February 12, 2026

Join us for "Seeds of Flourishing"

Dear Community,

As the Centre for Human Flourishing at Concordia University, we are thrilled to invite you to the heartbeat of our 2026 programming: Seeds of Flourishing.

We’ve curated a diverse lineup of incredible speakers to explore a core question:

What does it actually take to thrive?

We're often told to optimize our well-being, boost our productivity, and hack our way to happiness. "Flourishing" is portrayed as a thing for people who have it all figured out.

We see it differently.

We believe that flourishing is asking powerful questions about meaning, presence, connection, and what to do when the usual answers stop working.

This series of encounters will provoke your thinking and leave you with valuable practices you can use starting that same day.

And we've gathered voices you wouldn't expect to find in the same room.

Diverse perspectives: Our speakers represent a vast ecosystem of wisdom: an electronic engineer turned yogic mentor, a former McKinsey consultant exploring the philosophy of work, a tech leader pioneering somatic psychedelic medicine, a neuroscientist exploring how people connect through disagreement, and more.

Accessible to all: biweekly 45-min sessions, online, at lunchtime. All events are free to attend, though we welcome donations to help sustain our community work.

Register now: Space is limited for our interactive sessions, so we encourage you to sign up early!

Here is the whole series at-a-glance:

• Mar 5: The Way of Human Florishing, by Bhaskar Goswami
• Mar 19: Meaning at Work in the AI Age, by Mike James Ross
• Apr 2: Psychedelics: Facing your Deepest Fears and Reconnecting with your True Self, by Steve Rio
• Apr 16: An Ecosystem Approach to Gathering in Times of Rupture: Challenging the Actual in the Name of the Possible, by Jessica Riddell
• Apr 30: The Power and Practice of Presence, by Aruni Nan Futuronsky
• May 14: Thriving through Disagreement: How Science can Help, by Floris van Vugt
• May 28: Flourishing Metaphors and Presence, by Lyssa deHart
• June 11: The Ferrari Challenge: Why Conventional Parenting Fails Gifted and Sensitive Kids, and What Actually Works, by Sarah Strouthopoulos

Rooted in your voice

The design of the Seeds of Flourishing series was directly inspired by you. In December, many of you joined us for a lively community reflection session or shared your thoughts via our survey.

We’ve worked hard to weave those themes into this new series and future programs to ensure it truly serves our collective understanding of what it means to thrive.

For those curious about the specific themes and ideas that emerged, we have synthesized the results into a summary document. We find these words touching and profound

Looking Ahead

Thank you for being part of this journey as we renew the Centre’s mission and programming. Your participation is what transforms these "seeds" into a flourishing reality.

We can’t wait to see you at our first event in March.

With warmth,

The Centre for Human Flourishing Team