Paul Moseley : Kincraft

19/06/2025

I am thinking of starting a monthly series of talks with a Q&A. The central theme will naturally be about kinship with the Land.

To approach this in a reasonably thorough and reflective way means to explore language, the history of how the natural world has been perceived, and to examine mainstream concepts of nature connection, as well as delve into areas such as Traditional Ecological Knowledge, embodiment and even dip our toes into cosmologies/ontologies.

The aim is that by sharing and exploring these concepts among practitioners, we can tease out how practice is impacted by significantly different forms of perception of the natural world.

Is this something anyone might be interested in?

Feel free to leave a thumbs up/heart if this idea interests you. In the comments, let me know if there are particular questions you would like to explore or points of practice you want to know more about.

I am thinking somewhere in the £5-£10 region for the session. Less if you book more of them. Does that seem fair?

15/06/2025

I sat talking with a mountain recently.

That might be a very confusing sentence, so let me explain.

As individuals, we are always involved in a rolling series of relationships with people, places, and particular things or items in those places. Ultimately, we are the sum of those relationships, rather than being completely separate and unaffected by them.

The clothes you are wearing, where you are, the temperature, the device you are reading this on, the noises in the background, the sights and smells that, until I mentioned them, were all on the periphery of your awareness, these all contribute to the experience you are having at this moment. "You" are a result of your environment, as much as you are what is happening within your body.

We are constantly in some form of dialogue with everything around us. Their presence, by definition, creates a conversation which we can choose to ignore or centre and explore.

As I sat and gazed at the mountain, it sparked thoughts of new perspectives, of looking out over a landscape and exploring it from a different vantage point. This conversation, this dialogue, between its presence and my thoughts, is how we can talk with the Land.

The Land does not have a voice in the way we usually think of conversations. Instead, it has relationships, changes, qualities and instances that, if we are open, we can notice and sit with.

The conversation with the mountain helped me decide on the next steps I want to take personally and professionally. It did not say a word, but its aeons of existence helped me consider how I might have invested myself in fleeting things. It gave me a sense of the more patient and removed work I have been resisting, and how I might remove myself to attend to that with some conviction.

It seems strange to only now realise how many times my choices have been influenced by talking with the Land. Previously, I gave myself too much credit by focusing on what I was saying, without really recognising how this was only part of the conversation.

The relationships, or assemblages, are happening every moment of every day.

If you find yourself stuck or questioning your choices, sit and talk with a mountain, a river, or a bird, and listen to what they have to say.

11/06/2025

Goodbye, forest school.

It has been a privilege to work with so many forest school practitioners over the past 18 years or so of delivering training.

Earlier this month, I was in Colorado, assessing what I have decided is my final cohort of trainee practitioners.

I have enjoyed my time being involved with the field of forest school, but it is time for me to move on.

I will now be entirely focused on exploring and communicating the area of research that I have been pursuing since my Master's degree. This area of research draws on environmental anthropology and centres on understanding the theory and practice of nurturing ecological identity through a cultural and place-responsive approach, towards kinship with the Land.

It challenges many of the conventions within mainstream approaches, notably the popular idea of nature connection. It is difficult and unconventional, but that's where the opportunity lies to learn and grow in my own approach.

19/04/2025

Things have been very busy recently, hence the lack of posts :)

The The National Outdoor Expo was a phenomenal event as always. To say we were busy is an understatement.

Some of my favourite moments were around helping people who have tried skills before and been left frustrated. We were able to help them finally be able to take their first steps with fire by friction and cordage making, as well as reintroduce the sound of flintknapping back to them, after most likely 300 generations.

Moments like this, connecting people to technologies and experiences that our ancestors knew intimately, starts a journey into renewing the many varied ways we can explore relationships with the Land.

I am visiting the Nature Therapy Conference UK in a couple of weeks. This is a new conference, I believe, that focuses on the therapeutic value of using natural spaces for various practices. There are quite a few familiar faces here that I am looking forward to seeing again, as well as a few with whom I am looking forward to starting up new, vibrant conversations.

Then, in late May, I have my annual visit to Colorado to work with my good friends at The Wild Ones Forest School. We will travel around the state, visiting the students from last year's forest school training course. We will be observing their practice and giving them some (hopefully) valuable reflections.

My bags are barely unpacked before I am off to the 2025 Global Bushcraft symposium. One of its aims is to celebrate the life and work of Lars Falt, someone I have been fortunate enough to be tutored by in Arctic living.

