Come to Cogne with Julien and I. You'd be welcome!

When? June 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th 2017

Where? Plan de la Tour Agritourismo, Cogne, Italy

In June last year, Julien and I conducted an experiment in the Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy. We invited ten brave pioneers to join us at an “agritourismo” near Cogne to work through a program we’d devised based on our many years at The Forest Trust. Some would call it a “professional development program”; others might call it a “Leadership Retreat”.

We called it an “Earthworm Gathering”, an intriguing name that had some folk running as fast as they could in the opposite direction, others wanting to know more and some keen punters jumping in with an instant “I’d like to come!” response.

The group gathered on the Sunday evening, people coming from as far away as the UK and northern France and some from the Geneva region. Six different nationalities were represented. There were six women and four men. We had a great diversity of ages and experience too.

On the Monday, after a “who are we?” session, everyone discussed and shared their values, what they truly believed.

On the Tuesday, during a magnificent, pretty much flat walk up the valley toward the Gran Paradiso glacier, we spoke about how we all felt we were doing living according to those values.

On the Wednesday, we looked at what we might change to get more aligned and how we might change it. On the final day, Thursday, we explored how we could stay aligned in the hurly burly world we live in.

It was a fascinating process of discovery. Strong new friendships were formed and folk went away reflecting deeply on their lives. We felt it was a great success. It seems that the participants did too. Here are interviews with two of the pioneers that fellow participant Tony Johnston recorded during the four days.

We’ve since held other Gatherings elsewhere but we feel Cogne, our foundation event, was such a success that we’ve decided to do it again! We’ve reserved places for twelve participants on those dates above. This time we’re doing it over a weekend so people don’t have to spend so long away from work. We’re again hosting the Gathering in Letitzia’s magnificent Plan de la Tour agritourismo in the beautiful Cogne valley.

There is a cost that covers all accommodation and meals for the four days. Participants will need to cover their own travel costs to and from Cogne.

For TFT members: EUR1,000

For non-TFT members: EUR1,500

For students and non-profits please contact us for pricing.

Julien and I really hope you might consider joining us. We can promise an intriguing experience that people keep finding to be terrifically enriching.

For more information or to register please email Theresa, one of our pioneers, at t.hamilton@tft-earth.org

Inaugural Cogne Gathering: One of our gruelling breakout sessions. Franck, Alastair and Catrin reflect on their values.

Lunchtime on Tuesday. Our pioneers went for a walk from here to enjoy their surroundings and ponder how well they were aligned with their values.

Julien (on the right) and me. In 2017, I've lost my beard and Julien's has grown longer and bushier. We invite you to join us in Cogne for our next Gathering - June 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th, 2017. No extreme walks or anything like that. Just a lot of time to slow down, stop and reflect.