Spooky season is in full swing! From our new Hub user spotlights to the announcement of our upcoming free annual conference, we have plenty of treats to share with you all. Here are this month’s highlights.
Hub User Spotlight
The Nova Integration Hub is all about connections. In this spirit, we will feature a brief interview with a user each month to showcase the variety of disciplines and interests we have represented on the Hub and help facilitate connections. Our first user spotlight is Kevin Dwight Richardson, a life-long artist/designer who has applied his creativity toward multiple causes while maintaining a personal practice for health and self-expression.
What are your interests? I’m curious about just about everything in life, especially given the chance to encounter someone passionately following their purpose. I’m a YouTube addict and have more events, conversations, and concerts saved than I get around to watching.
What are you working on that most excites you? Developing different ways to help people recover/discover their creativity for positive change, health, and well-being.
What do you welcome Hub users to connect with you about? Brainstorming, collaboration on visualizing concepts and ideas, collaboration on social issues projects/campaigns, and exploring their creativity for health and well-being for themselves and their colleagues.
Check out Recordings from Recent Nova Campfire, “Nurturing Societies: Cultivating Cooperation for Sustainable Well-Being”
This Nova Campfire explored how nurturing environments and cultivating positive aspects of human nature (including empathy, compassion, and altruism and “light triad” personality traits) may accelerate this collaborative cultural shift to benefit individuals, societies, and our relationship with nature—especially when these efforts begin in early life. Recordings are available for the entire event and for each presenter.
Watch, share, and contribute your thoughts in the Nova Campfire group!
Final Call to Complete the Nova Hub User Survey
Thank you to everyone that has completed the Hub User Survey so far. The survey will be closing at the end of this month. You have a little more time to share your thoughts in this short survey to help improve the Hub experience. Don’t forget you’ll need to be logged in to the Hub to take the survey.
In Discussions
- Nova Institute Founder and President, Professor Brian Berman, MD, initiated a conversation about a recent Sandro Galea essay in a series aimed at articulating a new philosophy of health. Chime in and share your thoughts on the provocative questions Sandro poses about health.
- Users discuss the concept of time banking where people use time instead of dollars in exchange for goods and services.
- Stemming from the “Nurturing Societies” Nova Campfire, Matthias Köster shared the UN “Pact for the Future” as a true embodiment of kindness that many nations collaboratively developed.
- Is it time to tax ultra-processed foods (UPFs)? Add your stance to this discussion about an article that is urging action against UPFs.
- Help grow Federica Lari’s RECONNECT Program. Share your thoughts and advice on her 6-week journey to the source of our well-being, using yoga, mindfulness, nutrition and meditation as main pillars in a small group setting.
…and many more in the Discussions page!
In Groups
- Nova4Nature – See spectacular captures of the northern lights from Maryland, colorful mushroom sightings, a plant lover book recommendation and more.
- Nova Reads – Check out a plethora of book recommendations from Hub users.
- Writers and Poets Corner – A recent New York Times piece from Nova Media Fellow Kate Morgan is highlighted.
- Microbes and Social Equity – There are many upcoming talks from now until the end of the year through the Microbes and Social Equity series online.
- Cultivating Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being – Recent posts include a podcast recommendation on compassion and a highlight of recent work from Dr. Britt Wray, a leading researcher at the intersection of mental health and climate change.
- Nova Meditations and Practices – Take a midday break and reflect with a mediation or Qigong routine of your choice.
- Announcements – Explore events and accomplishments shared by our users including the Integration Hub being included in New_Public’s digital spaces directory!
…check out all the Groups (or create your own)!
Other Updates & Events
- Media Fellow, Virginia Gewin, has been on a roll publishing environmental pieces in Bloomberg, Grist, and Nature as of late.
- Save the Date for the Nova Annual Conference, “New Horizons: Toward an Era of Global Flourishing,” on December 5, 2024. This free, virtual event will explore innovative approaches to advance an era of well-being for both people and the planet. Registration is officially open!
- See events and submit your own on our Community Calendar!
Hub Features & User Tips
- Tip for engagement: Tap into the great minds here on the Hub! Post your requests for information, research help, articles, etc., in a relevant group or discussion topic, or directly to your profile as a status update.
- Coming soon: The Nova Integration Hub will have an app soon! While the platform is already mobile-friendly, an app will make it that much easier to engage while on the go.
- Help populate our map: Please help us populate our members’ map and forge new connections among users by updating your profile with your state or province and country. While you’re at it, add your areas of expertise, interests, and passions so other users can learn more about you. You can find these fields in the “Required” and “Optional” areas of your profile.
- Invite friends to join the Hub! Click on your profile photo, navigate down to “Email Invites,” and click “Send Invites.” Customize a message or just send the link – it’s easy!
- Just getting started on the Hub? Check out the Hub User Guide to watch a video or get step-by-step instructions.
Thank you again for being part of our community. We’d love to hear from you! Let us know how you like using the Hub, share your ideas and suggestions, or just say hello! Message Dawn Stoltzfus, Airynn Strout, or Tolu Adewole on the Hub or email us at dawn@novainstituteforhealth.org, airynn@novainstituteforhealth.org or tolu@novainstituteforhealth.org.
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