Whats new

Kara Fortier talks to Marian Rich and Carrie Lobman on "Being and Becoming" for her PlayGrounding podcast.

Dan Friedman introduces you to innovative programs developed by performance activists worldwide. Be inspired! Nov 6-Dec 17.

It’s a virtual festival of play, performance and development featuring performance activists from across the planet! Weekends, July 25-Aug 30.

Lois Holzman interviews outspoken NYT bestselling author Irshad Manji — Getting beyond labels requires courage and curiosity. How do we create environments to be more loving?

Join Cathy Salit and friends on a developmental playground and learn how to grow joyfully. October 27.

Part of our play and social justice series, join Carrie Lobman, Antoine Joyce, Danielle Marshall and Don Waisanen, June 9.

Now in Japanese, Fred Newman’s 1994 classic text introduces an approach to continuous growth.

Tom Strong & Murray Dabby discuss developing the practice of talk therapy in a webinar hosted by Lois Holzman.

What if we live in a time when a “big picture” understanding is neither helpful nor possible, asks independent activist Jacqueline Salit. Hear more, Dec. 7.

If play is essential to development, then the loss of play is a social justice issue. Join Carrie Lobman & Guests, Nov. 11.

The ESI & Inspired Memory Care team up for a workshop to support all impacted by a diagnosis of dementia. Sat. Nov. 3.

Join hundreds of performance activists from across the globe at PTW 2018. Our theme: Let's Develop! Early Bird Discount ends June 1st.

This 3-day gathering, April 13-15, in Thessaloniki, Greece, sponsored by Aristotle Univ, Hellenic Education Society and ESI, will explore creative community practices. Read more...

Join community organizer par excellence Lenora Fulani and her 2017 class of Fulani Fellows for an up-close look at the power and intimacy of developing our communities.

Join social therapist Rachel Mickenberg, Fri. Nov. 17, for a dialogue on how practitioners in clinics, agencies and private practice can advance their therapeutic practice.

Independent political strategist Jacqueline Salit recently spoke on the creative process of finding otherness and thereby creating new sources of emotional, social and political power.

Join long-time activists and scholars, Robert Whitaker and Lois Holzman, for a wide-ranging conversation on the madness of contemporary society, efforts to engage and transform it, and what more we might do.

Join for the NYC premiere of the social-action film documentary, “Healing Voices,” exploring the experience of psychosis and featuring live Q&A with director PJ Moynihan, ESI Director Lois Holzman, and reps from Hearing Voices NYC, Sat., May 13.

As borders close – we grow community! A synchronized art, music & poetry performance and fundraiser for ESI alumna Elena Boukouvala’s Play Is Hope, happening simultaneously in 15 cities & 13 countries. READ MORE

Carrie Lobman will be a featured speaker at Pedagogía 2017, an international gathering of educators in Havana, Cuba, where she will present on the social therapeutic, performatory approach to developmental learning.

What is the human cost of living in a city where the divide between rich and poor is greater than at any time in recent history? Where too many New Yorkers are homeless (or afraid they could be at any moment)?

Faculty Susan Massad and Barbara Silverman will present at the Taos Institute's "Relational Practices in Health" conference in Cleveland on "Creating an Ensemble for Performing Health."

Featured presenters include Patch Adams, Kenneth Gergen, Antanas Mockus, Richard Schechner, and participants from 30+ countries. Check out the latest news and photos.

Already, 24 countries represented. Check out the latest news on featured presenters. Register now!

Join this wide-ranging online conversation with Cathy Stewart & Carrie Lobman and explore the relationship between democracy and development. Begins May 1.