Imagining with Plants:

Art, Science and the Adventure of Other Minds

7 - 11 October 2027

Rill Estate, South Devon

What can plants teach us about perception, imagination and ways of being in the world?

Bringing together the science of plant cognition, embodied inquiry and varied practices, this immersive course invites participants to explore a new relationship with the plant world. Through talks, experiments, observation, creative practice and experiential learning, we will ask how plants sense and respond to their environments, and what happens when we slow down enough to encounter life at different scales of time.

Drawing on the work of plant scientist Paco Calvo, poets Alice Oswald and Anna Selby, we will investigate the reciprocal space between scientific knowledge and imagination. How can learning about plant intelligence invite us to see differently? How might contemplative approaches and creative practices help us approach forms of experience unlike our own? And what becomes possible when we embrace translation as a sense, not to collapse difference, but as a meeting place between worlds?

Together we will cultivate new ways of perceiving and imagining, exploring the symbiotic relationship between thought and plant science. Through observation and experiments in embodied perception, we will ask impossible but daring questions, with an invitation to risk thinking differently, to encounter other forms of intelligence, and to discover how changing our relationship with the more-than-human world might transform how we make, create, think and live.

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Key Information

At the beautiful Rill Estate in our local bioregion of South Devon.
2nd - 4th October 2026
£390 - £600
This is a three day residential course

Course Overview

Singing is hard-wired into our evolution and one of the most powerful forms of group-bonding that exists. No human group on the planet – tribe, society or civilization – has been able to flourish without it. Together we will deepen into our innate abilities to create resonance – a powerful and natural process which is inherently joyful and robustly supportive. We will do this in a safe and held setting, and discover that the internal support of our own voice has so much to offer us.

Led by Ruairi Edwards – nationally sought-after choral conductor, composer and vocal coach who has performed at Carnegie Hall, sung with Glyndebourne Youth Opera and worked alongside Gareth Malone on the BBC’s BAFTA award-winning television series The Choir. Ruairi will be using the inspirational setting of Schumacher College to aid us in raising consciousness, improving mental wellbeing, and most importantly – empowering you to find your inner voice, your Source, your strength. As one of the leading vocal authorities in the UK – Christine will join the group to provide individual vocal support and guidance to participants. Whatever your specific concerns, challenges or questions, Christine will spend dedicated time with you and will expertly support you in the process of further discovering and developing your natural voice. You will finish your time with Christine with a deep and practical understanding of what is important to you, the way you express yourself, and where to go next. And above all, you will further connect with the deep joy and wisdom that your voice – and its expression – holds for you.

Come and marinate in harmonies, songs, mantras, and find the eternal inner resonance of your voice.

On This Course You Will:

Be guided gently and expertly by experienced professionals in voice work
Discover – at your own pace – how to naturally access your voice in an authentic and safe way
Learn about the huge benefits of singing to individual and collective wellbeing
Explore various bodywork practices which allow you to find your voice
Learn about ways of singing in community
Explore various spiritual and indigenous traditions which still retain a strong connection to singing
Spend time out in beautiful natural surroundings, listening to the sounds of nature
Come together with your fellow course participants to create a unique choir, tailor-made to the individual requirements and passions of your specific group

Course Structure

Day 1 - Fri 2nd Oct: Introducing The Voice

Day 2 - Sat 3rd Oct: Expanding Into The Depths of The Vocal Universe

Day 2 - Sun 4th Oct: Integration:Taking Your Voice Out into The World

Each day of the course is carefully curated so that the whole weekend functions as a continuous, safely-held and complete journey of vocal exploration and expansion. Each session builds on the previous one, with support and guidance every step of the way. You will come away from the weekend feeling full, and empowered, and with a sense of new possibilities for your voice and your life.

Why Join This Course?

Today more than ever, we are being called to discover what makes us human, what connects us, and why this matters. Far from this being an intellectual or mental process, the discovery of the voice invites us into an answer which has been with us from the start - one which is simultaneously completely natural and yet startlingly powerful. Singing is a whole-brain activity, a fully engaged physical act, one which regulates, connects and uplifts us in a way that other practices can’t. Indigenous and spiritual traditions have known this for millenia, and have had singing practices at the heart of their communities.

