geese in-formation southern autumn / northern spring edition 2012
Post on 24-Mar-2016
213 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Gaia Trust: Celebrating 25 Years!
Ross Jackson, March 2012
Gaia Trust was founded in 1987 on
the initiative of Hildur and me with
the support of eight or so Danish
colleagues. Our objective was to
support persons and organisations
that were working for a more
sustainable and spiritual world.
We had no funds to speak of, the
initial capital being about £1,000.
However, I had been working for the
prior 5 years developing and testing
computer software to analyse and
trade foreign currencies, a relatively
new concept at the time. My trading
results in the marketplace were
exceptionally good, so I donated the
rights to Gaia Trust in return for 10%
of the new company, Gaiacorp, of
which Gaia Trust owned 90%. Over the next 5 years or so, Gaiacorp became a
major international player in the currency options market and built up a net
worth of about £20 million. We then had to decide how to best use the funds.
We decided early on to support projects that were not getting support from
elsewhere, so that we might make a difference. Our view was that we knew
the problems and we knew the necessary solutions. The major barrier was
implementation. Therefore, we decided to support the people that were
actually implementing what we considered would become the mainstream
lifestyle in the 21st century when things started to fall apart, namely
ecovillages, although the name “ecovillage” did not exist until we and Robert
Gilman coined it in 1991. Later, we added a second major program, education
Gaiaeducation
GeeseinformationSouthern Autumn/Northern Spring 2012
2
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
in sustainability principles, which led
eventually to the establishment of
Gaia Education.
While Gaia Trust has supported many
other smaller projects over the years
(over 300 in about 40 countries),
including the first permaculture
course in a dozen or so countries,
GEN and Gaia Education have been
and continue to be the two major
projects that we have supported and
continue to support. None of this
would have been possible without
an enormous contribution of time
and energy by thousands of activists
around the world, and for that we are
very grateful.
I think we can all be proud of our accomplishments, but the battle is far from
won. At the first meeting of Gaia Trust, I said that this project was probably
going to take forty years to complete. We have still 15 years to go, so let us
not rest until the job is done!
3
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
InanItah EDE, Nicaragua – 25 January to 29 February 2012
Erika Logie
February saw an excited InanItah host our 3rd Annual
Ecovillage Design Gathering. Using the Gaia Education
mandala as our map, we came together to discuss and
share ideas for sustainable, evolutionary living, as it
applies to the ecovillage setting. This year was our first
hosting a Certified by Gaia Education EDE, and it was
a transformative experience for both participants and
facilitators.
At InanItah we believe in experiential and embodied
learning and we were delighted to bring this educational
philosophy to the EDE experience. Participants engaged
in various embodied learning activities, including
making a compost heated hot water shower, building with cob, digging
swales, conscious dance, yoga and active meditations. Other highlights
included full and new moon sweatlodges, dream circles, the AUM social
experienceTM, puja circles, weekly Forum style circles, Dragon Dreaming and
Power and Privilege Theatre.
“It’s incredible. It’s life changing. I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone that came here and didn’t learn something about themselves. I think you can learn something from every experience in the EDE course.”
Matt Corso, 23
We were blessed to have some inspirational facilitators enrich the course
with their wisdom. Donnie Blaikie, a Native American sweatlodge and
ceremony facilitator, shared his perspectives during the Worldview week. Dr.
Tabatha Parker, ND, a naturopathic doctor and co-founder of Natural Doctors
International, engaged the group in a lively discussion about alternative
healing methods. We also took a field trip to Project Bona Fide, a permaculture
education and research facility, where agroforestry expert Chris Shanks gave
us a tour of a longstanding food forest.
4
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Liz Johndrow, a professional natural builder and owner
of Earthen Endeavors Natural Building, shared earthen
flooring, wall, and plaster techniques and her recent
work rebuilding homes in a Northern Nicaraguan
earthquake disaster area. The students also participated
in an interesting dialogue about the steady state
economic theory with David Casey, UC Berkeley Political
Economics alumni and founder of Project Nuevo Mundo
(www.projectnuevomundo.org)
In total, 16 participants attended, coming mostly from the
US, along with Australia, England, Slovakia, Switzerland,
Germany and Canada. Ages ranged from 19 to 55, with
an equal male to female ratio. A recurring conversational theme during the
Social Week of the course was the relationship and contrast in values between
the EDE participants of the mostly Western ecovillage community, and those
of the surrounding Nicaraguan community.