Then I am back to begin launching a series of retreats and courses for next year, along with the first of a yearly festival that centres on our relationship with the land through natural crafts.

11/03/2025

Our workshops, talks and demonstrations for the National Outdoor Expo 2025 22-23rd March.

09/03/2025

Use our code "Centre4E" to claim your free tickets.

The countdown is well and truly on now.

Just 2 more weeks until the National Outdoor Expo is BACK

07/03/2025

In 2 weeks, we will be at the National Outdoor Expo at the NEC, running the Bushcraft Zone again.

Want to go? Would you like free tickets?

Use visit: https://nationaloutdoorexpo.seetickets.com/
Use code: CENTRE4E

Come along to the bushcraft zone and learn about fire lighting, watch an axe demonstration, learn about bucksaws and much more!

Buy tickets for The National Outdoor Expo 2025 at NEC from the official retailer, National Outdoor Expo.

16/02/2025

Coming soon!

Join us for an immersive course that explores the timeless connection between foraging, craft, and community.

From gathering natural materials to creating hand-crafted items, this experience offers the chance to rediscover how these practices have always been a shared effort deeply embedded in human culture.

We will unite as a community to forage, process, and create, working collaboratively to transform raw materials from the land into meaningful, functional objects.

You will leave the weekend with not only new skills and knowledge but also a deep understanding of their role in creating kingship between people and with the Land.

For more information, visit: https://www.paulmoseley.org/crafting-as-culture

02/02/2025

Coming soon!

Join us for an immersive course that invites you to deepen your understanding of the natural world by learning to trail various species and interpret the signs they leave behind.

This experience will introduce you to the intricate relationships between humans, animals, and our shared landscapes. You will develop the skills to follow animal tracks and read their clues, revealing the hidden geographies of other species with whom we share the Land.

You will leave the weekend with a very real set of skills and a deeper understanding of how we can nourish a rich sense of kinship with the natural world.

For more information, visit: https://www.paulmoseley.org/borderlands

23/01/2025

Antler and Stone
Two of the most significant materials for our ancestors from the earliest times humans began using materials as tools over 3 million years ago. Up until approximately 5000 years ago, when, at least in the Middle East, copper and bronze began to become more commonplace, these materials formed a crucial part of everyday existence. With the continued rise of interest in flintknapping and other traditional crafts, there is a renewed relationship again with these materials. As John Lord, a grandfather of modern flintknapping, points out, when we are consumed by a relationship with materials such as those used by our ancestors, we can experience a moment as common sensation as we are ever likely to.

Within my own practice, I do not say that we should live as our ancestors should; instead, we can step outside of our everyday experiences through different eyes. This might have a therapeutic, cultural and/or philosophical weight to it.

Often, interest in these crafts is dismissed as weekend activities and playing about and pretending to be wild. Personally, I find that they liberate people from how they assume the world works and help us open our minds to new, more sustainable and regenerative ways of living.

22/01/2025

I adore craft work as you can imagine. One of my favourite moments is returning to a particular area, in this case basketry, and working with familiar materials again. It is like meeting an old friend and relaxing into comfortable, joyful rhythms. One particular thing I enjoy with working with willow is once it has soaked for a few days and then mellowed, the “give” that you feel as you lay it into a weave or turn it around a tight turn. It is like a conversation between you and the willow whereby you have to be as attentive to it as much as you are asking it to agree with what you want from it.

11/01/2025

This month, my winter edition newsletter comes out.

Personally, I do not sign up, let alone read, most newsletters because they are just sent out to make sales.

I wanted to figure out how to build a community of people and share with them what I am most excited about exploring a few times a year.

With articles, book recommendations and upcoming events, I hope this is something that you read and genuinely find interesting and valuable. Also, I only send them out once every few months.

This season it includes;

Winter Foraging - What you can find and the joy of making this a year-round habit.

Borderlands - Tracking as a meeting point with non-human communities and the plates in which they dwell.

Watersheds - Understanding how we can relate to the Land on its own terms.

Book Reviews - I share with you one of the most beautiful foraging books I have come across, as well as a book that explores the reintroduction of boar.

Plus...you can find out about what is coming up at the National Outdoor Expo (and claim free tickets) as well as other events taking place this year.

Sign up at: www.paulmoseley.org