A technique of careful listening and observation of non-verbal cues, with feedback in the form of accurate paraphrasing, that is used in counselling, training, and solving disputes or conflicts. (Wikipedia)

Can be viewed as the “ability to access” and benefit from some system or entity. The concept focuses on enabling access for people with disabilities, or enabling access through the use of assistive technology; however, research and development in accessibility brings benefits to everyone. (Wikipedia)

The fact of being responsible for what you do and able to give a satisfactory reason for it, or the degree to which this happens. (Cambridge Dictionary)

An activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using facts, their relationships, the media, and messaging to educate government officials and the public. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research. (Wikipedia)

To publicly support or suggest an idea, development, or way of doing something.

The ability to take action or to choose what action to take. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. Someone who helps and supports someone else. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. An ally, straight ally, or heterosexual ally is a heterosexual and cisgender person who supports equal civil rights, gender equality, and LGBT social movements, challenging homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. Not everyone who meets this definition identifies as an “ally”, however. (Wikipedia)

1. A person related to you who lived a long time ago (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. A parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). Ancestor is “any person from whom one is descended. In law, the person from whom an estate has been inherited. (Wikipedia)

The belief that all natural things, such as plants, animals, rocks, and thunder, have spirits and can influence human events. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The most recent period in the earth’s history, when human activities have a very important effect on the earth’s environment and climate (= weather conditions). (Cambridge Dictionary)

A very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both highly dynamic and a characteristically constant feature of human life, they have developed into innovative, stylized and sometimes intricate forms. This is often achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training and/or theorizing within a particular tradition, across generations and even between civilizations. The arts are a vehicle through which human beings cultivate distinct social, cultural and individual identities, while transmitting values, impressions, judgments, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life and experiences across time and space. (Wikipedia)

The quality of being real or true. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. Knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or subject at the present time based on information or experience. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognisant of events. (Wikipedia)

1. Love of living things and nature, which some people believe humans are born with. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The word biophilia originates from the Greek, ‘philia’ meaning ‘love of’. It literally means a love of life or living things. Humans have a deeply engrained love of nature which is an intuitive and natural drive imprinted into our DNA. (Wikipedia)

A concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions. Used at both the building and city-scale, it is argued that this idea has health, environmental, and economic benefits for building occupants and urban environments, with few drawbacks. Although its name was coined in recent history, indicators of biophilic design have been seen in architecture from as far back as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. (Wikipedia) 

British Sign Language is a sign language used in the United Kingdom, and is the first or preferred language among the Deaf community in the UK. (Wikipedia) 

1. An economic, political, and social system in which property, business, and industry are privately owned, directed towards making the greatest possible profits for successful organizations and people. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. An economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, a price system, private property and the recognition of property rights, voluntary exchange and wage labor. In a capitalist market economy, decision-making and investments are determined by owners of wealth, property, ability to manoeuvre capital or production ability in capital and financial markets—whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets. (Wikipedia)
3. Ecostage comment: A system where Humans take ownership and power over Nature.

A computer program that calculates the approximate amount of carbon dioxide produced by a business, organization, etc. compared to the average amount produced.

The total greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent. (Wikipedia)

A reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent. (Wikipedia)

1. A model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible” that aims at tackling global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy. Most linear economy businesses take a natural resource and turn it into a product which is ultimately destined to become waste because of the way it has been designed and made. (Wikipedia
2. Ecostage comment: Using what already exists in the world is better or more ecological than buying new items, even if those new items are sustainable.

Circular design is about creating products and services that no longer have a lifecycle with a beginning, a middle and an end. The purpose is to design products that can “be made to be made again. (Tim Brown definition, IDEO CEO)

Include the ensuring of peoples’ physical and mental integrity, life, and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as sex, race, sexual orientation, national origin, colour, age, political affiliation, ethnicity, social class, religion, and disability; and individual rights such as privacy and the freedom of thought, speech, religion, press, assembly, and movement. (Wikipedia)

Includes both human-induced global warming and its large-scale impacts on weather patterns. There have been previous periods of climate change, but the current changes are more rapid than any known events in Earth’s history. The main cause is the emission of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. Burning fossil fuels for energy use creates most of these emissions. Agriculture, steel making, cement production, and forest loss are also significant sources.Temperature rise is affected by climate feedbacks as well, such as the loss of sunlight-reflecting snow cover, and the release of carbon dioxide from drought-stricken forests. Collectively, these amplify global warming. (Wikipedia)

A term used to frame climate change as an ethical and political issue, rather than one that is purely environmental or physical in nature. This is done by relating the causes and effects of climate change to concepts of justice, particularly environmental justice and social justice. (Wikipedia)

Ecostage comment: Refers to using circular methods of design and production (produce, use, then recycle back into production). Closing the loop means moving from traditional design, which utilised a linear model for design and production – make, use and dispose, to addressing how the disposal stage can be fed back into the creation of a new product.