The EDE participants were given the opportunity to co-create our Annual
Gratitude Festival, during which we invited our local Nicaraguan neighbours
to celebrate our 3rd birthday with food, music, dance, ritual and games. We
recognize that the local community’s support makes InanItah possible, and
the day is an opportunity to express our gratitude. The participants practiced
conscious communication skills and newly learned decision-making modalities
and matrixes to co-create the festival in a spirit of cooperation and generosity.
InanItah is a transformational living & learning centre and intentional community
based on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua. We host regular workshops and gatherings on
tantra, permaculture, natural building, meditation, conscious dance, and massage. More
information is available at www.inanitah.com.
5
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Terra Una Ecovillage EDE, Brazil – April to September 2011
Emmanuel Khodja and Terra Una Team
“Transdisciplinarity in Mixed Dimensions”
An immersive Gaia Education program, the EDE was
settled fully into the Terra Una Ecovillage and community
context, integrating beautifully with the surrounding
nature. Run by the Terra Una team and NGO, it was an
exciting experience which bridged a gap not yet present
in Brazilian EDEs.
The Terra Una team aimed to honour the EDE, using the
strength of a face to face pedagogy to improve the sense
of belonging and support the transformation process of
participants. The natural environment surrounding Terra
Una also provided a context which balanced the “inside”
and “outside” classes, with students not only learning about permacultural
design, but also practicing natural building, organic food production, water
treatment systems, and so on.
However, in Brazil it is not easy for students to leave their family and home
and cease income for 4 consecutive weeks while still affording the entire cost
of the EDE. We thus decided that it would be better for participants, and also
for us, to run the program over four non-consecutive “weeks” of 9 days with
42 hours of activities in each one.
This schedule format created a “space-time” where after each course module
participants could go home, digest and practice what they had studied. To
enhance the application of the content in their everyday lives, the work
process was designed around personal projects. Projects were presented in
the first meeting, empowering students to apply chosen changes in their
lives during a 6 month process. The Terra Una faculty offered online support
between modules, reserving the formal time of the dimensions to review the
process into each meeting.
6
With this novel approach set, a new possibility
appeared… “What if we mix the dimensions?!”, or in
other words, what if each week has classes from all four
dimensions, instead of only one?
Very carefully we weaved a pedagogical program to
follow a specific sequence that could offer participants a
systemic and integrated approach during the course. The
main dimension of each week included 55% pedagogical
hours on that dimension, with the remaining 45%
divided equally among the other 3 dimensions.
This methodology allowed us to start
with introductory issues and basic
concepts important for students to
know from the beginning, regardless
of the dimension in which it is located.
We evaluated this strategy and found
that it facilitated the learning of several
contents simultaneously. For example,
it’s far easier to learn permaculture and
integrated design after having seen the
holistic worldview and having practiced
listening to and reconnecting with nature; it’s good to talk about “shifting the
global economy to sustainability” and then return to “personal empowerment
and leadership skills”.
We consider that we had a worthy and successful experience, confirming that the
EDE curriculum not only talks about transdisciplinarity, but can also be studied in
a way that is holistic and holographic, just as the program is meant to be.
Gratitude to the GEESE for supporting this!
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
7
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
The exciting first phase of development
of Gaia Education’s Ecovillage Design
Curriculum (the result of which was
the EDE V4 curriculum) has been tested
in settings across the globe ranging
from established ecovillages to
forming ecovillages, rural ecovillages
to urban ecovillages, traditional
villages to university programs and
training centers. The very success
of the curriculum has prompted
development of new materials and
content for an updated version of the
curriculum – Version 5.
All the information and content of the V4 curriculum also applies to urban
settlements. While this curriculum was designed for local cultural and
sociopolitical adaptation, it has become obvious to Gaia Education that
additional curriculum development was needed. Some of these changes have
been due to the pace of change in the sustainability movement in the first
decade of this century; others due to an increase in urgency as the issues of
Peak Oil and Climate Change take on larger magnitude and accelerate towards
dangerous levels. The most urgent matter that has come to the fore at this
time is the need for additional content specific to urban settlement design.
This has been an emerging trend with the GEESE since the beginning. We
have therefore now added this new component to the V5 curriculum with the
purpose of supporting, guiding and providing teaching content to the growing
number of groups wishing to deliver EDEs in a variety of urban settings.