If you have a sense of a yearning for something “deeper” or an inner knowing, this course will guide you into a lived-experience of an answer. If you have ever been told you “can’t sing” or use your voice but have always wanted to, this is for you.

Venue

This is a weekend course running from Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th October, 2026, hosted in-person at the beautiful Rill Estate in our local bioregion of South Devon. You will be held by the presence of the River Dart, rolling hills and ancient woodland. You will live in community with others and come together over shared meals and activities that harness joy, relaxation, and connection. Our vegetarian food is freshly and lovingly prepared on site, and we can cater to any dietary requirements needed. To ensure your comfort, we have a range of single and shared rooms available.

Fee

£390 - £600 (non-residential, single and shared rooms)

Note: we have a limited number of non-residential places available - book now to avoid disappointment!

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Paco Calvo

Paco Calvo is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Murcia, Spain, where he directs the Minimal Intelligence Laboratory (MINT Lab). His research lies at the intersection of philosophy of cognitive science, plant behaviour, ecological psychology, and the philosophy of biology. Over the last two decades, he has been one of the leading voices in the emerging field of plant cognition, arguing that plants should not be understood merely as passive, stimulus-response organisms, but as flexible, adaptive, problem-solving living systems whose behaviour can shed new light on the nature of intelligence itself.

Calvo’s work is especially concerned with how organisms sense, act, learn, anticipate, and adapt in richly structured environments. Rather than treating cognition as something that necessarily depends on brains or nervous systems, his research explores intelligence from a broader biological and ecological perspective. Plants, in this context, provide a particularly powerful comparative case: they lack neurons and locomotion, yet they display complex forms of environmental sensitivity, decision-making, plasticity, communication, memory-like effects, and adaptive growth. By studying these capacities, Calvo’s work challenges brain-centred and animal-centred models of mind, while also contributing to debates on minimal cognition, agency, consciousness, and the ethical status of non-animal life.

Alice Oswald

Christine Cairns is one of the leading vocal experts working in the UK today. She has sung in concert all over the world. Some of her highlights include solo concerts with the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. As a lead soprano she has worked with some of the most famous and celebrated conductors in the world - including Andre Previn, Sir Simon Rattle and her husband John Lubbock.

When their younger son was diagnosed with severe autism 19 years ago Christine decided to devote her professional life to teaching. Since then she has been a senior tutor in institutions such as The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and also privately at her home in Oxfordshire. She has also examined for several of the London colleges, adjudicated at many competitions and given master classes with a wide range of students across the UK and internationally.

Christine is delighted to be taking part in this Finding Your Voice course which has a very special place in her heart.

Anna Selby

Rachel Musson is facilitator, educator and leadership-coach working to support regenerative education and a return to holistic wellbeing. As Founding Director of ThoughtBox, Rachel works with a wide range of educators and practitioners across the world - from individuals and teams to government officials and communities; all focused on supporting a more conscious, caring and connected way of life. Her practice focuses on enabling connection with ourselves, each other and the earth through a holistic head, heart, hands approach. By working closely alongside a network of 65 Fellows from 26 countries through the foundations of Triple WellBeing, Rachel is part of a diverse community of practice, weaving ancient indigenous wisdom, natural principles and regenerative cultures throughout her work and practice.

Rachel is also the co-founder and operations director of Inner Resonance, working alongside Ruairi Edwards to support soulful experiences for encountering deep connection through harmony and collective sound.

Frequently Asked Questions

Even if you think you can’t, we hold the truth that everyone can sing! This course is for anyone who wants to experience the joy of collective singing and the thrill of the inner discovery of one’s own natural voice. You don’t need to have any previous experience - if you can speak, you can sing!
We welcome people of all abilities. Please let us know if you have any specific needs and we’ll do our very best to ensure you feel fully welcomed and cared for.

This is a 3 day immersive in-person course, in community with others. We invite you to participate with presence. We’ll share a more detailed schedule nearer the time, but we usually start around mid afternoon on the Friday and finish around lunchtime on the Sunday.
All materials will be provided. Feel free to bring any materials that may support your comfort. Some sessions may be held outside and weather during the autumnal season can be changeable, so please come prepared with suitable clothing and footwear.