way to explore food issues systemically

This article has just come through as part of The Wrap, an update of developments from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS (University of Technology Sydney).  It is a great way to explore food issues systemically.

"The Love Food Hate Waste short film competition, organised by the Institute and the City of Sydney, asked budding filmmakers to show the world in either 30 seconds, or 3 to 5 minutes, why it’s important to celebrate a healthy and sustainable love of food and highlight the growing problem of food waste.

According to the NSW Environment Protection Authority, which funded the competition as part of the Love Food Hate Waste program, NSW households are throwing away edible food worth $2.5 billion each year.

The judging panel, including Costa Georgiadis, host of ABC’s Gardening Australia, Jared Ingersol, founder of Danks Street Depot and Sarah Wilson, television presenter and author, awarded Ryan Diefenbach’s Rhythm of Waste best film in the 30 second category.

Ryan, a UTS student studying journalism and law, said that he had never properly considered the issue of food waste before entering the competition. “I decided to enter for the chance to develop my filmmaking experience, but once I took a step back and understood the scale of the problem I realised it’s an everyday issue that we can all help tackle,” he said.

He enlisted his younger brother for Rhythm of Waste, portraying a child’s eating habits over a series of mornings contributing to bags of garbage. 

Rhythm of Waste was also awarded the People’s Choice Award after receiving the most votes in a public poll before the awards night on the competition’s facebook page.

The 3 to 5 minute category was won by director Fiona McGee for Supervalue, uncovering the lifecycle of a packet of fish fingers, from the life of the fish in the ocean to the leftovers thrown in the bin after a meal.

To see the winning films, visit www.lovefoodfilm.com/films "

Coal and gas - the new tobacco

We now know enough to say that coal and gas.....and, yes, oil are having the same negative consequences that we have come to associate with tobacco and asbestos.  In fact they are worse. Despite 'big oil' and 'big coal' pursuing similar strategies to 'big tobacco' we know that some form of tipping point is approaching when the front page of a UK morning paper reports:

"Carbon bubble will plunge the world into another financial crisis – report

Trillions of dollars at risk as stock markets inflate value of fossil fuels that may have to remain buried forever, experts warn"

The article says:

"The stark report is by [Lord Nicholas] Stern and the thinktank Carbon Tracker. Their warning is supported by organisations including HSBC, Citi, Standard and Poor's and the International Energy Agency. The Bank of England has also recognised that a collapse in the value of oil, gas and coal assets as nations tackle global warming is a potential systemic risk to the economy, with London being particularly at risk owing to its huge listings of coal."

I agree with Chris Reidy when he writes that all subsidies to unused coal, gas and oil should go up in smoke. He points out that:

"More than half of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels. Reducing and eventually eliminating fossil fuel use is a critical priority. Most of the world’s remaining fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground if we are to avoid dangerous climate change.

Yet governments around the world still pour billions of dollars into supporting fossil fuel production and use every year. Money utilised to prop up the fossil fuel industry dwarfs investment in renewable energy. This is a backwards policy that needs to change."

A tragedy that we have inflicted upon ourselves globally is how we have come to believe that natural gas is cleaner than coal and thus a transitional subsitute for oil. Who is it that sold us this discourse? In the process we are creating, or have created 'big gas' and distorted investment strategies so vital for our collective futures. Investment in renewables and more innovation in demand management are the only sure forms of energy security. As this revealing clip shows by turning to gas we are making things worse - it is a turning in the wrong direction.

We need to remove the social license to operate for 'big coal', 'big oil' and 'big gas' as quickly as possible - a good way to start is to remove all taxpayer subsidy.

A 'critical' press

One of the great things about being back in Britain is that there remains a strong, critical press within a diversity of press offerings. To my mind this has to be good for democracy as it is practiced at the moment.  By critical I of course mean the ability to formuate and present a critique.

Two articles last weekend stood out for me as exemplifying this tradition.  In Saturday's Guardian  Leo Hickman's interview with environmental philanthropist Jeremy Grantham was excellent reading.  It made me wish that Grantham would take time out to advise and support The Greens campaign in the forthcoming Australian Federal election. I would certainly like to see him in a staged debate with Tony Abbot, the climate-change-denying head of Australia's Liberal party. Leo Hickman's extended interview with Jeremy Grantham can be read here. This extract shows where Grantham stands:

".... this bubble, the "carbon bubble", is the biggest he's seen. "We're already in a bad place. The worst accidents are [only] 20, 30, 40 years from now." Such apocalyptic talk is often the preserve of deep-green doom-mongers – the kind of talk that has led many to reject environmentalism. But Grantham insists he's guided "by the facts alone".

I may not entirely agree with Grantham on his GMO (though I would say transgenic) position but I did find his position on the so called 'food crisis' refreshing because it was essentially systemic in nature. Unlike an article on the front page of The Observer the following day Grantham understands that the 'food crisis', so called, has to be understood from both supply side and demand side dynamics.  Any perspective that only focuses on supply-side action has to be held up to critical scrutiny as there is a great danger that it is a discourse pushed by vested interests.

Amongs the millions of words that poured forth following the death of Margaret Thatcher - most of which I avoided - I found this article by Will Hutton the most insightful. As is fitting for a systemic journalist of Hutton's ilk, he will be a keynote speaker at this year's UKSS conference in Oxford.

11th European Farming Systems Symposium 2014

Message just recieved.

Dear Farming Systems Researchers in Europe and Worldwide,

the IFSA Europe steering committee is very pleased to announce the
11th European IFSA Symposium, 1-4 April 2014 in Berlin, Germany, on

Farming systems facing global challenges: Capacities and strategies

The official conference website is now open! 