The basic reason for creating urban habitats has been to maximize exchange
and minimize transportation. The built community can thus be designed to
achieve “maximum energy efficiency, instead of being designed solely to be
the engine of industrial production and consumption,” as Jane Jacobs observed.
Unleashing EDE Curriculum V5: The Urban/Ecovillage Intersection
Giovanni Ciarlo, Gaia Education Product Development
1
www.gaiaeducation.net
08 Fall
Ecovillage Design Education A four-week comprehensive course in the fundamentals of Sustainability Design Curriculum conceived and designed by the GEESE—Global Ecovillage Educators for a Sustainable Earth Version 5 © Gaia Education, 2012
8
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
The term Ecovillage in the urban context is used as a development model and metaphor for the re-organisation of our neighbourhoods.
Urban ecovillages have in the past taken backstage to the more common rural
ecovillages. However, urban ecovillages are growing in popularity and with
them, the need to address sustainable lifestyles and community organization
associated with cities, suburbs and high-density settlements worldwide. In
this sense the addition to the existing curriculum does not seek to change
the proven valuable components of the 20 modules already in place in V4,
but rather, to focus on issues that are particular to communities that develop
in high density, urban contexts. One of the many purposes for re/designing
sustainable urban settlements is to reduce or withdraw our dependency on oil
and decrease urban sprawl.
It is also important to keep in mind that the urban/suburban/rural dichotomies
are largely a result of the industrial/capitalist worldview which has dominated
human civilization for the past couple of centuries. Ecovillages offer a
new vision and a new worldview in which all these forms can interrelate:
ecovillages are systemically designed and harmonized to the needs of the
natural environment and human social relations, a vision which honours
traditional and indigenous cultures and their way of creating synergy with the
environment and within the community.
The EDE V5 curriculum is now available on www.gaiaeducation.net.
Dear friends, EDE Alumni and Geese,
The most under-utilised resource we have on this planet is the good intentions and creativity of citizens and our willingness to make a difference. The power of human communities to come together and co-design our pathway into the future is a major driving force for positive change. The Global Ecovillage Network connects communities for a sustainable world.
We warmly invite you to connect to GEN’s circles of activity in your region. The networks of Gaia Education and GEN are closely interlinked - we want to make sure these connections are strengthened. If you would like to be informed about GEN-conferences, courses, or meetings taking place in your country or region, send us a brief email marked ‘Gaia Education - GEN’ to info@gen-europe.org.
We look forward to hearing from you!The Global Ecovillage Network
9
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Gaia Education @ Rio+20 www.rio20.gov.br
By Filipe Freitas
The Rio de Janeiro ”gaianos” network
has been holding meetings to
prepare Gaia Education’s and the
GEESE participation at the Peoples’
Summit and in other parallel events
at Rio+20.
The idea is to create a space where
we will offer flash EDE classes and
include pedagogical, cultural, artistic
and spiritual activities that follow the
four dimensions of the curriculum.
Rio is expecting 300,000 people and thousands of NGOs.
Despite the complexities in event organization, we are
confident that we will be able to create this space,
promoting the great movement of integration between
GEESE groups worldwide in order to spread principles and
practices supported by a systemic worldview, throughout
Rio+20.
We are very happy to know that the “GEESE” are
coming to share art and knowledge with us. Welcome
to Rio de Janeiro!
Building up to Rio+20
Gaia Education will be present at the 20th annual United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, taking place in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in June this year.
La red de Gaia de Río de Janeiro ha
realizado reuniones de articulación
para permitir un espacio dedicado a
la Educación Gaia en Cumbre de los
Pueblos y en los eventos paralelos a
la conferencia de la ONU.
Queremos crear un espacio donde
podamos tener actividades peda-
gógicas, culturales, artísticas y
espirituales que siguen a las cuatro
dimensiones del currículo.
A pesar de las dificultades en la organización del
evento, estamos confiantes de que seremos capaces de
crear este espacio para promover un gran movimiento
de integración entre los grupos gaianos de todo el
mundo con el fin de difundir los principios y prácticas
apoyadas por una visión del mundo sistémica por toda
la Río+20.
Estamos muy contentos de saber que los “geeses”
están llegando para compartir arte y conocimiento con
nosotros. Bienvenidos a Río de Janeiro!
10
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Last year, in building up to Rio+20, Gaia Education joined the lead UN campaign Green Dreams Around the World
and partnered with Earth Day Network (EDN) in The Billion Acts of Green® campaign.
Green Dreams Around the World www.green-dream.co.uk
The exciting Green Dreams Around the World campaign was created to give voice to the dreams of thousands of
individuals as a contribution to the Rio+20 conference. The mosaic of Green Dreams collected in the build-up to Rio+20
will be streamed during the conference, concentrating and amplifying these positive impulses from around globe, at
the conference.
Isabela Menezes from Brazil, an EDE alumni and organiser and Green Dreams catcher, shares:
“When I was invited to be a dream catcher for the Green Dreams Around the World campaign, I imagined how the experience was going to be rich and adorable. And why not? Beginning with the name that for me is so beautiful: “Dream Catcher”! Asking people to tell me their best and most beautiful desires and dreams for a new future, a new planet, a new world! How could I not be thrilled in helping to shape only good things for our future? For indeed, that is what we are doing. Shaping, through all these dreams, a fantastic new world! I am deeply grateful to be part of this dream! I think I will forever be a dream catcher!”
Check out the Green Dreams of EDE Alumni on the Gaia Education YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/gaiaeducation
and the dreams from friends around the world on www.youtube.com/greendreamcifal
Interested in becoming a Green Dreams catcher yourself? Email administrator@gaiaeducation.net for details!
11
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
A Billion Acts of Green® act.earthday.org
The goal of this campaign is to
reach a billion acts of environmental
service and advocacy before Rio+20.
Gaia Education partnered with EDN
to pledge all certified Gaia Education
programmes to the A Billion Acts
of Green® campaign. To date, this
pledge has contributed over 700 acts
to the 633,087,628 so far recorded.
We invite you to join the Billion Acts
of Green® campaign by Supporting
and Promoting Earth Day 2012.
Visit act.earthday.org/act/1314794404/support-promote-earth-day-2012 to
pledge your support.
What can you do?
The future is here and the time to act is now! Join the global conversation on
the Future we Want by sharing your green dreams with friends, colleagues
and the world via the Green Dreams Around the World campaign. After
sharing your dream for a greener future, breathe further life into it by taking
positive, practical steps to making it happen and contribute these steps to the
Billion Acts of Green Campaign®. Simply follow these steps:
1. Video record your dream for the future you want and email to
dhkeobve0zs2@m.youtube.com. Visit http://green-dream.co.uk/
post-your-dream for more information.
2. Pledge your act of green on act.earthday.org
3. Share your dreams and acts with us on Facebook and NING!
http://www.facebook.com/GaiaEducation
http://geese-gaiaeducation.ning.com
12
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Discovering the Power of Two
Penelope Reyes
The title aptly describes a journey of two people
manifesting their dreams in just three years, after hosting
two EDE’s!
John and I met during the 2007 Wongsanit EDE in
Thailand. Back then, I was a city-bred dreamer with a
strong passion to shift to a more sustainable lifestyle. It
is one thing to have a dream. It is something short of a
miracle to actually find someone who shares your vision
and is willing to journey with you to make it happen.
So, by discovering the power of two – John, with his
intense drive and focus to make things happen, and
myself, being a dreamer, mediator and bridge-builder –
we co-created Tuwa The Laughing Fish – an eco-homestead, green bed and
breakfast, and living and learning centre at Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, Philippines.
EDE was an inspiration from the beginning. We used permaculture design,
saved the topsoil and closely observed energy and cosmic flows. As a
result, the land is now home to a diverse variety of plant and animal life
and produces abundant harvests like giant Cassavas! We are living 100%
off-grid through an energy mix of solar, wind and biomass. We looked to
local knowledge, especially in building with bamboo, to create structures that
can withstand extreme weather conditions. Mang Osting, the construction
manager, developed a unique way of building a metal frame. The roof was
built on the ground and then raised, level by level, as the house was built.
Spirituality, art and connection to nature play an integral aspect in our lives.
Our first construction activity was a sacred labyrinth space to integrate spiritual
practice into our daily work. Agnihotra is another important daily practice.
Right livelihood and cooperative business are cornerstone values, determining
how we relate to and interact with the local town economy. Re-localization,
social enterprise and exploring alternative forms of trade like barter are key
activities which we strive to implement.
John & Penelope
raising the terrace roof
13
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
To nurture a social space, we used participatory methods
to clarify our vision and develop communication and
decision-making processes. We also recognize that
developing an awareness of how people share in the
context of different cultures is an ongoing process.
Affirmation is key.
