Tēnā Koe,
During some streamlining I have been doing of my website, largely to be more direct in how I am describing my consultancy work and services, I have made some adjustments to how/where different kinds of information are stored and presented.
As part of this, I have moved the more 'esoteric' and philosophical writings previously linked on the resources page, to this post, which I will keep updated as new writings or projects not directly related to THH projects eventuate.
I have been an academic, thinker and writer for all my adult life. In addition to my Master's thesis I continue to pen essays and monographs on topics - oft related to the kaupapa of Taiao Huru Huri - that scintillate my mind.
In the quest for greater understanding of the human condition, and taking somewhat of an academic turn away from ecology & landscape issues, I am also currently completing a graduate diploma in Psychology through Massey University. Notable essays submitted during these studies these along with the writings referred to above are presented below for the interested few.
The goal is not to hide these aspects of my thinking, as I think they are vital to my work and indeed its direct inspiration, but rather to buffer them somewhat, and ensure interested readers need to scratch beneath the surface of my website somewhat to find them... As started above I will add new writings to this post over time and ensure the post itself is linked from various relevant places on the main website.
I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these offerings, and welcome reasoned debate and challenges and of course affirmation - so feel free to reach out to me via the contacts portal.
The Emergence of Collective Dreams - In 2012 I submitted the linked Thesis in completion of a Master of Design through the Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture. Supervised by the marvellous and wise Professor Brenda Vale. This was a practical exploration of the relationship between sustainable landscape design and community development. It was also my first attempt to describe a landscape ontology that was open to the spiritual and non-physical, a theme continued in the next two essays in this section. An abridged version of my thesis was also published in Landscapes and Ecologies of Urban and Planning History - proceedings - Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Urban History Planning History Conference at which I was a speaker in 2014.
Dismissing the Dead - My own spiritual inquiry together with my years of working closely with manawhenua māori has left me with a strong appreciation for whakapapa and the relationship between ancestors, tradition and landscape. For my final essay in Massey University's 300 level Psychology Paper Evolution Culture and Mind paper I explored the global prevalence of ancestral traditions, and the psychological aspects and challenges of holding a living relationship with ancestral beings in the 21st Century.
Alchemical Ecology - This essay is essentially a poetic and esoteric musing on the level of landscape connection I explored in a more prosaic fashion in my Masters Thesis. Probably the most challenging material on this website, however a piece that attempts to touch on something truly vital.
Ngā Mihi Nunui
Charles