From Metacrisis to Second Renaissance: A 4-Week Exploratory Journey
Organised by Life Itself • Facilitated by Rufus Pollock & Sylvie Barbier
📆 Format: 1 live 90min session per week over 4 weeks (recordings available) - 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd July
🌐 Online, interactive sessions
💶 Price: €39 / $39 (scholarships available on request)
Join our short course “From Metacrisis to a Second Renaissance”, an interactive introduction and exploration of this time between worlds.
In this 4-session course, we will come together to learn about and explore the Metacrisis and a Second Renaissance – this growing moment of civilizational breakdown and the potential paths to a better future.
Led by Life Itself co-founders Rufus Pollock and Sylvie Barbier, this series is an invitation to those already curious about the cracks in the modern worldview — and those feeling the pull towards a more connected, meaningful, and regenerative future.
The course focuses on supporting your own exploration and discovery using small group discussion and sharing amongst the wider group. Along with introductions to the key concepts each session includes dialogue, small group inquiry, and shared reflection. This format makes it suitable whether you’re a complete newcomer to the second renaissance or already have deep knowledge of the area. This will be a space for collective making sense of what’s happening, what’s needed, and what’s possible.
What We’ll Explore
Week 1 Symptoms: Metacrisis Awareness
How did we come to see the cracks in the old world? What experiences awakened your awareness? We’ll share our own paths and map the resonances between us.
Week 2 Source: Meeting Moloch, the Roots of the Metacrisis
What might a Second Renaissance look like? What kinds of views, values, institutions, and technologies are needed for a deep civilizational renewal?
Week 3 Hope: Cultural Evolution and Regeneration
Views and values can change. The deep stories that shape civilization have evolved throughout history. New paradigms can emerge transcending old ideas and offering responses to the problems and limitations of the old world.
Week 4 Paths: Seeds of a Second Renaissance
Where are the seeds of this new paradigm already growing? What are the “pockets of emergence” we can cultivate? What greenhouses do we need?
Week 5: Action & Integration
How do we carry these insights forward? What does it mean to live and lead from this new paradigm in practice?
Why Join?
Participatory Exploration: Share perspectives in a co-created, dialogic space
Deep Contextual Framing: Understand the Second Renaissance in historical and cultural context
Integrative Learning: Connect personal growth with global transformation
Community & Belonging: Meet others committed to a saner, wiser future
Tools & Inspiration: Leave with practical insights for integrating these ideas into your life and work
Who’s Facilitating?
Rufus Pollock is a co-founder of Life Itself, researcher, technologist, and social entrepreneur. A former Cambridge academic, Ashoka and Shuttleworth Fellow, and long-time Zen practitioner, he is one of the lead authors of the Second Renaissance whitepaper.
Sylvie Barbier is a co-founder of Life Itself and an internationally exhibited performance artist. With French and Taiwanese heritage, her work spans three continents, and she has taught fashion and branding at Polimoda in Florence.
Practical Info
Sessions are live but recordings will be available if you miss one
Speaking is always welcome, never required 😉
No prior knowledge is necessary — just curiosity and openness
Email enquiries to hello@lifeitself.org
Explore the vision behind the Second Renaissance:
🌐 secondrenaissance.net
📄 Download the whitepaper