Ecovillage Design Education and Training of Trainers

16 January – 4 March 2012

Around the world, in urban and rural settings, in the global North and South, you can find ecovillages. Existing, traditional communities, indigenous tribal villages and new intentional communities – all communities of people who have come together, usually sharing common values or spirituality (sometimes called worldviews). In all cases, people together building sustainable life styles with a common social framework. Ecovillages are designed according to ecological principles, working in co-operation with nature, rathere than against or over it, promoting low-impact lifestyles and an economics that is based on shared self-reliance which reweaves local inter-connections.

Ecovillages offer a comprehensive solution to the major challenges of our times by addressing the acceleration of climate change and environmental destruction, the impacts of peak oil and global economic instability and the alienating fragmentation of the social and community fabric of many contemporary societies. We can learn much from the numerous sustainable communities that exist around the world.

Weaving the wisdom of traditional communities in Asia with the emerging alternative paradigm of intentional communities 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, youth and elders are invited to participate in this course.

Holistic, Integrative and Contemplative

The course is holistic, integrating theory, practice and mindful reflection with a participative and experiential exploration of four keys of the ecovillage movement. Unique to the Thailand EDE, the practice of a meditation which embraces spiritual diversity is part of the core curriculum.

Social Design - how to build and strengthen community; communication skills; personal empowerment and leadership, coaching

Worldview – shifting paradigm; reconnecting with nature; socially engaged spirituality; creativity and art

Economic Design – globalization / re-localization; right livelihood; community economics; social enterprise

Ecological Design - the design of sustainable human settlements; eco-building; ecological restoration; local food

See www.gaiaeducation.net for more information.

Course Content

Ecovillage Design Education (16 January – 12 February 2012)

Week 1: Social - new relations in community that bring happiness; building community & embracing diversity.

Week 2: Worldview - new ways of looking at the universe; listening to and reconnecting with nature.

Week 3: Ecological - design an ecovillage in practice; basic principles and skills.

Week 4: Economics - right livelihood in communities; shifting the global economy towards sustainability

Design Studio (13 - 19 February 2012)

Week 5: Design Studio - Learning’s from the previous weeks culminate in Design Studio. Utilising a process of participatory action research, design starts with an existing community, building upon their cultural wisdom and needs towards sustainable design of their village. In an alternative stream, open ended creativity is encouraged on a new site design.

Training of Trainers (20 February - 4 March 2012)

Week 6 & 7: TOT - This is an innovative approach for creating and organizing learning experiences. This course is for participants who would like to become trainers in the field of ecovillage design. The course is experiential and participatory, covering areas such as basic facilitation skills, community building exercises, designing workshops, and evaluating training sessions.

This 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 with 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). The main facilitators for the course will be: Pracha Hutanuwatr, Jane Rasbash, Sunisa Jamwiset, Ratawit Ouaprachanon, Paola Vidulich.

We also offer talks and workshops by guest speakers, including Sulak Sivaraksa, Asian intellectual. Special Resource people include sustainability educators May East, social change activist and Director of Gaia Education; Max O. Lindegger, Founder of Crystal Waters Ecovillage and permaculture practitioner.

Locations

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. The EDE will start at the Ashram but include sites visits to relevant projects and communities around Thailand, allowing unique insights into the culture of this beautiful land.

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

Fees (USD)

Wongsanit Ashram is a not-for-profit organisation. In addition to covering all food, travel and accommodation during the course, a proportion of these fees goes towards sponsoring participants from Asia who are unable to cover the financial costs of the course themselves.

Download Applicaiton Form | Download Registration Form

For more details, contact us:

Ecovillage Design Education

Wongsanit Ashram P.O. Box 1 Ongkharak, Nakhon Nayok, 26120, Thailand

Tel (+66) (0)37 332 296/7; Fax (+66) (0)37 333 184; Email: อีเมลนี้จะถูกป้องกันจากสแปมบอท แต่คุณต้องเปิดการใช้งานจาวาสคริปก่อน

Websites: www.gaiaeducation.net , gen.ecovillage.org ,

www.sulak-sivaraksa.org , www.wongsanit-ashram,org

If you have any questions, please contact us.