1. In the context of a business, it refers to a product or service design process in which input from consumers plays a central role from beginning to end. Less specifically, the term is also used for any way in which a business allows consumers to submit ideas, designs or content. This way, the firm will not run out of ideas regarding the design to be created and at the same time, it will further strengthen the business relationship between the firm and its customers. Another meaning is the creation of value by ordinary people, whether for a company or not. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Including the audience as participants in the creation of a production.

This is about the possibility of using the arts together with people to enable a self-making process and the unexpected insights that this may prompt. (Zeilig H., West, J. & Van der Byl Williams, M.)

Connected with thinking or conscious mental processes. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. An amalgamation of different ways of seeing the world and interpreting events within it, where a diversity of perspectives and heuristics guide individuals to create different solutions to the same problems. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Cognitive diversity is the inclusion of people who have different styles of problem-solving and can offer unique perspectives because they think differently.

1. To work with someone else for a special purpose. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Partnership where all collaborators are valued equally.

1. The belief in and support for the system of one country controlling another. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. A practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their religion, language, economics, and other cultural practices. The foreign administrators rule the territory in pursuit of their interests, seeking to benefit from the colonised region’s people and resources. (Wikipedia)

A promise or firm decision to do something. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

1. The people living in one particular area or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Popularly referred to as ‘a village’ where individuals have a specific role (the leader, the crafter, the hunter, the healer, etc) and where people look after each other for the healthy survival of the whole.

The state of having many parts and being difficult to understand or find an answer to. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The act of collecting and storing plant material so it can decay and be added to soil to improve its quality. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

Conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest of the group (e.g., intentions; reasons for holding certain beliefs) and by engaging in collective negotiation. (Wikipedia)

To notice that a particular thing or person exists or is present. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

The protection of plants and animals, natural areas, and interesting and important structures and buildings, especially from the damaging effects of human activity. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. ‘Cradle to Cradle’ (or regenerative design) is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that models human industry on nature’s processes, where materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. The term itself is a play on the popular corporate phrase “cradle to grave”, implying that the C2C model is sustainable and considerate of life and future generations—from the birth, or “cradle”.The term “Cradle to Cradle” is a registered trademark of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) consultants.(Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage Comment: Refers to the way the design and production needs are considered from inception to end of life, and all stages in between. Examples of this approach include – modular design, recycling and reusing materials at the end of the rub, rehoming elements from the show or project.

1. Producing or using original and unusual ideas. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: An inclusive and celebratory approach that welcomes all the different and diverse ways we go about making work. It is based on the idea that we are all creative and that we all have a unique contribution to make.

1. When pollen from one plant variety fertilises flowers of another variety, usually within the same species.
2. Ecostage comment: To get people from different departments to share their personal and professional experiences to exchange ideas and inspire each other.

1. The way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. An umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. (Wikipedia)

1.  The act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures. (Wikipedia)

1. A person with responsibility for protecting or taking care of something or keeping something in good condition. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Custodian to Nature would be looking after Nature in the interest of all people, plants, animals and ecosystems alike.

1. Unable to hear, either completely or partly. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written with a lowercase d. It later came to be used in a cultural context to refer to those who primarily communicate through sign language regardless of hearing ability, often capitalized as Deaf and referred to as “big D Deaf” in speech and sign. (Wikipedia)

The act or process of decentralizing an organization or government (= moving control from a single place to several smaller ones). (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The process in which a country that was previously a colony (= controlled by another country) becomes politically independent. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: In the arts this is used to mean the removal of colonial influence from how artistic works are produced and shared, and from the working processes of creative people and cultural organisations.

An environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, plus the restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas. Arne Naess argues that the natural world is a complex of relationships in which the existence of organisms is dependent on the existence of others within ecosystems. It argues that non-vital human interference with or destruction of the natural world poses a threat therefore not only to humans but to all organisms constituting the natural order. (Wikipedia)

Process Orientated Psychology is a psycho-socio-political paradigm. The concept of Deep Democracy was developed in 1988 by the creator of Process Orientated Psychology Arny Mindell who trained as a physicist and Jungian Analyst. Deep Democracy is defined as both an attitude and a principle and focuses on the awareness of voices that are both central and marginal. Unlike “classical” democracy, which focuses on majority rule, Deep Democracy suggests that all voices, states of awareness, and frameworks of reality are important. This type of awareness can be fostered and focused on with groups, organizations, one’s own inner experiences, people in conflict, etc. Allowing oneself to take seriously seemingly unimportant events and feelings can often bring unexpected solutions to both group and inner conflicts. (Association of Process Orientated Psychology – IAPOP)

A term used for both a political, economic, and social movement as well as a set of theories that critiques the paradigm of economic growth. It is based on ideas from a diverse range of lines of thought such as political ecology, ecological economics, feminist political ecology, and environmental justice, pointing out the social and ecological harm caused by the pursuit of infinite growth and Western “development” imperatives. Degrowth emphasizes the need to reduce global consumption and production (social metabolism) and advocates a socially just and ecologically sustainable society with social and environmental well-being replacing GDP as the indicator of prosperity. Hence, although GDP is likely to shrink in a “Degrowth society”, i.e. a society in which the objectives of the Degrowth movement are achieved, this is not the primary objective of Degrowth. (Wikipedia)

To make or draw plans for something, for example clothes or buildings. (Cambridge Dictionary)

An illness, injury, or condition that makes it difficult for someone to do the things that other people do. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The process of separating a machine or structure into its different parts. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment:  In terms of sustainable design, the specific process of separating something into parts that can be stored, reused or ecologically disposed of, hence the idea of ‘designing for disassembly’, in which this process is planned from outset.

The act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong.People may be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation, as well as other categories. Discrimination especially occurs when individuals or groups are unfairly treated in a way which is worse than other people are treated, on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in certain groups or social categories.It involves restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group. (Wikipedia)

Ecostage comment: Being an eco-ancestor is not related to age, but an attitude towards all life – a developing awareness that personal decisions taken today affect the wider living systems of tomorrow.

1. Destruction of the natural environment of an area, or very great damage to it. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. A few nations have codified ecocide as a crime. Activities that might constitute ecocide in these nations include substantially damaging or destroying ecosystems or by harming the health and well-being of a species, including humans. Ecocide has not yet been accepted as an internationally punishable crime by the United Nations. (Wikipedia)

A branch of feminism that sees environmentalism, and the relationship between women and the earth, as foundational to its analysis and practice. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships between humans and the natural world. (Wikipedia)

Also known as climate grief, can be a psychological response to loss caused by environmental destruction or climate change. (Wikipedia)

Refers to a situation where an ecosystem suffers a drastic, possibly permanent, reduction in carrying capacity for all organisms, often resulting in mass extinction. Usually, an ecological collapse is precipitated by a disastrous event occurring on a short time scale. Ecological collapse can be considered as a consequence of ecosystem collapse on the biotic elements that depended on the original ecosystem. (Wikipedia)

1. An interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology and the promotion of sustainability. It is distinguished from conventional psychology as it focuses on studying the emotional bond between humans and the earth. An approach to designing products and services with special consideration for the environmental impacts of the product during its whole lifecycle. (Wikipedia)
2. Any form of design which reduces the environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes. (Cowan & Van der Ryn)

1. A growing discipline around the world as its techniques are increasingly adopted in the fields of design, education and business as well as within leadership, management and consultancy. (Schumacher College definition)
2. A sustainable holistic problem solving approach based on deep ecology and authentic collaboration to create positive opportunities and co-sufficiency between Nature and People. (Mona Kastell definition)

A tipping point in the climate system is a threshold that, when exceeded, leads to large and often irreversible changes in the state of the system. Tipping points have been identified in the physical climate system and in ecosystems, which will have severe impacts on humans when crossed. (Wikipedia)

The relationships between the air, land, water, animals, plants, etc., usually of a particular area, or the scientific study of this. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. (Wikipedia)

Ecostage comment: Term that grows from a deep understanding that the economy and thus economics (as defined above) is detrimental to humanity and cannot continue the way it is.  Acknowledging  that the economy is part of society and of Nature and thus an organism in itself, it evolves and emerges without the ability to pre-design the outcomes. As such, this sets the direction and provides the appropriate mindset and guiding principles for a sustainable economy, without setting the exact outcome of the process or the exact path on which to walk it.

A term used for both a political, economic, and social movement as well as a set of theories that critiques the paradigm of economic growth. It is based on ideas from a diverse range of lines of thought such as political ecology, ecological economics, feminist political ecology, and environmental justice, pointing out the social and ecological harm caused by the pursuit of infinite growth and Western “development” imperatives. Degrowth emphasizes the need to reduce global consumption and production (social metabolism) and advocates a socially just and ecologically sustainable society with social and environmental well-being replacing GDP as the indicator of prosperity. (Wikipedia)

Can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of increase in the real gross domestic product, or real GDP. (Wikipedia) 

A movement that seeks to integrate ecological principles into all stages of scenographic thinking and production in the performing arts. (Tanja Beer’s definition, who coined the term ‘Ecoscenography’) 

An interdisciplinary and transdisciplinarity field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology and the promotion of sustainability. It is distinguished from conventional psychology as it focuses on studying the emotional bond between humans and the earth. (Wikipedia) 

Also known as nature therapy or green therapy, is the applied practice of the emergent field of ecopsychology, which stems from the belief that people are part of the web of life and that our psyches are not isolated or separate from our environment. (Good therapy) 

All the living things in an area and the way they affect each other and the environment. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The air, water, and land in or on which people, animals, and plants live. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

Emerged as a concept in the United States in the early 1980s. The term has two distinct uses with the more common usage describing a social movement that focuses on the “fair” distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. (Wikipedia) 

1. The right of different groups of people to have a similar social position and receive the same treatment. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: It is important to differentiate between ‘Equality’ being where everyone in society is given the same opportunity, and ‘Equity’ being that people are given opportunities that are specific to their needs.

1. The situation in which everyone is treated fairly and equally. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Equity is distinct from equality because equity recognises that equal treatment is insufficient when people’s circumstances are different, as is generally the case. To be truly fair, resources, access and opportunities have to be reallocated or improved.

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups such as a common set of traditions, ancestry, language, history, society, culture, nation, religion, or social treatment within their residing area. Ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with the term nation, particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism, and is separate from, but related to the concept of races. Ethnicity can be an inherited status or based on the society within which one lives. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language, or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art, or physical appearance. Moreover, ethnic groups are also defined by genetics. Ethnic groups often continue to speak related languages. (Wikipedia)

Uses scenographic strategies (i.e. spatial, narrative, dramaturgical, performative and multi-sensory) as a way of engaging with the world beyond the theatre. (Tanja Beer)

1. The use of something in order to get an advantage from it. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: This can apply equally of natural resources, labour, people.

The process of removing something, especially by force. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The process of extracting natural resources from the Earth to sell on the world market. It exists in an economy that depends primarily on the extraction or removal of natural resources that are considered valuable for exportation worldwide. Some examples of resources that are obtained through extraction include gold, diamonds, lumber and oil. (Wikipedia)

Someone who helps a person or organization do something more easily or find the answer to a problem, by discussing things and suggesting ways of doing things. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The fact of someone or something not succeeding. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Failures are valuable as opportunities to learn.

The quality of treating people equally or in a way that is right or reasonable. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The fact of feeling something physical. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Originally used to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe other experiences, such as “a feeling of warmth” and of sentience in general. In psychology, the term feeling is closely related to emotion, and usually refers to the conscious subjective experience of emotions. (Wikipedia)

1. The belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. A range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that societies prioritize the male point of view, and that women are treated unjustly within those societies. Efforts to change that include fighting against gender stereotypes and establishing educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women that are equal to those for men. (Wikipedia)

A principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognized as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law by the United Nations. A lot of countries have constitutional law that protects free speech. Terms like free speech, freedom of speech and freedom of expression are used interchangeably in political discourse. However, in a legal sense, the freedom of expression includes any activity of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. (Wikipedia)

1. The term proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Also referred to as the living planet.

1. The physical and/or social condition of being male or female. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The range of characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between femininity and masculinity. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures use a gender binary, having two genders (boys/men and girls/women); those who exist outside these groups may fall under the umbrella term non-binary. Some societies have specific genders besides “man” and “woman”, such as the hijras of South Asia; these are often referred to as third genders (and fourth genders, etc.). Most scholars agree that gender is a central characteristic for social organization. (Wikipedia)

1. Also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations and needs equally, regardless of gender. (Wikipedia)
2. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. (United Nations)

A monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific time period. GDP (nominal) per capita does not, however, reflect differences in the cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries; therefore, using a basis of GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) may be more useful when comparing living standards between nations, while nominal GDP is more useful comparing national economies on the international market. (Wikipedia)

Sometimes called Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH), is a philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan. It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population. Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008. (Wikipedia)

Relating to the whole world. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The group of countries that are referred to those technically and socially well-developed countries: Australia, Canada, the entirety of Europe and Russia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States, as opposed to the Global South.

The group of countries that are mostly (though not all) low-income and often politically or culturally mar- ginalized, including “Third World” and “Periphery,” in Africa, Latin America, and the developing parts of Asia, as opposed to the Global North.

Ecostage comment: An environmental clause written in legal documents such as contracts or letters of agreements.

1. Behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Can be environmental or social too. Pretending to be for a cause but not paying their employees right.

