The Spirit in Education Movement in partnership with Gaia Education and the Global Ecovillage Network presents:

Ecovillage Design Education
Training of Trainers

2 December 2007 to 16 January 2008

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 one solution to the major challenges of our time – the acceleration of climate change, environmental destruction, social and community fragmentation as well as the challenges of economic globalisation. We can learn much from the sustainable communities which already exist around the world.

Drawing on the wisdom of traditional communities in Asia as well as the emerging alternative paradigm in the West, this course will particularly focus on a worldview which is relevant to the Asian region and beyond.

Grass-roots leaders, community and social activists and sustainability educators, students and youth are invited to participate in this course.

Course content

Ecovillage Design Education (2 to 30 December 2007)
Week 1 : The significance of ecovillage design in the present world context. Introduction to the four dimensions of ecovillage design – worldview, social, ecological and economic – and the present paradigm.
Week 2 : The basic principles and core elements of the four dimensions, and how they are related.
Week 3 : Applying the principles in the real world.
Week 4 : Refining the principles, and weaving them together into integrated ecovillage design.

Training of Trainers (2 to 16 January 2008)
Weeks 5 and 6 : This course is for alumni of EDE who would like to become trainers in the field of ecovillage design. The course will use an experiential and participatory approach, covering areas such as critical thinking, designing, delivering and evaluating workshops and training sessions.

The Ecovillage Design Education curriculum has been developed over a period of four years by a group of international experts in sustainability education. It embraces the four dimensions of ecovillage design as follows:
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 - globalisation/relocalisation; Right Livelihood, community economics; social enterprise

See www.gaiaeducation.org for more information.

Holistic and integrative

The course is holistic and will integrate principles and practice, while exploring the four dimensions of ecovillage design – worldview, social, ecological and economic.

In addition the course will weave in practical ecovillage design projects, as well as some hands-on participative work. There will be regular meditation and the practice of mindfulness.
Because 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 be 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 network 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. Pracha is currently Director of Wongsanit Ashram and Director of the Spirit in Education Movement, an NGO organising Grassroots Leadership Training in South East Asia.

Daniel Wahl, ecovillage expert and educator, has worked and volunteered at a number of ecovillages and eco-centres in Europe. In 2002, he completed his MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College in the UK about ecological design and the ecovillage movement as a practical expression of a holistic worldview. In 2006, Daniel received his PhD in Natural Design from the University of Dundee and he lectures and publishes internationally.

Location

Wongsanit Ashram was founded in 1984 by social activist Sulak Sivaraksa and colleagues. It is a Buddhist community devoted to developing and promoting an alternative lifestyle that is grounded in the dharma, cultural diversity and environmental sustainability. It is home to a number of educators and social activists who lead programmes in grassroots leadership, in natural building, and in empowering marginalised communities. EDE will be based at the ashram; we also plan to visit relevant projects in the local area.

For more details, contact us:

Ecovillage Education
Wongsanit Ashram
PO Box 1 Ongharak Nakhon Nayok , 26120 Thailand

tel (+66) (0)37 333 183
fax (+66) (0)37 333 184

email : [email protected]

Websites :
www.sulak-sivaraksa.org
www.gaiaeducation.org
http://gen.ecovillage.org

Ecovillage Design Education is an official contribution to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-14

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