“Any story of transformation, both personal and collective, is born from the crucible of crisis, inviting us to imagine how we might reorient ourselves in an uncharted time.”

– Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

What role does story and the storyteller have to play amid our deepening ecological and cultural crises? What are the stories we need that can help us shift from our current collective story of separation to a story of wholeness?

This September, Emergence founder, filmmaker, author, and Sufi teacher Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee will join Tamsin Jones for a conversation exploring how story can be a vessel for establishing a spiritual ecology grounded in interconnectedness, kinship, reciprocity, compassion, and reverence for the more-than-human world.

This special evening event will draw from Emmanuel’s new book Remembering Earth and Emergence Magazine's work to examine storytelling as an integral part of reweaving the connections between ecology, culture, and spirituality.

Event details

When: 23 September, 6pm-7:30pm

Schedule of the events:

5:30pm – Doors open

6:00pm – In Conversation Begins

7:30pm – Event close

Venue:

The White House, 11 Princes Street, St Kilda

Light refreshments and grazing snacks provided.

Spaces are limited – please register to secure your place.

About Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee:

Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is an author, Emmy- and Peabody Award–nominated filmmaker, and a Sufi teacher. He has directed more than twenty documentary films, including Taste of the Land, The Last Ice Age, Aloha Āina, The Nightingale’s Song, Earthrise, Sanctuaries of Silence, and Elemental, among others.

His films have been screened at New York Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, and Hot Docs, exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum and London’s Barbican, and featured on PBS POV, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Op-Docs.

His new book, Remembering Earth: A Spiritual Ecology, is forthcoming from Shambhala in summer 2026. He is the founder and podcast host of Emergence Magazine.

About Tamsin Jones:

Tamsin is a strategist, ecosystem innovator, leadership facilitator and coach who helps people, organisations, and investors see the world, and their work, as whole and interconnected, mobilising creativity, relationships, and resources for impact on climate, society, and governance.

A natural circle builder, she has spent her career bringing people and projects together across politics, business, and social impact. She advised at the highest levels of government in South Australia, helped grow a maternal health organisation supporting women living with HIV, and co-founded Workshop17, an award-winning coworking space in South Africa. Her work later turned to investment and leadership, where she championed women on boards across Africa and built coalitions to drive gender smart investment in Australia with Australians Investing in Women. Until very recently, she led global leadership programs at Small Giants Academy, working with leaders and change makers to shape bolder, more grounded visions for the future.

Tamsin now collaborates with partners including RadicalXChange, championing civic democracy and plurality in the age of AI, and Climate KIC's Global Wellbeing Council, asking: what if love became infrastructure?

Questions?

Please email events@smallgiants.com.au if you would like any additional information.

Contact the host of Book Sales: Spiritual Ecology by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee