Mar 30, 2021Introduction to the Worldview Dimension of Gaia Education’s course in ‘Design for Sustainability’“A human being is part of the whole — called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us…Worldview6 min readWorldview6 min read
Feb 5, 2021Adapting To the Lean Economyby David Fleming — Getting used to the idea of the oil peak was the easy part. The hard part, starting now, is facing up to how big this thing is going to be. It will mean deep and lengthening energy shocks affecting (first) oil and (later) gas and the electricity grid. It will…Economic Design3 min readEconomic Design3 min read
Feb 3, 2021Shifting the Global Economyby Ross Jackson. This is an excerpt from the Economic Dimension of Gaia Education’s Design for Sustainability curriculum. — The 2007–2009 world economic crisis has been characterized by some mainstream observers as the final death throws of the neo-liberal economic model introduced by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. …Economics4 min readEconomics4 min read
Feb 2, 2021Why is Gaia Education necessary?Excerpt from the Ecovillage Design Education Curriculum — “We are not a collection of objects but a communion of subjects…we must reinvent ourselves at a species level” – Thomas Berry It is widely known that humanity faces an unprecedented crisis of global proportions that threatens our viability and future sustainability on this planet. In many parts of the…3 min read3 min read
Jan 5, 2021Do you know where your water comes from and how it is treated?Excerpt from the ‘Ecological Dimension’ of Gaia Education’s online course in ‘Design for Sustainability’ — When we understand how the water cycle works, the next step into designing appropriate water systems should be to take a close look at the water budget for the building, community and bioregion. …Water4 min readWater4 min read
Dec 17, 2020Huehuecoyotl, Mexico: Ecology is Artby Giovanni Ciarlo. An excerpt from ‘Ecovillages Around the World’ — After fourteen years living as a nomadic tribe of roving artists, we began building our ecovillage in 1982. During our travels, we learned to put on theatrical productions and took on mysterious names like The Hathi Babas Transit Ashram, and then The Illuminated Elephants, a traveling theatre community. Members who…Ecovillage2 min readEcovillage2 min read
Dec 7, 2020Civilization 2.0By Albert Bates — Series: Ecological Design for Sustainable and Regenerative Futures. Read about this series below. Assume that, all of a sudden, we were to awaken to the existential threat posed by our addiction to exponential growth as an economic prerequisite. What changes in our arrangements might, even at this late hour, offer…Sustainability10 min readSustainability10 min read
Nov 17, 2020Whole Systems Approach — Permaculture design systemExcerpt from the ‘Ecological Dimension’ of Gaia Education’s online course in ‘Design for Sustainability’ — Permaculture history and context The term Permaculture was created by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978 in Australia, to describe a design-based approach to creating a permanent agriculture as a system that can support cultures with permanence. In its widest sense, it is an approach to creating sustainable and…Permaculture7 min readPermaculture7 min read
Sep 24, 2020A Regenerative Education for our timesby Giovanni Ciarlo — The current education paradigm holds the idea that the sole purpose of education is to educate individuals within their particular society, to prepare and train them for work in an economy that integrates people into the national cultural reality and passes on to them the values and morals of that…Sustainability5 min readSustainability5 min read
Jul 29, 2020Finding and Sharing the VisionThis is an excerpt from the Social dimension of Gaia Education’s Design for Sustainability curriculum. — Techniques to Create a Common Vision There are different techniques for creating a common vision. The Futures History method we present here is a simplified version of the method developed by Warren Ziegler. Participants need drawing materials and space to work in. …Vision3 min readVision3 min read