Native American Haudenosaunee (people of the long house) Colonial term grouping together a confederacy of about half a dozen nations. More accurate to refer to the Haudenosaunee (people of the long house, as Iroquois can be considered derogatory in some circles. (Indegenous Corporate Training)

Ecostage comment: Inspired by the Transition movement, the ‘heart keeper’ keeps track of people’s wellbeing during a meeting. E.g. needing a break/breather before continuing or someone needing complementary explanation on a subject discussed.

Features belonging to the culture of a particular society, such as traditions, languages, or buildings, that were created in the past and still have historical importance. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBTQ+). It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, may be based on irrational fear and ignorance, and is also related to religious beliefs. Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior such as discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientations that are non-heterosexual. Recognized types of homophobia include institutionalized homophobia, e.g. religious homophobia and state-sponsored homophobia, and internalized homophobia, experienced by people who have same-sex attractions, regardless of how they identify. (Wikipedia)

Moral principles or norms for certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable, fundamental rights “to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being” and which are “inherent in all human beings”,regardless of their age, ethnic origin, location, language, religion, ethnicity, or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone.They are regarded as requiring empathy and the rule of law and imposing an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others, and it is generally considered that they should not be taken away except as a result of due process based on specific circumstances. (Wikipedia)

The act of including someone or something as part of a group, list, etc., or a person or thing that is included. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Naturally existing in a place or country rather than arriving from another place. (UK) Existing naturally or having always lived in a place; native (US). (Cambridge Dictionary)

The unfair situation in society when some people have more opportunities, money, etc. than other people. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

1. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Wholeness and unity.

1. The state of having different parts or things connected or related to each other. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: The Ecostage Principles are based on the idea that everything is interconnected, people, plants, animals, fungi, ecosystem, etc.

Involving two or more different subjects or areas of knowledge. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Related to the way in which different types of discrimination (= unfair treatment because of a person’s sex, race, etc.) are linked to and affect each other. (Cambridge Dictionary)

A pidgin sign language which is used in a variety of different contexts, particularly at international meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf congress. (Wikipedia)

1. A formal statement, often spoken at the beginning of a public event, that it is taking place on land originally inhabited by or belonging to indigenous people. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Recognizing and respecting the lands and its people who are affected by the effects of colonialism, for some, centuries later, others still colonised to this day.

1. A situation that has developed as a result of past actions and decisions. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: The impact and mark left on the world.

An initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and the letter Q for those who identify as queer or are questioning their sexual or gender identity.. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. (Wikipedia)

In politics, lobbying, persuasion, or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals in the private sector, corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or advocacy groups (interest groups). (Wikipedia)

To like another adult very much and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or to have strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The condition of someone’s mind and whether or not they are suffering from any mental illness. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The state of wellbeing in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. (World Health Organization – WHO)

The practice of being aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment, thought to create a feeling of calm. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. Something that a copy can be based on because it is an extremely good example of its type. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. An informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin modulus, a measure. (Wikipedia)

A design principle that subdivides a system into smaller parts called modules, which can be independently created, modified, replaced, or exchanged with other modules or between different systems. (Wikipedia)

In 1996 Abram coined the phrase “the more-than-human world” as a way of referring to earthly nature. [… He] articulates the entwinement of human subjectivity not only with other animals but with the varied sensitivities of the many plants upon which humans depend, as well as our cognitive entanglement with the collective sensitivity and sentience of the particular earthly places — the bioregions (or ecosystems) — that surround and sustain our communities. (Wikipedia)

1. A story or a description of a series of events.
2. A particular way of explaining or understanding events. (Cambridge Dictionary)
3. Ecostage comment: how we create our reality and how the society we live in is only a story that we have been telling ourselves.

1. All the animals, plants, rocks, etc. in the world and all the features, forces, and processes that happen or exist independently of people, such as the weather, the sea, mountains, the production of young animals or plants, and growth. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The broadest sense is the natural, physical, material world or universe. “Nature” can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. (Wikipedia)
3. Ecostage comment:  Humans are part of Nature too, in the web of Life.

1. Nature connectedness is the extent to which individuals include nature as part of their identity. It includes an understanding of nature and everything it is made up of, even the parts that are not pleasing.Characteristics of nature connectedness are similar to those of a personality trait: nature connectedness is stable over time and across various situations. (Wikipedia)
2. The positive outcomes associated with connection to nature, people and self. (Jon Young)
3. Ecostage comment: Engaging with Nature through sensory awareness and observation skills increases our connection to self, others, and Nature. It is also about recognizing that each element in Nature can be teachers and messengers: bird, animal, rock, water, etc.

