Thomas Nielsen, is an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra, Australia. Born in Denmark Thomas brings to this podcast his deep humanity and scholarly understanding about how to create a meaningful life.

He has served in several of the Australian Government's values and wellbeing education projects across Australia.

His publications have been peer reviewed and published by high impact journals and esteemed book publishers (www.thomaswnielsen.net), and he is the recipient of national teaching awards, including the 2008 Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (http://www.olt.gov.au/list-awards?text=thomas+university+of+canberra).

Dr Nielsen advocates a ‘Curriculum of Giving’, his research showing that giving and service to others increase wellbeing and resilience in students—something much needed in the world with high youth depression and suicide rates.

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For more information about the transformational work of the IVET Foundation and its global Affiliates visit http://www.ivetfoundation.com

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In this revealing Noble Conversation, Fabienne Vailes talks openly about her personal journey and the development of her views about life and education.

Fabienne is a parent, educator, and someone who could no longer ignore what wasn’t working in education.

First and foremost, she's a mother of two teenage boys. Like many parents, her journey hasn’t been straightforward. It has involved questioning, unlearning, and rethinking what education really means.

At one point, she home educated one of her sons, while the other followed a more traditional school path. Living these different realities side by side changed how she sees education: not as one system, but as something much more complex and human.

After nearly 30 years working across education from early years to higher education, she began to notice a pattern.

More and more young people were struggling. And more and more adults were trying to hold it all together.

It didn’t sit right with Fabienne to see children as “the problem”.

So, she started asking different questions:

• What if behaviour is communication?
• What if well-being is not an add-on, but the foundation?
• What if we need to unlearn as much as we learn?

Flourishing Education grew from these questions.

Fabienne's work sits between the “ME” and the “WE”.

Fabienne supports parents, teachers, and school staff who are holding a lot, not by offering quick fixes or strategies, but by creating space to pause, reflect, and see more clearly.

Fabienne is:

• an NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner
• a Coach
• a Clinical Hypnotherapist, with a focus on anxiety and stress
• a Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher (LinkedIn)

These are not techniques she “applies” to people.

Fabienne Vailles is author of 'The Flourishing Student' (in its second edition) aimed at teachers and tutors, co-author of 'How to Grow a Grown Up' written for parents with Dr Dominique Thompson and soon to be co-author a third book co-authored with Dr Natalie Rothwell-Warn which will come out in summer 2026. She is also a podcaster and Founder of Flourishing Education. Neil enjoyed being a guest on her podcast. As part of her PhD at the University of Bristol she is currently exploring How we Co-Create Enabling Environments in Secondary Schools to BE and Flourish Together.

Fabienne's passion is to explore how we co-create and transform our education systems so that ALL can flourish. She has a deep interest in how together we decolonise our thinking, doing and most importantly our BE-ing through both inner soulful justice and external social justice work, one imperfectly perfect conversation at a time.

At the heart of it all, Fabienne cares deeply about holding and co-creating spaces where people can be, become, and belong.

Fabienne will touch your heart and challenge your thinking by her authenticity.

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For more information about the transformational work of the IVET Foundation and its global Affiliates visit http://www.ivetfoundation.com

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There is a small and select band of educational professionals in the UK who have not only had their achievements recognised in the New Year’s Honours List, but who are also able to inspire others with their outstanding knowledge, passion and enthusiasm – Sir John Jones is one.

Knighted in 2003 for his services to education, Sir John worked most of his professional life in challenging schools across the North West of England, his last post being the head-teacher of a large secondary school in Merseyside.
His achievements and reputation for straight talking, leadership and creativity led him to be invited onto various organizations, panels and think tanks including the National College for School Leadership, the DfES’ Leadership Development Unit, the Teacher Development Agency’s National Remodelling Unit and visiting posts with both Manchester and Liverpool Universities.

Sir John Jones is inspirational. He should be compulsory listening!

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Mika Vanhanen – Ambassador of Knowledge, Peace builder and Founder of Peace Circle® inspires Neil Hawkes during this heartfelt conversation.

Mika Vanhanen is a Finnish educator, peace builder and leader in human-centred transition work. For over 30 years, he's worked across schools, municipalities, civil society, business and global networks to understand how real change happens — and why it so often fails. In 2000,Mika founded ENO – Environment Online, which grew into a global school network of 10,000 schools in 157 countries and helped mobilise the planting of more than 30 million trees.

Today, Mika continues his mission through Peace Circle®, a model that turns values into visible action by connecting nature, community and learning. This work has led to Peace Circle® parks, citywide partnerships and school-based practices in multiple countries, with a vision to reach 100 countries by 2030.

The Peace Circle® model led Mika to a wider principle he calls Circular Humanity:
when people move together in values, understanding and action, transitions become culture.

The Podcast ends with a beautiful song, Peace grows in you, which Mika has just released and can be downloaded from Spotify.

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In this Noble Conversation Neil talks with Marneta Viegas (Netti) who calls herself the Queen of Creativity. She is the creative genius behind Relax Kids, which she founded a decade after running her clowning business in the 90s.

Netti says:

"I had no idea when I came up with the idea of relaxing children that it would be so mainstream and so vital.

Creativity is the driving force in my life and all my work. Every time I swim or shower, ideas come to me.

I love being able to support young people and their families through Relax Kids and feel so grateful to have the opportunity to do this precious work. I love coming up with new ways to support our families with activities such as our daily meditation group, monthly affirmation disco and interviews with experts in the field of mental health.

I’m so grateful to the Relax Kids team, all those who helped along the way and all the incredible coaches for helping make Relax Kids the magical and special business that it is.

I am particularly excited about my new project for women ‘Ignite Your Creative Spark Club’. If you are interested in finding out how to bring the magic of creativity into your life, please get in touch."

You will love listening to someone who has helped thousands of children and their families, despite being turned down by the dragons in the TV programme Dragons Den!

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Inspirational Floyd Woodrow has a CV that includes military leader, head of counter terrorism in the SAS, director, consultant, and negotiator, it’s fair to say that Floyd is a real leader who will hold you spell bound with his dynamic personality.

Floyd began his career as a soldier in the Parachute Regiment, spending four years with the 1st Battalion before being one of the youngest ever individuals selected for the SAS at the age of 22. Floyd went on to win the second-highest gallantry award, a Distinguished Conduct Medal, for his work in Iraq and an MBE for his work in Afghanistan. During his time in the military, Floyd also studied law and psychology and wrote his first book “Learning to Learn”.

Determined, supportive, and inspirational, Floyd is a renowned speaker on leadership. He is the Founder of Compass for Life which so powerfully transforms lives.

In this transformational podcast Floyd will inspire you to set your own compass for life.

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For more information about the transformational work of the IVET Foundation and its global Affiliates visit http://www.ivetfoundation.com

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In this engaging podcast, Neil is delighted to be in conversation with Professor Craig Shealy. Craig's transformational research has so many practical outcomes, especially helping us to understand ourselves and how we form our identity..

Craig is Executive Director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan International Beliefs and Values Institute or IBAVI, a Nehru Chair Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and developer of the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory or BEVI.

Craig received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University’s APA-accredited doctoral program. As Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University for over 20 years, Craig served in various doctoral and undergraduate research, teaching, and service roles. A licensed clinical psychologist, he is a Fulbright Specialist in Japan, Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Past President of APA’s Division of International Psychology, and a National Register Legacy of Excellence Psychologist.

Craig is an esteemed Affiliate of the IVET Foundation and a co-founder of the Global Alliance of Values-based Education (GAVE).

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Dr Gladson Chikwa is an experienced education professional who has worked in Higher Education for more than 15 years. In this personal reflection he gives us insights into his growing up in Zimbabwe and his academic journey to the UK.

Gladson led institutional learning and teaching enhancement projects in different Higher Education Institutions in China, Oman and the UK. He proudly holds Fellow status of the Staff & Educational Development Association (FSEDA) and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He has conducted research and published articles and book chapters covering different themes including learner autonomy, assessment and feedback, and technology-enhanced learning. He is the Founder and current co-chair of the International Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group (ITLSIG), a community of practice for sharing good practices in learning, teaching, and assessment as well as championing collaborative research in Higher Education. Prior to joining higher education, he worked as a Science/Biology Teacher in high school in Zimbabwe. Currently, he teaches on Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching and on the MA in Higher Education.

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