#7 - Dr. David Blumenkrantz & Dr. Neils Kohlschütter - Rites of Passage, Mentorship & Community-Oriented Education

This week Max sits down with his mentor Dr David Blumenkrantz and friend Dr Neils Kohlschütter, who is the CEO of the Schweisfurth Foundation for sustainable food and agriculture. Both have pioneered ways of engaging with youth that lead to genuine community and societal healing and we are excited to share some of their stories and wisdom in this episode. 

Dr. David Blumenkrantz is the co-founder and executive director of the Center for Youth & Community, Inc., based in Connecticut, and is the designer of the Rite of Passage Experience (ROPE).

Since 1966, David has dedicated his career to exploring, experimenting with and experiencing various cultures and communities in order to refine concepts around youth and community development. It was from his personal experiences through his own community-based cultural rite of passages that formed the basis for Rite Of Passage Experience ROPE and its guiding principles. While living with and learning from indigenous peoples throughout North America for nearly 20 years, he experienced firsthand their ancient ceremonies and rituals to strengthen and heal individuals and communities. He brings this wisdom to modern Western communities through his pioneering community building approach.

Neils and Max are both mentees, of sorts, to David. His approach has inspired them to adapt and integrate community oriented rites of passage into their work at the Schweisfurth Foundation and at The Visionaries respectively.

In the episode we explore;

The importance of mentorship
What is a Rite of Passage?
A community oriented approach to youth development
Why our relationship to food matters
Regenerative agriculture
Revaluing the wisdom of youth
Why all this is of particular importance now

You can find out more about David and Neils and their incredible work by following these links;

www.rope.org
https://rope.org/our-vision/executive-director-dr-david-blumenkrantz/
https://schweisfurth-stiftung.de/

Thanks as always to Nic Sims at Green Barge Audio for the editing and production of this episode. Check them out www.greenbargeaudio.co.uk