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Philosophy

“The future has an ancient heart.”

Carlo Levi (1902-1975)

The Pari Center for New Learning was conceived as a haven of peace and gentle action in a world increasingly gripped by turmoil. In adopting Carlo Levi’s maxim that ‘the future has an ancient heart’ we look to the future while bearing in mind the wisdom of the past. Beginning in Andalusian Spain in the 12th and 13th centuries, Europe saw a New Learning emerge as Jewish, Christian and Islamic scholars worked side by side, inspired by a vision of erudition, awareness, and a harmonious society. It was out of these seeds that the Renaissance was born. We believe that a similar transformation is possible today.

Our society is undergoing enormous and rapid changes. We are still assimilating the implications of ideas, discoveries and technologies developed in the twentieth century. New technologies revolutionize the way we work and communicate. The human genome project asks what it means to be human. In such a world we need a place in which to pause and reflect on our personal lives, as well as on values, meaning, the directions of society, and the possibilities the future might hold. Where better than the hilltop village of Pari in a community that stretches back a thousand years?

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The Center Timeline

Conferences, meetings, roundtables

  1. 1999, March
  2. 2000, September
  3. 2001, March
  4. 2001, November
  5. 2002, May
  6. 2002, May
  7. 2002, June
  8. 2002, June
  9. 2002, November
  10. 2002, December
  11. 2003
  12. 2003, February
  13. 2003, April
  14. 2003, June
  15. 2003, September
  16. 2003, October
  17. 2004
  18. 2004, June
  19. 2004, September
  20. 2005
  21. 2005
  22. 2005
  23. 2006, May
  24. 2007, October
  25. 2008, May
  26. 2009, September
  27. 2009
  28. 2010
  29. 2010, September
  30. 2011
  31. 2011
  32. 2012, May
  33. 2012, July
  34. 2013, March
  35. 2013, May
  36. 2013, June
  37. 2013, July
  38. 2013, September
  39. 2014, July
  40. 2015, September
  41. 2015, November
  42. 2016, May
  43. 2017, April
  44. 2017, May
  45. 2017, September
  46. 2018, April
  47. 2018, September

  1. London, March 1999

    In March 1999, a group of artists and scientists met at the October Gallery, London to explore the relationship between art and science. The meeting was organized by David Peat and in many
    ways sowed the seed that grew into the Pari Center for New Learning.

  2. September 8-11, 2000

    Conference: The Future of the Academy sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation and the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) in partnership with the University of Siena

  3. March 18-21, 2001

    Conference: Chaos Theory and the Arts in the Context of Social, Economic and Organizational Development sponsored by CSEND (Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development, Geneva)

  4. November 10-11, 2001

    Meeting: Italian psychologists, teachers and local politicians. Educare al Sé Nella Comunità (Educating Oneself in the Community)

  5. May 5, 2002

    Exhibition and Roundtable: Con le Mani non Armate (Hands Without Armaments) sponsored by the University of Pisa and the Women’s Centre of Pisa

  6. May 11-12, 2002

    The Future of Knowledge in the World of the Internet sponsored by The Knowledge Forum

  7. June 2002

    Meeting of Italian teachers and psychologists: Anima e terra (Soul and Earth) chaired by Dr Elena Liotta

  8. June 28-30, 2002

    Meeting: A Dialogue between Three Communities (Jews, Christians, Muslims) and Science sponsored by the Metanexus Institute

  9. November 16-17, 2002

    Roundtable: Corporate Ethics: Globalization and Economic Instability sponsored by Illy Caffe and Centromarca

  10. December

    Pari Centre chosen for a three-year Local Initiatives Award from the Metanexus Institute and Templeton Foundation to encourage dialogues between science and religion.

  11. 2003

    A series of talks entitled Dialoghi fra scienza e religione (Dialogues Between Science and Religion) sponsored by Metanexus Institute Topics included: A Voyage Around God; The Dance of the Sun: Blackfoot Spirituality; Life and Hinduism; War: Yesterday and Today; Buddhism and Science of the Mind; Islam and Knowledge: God, Logic and Language

  12. February 2003

    The Pari Center is chosen by Renaissance Europe as Italy’s first ‘laboratory’ to study the way the village will move into the future while preserving its traditions.

