Harmony Summit hosted at Highgrove Gardens with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and the Earth Elders
His Majesty The King, Royal Founding President of The King’s Foundation, earlier this week attended the Opening Ceremony for the first ever ‘Harmony Summit’ at Highgrove Gardens in Gloucestershire.
The Harmony Summit, which was organised in partnership with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and the Earth Elders, brings together Indigenous leaders and practitioners with the aim of listening and learning from each other, and to explore how Harmony in practice can be embedded across a range of sectors, landscapes and geographies.
The Summit focused on attendees listening to and learning from one another about their relationships with nature, and how this can inform the philosophy and practice of Harmony going forward.
“Our traditions teach us that nature is not a resource—it is life itself. We are not just caregiving 80% of Mother Earth, we are caregiving life. To move forward, we must go back—to restore our relationship with the Earth, guided by ancestral wisdom and original thought.
Mindahi Bastida, The Earth Elders
“The Harmony Summit, hosted at Highgrove, is an important step toward rebalancing our systems by centering Indigenous knowledge, protecting sacred lands, and remembering that true progress begins with listening to nature.”
A book on the Harmony philosophy, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World, was published by His Majesty as Prince of Wales in 2010. Co-authored by Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly, ‘Harmony’ describes the interconnectedness within and between nature and humanity, and offers this interconnectedness as a basis for taking a holistic approach to the challenges facing the planet and our communities, including living with nature, not against it. ‘Harmony’ values Indigenous values, knowledge and practices as guides for realising this approach.
“The CBA is delighted to be a partner in the Harmony Summit. We are facing the collision of two worlds: a dying world made of extractive and fossil economic thinking, and a new world that still needs to be born, one that has been kept alive for thousands of years through Indigenous wisdom and is a world in harmony with Nature, where humans belong. We work with Indigenous People not to support their future but because they are the future.”
Marc Palahí, Circular Bioeconomy Alliance CEO
Attendees at the Harmony Summit joined a series of listening circles and practical discussions, with a series of intentions set for the day:
• To listen to the Indigenous leaders and representatives from across the world to share their perspectives on the state of the Earth and what must be done.
• To bring together knowledge holders — from Indigenous traditions and from science, economics, governance and more — to explore how we can better integrate these different systems and approaches.
• To inspire real action by identifying areas where working groups could be established and carried forward in partnership. This will involve linking into a number of live projects being taken forward with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and The Earth Elders.
Outcomes from the Harmony Summit will be shared in the coming weeks.
“This is a huge milestone for The King’s Foundation and everyone who champions the philosophy of Harmony. We are delighted to be hosting the first ever Harmony Summit with our partners the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and the Earth Elders – and what better setting to do this than Highgrove, where The King first showcased his principles of sustainability and organics. We were honoured to be joined by His Majesty for the proceedings.
Simon Sadinsky, Executive Director for Education at The King’s Foundation
“Bringing together Indigenous elders, land stewards and thought leaders was heartening and thought provoking. In a world where we work increasingly in silos, we have a shared belief that working together to ensure we are accessing what nature can teach us – and putting this into practice to ensure the wellbeing of people and the planet – is more important than ever.
“We look forward to seeing what practical action will take place as a result of the enlightening and dynamic conversations that took place.”
The Harmony Summit comes ahead of a landmark documentary on The King’s Harmony philosophy, currently in production and due to be released by Prime Video.
