Living Routes offers college programs based in
http://www.livingroutes.org/programdetails.html
ecovillages around the world, which empower
students, educators, and communities to help
build a sustainable future.
Living Routes believes that we must learn to live
sustainably. It is not just enough to read about it, we
must live it. Ecovillages are ideal places for educating
whole persons because they offer us models for
social, ecological and spiritual sustainability. Below
are the programs we offer:
Questions? Please contact us at
programs@LivingRoutes.orgLiving Routes
85 Baker Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072-9703
Toll free - 888-515-7333
Normal - 413-259-0025
Fax - 413-259-1256 (shared line with modem, please call us
if you can't get through)
List of Programs throughtout the world
PROGRAMS IN INDIA
The Geo Communities Semester aims to train leaders for
the 21st century. Studying sustainable living practices at
Auroville and other ecovillages in southern India, students
gain the theoretical knowledge and specific tools and
applications to ask reflective questions that guide their
inquiry to address the myriad issues that face humanity. After
forming a "Learning Community" at Sirius Community, an
ecovillage in western Massachusetts, students and faculty
travel to:
Auroville, ecovillage/spiritual community of
1500
people in SE India;
Fireflies, Earth spirituality Ashram near Bangalore;
Mitraniketan, Gandhian community promoting
village
renewal;
Periyar Sanctuary, a protected wilderness area
in
Tamil Nadu;
and other sacred sites such as Hampi and
Tiruvanamalai.
Studying sustainable living practices at ecovillages around
the world, students learn to act locally while thinking globally
as well as experience the joys of intercultural exchange,
habitat restoration, and mindfulness training.
Dates
Fall 2002 ....................................September 4th -
December
17th
Spring 2003 ...............................January 19th - May 3rd
Fall 2003 ....................................September 7th -
December
19th
Host Institution
The Geo Communities Semester has been affiliated with the
University of New Hampshire for close to 10 years and is
currently considered a UNH "managed program" even
though it is directed out of the Living Routes office.
Courses
Studies in Sustainable Community Design
4 credits
Human Relationships with their Environments
4 credits
Internship in Sustainable Development
4 credits
Body, Mind and spirit: Cultivating Personal
Sustainability
non-credit*
*You may obtain credit through an independent study, and
we are working to offer 4 credits beginning Fall 2002 or
Spring 2003.
Cost
$10,500 (includes tuition, room and board)
FINDHORN SCOTLAND
The Findhorn Foundation, home to over 400 people from 20
countries, has been known internationally since 1962 for its
experiments with new models of holistic and sustainable
living. The Findhorn Community Semester is a rare
opportunity for students to learn through living and working in
a spiritual community as well as through academic study. It is
a chance to observe at first hand solutions to individual and
social needs which work in partnership with the environment
to offer an enhanced quality of life for all.
Dates
Fall 2002 ....................................August 31st - December
7th
Spring 2003 ...............................February 1st - May 10th
Fall 2003 ....................................August 30th - December 6th
Host Institution
Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA
Courses
Art in Community
4 credits
Permaculture - Design for
Sustainability
4 credits
Community Psychology
4 credits
Creative Writing
4 credits
Cost
$10,200 (includes tuition, program costs,room and board)
NORTH AMERICA STUDIES
The North American Communities Semester is a journey into
community, ecology, and spirit. Studying sustainable living
practices at ecovillages in the Southeastern United States,
students learn ecological design and permaculture, deep
ecology, systems theory, and sustainable community
development. This is a rare opportunity for students to
experience academic study and community life while
witnessing first hand an integrative model for living in the
twenty-first century. This planned program will visit
ecovillages and other communities along the east coast
including:
The Farm (Historic Community and Ecovillage
Training
Center)
Moonshadow (Educational Demonstration Site &
Land
Conservancy)
Earthaven (Permaculture Community and Design
School)
Twin Oaks (Egalitarian, Income Sharing,
Non-violent
Community)
Dates
Spring 2003 ...............................February 1st - May 16th
Host Institution
University of New Hampshire
Courses
Studies in Sustainable Community Design
4 credits
Human Relationships with their Environments
4 credits
Internship in Sustainable Development
4 credits
Body, Mind and spirit: Cultivating Personal
Sustainability
non-credit*
*You may obtain credit through an independent study, and
we are working to offer 4 credits beginning Fall 2001 or
Spring 2002.
