the search for beauty “some things to try before you die” education for sustainability july 2009...
TRANSCRIPT
The Search for Beauty
“Some things to try before you die”
Education for Sustainability July 2009
Henry Liebling
What are you thinking as you look at this image?Write a comment if you wishfor any of the images.
Whattimeisit?
Dare to be different
04:06!?03:02??
Energy descent planAbundant Living
NOW this moment the most exciting time to be alive
Blue sky thinking
Think outside the box
Change something
Dare to be differentExperiment
Take risks
Be creativeForget the goal
Be playful
Try not to confuse cleverness with wisdom
Toomuchclutterinourheads,thecurriculum&theshops
Consumerism&rubbishpoisoningtheplanet
Slow down each sense. Try softer and slower thinking, eating …
It doesn’t matter where you start.
All things are connected, the air you breathe, the water you drink,
the food you eat, the place you live, the clothes you wear.
Try to smile. Breathe in, breathe out and smile. Go on, do it now!
Try being rather than doing
Live a little slower, give away your watch. Try Slow Food, Slow Travel …
BUT try to be-come more aware, more awake.
Start from where you are, the place where you live.
Go and explore your favourite outdoor place.
Discover parks, playgrounds, urban orchards, shared spaces, woods, beaches…
Bio-regional wisdomSense of place
Uncover the stories & history behind paths, bridleways, chimneys, doorways, hedges.
Ask or interview older wiser folk about local culture, its origins, myths, stories, folk tales, crafts, music, dances, art & poetry.
Try to find out about ANCIENT WISDOMS.
We are all brothers and sisters sharing the same DNA.
Life as a seaside holiday? Fancy a 14 hour working week?
Stones, Trees and Bones. Stone tools, Wooden handles, Bone needle.
24000 years of sustainability
Try to find out about other indigenous cultures
Kenneth Little Hawk
Learn another language, find out about a culture different from your own.
Go and work in another country on a teacher exchange or as a volunteer.
Grow a tree, perhaps from seed, cutting or sapling.
Watch it grow, care for it, use it.
Share ideas, advice, seeds, seedlings, cuttings and produce
Use “Landshare” to find or offer land
Permaculture
Forest garden
Eat seasonally
Reduce food miles
Grow your food
Eat the whole thing
Eat less meat
Find food for free
Plant a tree every year of your life
Fruit, nuts, wood
Notice the seasons
When to plant and harvest
Companion planting
Grow herbs
Flowers for bees
Have a wild area
Encourage diversity
A pond for frogs...
Finding a niche
Notice, observe, study & draw patterns in plants
Try to make baskets from local material which you collect and dry.
Learn a craft so you can make things for yourself and others.
Collect good quality simple tools and learn how to use them.
Simple tools
Try watching & waiting
CREATE rather than REACT
Try something different
Listen to a friend
Watch your feelings arise
Be the change you wish to see in the world
Be open hearted
Try small kind actions
Give without a second thought
Be happy, especially for others
What Curriculum?
Pedro the Magnificent or Pedro the Terrible?Trying to re-unite Islam & Christianity.
Tiled wall in Alcazar palace, Seville. A lost art?
What really matters in education?
One project a year. Butterfly garden, Elizabethan Herb garden, Playground Games, Re-cycling Zone, Footwear Planters, Mini-beast Area, Rock & Mineral trail, Pond,Building materials and brick patterns. Keith Loze at Pilgrim Primary, Plymouth 1990s
“There is no away.”
RETHINK, REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR, RECYCLE
Try to reuse or recycle ALL your rubbish?
Try to live for a day without producing any rubbish.
Technological fixes
Convergence of technologies
Try to make a box full of your ideas as a present to the planet.
Mashing software
Most technology creates more rubbish and ends up as rubbish.
Benefits of sharing, negotiating, creating
More for less
ipod apps, Diigo, Twine Open Software
We cannot know the future,
but we can dream, envision and back-cast.
We are in a state of constant change.Everything changes, nothing lasts for ever.Our world is unpredictable.
Nearly everything is space.
Air, Earth, Fire, Water
How can we sense, feel, appreciate, respect, come to know,CONNECT with, each of these elements?
We are a part of all this.It is a part of us.
Thank you for listening
http://esd.escalate.ac.uk