  13. April 5-6, 2003

    Roundtable: The Future of Agriculture (in Italian) Prof. Amedeo Alpi, University of Pisa, sponsored by the Metanexus Institute

  14. June 2003

    the Pari Center was given the first-year award by the Metanexus Institute ‘for organizational excellence, creative programming and spirited commitment to fostering the constructive engagement of science and religion.’

  15. September 18-21, 2003

    Meeting: Unlimited Love: Self-Transcendence and Personal-Social Transformation: A participatory learning approach to the future of human well-being sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, Jordan

  16. October 2003

    Meeting of the Liverpool Pub Philosophers

  17. 2004

    A series of talks entitled Dialoghi fra scienza e religione (Dialogues Between Science and Religion) sponsored by Metanexus Institute Topics included: How is One Able to Know God; Science and
    Faith: The Limits of Hope; The Marvel of Creation: Sufism and Science; The Nature of Monastic Life Notion of Truth in both science and religion; Notion of the Sacred as professed by scientists and agnostics

  18. June 27-28, 2004

    Roundtable: The Future of Publishing

  19. September 10-14, 2004

    Conference: The Next Horizon: Re-examining Deep Values in Religion and Science sponsored by the Metanexus Foundation

  20. 2005

    The first five books of Prof. Roy McWeeney's WorkBooks in Science and Mathematics became available on the Pari Center Website to be downloaded without charge. Professor McWeeney’s idea is to provide badly needed educational material for those living in developing countries.

  21. 2005

    A series of talks entitled Dialoghi fra scienza e religione (Dialogues Between Science and Religion) sponsored by Metanexus Institute

  22. 2005

    Hosted: Re*Vision Dr Chris Robertson The Inner Consultant (Psychosynthesis) Spiral Consulting

  23. 2006

    May 5-6 2006 Siena, Ethical Choices in Society, the Economy and the Environment jointly sponsored by EFA (European Finance Association) and the Pari Center with the patronage of Monte dei
    Paschi di Siena bank

  24. 2007

    October 2007 Conference: Towards a New Renaissance 2: A Cosmic View from Fragmentation to Wholeness sponsored by The Scientific and Medical Network

  25. 2008

    May 2008 Conference: The Legacy of David and Sarah Bohm sponsored by Taher Gozel

  26. 2009

    September 11-13, 2009 Roundtable: Ethics, Business and the Future: The role of ethical business practice in ensuring a sustainable ‘good’ society in a changing world

  27. 2009

    Miryam Servet visits Pari to begin the shooting of Journeying to Turtle Island with F. David Peat a documentary about Peat’s journey of ‘coming to knowing.’

  28. 2010

    F. David Peat and Shantena Sabbadini (the Pari Center’s director and associate director) were made Distinguished Fellows associated with the SARCHI Chair in Developmental Education at the University of South Africa

  29. September 10-12, 2010

    September 10-12, 2010 Weekend Leadership Retreat sponsored by Holistic Leadership

  30. 2011

    Initial Meeting in Pari: UniGrowCity
    Pari: The Pari Center for New learning
    Berlin: Prinzessinnengarten
    Stockholm: New Beauty Council
    Tromsø: Tromsø Academy of Art
    London: City Mine(d)
    Lisbon: Gaia
    The European Union sponsored two-year exchange network between practitioners engaged in sustainable practices across 6 cities in Europe