A large system consisting of many similar parts that are connected together to allow movement or communication between or along the parts, or between the parts and a control centre. (Cambridge Dictionary)

The idea that people having a range of different types of brain, including those with and without autism, should be regarded as part of normal human life. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Also called compassionate communication or collaborative communication, NVC is an approach to communication based on principles of nonviolence. It is not a technique to end disagreements, but rather a method designed to increase empathy and improve the quality of life of those who utilize the method and the people around them. (Wikipedia) 

1. A situation in which people are governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. A malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power, often under the guise of governmental authority or cultural opprobrium. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced.Oppression refers to discrimination when the injustice does not target and may not directly afflict everyone in society but instead targets specific groups of people. (Wikipedia)

Usually translated as Mother Earth (in the Aymara and Quechua languages). Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology she is an “Earth Mother” type goddess, and a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes. She is also an ever-present and independent deity who has her own creative power to sustain life on this earth. (Wikipedia) 

A model of something, or a very clear and typical example of something. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

A time when the usual and accepted way of doing or thinking about something changes completely. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. A society in which the oldest male is the leader of the family, or a society controlled by men in which they use their power to their own advantage. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Part of the systemic change we need is to dismantle the structures of patriarchy, and especially white patriarchy. What applies to the world also applies to the performing arts industry, in which white men hold a disproportionately large share of power.

From the Latin perceptio, meaning gathering or receiving, is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. (Wikipedia) 

1. Forms of entertainment such as acting, dancing, and playing music. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. It is different from visual arts, which is when artists use paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Performing arts include a range of disciplines which are performed in front of a live audience, including theatre, music, and dance. (Wikipedia)

1. Systems for growing crops, plants, etc. that cause little damage to the environment and can therefore continue for a long time. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. A way of living that learns and works in harmony with Nature that is low impact, sustainable, collaborative and cooperative. (Mona Kastell definition)

1. The status of being a person. Defining personhood is a controversial topic in philosophy and law and is closely tied with legal and political concepts of citizenship, equality, and liberty. According to law, only a natural person or legal personality has rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and legal liability. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: You’ll notice that we refer in our writing to terms such as Nature or Earth with a capital letter, granting them their personhood status with equal rights to human beings as per Native American culture and recently recognized by New Zealander and Indian governments.(‘With the passage of the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Bill in March, the river became the first water system in the world to be recognized as a rights-bearing entity, holding legal “personhood” status.’)

1. An area with definite or indefinite boundaries or a portion of space which has a name in an area. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The term ‘sense of place’ has been used in many different ways. It is a multidimensional, complex construct used to characterize the relationship between people and spatial settings. It is a characteristic that some geographic places have and some do not, while to others it is a feeling or perception held by people (not by the place itself). It is often used in relation to those characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as to those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging. (Wikipedia)
3. Ecostage comment: With a P capital, Place exists in its own right and can participate in the development of a production. Shaping our understanding of our relationship with our surroundings brings valuable connections between designer-participants-space and can help us ‘to cultivate and understand how we are to ‘be’ in/with the world’ (Besal and Blau 2014).

1. A concept involving Earth system processes that contain environmental boundaries. It was proposed in 2009 by a group of Earth system and environmental scientists, led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Planetary boundaries are the limits of what the global ecosystem can sustain; social boundaries define what humans need for quality of life.

A range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but play occurs at any life stage, and among other higher-functioning animals as well, most notably mammals and birds. (Wikipedia)

The quality of being light-hearted or full of fun. Play can have many benefits in children and adults – fosters more effective communication, social skills, cognitive, critical thinking and greater confidence. (Wikipedia)   

To make a serious or formal promise, to give or do something. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

The ultimate outcome that implies an active, contributive engagement with the world where theatre makers’ focus is on creating a positive ecological footprint that goes beyond the transient nature of the performance season to produce long lasting, positive and contributive environmental and social effects. (Tanja Beer’s definition)

A communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared (Wikipedia) 

Can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership.The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person’s perceived political affiliation, sex, gender, beliefs, values, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, complexion, beauty, height, occupation, wealth, education, criminality, sport-team affiliation, music tastes or other personal characteristics. (Wikipedia) 

1. An advantage that only one person or group of people has, usually because of their position or because they are rich. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. White privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots in European colonialism and imperialism, and the Atlantic slave trade, white privilege has developed in circumstances that have broadly sought to protect white racial privileges,various national citizenships, and other rights or special benefits. (Wikipedia)
3. Male privilege is the system of advantages or rights that are available to men solely on the basis of their sex. A man’s access to these benefits may vary depending on how closely they match their society’s ideal masculine norm. (Wikipedia)

A series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. Someone’s pronouns are the way they choose to be referred to according to their gender identity (= their feeling of having a particular gender). (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Not noticing or using a person’s preferred pronoun can make them feel invisible.

