Ecovillage Design Education; Training of Trainers : 2010
Ecovillage Design Education; Training of Trainers
18 January - 7 March 2010
Around the world, in urban and
rural settings, in the North and South, you can find ecovillages. They are usually based on shared values or
spirituality (sometimes called worldview). People come together to build a sustainable
community with a common social
framework. Ecovillages are designed
according to ecological principles to
work with nature, not against it, and to promote a low-impact lifestyle. Ecovillage economics are based on self-reliance and reweaving local economic
connections.
Ecovillages
offer a comprehensive solution to the major challenges of our time by
addressing the acceleration of climate change, environmental
destruction, and social and community fragmentation as well as the challenges
of economic globalization. We can learn
much from sustainable communities that exist around the world.
Drawing on the wisdom of traditional communities in Asia as
well as an emerging alternative paradigm in the West, this course will focus on
a worldview relevant to Asia and beyond.
Grass-roots leaders, community and social activists and
sustainability educators, students and youth are invited to participate in this
course.
Holistic
and Integrative
The course is holistic and will integrate principles and
practice, while exploring these four dimensions:
Worldview - shifting paradigm; reconnecting with
nature; socially engaged spirituality; creativity and art
Social Design - how to build and strengthen
community; communication skills; personal empowerment and leadership, coaching
Ecological Design - the design of sustainable
human settlements; eco-building; ecological restoration; local food
Economic Design - globalization /
re-localization; right livelihood, community economics; social enterprise
See www.gaiaeducation.org for more information.
Course Content
Ecovillage
Design Education (18 January - 14 February 2010)
Week 1: Social -
new relations in community that bring happiness; building community
& embracing diversity.
Week 2: Worldview - new way of looking at the
universe; listening and reconnecting with nature.
Week 3: Economics
- right livelihood in communities; shifting the global economy towards
sustainability
Week 4: Ecological - design an ecovillage in
practice; basic principles and skills.
Design Studio
(15 -21 February 2010)
Week 5: Design Studio
- all the learning from the previous weeks culminates in the Design Studio,
where principles are applied, open-ended creativity is encouraged, and whole
body awareness becomes the medium through which to perceive in an actual site
design process.
Training
of Trainers (22 -28 February 2010 and 1-7 March 2010)
Week 6-7: TOT -
This is an innovative approach for creating and organizing learning experience.
This course is for participant of EDE who would like to become trainers in the
field of ecovillage design. The course is experiential and participatory,
covering areas such as basic facilitating skills, community building exercises,
designing workshops, and evaluating training sessions.
The course will weave in practical ecovillage design
projects, as well as hands-on participative work. There will be regular meditation and practice
of mindfulness. The course is highly collaborative in nature; there will be
opportunities for participants to co-design sessions to meet their own needs,
using emerging design. Participants will
serve as resources for each other and the group.
The
language of instruction will be English.
Teaching Team
The course will be facilitated by a team from the Spirit in
Education Movement (SEM) and we will also have talks and workshops by guest
speakers. The main facilitators for the
course will be:
Pracha
Hutanuwatr, activist and intellectual, a former Buddhist monk with a
socialist background. He has worked under the guidance of Buddhadasa Bhikku, a
renowned Buddhist monk who developed the concept of Dhammic Socialism; and
Sulak Sivaraksa, an influential, independent thinker.
Ariane Burgess, facilitates for
adult and youth programmes that focus on reconnecting with nature to strengthen
self-confidence, expand capacities and enrich communities.
E.
Christopher Mare, ecovillage designer and Director of Village Design Instutute.
We also offer talks and workshops by guest speakers,
including Sulak Sivaraksa, Asian intellectual; Sunisa Jamwiset,
alternative communities researcher and representative of Next-GEN Thailand; Thana
Uthaipattrakoon, consultant of the Natural Building Project of Wongsanit
Ashram.
Location
Wongsanit Ashram was founded in 1984 by social activist
Sulak Sivaraksa and colleagues. It is a spiritual
activist community devoted to developing and promoting an alternative lifestyle
that is grounded in Buddhist Dharma, cultural diversity and environmental
sustainability. It is home to educators and social activists who lead
programmes in grassroots leadership, in natural construction techniques, and in
empowering marginalised communities. EDE
will be based at the ashram; we also plan to visit relevant projects in the
local area.
People are always finding it difficult to get to the Ashram. For directions see Map to Wongsanit Ashram (opens new window).
Activities