Events

LEARN TO SNOW TRACK THE LEGENDARY GREY WOLF

In snow the secret lives of Europe’s top predators the Grey wolf and European lynx are revealed. Deep ecology can be observed such as kill sites, denning areas, group dynamics and interspecies connections and at the end of the trail is the opportunity to see the animal itself. On this 6 day trip Orkestra takes you adventuring on show-shoes into the heartland of the Tatra’s mountain forests to experience the dynamism of an intact ecosystem that also contains the mighty European brown bear, red deer, wild boar and many more species. On this trip you will become embedded in the interconnectedness of such an ecosystem and via the art of tracking and trailing we will begin to build a stronger connection.

The mighty workweek returns

After the success of Workweek #1, here comes #2 the Sculpture & Vegetable Garden Edition. Who wants to join anopther roll up your sleeves and hands in the ground week. All day outidsde, collective builkding, walks, talks and waterfalls?! We are assembling a group for this spring time edition with the focus on building an amphitheatre and installing new artwork constructyions for the Art Hospice: Sculpture Garden of Decay!

BEST DAY EVER!!

40 buzzing 9 year olds descend upon Orkestra’s Vegetable Garden for a monthly journey into the fascinating world of food production. In collaboration with CP Rio Sella Primary school in Arriondas, Orkestra hosts an experimental program to give kids the opportunity to learn with their hands in the dirt. From making stinging nettle pesto to fig leaf ice cream, the kids get a crash course in growing food from the land and then playing with how that food ends up in the belly.

Breathing & deep ecology megamix

In collaboration with Niek van Halteren, Orkestra takes participants into the wildlands of Asturias that border the Picos de Europa National Park. Here Wolves, Cantabrian Brown bears and hundreds of Griffon Vultures live in one of Europes biodiversity hotspots. Such a vibrant landscape feeds into this unique program that blends deep ecological understanding with potent power that breathing exercise have to bring you into the moment. We sleep and cook under the stars and venture into the 300 million year old wild cracks of this landscape.The result is an experience that grounds you to the earth and opens up the possibility to recontextualise both your private and professional worlds through the lens of the living world. Its powerful stuff!!

BEST DAY EVER!!

40 buzzing 9 year olds descend upon Orkestra’s Vegetable Garden for a monthly journey into the fascinating world of food production. In collaboration with CP Rio Sella Primary school in Arriondas, Orkestra hosts an experimental program to give kids the opportunity to learn with their hands in the dirt. From making stinging nettle pesto to fig leaf ice cream, the kids get a crash course in growing food from the land and then playing with how that food ends up in the belly.

Re-imaging new ways of caring for our youth

Pioneering program in collaboration with Bernet Elzinga (professor Clinical Psychology, Leiden University). What would our systems of mental healthcare look like if we shifted perspective and built them using a framework grounded in ecological thought and relationality….What would emerge? This is the start point for a Unique Nature Trail that invites frontline practitioners in mental health, system change-makers and healthcare leaders to spend 5 days in the wilderness of Asturias to deeply feel their own connection to the living world and then to play with this central question of emergence.

Learning to follow an animal is deep ecology xxxl

Exploring the boundary between the individual & the group

Teaming up again for the #2 edition of our collaboration with Weaving labs. Weaving labs is a community of system change practitioners, learning together to interconnect people, projects, and places to form thriving systems. For this collaboration we explore the tension between the individual vs the group. A 36 hour solo experience deep in the heart of Asturias’s wildest landscape will serve as platform from which to delve deep into the questions duality.

Cosmo Phenomenon

In collaboration with ambassador of the dark Marjolijn van Heemstra, Orkestra will host a unique 3 day program dedicated to this perfect alignment of Sun, Moon and Earth along the Northern Spanish coastline. As the moon passes in front of the sun, we will be briefly cut off from the gigantic star to which we owe our lives. An astronomical, emotional and spiritual event. ”A total eclipse wreaks havoc on your sense of self, on rational individuality”, wrote Helen MacDonald. What happens when the sunlight we always take for granted suddenly disappears? Wonder? Humility? Existential fears and questions?

-3 day program: Dusking practice with Marjolein van Heemstra, Astronomy lectrure by Milo Grootjen, Ecology of light & dark walks from Orkestra, Collective building of observatory, all meals included. Excluded travel to Orkestra

trusting your ‘gut feeling’

In the age of a burgeoning AI revolution perhaps rediscovering the animal within is the wisest path. In this program Orkestra partners with Amsterdam University Medical Faculty to pioneer a new model for learning, one that centres around the body rather than the mind. ‘Can young doctors train to trust that ‘gut feeling’, to sense the patient beyond diagnostic tools?’, ‘What can a re-aquintance with the outdoor world do for mental and physical well being?’….these are huge questions that underpin not only our educational pathways but also the future of Healthcare itself.