1. The term queer ecology refers to a perspective which views nature, biology, and sexuality through the lens of queer theory. It objects to what it considers heterosexist notions of nature. (Wikipedia)
2. This application of queer theory to ecological thinking challenges, for example, the prevalence of binaries and the centring of sexual reproduction in how we look at nature, and celebrates how natural variety and abundance goes beyond functionalism. (Paul Burgess definition)

Policies, behaviours, rules, etc. that result in a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

To collect and treat used objects and materials that are ready to be thrown out in order to produce materials that can be used again. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

To become or to make something become smaller in size, amount, degree, importance, etc. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

To say that you will not do or accept something. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

To improve a place or system, especially by making it more active or successful. To grow again. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

To improve a place or system, especially by making it more active or successful. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Refers in Design to a process-orientated whole systems approach. The term “regenerative” can be used to describe processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials. Regenerative natural systems can mean going beyond protecting the natural environment, and creating a closed loop system that actively feeds natural resources back into the planet. Nature works in a closed loop system. (Wikipedia) 

Regenerative cultures are those that consciously develop the conditions that promote the ongoing renewal and restoration of natural resources; that consider the wide-scale and long-term implications of practices and systems on human and non-human communities; and that promote justice, equitability, compassion and cooperation in order to create the conditions for more resilience, diversity and thrivability for all. (Ecostage)

To imagine again or anew. (Merriam-Webster definition) 

1. The quality of being able to return quickly to a previous good condition after problems. The ability of a substance to return to its usual shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly. Resilience exists when the person uses “mental processes and behaviors in promoting personal assets and protecting self from the potential negative effects of stressors. (Wikipedia)
3. Ecostage comment: Resilience is something we hear a lot about, for us it is not only the capacity to ‘bounce back’, but also the capacity to remain flexibility  e.g a reed in the wind.

A duty to take care of something. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

To think again about a plan, idea, or system in order to change or improve it. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

1. The act of using something again. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Also means looking for new potentials.

1. A very important change in the way that people do things. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. In political science, a revolution (Latin: revolutio, “a turn around”) is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to perceived oppression (political, social, economic) or political incompetence. Revolutions have occurred throughout human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy, and socio-political institutions. (Wikipedia)
3. Ecostage comment: revolution through permaculture regenerative systems creating a sustainable fair world for all people, plants, animals and planet.

1. Buddhist virtue part of the ‘The Eightfold Path’ mentioned in many early Buddhist texts:

“And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions; there is right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.

“And what is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and maintains his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.

“And what is the right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting, abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood in one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. (…). (Wikipedia)

2. Ecostage comment: Finding meaningful path that aligns with people’s deepest values and aspirations with their work in the world.

A legal and jurisprudential theory that describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights. The rights of nature concept challenges twentieth-century laws as generally grounded in a flawed frame of nature as “resource”, to be owned, used, and degraded. Proponents argue that laws grounded in rights of nature direct humanity to act appropriately and in a way consistent with modern, system-based science, which demonstrates that humans and the natural world are fundamentally interconnected. This school of thought is underpinned by two basic lines of reasoning. First, since the recognition of human rights is based in part on the philosophical belief that those rights emanate from humanity’s own existence, logically, so too do inherent rights of the natural world arise from the natural world’s own existence. A second and more pragmatic argument asserts that the survival of humans depends on healthy ecosystems, and so protection of nature’s rights in turn, advances human rights and well-being. (Wikipedia)  

A plan for how to achieve something. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

1. A sacrifice zone or sacrifice area is a geographic area that has been permanently impaired by heavy environmental alterations or economic disinvestment, often through locally unwanted land use. These zones most commonly happen to exist in low-income and minority communities. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Inspired by Naomi Klein, author of ‘This Changes Everything, Capitalism vs The Climate’. How might we go about creating work with awareness of our wider impacts on places and peoples far from our shores, and how embracing the concept of ‘no sacrificial zones’ informs our decision-making processes.

A place or situation in which you are protected from harm or danger; a place or room, for example at a university, where people can go if they feel upset or threatened. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

The art or job of designing and creating scenery (= paintings or images used to represent a place) for a show or event. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

Connected with the physical senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing, sight, and feeling. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

A concept that urges the current generation of humans to live and work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future. It is believed to have originated with the Iroquois – Great Law of the Iroquois – which holds appropriate to think seven generations ahead (about 140 years into the future) and decide whether the decisions they make today would benefit their children seven generations into the future. It is frequently associated with the modern, popular concept of environmental stewardship or ‘sustainability’ but it is much broader in context. (Wikipedia) 

