People need people: A Warm Data conversation
In this lunchtime conversation, Ivan Drouin leads us through a practice designed to foster the deep human connections we need to build resilient communities.
Developed by Nora Bateson, Warm Data invites us to listen, talk and interact in a way that reveals the interdependence and patterns across our different contexts. Grounded in over a century of deep theoretical roots and a lineage of systems thinking, Warm Data practices transform complexity science into an experiential approach of mutual learning and relationship building.
"Hope lies in the very fact that, as living beings, we are made for relationships. We exude warm data in our eyes, our smiles, our verbal and non-verbal conversations. Our well-being and that of our planet is possible only if we permit ourselves to perceive and embrace the rich expressions of who we are as humans and to find a way in relationship." – Nora Bateson
This lunchtime conversation is hosted by How We Thrive, as part of our Climate Connections partnership with HRM's Environment and Climate Change team and the Ecology Action Centre.
Ivan Drouin works as a Clinical Therapist at the Health & Counselling Service of St-Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. Born in Montreal, he moved to Nova Scotia in 2003 and implemented a Crisis Response Service at the Colchester East Hants Health Authority where he later became manager of Mental Health & Addiction Services.
Over the past 20 years, Ivan became concerned with the effects of global warming on mental health and the health of our planet. With friends, he founded the nonprofit Living Earth Council in Truro. Like many others, he came to understand that global warming is a symptom of a larger polycrisis that can be described as overshoot. This led him to be involved in community resilience projects and train as a Warm Data host with the International Bateson Institute.
Ivan has also trained in mindfulness-based interventions with Jon Kabat-Zinn and senior teachers at the Centre for Mindfulness of the University of Massachusetts in Worcester. He has been offering courses and workshops on mindfulness for 20 years.
Ivan likes cycling, hiking, bird watching and long conversations with friends, often over a good meal. He has two daughters and one grandson who is an incredible basketball player.