Abundant Academy

Details of Abundant Academy's purpose and programme.

The Abundant Academy purpose and programme

Photograph of a window at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge. There are a range of different plants in front of the window. — A window at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge. Photo by Harriet Harris.

The Abundant Academy programme is designed to enhance our perspective, and train us in habits of replenishment, reflection and collaboration, so that we can move from overwhelm, freneticism, and feeling stuck, to refreshed and thoughtful momentum and fruitfulness.

Participants become more effective in areas that are meaningful and important to them, whilst also learning to protect themselves and others from burnout.

The Abundant Academy has been developed out of 10-years work with University of Edinburgh students and staff, on the ‘What’s the University for?’ Series, our ‘Slow University’ initiative, and collaborations with universities around the world on bringing Compassion into the structures and ethos of Higher Education.

Photograph of a chair surrounded by bookshelves filled with books. — A book nook at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge. Photo by Harriet Harris

The facilitator, Revd Dr Harriet Harris, is an experienced university lecturer, researcher, and academic writer, and has been a Chaplain for over twenty years’, at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, supporting students and staff with the pressures of university life. She is a Priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, and provides training for ministry. She is also a Trainer with Student Minds, an Associate Fellow of the Clinical Educator Programme, a trainer in Self-care and Compassion including for the NHS and Scottish Government, and a Certified Coach and Trainer with One of Many™, the UK’s largest network for women in leadership. For her work within universities, she has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and has received an MBE for services to Multifaith Education and Community Cohesion.

The core Abundant Academy programme is accompanied by a wide variety of weekly opportunities and additional courses – our ‘Library of Abundance’ which are open to students and staff whether or not they are enrolled on the core programme. They draw on the Chaplaincy team’s expertise in leading groups and individuals in deep reflective and transformative work, including Mindfulness, Mentoring, Coaching, Deep Listening, and Spiritual Direction.

The Abundant Academy supports you to:

Replenish, and model replenishment for others: acquiring habits that keep overwhelm and burnout confidently at bay, and support your identity and belonging, so that you can grow a sense of abundance, spaciousness, courage to reconnect even with what feels difficult for you, and time to reflect.
Reconnect, with yourselves and others, and with the source of life: reconnecting with what is important to you; understanding what motivates you, and what drives you emotionally; overcoming procrastination, and recovering your creativity. Reconnecting is the route to uncovering our sense of purpose, integrity, joy, and the difference we make to the world. It opens us to a sense spaciousness and abundance so that we can respond wisely and compassionately, rather than reactively, frenetically, or desperately, to the challenges we face.
Realise, and empower realisation in those around you: finding the steps to take the collaborations to make, and the support to harness, for fostering cultures and communities that you wish to inhabit and nurture, where life can be lived in all its abundance.

The Core Programme

The Abundant Academy flagship programme is a 2-semester programme comprising three core courses: ‘Replenish’, ‘Reconnect’ and ‘Realise’ (the 3Rs!). ‘Replenish’ and ‘Reconnect’ can each be taken as stand-alone courses. ‘Realise’ works as a follow-on from either or both of the earlier courses. Participants who are able to sign up to all three courses cultivate increasingly fertile ground for growing their visions and projects. They benefit from the supportive network that they create for one another, and also begin to see their projects take root.

By the end of any Abundant Academy course, participants have a network which they have fostered, and with whom they can continue to meet and enjoy mutual support. They are invited to join the Abundant Academy Community, which meets monthly for facilitated gatherings, on-going coaching, and personal check-ins on whatever is important to us in our lives right now.

All core courses are running online until further notice.

The Replenish Course

Replenish, and model replenishment for others

5x2 hours, fortnightly, Semester 1

Continual Replenishment, why we need it and how we can get it
Understanding disempowered behaviour; handling our internal ‘frenemies’ (inner critic, pusher, pleaser, imposter, perfectionist…).
Harnessing empowering archetypes
Meeting our needs; powerful compassion; radical replenishment
Overwhelm first aid; supporting one another in stressful times

Timings:

10am-12noon, Fridays, fortnightly, 14 Oct – 9 Dec 2022

Optional in-person workshop Monday 31 October – ‘Embodied learning: using your full intelligence'

Optional online workshop Friday 2 December, 11.30-14.30 – ‘Handling perfectionism and imposter syndrome’. Link will be sent to all AbAc participants.

To register please: Book Here

Photograph of Yinka Shonibare, ‘The British Library’, Tate Modern, photo by Harriet Harris — Yinka Shonibare, ‘The British Library’, Tate Modern, photo by Harriet Harris. On the spines of the books are names of 1st and 2nd generation immigrants, and of those opposed to immigration. Some of the books are unmarked because the story of immigration to Britain is still being written

The Reconnect Course

Reconnect, with ourselves and others, and with the source of life

5x2 hours, fortnightly, Semester 2

A primer on replenishment and empowerment
Understanding and processing our emotions
Discovering our values and unconscious driver
Responding to procrastination and what gets us stuck
Finding wisdom for the next steps

Timings:

10am-12noon, Fridays, fortnightly, 3 Feb – 31 Mar 2023

Optional in-person workshop, 27 February: ‘Saying “No”, so that you can say “Yes” to what is most meaningful’ in-person

Optional on-line workshop, 24 March, ‘Asking for what you need, for individual and group endeavours’, online

The Realise Course

Realise, and empower realisation with others

3x2 hours, consecutive weeks, post-Semester break (May), plus an in-person workshop day

Tuning into our deep-rooted desires, and exploring meaning and purpose
Creating networks of support and collaboration
Inspired, visionary planning (outwith SMART goals), workshop

Timings:

10am-12noon, Fridays, weekly, 5-19 May 2023

11am-4pm in-person Workshop, ‘A day of inspired, visionary planning (outwith SMART goals)’, in-person, Monday 15 May

Optional online workshop ‘do More Great work’, Friday 26 May

The full value of this programme outside of the University of Edinburgh is over £3,000. For University members, the Chaplaincy subsidises the cost so that we can offer it at a much-reduced rate. We collect a donation for the core programme. Employers are usually willing to cover this cost as part of staff development, so if relevant to you, do ask your line-manager. Also, if Friday is a day-off for you, consider asking to take time-off-in-lieu during your working week, so that you can attend the programme on Fridays:

Staff rate:

£125 for Replenish
£125 for Reconnect
£125 for Realise + day workshop
Or, £300 flat fee for the whole year

PG rate:

£50 for Replenish
£50 for Reconnect
£50 for Realise + day workshop
Or, £100 flat fee for the whole year

We offer bursaries. If the donation prohibits you from joining, please email Chaplaincy@ed.ac.uk

For further information please email Harriet at h.harris@ed.ac.uk

This article was published on 7 Nov, 2022