1. The activity of legally owning other people who are forced to work for or obey you. (Cambridge Dictionary) 
2. The condition of being legally owned by someone else and forced to work for or obey them. (Cambridge Dictionary)
3. Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave, who is someone forbidden to quit their service for another person (an enslaver) who treats that slave as their property. Slavery typically involves the enslaved person being made to perform some form of work while also having their location dictated by the enslaver. Historically, when people were enslaved, it was often because they were indebted, or broke the law, or suffered a military defeat. The duration of their enslavement might be for life, or for a fixed period of time after which their freedom was granted.Individuals, then, usually became slaves involuntarily, due to force or coercion, although there was also voluntary slavery to pay a debt or obtain money for some purpose. In the course of human history, slavery was a typical feature of civilization, and legal in most societies, but it is now outlawed in all countries of the world, except as punishment for crime. (Wikipedia)
4. Ecostage comment: Importance to use the term ‘enslaved’ rather than slave to highlight that people did not choose this but were forced to.

1. Evolution is the archetypal example of slow knowledge. Except for rare episodes of punctuated equilibrium, evolution seems to work by the slow trial-and-error testing of small changes. Nature seldom, if ever, bets it all on a single throw of the dice. Similarly, every human culture that has artfully adapted itself to the challenges and opportunities of a particular landscape has done so by the patient and painstaking accumulation of knowledge over many generation (David Orr 2002:39)
2. Ecostage comment: Slow Knowledge teaches us to learn more attentively to put our shared knowledge into good use by engaging all our senses and the full range of our mental powers, and sharing it freely within a community. When applied to design, slow knowledge presents us with new parameters to bring into awareness, and encourages designers and practitioners to question their practice, taking responsibility for their creative decisions.

1. Advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace. (Wikipedia)
2. Ecostage comment: Just like the ‘slow food’ movement, which emphasises the steps to getting there are as important as the final dish. Creating work too can include the concept of ‘go slow to go fast’ and cultivation of mindfulness.

Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. (Wikipedia) 

The set of beliefs that states that all people are equal and should share equally in a country’s money, or the political systems based on these beliefs. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

Structural discrimination is a form of institutional discrimination against individuals of a given protected characteristic such as race or gender which has the effect of restricting their opportunities. It may be either intentional or unintentional, and it may involve either public or private institutional policies. (Wikipedia)

1. The principle that decisions should always be taken at the lowest possible level or closest to where they will have their effect, for example in a local area rather than for a whole country. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: A principle taken from green economics that decisions ‘should be dealt with at the most immediate (or local) level.’

The achieving of the results wanted or hoped for. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The leading or controlling position. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. The belief that a certain group of people is superior to all others. The supposed superior people can be defined by age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, social class, ideology, nation, culture, or species, or belong to any other part of a particular population. (Wikipedia)

1. The quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment:  Based on the UN Brundtland Report of 1987: sustainability “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This not only refers to what we do but also the attitude with which we do it.

A call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. (United Nations)

A set of connected things or devices that operate together. (Cambridge Dictionary) 

Ecostage comment:  ‘Systems Thinking’ is an holistic approach that focuses on the way a system’s various parts interrelate to maintain homeostasis. A systems thinking approach emphasizes the health of the whole rests on the health of its constituent parts. The system works with feedback from various parts of the system and changes to one part affect the whole. Solutions arise from within the system itself if given the ‘right’ conditions. Systems thinking is applied to the study of many fields – environmental, psychology, political, economic, creative, educational and many more. 

It’s the recognition that our bodies, and particularly our hands, play a huge role in how we think. Physical acts are a way of working out our thoughts. Psychologists are now recognizing something that artists have intuitively always known, that we think with our hands as much as our brains. (Psychology Today)

Ecostage comment: Inspired by the Transition movement, the ‘time keeper’ keeps track of people’s time during a meeting. E.g. ensuring breaks or moving things along to finish by a certain agreed time. 

Ecostage comment: A document listing stock available on site/in storage/top tips/available tools and resources for the whole team to use from the outset, and to help coordinate reuse and sharing of resources between production teams

In ethics, value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining what actions are best to do or what way is best to live, or to describe the significance of different actions. (Wikipedia)

The state of feeling healthy and happy. (Cambridge Dictionary)

1. The quality of being or feeling complete and not divided or damaged. (Cambridge Dictionary)
2. Ecostage comment: Relates to the idea of a whole person, considering the different levels of interconnectedness in people, appreciating that the body, mind and soul of a person are connected to the ecological and emotional contexts of the world, and that one who finds one’s calling is involved in creating authentically within community.

The spirit of the time; the general trend of thought, feeling, or tastes characteristic of a particular period of time. Origin of zeitgeist: First recorded in 1830–35; from German: literally, “Time Spirit,” equivalent to Zeit “time” + Geist “spirit”. (Cambridge Dictionary)