Teaching and exchanging knowledge is a very
important focus. Thus, after taking our EDE in Thailand,
we organized 2 Philippine EDE’s which proved to be as
enriching for us as it was for the participants.
I often ask John how we managed to do all these things - just two people, in
three years?! Synergy is exponential. A single person couldn’t have done all
this alone. And limitless potentials arise when even more like-minded people
come into unity.
We are forming an EDE – inspired community and we are inviting interested
EDE alumni to join us either through internships or resident membership.
Tuwa is hosting the third Philippine EDE this June 1-28, 2012. We hope to co-
create a positive future by awakening together to the many possibilities of
community living.
For more information, visit www.tuwa.ph.
Tuwa view
giant cassava
John building a solar shower
14
For a limited period, Permanent Publications are offering a 25% reduction on all their books. This fantastic saving means you can now purchase Gaia Education’s 4Keys at 25% off their regular price!
Visit http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/books/pp/gaia-education-1.html to take advantage of this offer.
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Occupy World Street – A New Book by Ross Jackson
In Occupy World Street, Ross Jackson delivers one of the most incisive, clear descriptions
of the global financial practices that have driven economies to the brink of collapse and
puts forward a detailed plan to reorganise global trade alliances on a more human scale
and gradually phase in institutions which support sustainable economies, uphold human
rights and respect environmental standards.
Más allá de ti y de mi Ahora availabe en español!
Más allá de ti y de mi, un excelente libro con buenos artículos relacionados con la
dimensión social de la sostenibilidad y publicado por Gaia Education en su colección las
4 Llaves, está disponible en pdf para descarga gratuita en – www.gaiaeducation.net
EDE Case Study: Hopeland
Hopeland is located in a village called Malantreni (near the town of Argos) in
Greece. Spiros Milonas, a core member of the Hopeland team in Greece, attended
the 2011 Findhorn EDE where Hopeland became the case study for his design
group. Other members of the design group included Agi Berecz, Concepcion
Pinero, Carmen Carter, Sabine Guehne, Shyam Kishore, Emmanuel Mappus and
Isabelle Malleze.
The aim of Hopeland is to be a living model of sustainability and local development by
using and preserving available resources efficiently, strengthening people’s relations
by embracing diversity and showing practically how humankind can co-create with
nature. This vibrant community acts as a center for learning through a natural way of
life by sharing knowledge, skills and innovative methods as well as hands on activities
that nourish body, mind, heart and spirit. Download the full Hopeland case study and
view additional case studies from EDE’s around the world on www.gaiaeducation.net.
Llave SocialEditores
Kosha Anja Jouberty
Robin Alfred
Más allá de ti y de miInspiración y sabiduría para
crear comunidad
La llave social del EDE
Gaiaeducation
para las comunidades sostenibles del planeta
15
Geeseinformation 2012/1Gaiaeducation
Upcoming EDEs Around the World
With the Japan, Thailand and Nicaragua EDE’s having just come to completion,
many more are on their way! See below and visit www.gaiaeducation.net for
further upcoming EDE’s around the world!
BASD, Bangladesh
10th March - 22 June 2012
www.gaiaeducation.net
EDE Ecohabitare, Brazil
13th April – 8th December 2012
www.ecohabitare.com.br
Damanhur Ecovillage, Italy
5th May – 2nd June 2012
www.damanhur.org
Tuwa The Laughing Fish, Philippines
1st – 28th June -2012
www.tuwa.ph
Mama Na Bana Ecovillage and Permaculture
Living & Learning Center, Congo
3rd – 30th June 2012
www.gaiaeducation.net
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, USA
29th June – 5th August 2012
www.ecovillageeducation.us
Siddharth Village, Orissa, India
10th February 2012 – 10th March 2012 (English)
www.siddharthvillage.com
Newly Certified Programmes
� Mama Na Bana Ecovillage
and Permaculture Living &
Learning Center, Congo
� Hallingelille Ecovillage, Denmark
� EDE Paraiso na Terra, Brazil
� Bahia One Drop Solutions, Brazil
� Khula Dhamma, South Africa
� Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Re-Certified Programmes
y Sieben Linden, Germany
y Kibbutz Lotan, Israel
y Son Rul-lan, Spain
y Auroville, India
The Park, FindhornForres IV36 3TZMorayshire, ScotlandUnited Kingdom
administrator@gaiaeducation.netphone: +44 1309 692011
Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in Scotland No 353967Scottish Charity No SC040839
www.gaiaeducation.net
Gaiaeducation
top related