Connective Roots: Why This Course Can Transform the Way We Build Culture

What makes a community truly thrive?
Is it shared values, collective goals, or strong leadership? According to Root Cuthbertson and Joyce Peters, facilitators of Gaia Education’s upcoming Connective Roots course, the real foundation is connection.

In this video conversation above, Root and Joyce share why this nature-based framework has been so transformative in their lives and why they’re passionate about bringing it to communities around the world.

A Nature-Based Framework for Connection

The 8 Shields framework, co-created by Jon Young and colleagues at Connection First, provides practical tools to help people and groups reconnect with themselves, each other, and the living world.

Root explains how this framework organizes practices in a way that “follows the rhythms of nature,” while Joyce recalls how it was immediately useful in her ecovillage work—offering tools on three levels:

• Personal practices for self-awareness and resilience

• Relational practices for stronger bonds and collaboration

• Collective practices for the wider community and culture

Practical, Universal, and Adaptable

What makes this framework unique is its versatility. As Joyce shares, “You can use it as a teacher, as a parent, in a group, even in a business—it works anywhere.”

It isn’t tied to a single tradition or culture. Instead, it’s grounded in human neurobiology and how humans naturally evolved in connection with each other and with nature. This makes it easy to integrate with other practices—whether you’re familiar with Gaia Education, The Work That Reconnects, or the Transition Movement.

Rebuilding Culture Through Connection

Both facilitators touch on a deeper theme: the sense of something missing in modern Western cultures. Root reflects on feeling disconnected growing up, unable to name what was absent. Joyce adds that while our societies are busy “filling the hole with loads of stuff,” few things truly satisfy.

For both, discovering the 8 Shields framework was a turning point—an answer to what was missing: a connective culture.
As Joyce says:

“That is how we get to the future—by reconnecting to ourselves, to each other, to the world around us, and doing whatever we’re doing from there. That gave me hope again.”

Why Join Connective Roots?

The Connective Roots course is designed to be highly experiential. You won’t just hear about regenerative culture—you’ll practice it.

• Weekly live sessions bring together theory and embodied exercises

• You’ll try simple practices that strengthen connection in daily life

• By embodying the Attributes of Connection, you become a role model, inspiring others and helping regenerative culture spread organically

As Joyce and Root share, “This course is contagious. You’ll find tools here that are helpful and hopeful—especially in these times.”

Learn more and join Connective Roots now!