 

The IFSA community has a long-standing tradition of engagement and self-organisation. It is in this realm, that farming system scientists are invited to build small teams and to become convenors of workshops. Please find the call for workshops attached. It is  available via our website including an online form to submit workshop proposals. 

And don't forget to invite your friends and colleagues to participate!

 

Looking forward to seeing you in Berlin next year! 

On behalf of the steering committee and the local organising committee

Our guts: taking a systemic perspective seriously

For many years now I have challenged medicos whenever the opportunity arose about why medicine has never taken seriously the systemic nature of our guts - our intestines.  Very few medical practitioners in my experience understand our guts in ecological, or ecosystemic terms, preferring reductive use of drugs or medical interventions.  Having reached the age I am I would claim that the ecological status of our guts is one of the most significant contributors to daily and long-term wellbeing but also one of the most neglected in terms of mainstream science. I refer to the systemic interactions between diet, infection, bacteria, fungi, parasites and our own physiology and anatomy.  But perhaps things are changing? This article in The Observer suggests that some researchers and medicos are beginning to experiment.

My friend and colleague David Waltner-Toews has taken these matters seriously for a long time.  He also knows a lot about them having just produced a new book called: The Origin of Feces

London landings

Having just made the transition from the record high temperature of Melbourne to the record low temperatures of the UK  I was pleased to have my overcoat here in London despite the hastle of carrying it.  Not that it is that cold in London it is just that it is particularly cold for this time of year. These temperature extremes are to be expected within the growing understanding of climate change science.

Despite the weather, returning to London is always  a tonic. The Man Ray exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery was absorbing.  I woke early Sunday morning and by chance caught Profile on BBC Radio 4; this episode was devoted to Rev'd Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Piccadilly and former Canon of St Pauls Cathedral.  The Profile brief says: 'Many inside the Church see her as favourite to become the first female bishop of the Church of England, if the rules change.'

On the basis of what I heard I headed off to breakfast at Inn the Park thinking that it might be interesting to experience the Easter service at St James's.  From my sun-drenched table adorned with early daffodils (very expensive at the moment because the cold has delayed flowering) and an excellent breakfast menu I had views of the FCO, Horseguards, assorted towers of Whitehall Court, and the MOD building and, to my left, the Mall. The spray of the fountain drifted to my right gently blown by an east wind (the bearer of cold weather).

By the time the 11am service began at St James's the church was full. It was a mixed congregation but not as ethnically and socially mixed as I had expected.  Perhaps my perception is a product of experiencing a Melbourne compared to a London crowd? My motivation for attending the service was to find out, if I could, what the service might tell me about a key UK institution (the Church of England) in transition.

There was a good vibe and good singing well organised.  Love - the acknowledgment of others as legitimate others - was present in various ways from greetings to devices to support congregation participation in the service. Concerns for social justice were obvious along with LGBT...but I was disappointed that there was no discourse about human relations with the non-human world, although Lucy Winkett's sermon could be interpreted in that way if one so chose. It was an impressive sermon, and for me the highlight of the experience.

Without being presumptious (I hope) let me draw on Lucy's sermon to elaborate my point above - of how the sermon could be used to draw attention to the breakdown of human love for the non-human world - and to make a link to an earlier posting. My starting point is the insightful claim that 'the news of resurrection is news of a disappearance - he is not here!'  If we reframe 'he' (though it could be she) as the biophysical world and/or other species, or 'nature' (though this has limitations) than this 'he' is missing too in most of what we humans do.

Lucy goes on to say: 'In fact the resurrection is not so much a conclusion or an answer as a profound question........ But actually, if the question after the crucifixion is“what do we do now?” then it’s actually the same question after the resurrection; after this disruptive, counter intuitive, jolting resurrection, it’s not a question of nodding wisely because it helps us understand the suffering; far from it; it is the beginning of something else even more colossal and disturbing."  Acceptance that we have entered the Anthropocene raises the very same question: 'what do we do now'?  Do we follow a path of self-crucifixation by continuing to support greenhouse gas-producing resource use and patterns of consumption that maintain our historical carbon fix? Or do we open ourselves to exploring a path of resurrection in which what we have done before is no longer here, or at least no longer conserved unknowingly?  In my earlier posting I called for an abandonment of key foundations on which our business- as-usual approach is built accompanied by the creation of new foundations - a basis for a form of resurrection.

In this regard Lucy's sermon offers a key framing and invitation: 'Resurrection is totally disruptive; it is what there is the other side of nothing. It is the life we had not thought of, and despite our best efforts can’t imagine.''  The new foundations I speak of are not there for the choosing - they will require efforts we can't yet imagine... but first we must roll away the rock that blinds us to our current prediciment. Resurrection I would claim is of the living for eternity is what we live each day and which we conserve through our manners of living.

What of the overall experience? What light did it shine for me on the possible transformation of one of the UK's key institutions?  In this regard I was not moved.  For me the issues of primary concern to the established church whilst important socially do not focus on the key issues of our times.  I suspect Lucy Winkett is aware of this when she says:  "Before it became a message or a doctrine or a church’s creed, Christianity was simply contact. A relationship".  But to which relationships should we devote our time and passion? My own responses to this question are not in sympathy with the claims made by the new Archbishop of Canterbury in his Easter sermon though I do agree with his claim that 'a “hero leader culture” in which all trust was placed in one person only [leads] to false hope.'