Learning with the Heart – Impactful Encounters – People and Planet

Leadership Story written by Jacqueline Goldin

Mine is both a personal and professional story. The private intertwines with the professional. I got my Doctorate when I was 50! I had struggled as a single mum, and a secretary – feeling worthless, deeply depressed, and exhausted most of the time. My PhD was on shame – and trust. I know from the bottom of my heart what it feels like to be excluded, feel unworthy, and to be voiceless.

I now use various socio-ecological tools and techniques that empower and create spaces for voice, hope, and dignity. One powerful tool I use is the River of Life where one imagines one’s life as a river, with moments where the water bubbles and flows, and other moments where perhaps it is more stagnant, or where events happen that make new tributaries or branches.

Together with my team, I have developed a model for the development of Diamonds on the Soles of our Feet which is a disruptor – it does things differently, working with emotions and art using, for instance, poetry, dance, story-telling.

Knowing in my bones what it feels like when one’s emotions are ignored, sidelined, and joked about, I can now say with deep conviction that I believe in pedagogy with a heartbeat, where science can transform society through empowerment and impactful encounters with nature.

 

You cannot learn unless there is love, curiosity, and joy.

Science is a connector – Connecting people across the globe to each other,

and to their rivers, streams, wetlands, and wells.

 

Connect with Professor Jacqueline:

• e-mail: jaquigoldin@gmail.com;
• Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa;
• Department of International Development Studies, Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands;