Roots, routes and resilience: Places can help us learn about the past, the present, the world and ourselves in ways that heal us and remind us of our interconnectedness.
Healing Relationships with Place, Community, Nature & Self
with Corinna Moebius, Ph.D.
Explore where we’ve come from (roots), how we’re connected (routes), and how we deepen belonging and thrive (resilience) in the places that matter to us.
I’m Dr. Corinna J. Moebius, a sociocultural anthropologist and eco-social entrepreneur passionate helping people reimagine and reconnect to place, community, and self across divides and in times of crisis.
In a world where forces like climate change, gentrification and social upheaval continue to uproot us, many feel disoriented. We may find ourselves asking, “Where do I live? Where can I go?” We may withdraw from public spaces, gathering spots, and even ourselves, deepening isolation and divides.
That’s where I come in.
My workshops, walks and other transformative experiences for individuals, businesses and communities help cultivate the vibrant, regenerative relationships that bring healing and belonging, even in difficult times.
Co-author of A History of Little Havana
Profiled in the textbook Becoming an Urban Planner and interviewed for numerous news outlets, including:
More Than Two Decades of Transformative Work
For more than 20 years, I have led and facilitated creative events, workshops, and walking tours that empower people to think differently about place, identity, heritage and community. In Miami, DC, and other locales, my work has helped support residents and local independent businesses, foster inclusive public spaces, and bridge arts and civic engagement for placemaking and public history initiatives.
- Played a lead role in revitalization of Little Havana’s Calle Ocho district, supporting local mom & pop businesses and fostering community arts and engagement.
- Created Miami’s first changemaker conferences for grassroots leaders and the city’s first conference on arts, culture and civic engagement.
- Developed a multimedia curriculum for youth neighborhood engagement piloted in after-school programs nationwide.
- Developed walking tours that challenged dominant narratives, surfaced silenced histories and deepened understandings of people and place.
I have taught courses on identity at Florida International University and urban studies courses internationally as part of the School for International Training’s acclaimed study abroad program, Cities in the 21st Century. My immersive, experiential programming engages participants directly with communities and environments, fostering understanding, inspiration and connection.
Featured on NPR, PBS, and in The New York Times, and recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, I bring a deep understanding of culture, race, immigration, and eco-social resilience to my work. As the co-author of A History of Little Havana—a “people’s history” of the neighborhood where I lived for 15 years—my interdisciplinary background in global, historical, and sociocultural studies enriches my approach.
I have learned so much from you and I will take this with me for the rest of my life. You are so caring, you approach life with so much passion. You are changing the world.
Your expertise and commitment to making better public places cannot be lost to the world.
Re-Imagining Place
Through creative workshops, in-person and online courses, walks in various kinds of environments and tailored consulting services, I facilitate transformative and healing experiences. These foster community resilience, social and ecological connection, and expansive understandings of people, place, and the Living Earth. I offer these services to individuals, businesses, organizations, and communities.
Ready to embark on this journey?
Contact me to schedule a speaking engagement, place ritual, or consultation. Explore upcoming events, workshops, walks, and courses to take a step toward fostering resilience and reconnecting with our shared places, each other, and the Living Earth.
News & Events
I’ve moved! In autumn of 2024 I moved from Florida back to the land where I was raised: Western Massachusetts. Stay tuned for my upcoming events in Amherst, Leverett, Northampton and other towns/cities, as well as new online offerings. I’ve been focusing on completion of my 2nd book, but I promise to bring you exciting workshops, rituals, courses and speaking engagements in the weeks to come!
Corinna sees the forest and each tree at the same time. She can communicate complex material in a form that everyone understands: via word, image, sound, motion, and silence. She has a deep, intuitive sense about different learning styles, interpersonal reactions to group activities, and creating space for individual co-learning and expression.
Magical and life-changing.
You rocked! Everyone loved it. Your knowledge is deep, critical, nuanced and embodied.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Moebius’s workshop very much. She has inspired me to go back to my community and impact change.
Journeys for (Small) Businesses
I help small businesses, commercial property owners; Main Streets/BIDs and historic/cultural districts, and socially responsible businesses develop resilient eco-social systems and regenerative economies. As a consultant and speaker, I can help you flourish in community. I also offer workshops, courses and place rituals for new businesses, businesses going through changes, and businesses that are closing/closed.
Journeys for Individuals
For individuals, I offer personalized coaching walks, workshops and courses. You can also join me at place rituals that celebrate cherished places that still exist–or those that only remain in memory. We can work together to develop customized place rituals that you may want for your home, homestead or remembered home. You may also enjoy my public speaking events and writings.
Journeys for Communities
I work with foundations, community organizations, and government agencies to help build community cohesion and community resilience, social connections, and deeper relationships with place. Learn more about my services as a consultant and facilitator, my availability for public speaking, my place rituals, and my community-building walks.
Cornerstones of My Practice
Whole Body Learning
Rediscover how to learn through your whole body: the place with which you are intimately familiar. I challenge mind/body, nature/culture, and us/them orders and divides that shape popular ideas of self, others, place, and the environment. By engaging in practices of presence, movement, and attentiveness, learn how to release your creative self from the bonds of these separations.
Critical Awareness
New possibilities arise individually and collectively when we experience time and space from a decolonial and systems perspective. By exploring the historic and local-to-global forces that shape how people make and frame history/time and places — from homes to cities to own own bodies, we are better able to cultivate thriving, just and regenerative communities.
Creative Connections
I foster creative connections and spaces for healing through co-learning experiences. Feel the collective joy and belonging that emerge when we come together through arts, poetry, storytelling, movement, reflective activities, outdoor walks and dialogue! These are also opportunities to grieve together. Together, we interact in the web of life, enriching our community relationships.
Re-Enchanting Relationships
We expand our sense of self and understanding of “place” by honoring ancestors, community, the Living Earth, and the cosmos, expanding beyond linear ideas of “kinship.” Create individual and collective rituals for honoring place and land, roots and routes. Deepen resilience by embracing these relationships alongside others on this journey. No matter where you are, there are ways to belong.
Why Choose Corinna Moebius & TerraViva Journeys?
Experienced Place Consultant
For decades, I have advised cities and nonprofits, including Main Streets initiatives, in regenerative, inclusive and creative placemaking and civic engagement processes, earning praise from diverse community stakeholders. I have organized and led conferences on placemaking for grassroots leaders.
Performer/Producer of Arts in Public Spaces:
As an organizer/ performer of arts in public spaces, I have created place experiences and rituals that foster community connection and environmental stewardship. I integrate eco-spirituality into my holistic approach, emphasizing the interrelatedness of people and place. I have facilitated numerous community dialogues.
Community Advocate & Place Storyteller
I am the co-author of A History of Little Havana (The History Press, 2015), the most comprehensive book on this storied neighborhood. My acclaimed walking tours promote nuanced understandings of culture, power, identity and place and challenge stereotypes. I was featured in a PBS mini-documentary for my place-related work and have also been recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Place Scholar & Educator
I hold an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Global & Sociocultural Studies (cultural anthropology). My research focuses on urban, public and place-based rituals of identity and belonging and the politics of place, race and identity. I have taught university courses and served as Visiting Faculty for an acclaimed urban studies study abroad program, sharing diverse perspectives on global cities through a social-spatial justice lens.
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