Cost
$10,500 (includes tuition, room and board)
CRYSTAL WATERS AUSTRALIA
Using nature as a guide and Crystal Waters as the context,
the Ecovillage Design Practicum uses a highly interactive
method of teaching/learning where students have the
opportunity to study human interaction as an ecology of
organisms in a complex web of interrelationships. Classes
are often held outdoors and students work in groups and
benefit from hands on experience. Excursions to rainforests
and an extended site visit to Fraser Island are also included.
Course graduates receive three to four college credits and
become Certified Permaculture Apprentices eligible to
become Permaculture Designers after two years of applied
experience.
Dates
January 2003....................................January 2nd -
February
2nd
Summer 2003 .................................June 3rd - July 4th
Host Institution
January: Pacific Lutheran University (4 credits).....Tacoma,
WA
Summer: University of Massachusetts (3 credits).....Amherst,
MA
Cost
Tuition (tuition, ground transportation, room &
board).....$2,700
College
Credit.............................................................................$200
EUROPEAN COMMUNTIES
The European Communities Semester is an intensive,
interdisciplinary immersion into sustainable community,
ecology, and spirit. This planned program will visit
ecovillages and other communities throughout Europe
including:
Damanhur, an international spiritual center in
northern
Italy
Lebensgarten, a diverse, ecological and creative
community in Germany
Plum Village, Thich Nhat Hanh's Buddhist monastery
in
France
Torri Superiore, a cultural community renovating
a
medieval village in Italy
Dates
Fall 2002 (15 weeks) ... TBA
Fall 2003 (15 weeks) ... TBA
Host Institution
This program is under development and currently does not
have a sponsoring institution.
Courses
To be announced.
Cost
ISRAEL
Yet to be determined
The Green Kibbutzim Semester is planned to be a journey
into community, ecology, and sustainable living. A small
learning community of 12-16 students will work and study at
kibbutzim, communities and projects in Israel striving
towards ecological sustainability while gaining college credit
and experiencing the natural beauty and culture of Israel.
Students will engage in seminars, visit fascinating people
and places, and work side by side with community members
in activities such as organic farming, olive harvesting,
ecological building, food processing, planting trees, and
education from infancy through high school.
The itinerary currently includes 2 weeks at Kibbutz Gezer in
central Israel studying sustainable community design and
"eco-archeology", 10 weeks at Kibbutz Lotan and other
kibbutzim in the Negev studying Desert Ecology,
Permaculture Design, and Spirituality & Ecology, and a
week visiting a variety of kibbutzim, communities and other
ecological projects around the Galilee. A 4 day wilderness
trip and a 4 day silent retreat are also planned.
Dates
Spring or Fall of 2003 (15 weeks) ... TBA
Host Institution
This program is under development and currently does not
have a sponsoring institution
Courses
Sustainable Community Design
Spirituality in Ecology
Permaculture Design
Internship in Sustainable Development
SOUTH AFRICA STUDIES Yet to be determined.
South Africa is famous for its wildlife, its politics, and its
native tribes. It is also a place where traditional ways of
ecological living continue to exist. It is only natural that
ecovillages have begun to develop there. Communities like
Kuthumba, Tlholego, and Spier have initiated many creative
projects including "Living and Learning Centers,"
agricultural
projects and green building design. The program will offer
students the ability to see through new eyes what it means to
live sustainably, and how culture, nature, and social
structures play an integral part of day-to-day life.
Another variation of this program may run to Senegal in West
Africa, and be based out of a large community called
EcoYoff. The vision of this ecovillage is to integrate the
wisdom of African Villages into a program of international
ecological reconstruction for the year 2020 and beyond.
Participatory action research is their main means of working
together towards solutions to problems of creating a
sustainable ecological community. It is possible that this will
be a French-medium program.
Dates
Spring 2003 (15 weeks) ... TBA
Fall 2003 (15 weeks) ... TBA
Host Institution
This program is under development and currently does not
have a sponsoring institution.
Courses
To be announced.
Cost
Yet to be determined.
Living Routes is working closely with a growing consortium
of ecovillages, academic institutions (including Cornell
University, University of New Hampshire, and Pacific
Lutheran University), and other organizations to create these
globally connected yet regionally developed programs.
Ultimately, Living Routes' goal is to become its own
accredited "communiversity" where students may pursue a
sequence of programs leading to degree in sustainable
living.
In additions to planned programs on our main page,
additional programs in development include:
South African Communities Semester
Sri Lankan Communities Semester
Senegal Communities Semester
Additional regions with strong ecovillage contacts that are
being explored for Living Routes programs include:
Mezo America
South America
Russia