Green Minds podcast explores holistic awareness with Sebastian Burch

In the first episode of “Green Minds”, host Esther Vallado is joined by educator and holistic sciences graduate Sebastian Burch for a deep, inspiring conversation on Holistic Awareness. Together they explore how true sustainability goes beyond tools and data to include intuition, embodied knowing, emotions and meaning. Through personal stories from shepherding and education, Sebastian shows what becomes possible when we see ourselves as part of the living world. A thoughtful and hopeful episode about learning with head, hands, and heart — and why this matters for regenerative futures.

In the first episode of Green Minds, host Esther Vallado invites listeners into a deep and inspiring conversation on Holistic Awareness — an eco-competence The Ecoliteracy Hub sees as essential for sustainable living.

Joined by Sebastian Burch, educator and MSc graduate in Holistic Sciences from Schumacher College, the episode explores how holistic awareness goes beyond knowledge and tools to include intuition, embodied sense-making, emotional engagement and meaning. Sebastian shares moving personal stories from his life as a shepherd and educator, illustrating how wisdom emerges when we experience ourselves as participants in the living world, not detached observers.

The conversation reflects on the limits of purely rational approaches to sustainability and positions holistic awareness as a distinct competence that underpins others such as systems thinking and problem framing. Together, Esther and Sebastian discuss how this competence can be nurtured through education that integrates head, hands and heart — and why it is challenging, yet vital, to “measure” learning that shows up as authenticity, spontaneity and wise action.

The episode closes with a hopeful vision of ecoliteracy as a way of reclaiming meaning, reconnecting with place and community, and preparing future generations to thrive on a changing planet.

🎧 Listen to the full episode to dive deeper into holistic awareness and its role in shaping regenerative futures.