  31. Fall 2011

    Fall 2011 Journeying to Turtle Island released

  32. 2012

    May 9-12, 2012 UniGrowCity meeting, Prinzessinnengarten, Berlin

  33. 2012

    July 10-13, 2012 UniGrowCity meeting, Stockholm New Beauty, Council, Stockholm

  34. March 10-13, 2013

    March 10-13, 2013 UniGrowCity meeting, Tromsø Art Academy, Tromsø

  35. May 27-31, 2013

    May 27-31, 2013 UniGrowCity meeting Black Stock Greenhouse, London

  36. June 12-19, 2013

    UniGrowCity meeting, Lisbon Lost Orchard, Lisbon

  37. July 26-30, 2013

    La Mente in Movimento: Dialoghi tra scienza e arte
    Summer Camp per Bambini ad Alto Potenziale e Famiglie
    Associazione STEP-net: Rete per il Supporto e lo Sviluppo del Talento, delle Emozioni e del Potenziale, Associazione STEP-net: Rete per il Supporto e lo Sviluppo del Talento, delle Emozioni e
    del Potenziale and Università degli Studi di Pavia, Dipartimento di Brain et Bahavioral Science

  38. September 18-21, 2013

    Metanoia group from Finland
    Initial meeting of a four-year organizational analyst training. Metanoia offers client organizations, groups, and individuals a diverse variety of tools and services aimed at developing the
    understanding of organizational dynamics and the dynamics of change.

  39. 2014

    July 12-27, 2014 Filming begins on Numena: The Absurdity of Certainty with F. David Peat. Jena Axelrod, director, and film crew from New York

  40. September 2-7, 2015

    September 2-7, 2015 Entrepreneurship, a roundtable
    Entrepreneurs are concerned with running a business that should be self sustaining, profitable and provide a healthy and supportive environment for its employees. The purpose of this roundtable is to move beyond this paradigm into something wider and more embracing in which an enterprise makes a wider contribution to society, to local and global economics and to issues of such other
    areas such as environmental impact.

  41. November 6-7, 2015

    Filming begins on The Legacy of David Bohm with Paul Howard, Director, Imagine Films, Dublin
    Interviews with key people in Bohm’s life and work plus those who continue to use his ideas. Interviewees include: Basil Hiley, Lee Nichol, Paavo Pykkanen, David Schrum, F. David Peat, Godelieve Spaas, Julie Arts, James Peat Barbieri

  42. May 26-29, 2016

    Fire on the Hill
    Five places represented by Pari (Italy), Kufunda (Zimbabwe), Bakki (Iceland), Tividen (Sweden), and Andros (Greece). Fire on the Hill is an initiative to connect transformative places, their
    shape, nature, culture, and how they enable or evoke transitions of people, groups and organizations.

  43. April 27-30, 2017

    April 27-30, 2017: Weekend Among Friends in Tuscany: Small changes making big differences: The Three Davids (David Bohm, F. David Peat, Michelangelo’s David)

  44. May 3-7, 2017

    Metanoia Institute Workshop: Renewing Organizations Culture and Art

    Workshop looking at art as a way to understand how organizations become organizing, being becomes becoming, construction becomes constructing.

  45. September 14-20, 2017

    Pari Dialogue 2017. David Bohm Centennial Celebration.
    Presentations by: Basil Hiley, Paul Howard, Beth Macy, James Peat Barbieri, Paavo Pylkkanen, Shantena Sabaddini, David Schrum, and Gordon Shippey

  46. April 26-29, 2018

    Weekend Among Friends: A Tribute to Uncertainty
    ‘How can organizations and individuals transform themselves so that they can become as subtle, sensitive, intelligent and fast- responding as the world around them?’ (David Peat, 2010)

  47. September 6-12, 2018

    Pari Dialogue 2018. Exploring the Mystery of Time
    Presentations by: Julian Barbour, Mauro Bergonzi, Warwick Fox, Christopher Hauke, Alison MacLeod, James Peat Barbieri, Hester Reeve, Shantena Sabbadini, David Schrum and Gordon Shippey

Pari

Pari is located 38km south of Siena and is built on a hilltop surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and the heavily wooded countryside of the Maremma region of Tuscany. The village remains in a remarkable state of preservation and the surrounding landscape is home to wild boar, deer, pheasant and numerous species of plants, animals and birds.

The land around Pari has been occupied since prehistoric times. Later, the Etruscans and later the Romans, made use of the curative properties of the sulfur hot springs, located below the village. Recent excavations close to Pari have unearthed Etruscan burial chambers and artefacts and the remains of a major Etruscan town can be visited at Roselle some 35km away.

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