His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, is the head of the 900 year old Karma Kagyu Lineage and guide to millions of Buddhists around the world.
Born in 1985, the Karmapa resides in his temporary home at Gyuto Monastery in India after making a dramatic escape from Tibet in the year 2000.
Traveling the world, the Karmapa skillfully teaches traditional Tibetan Buddhist Dharma while also advocating topics such as environmental conservation, feminism, digitization of the Dharma, and much more.
Dr. Felipe Jain, MD, is Director of Healthy Aging Studies at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Depression Clinical and Research Program. He is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and serves on the MD Board of Advisors for the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Research funding from the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging) and private foundations has enabled him to develop a mindfulness and guided imagery treatment approach for people experiencing chronic stress, Mentalizing Imagery Therapy (MIT), which seeks to improve personal well-being, increase emotional intelligence and promote healthy relationships. The MIT guided imagery practices focus specifically on increasing feelings of ecological connectedness as well as interconnectedness with others. Early data from the first randomized controlled trial of MIT shows that different aspects of interconnectedness – with the natural environment and with social relationships – are correlated with neuroimaging markers in different subregions of the anterior temporal lobe. Dr. Jain is the first psychiatrist to receive a highly competitive NIH Beeson K76 Emerging Leaders in Aging Research Career Development Award since the inception of the award in 2016.
Christine Wamsler is Professor of Sustainability Science and director of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program.
The aim of the Contemplative Sustainable Futures Program is to create space and opportunities for learning, networking and knowledge development on the role of inner dimensions and transformation for sustainability. It consists of three building blocks: education, networking and research activities. The latter also includes research on the interface between the mind, mindfulness and the climate crisis, such as the ActivateChange, Mind4Change and TransVision projects.
Fields of expertise: Christine is an internationally-renowned expert in sustainable development and associated (inner and outer) transformation processes, with more than 25 years of experience. Her work has shaped international debates and increased knowledge on personal, organisational and policy transformations in a context of climate change. She has led many international projects and published more than 200 academic papers, book chapters, and books on these issues. Her publications are regularly cited and used for practice, theory and policy development, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Her recent publications on inner-outer transformation for sustainability can be found here (under the heading ‘publications’).
Professional experience: Christine is currently Professor at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) in Sweden. Previously, she worked as co-director of the Societal Resilience Centre and at the Global Development Institute of the University of Manchester, UK. In parallel to her academic research, Christine works on an ongoing basis as a consultant for different governmental and non-governmental organisations. Places where she has worked include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, India, Kosovo, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo and the UK.
Educational background: Christine holds a postdoctoral lecturer qualification (Habilitation) in Sustainability Science (Lund University, Sweden) and a PhD on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. Her Master’s degree is in International Humanitarian Assistance (University of Bochum, Germany), and postgraduate training includes Project Evaluation (University of the Saarland, Germany), Emergency Management (Charles Sturt University, Australia), and Community Disaster Risk Management (International Disaster Risk Management Centre IDRM, the Philippines). Christine is trained as an Architect and Urban Planner, with a specialisation in International Urban Development Planning (University of Stuttgart, Germany & Ecole d’Architecture Paris-Belleville, France).
