Gaia Southeast Orientation:
Community
Connections
Summertown, TenneseeSixteen new associates and twelve returning
associates participated in the most recent Gaia University orientation and
end-of-year session, held at The
Farm in Tennessee from September 28 - October 4. Most associates stayed
on to attend the 10th
Continental Bioregional Congress, which you can read more about below.
New Gaia
Southeast Associate (MSc), Trent Rhodes, reflects on his Orientation
experience:
"We came from myriad places and backgrounds to gather
at The Farm and form bonds based on a common reverence for life. Support
guilds have now been established around community development, cultural
wisdom, green business, and permaculture design. Although we represent very
different areas of focus as individuals, we share a vision of co-creating a
world united in healing and regenerating Gaia. We are inspired, more than
ever, to mobilize and act collaboratively within and beyond our home
communities to practically manifest this dream."
Seda Saine Explores
Cultural
Ecology
The central
theme of Gaia U Bachelors Associate Seda Saine’s work is the integration
of culture and ecology. In his view, there is a very real cultural poverty
created by the sense of separation from the natural world that most people
in our society feel.
“I believe that there are lots of
different ways to relate to the world and to understand the universe
through the world…The current mainstream paradigm we’re all subject to
is fundamentally different from the older story that was the dominant
culture for thousands of years. We’ve strayed from our ancestral ways of
living symbiotically with nature and, as a result, our culture has lost a
lot of its intricate depth and beauty. The diversity of a culture is
destroyed at the same time as the diversity of its
ecosystems.”
The two primary projects that Seda is involved in
are both deeply rooted in a recognition of the interconnectedness of
culture and ecology: The Mbira Project strives to preserve the ancient
musical traditions of Zimbabwe; Walking the Hoop is an effort to re-wild
the Great Basin territory in the Southwestern United States.
Bioregionalism:
Restoring our Sense of Place
Do you know what watershed you live in? What soil
type the earth beneath your feet is composed of? The migration patterns of
the animals in your area? Bioregionalism considers this type of awareness
fundamental to creating societies rooted in regenerative living practices.
Last month, the 10th
Continental Bioregional Congress was held at The
Farm, an intentional community and eco-village in Summertown,
Tennessee. Gaia U graduates Gregory Landua and Jennifer English
partnered with the Cumberland Green Bioregional organization to make this
Congress a reality.
The term ‘bioregionalism’ was coined by
ecologists Peter Berg and Raymond Dassman in the 1970s. However, the
principles upon which bioregionalism is based date back to the beginnings
of human life on earth. “Bioregionalism is essentially the way that human
beings have been living in relation to the earth for most of the history of
the human species” says David Haenke, a bioregional organizer.
Bioregionalism stresses the importance of having in-depth knowledge of the
defining environmental and cultural features of the places in which we
live. The Bioregional worldview sees human beings as an integral part of
the natural world, and thus responsible for making choices that are in
harmony with the needs of all beings in their bioregion.
Read
more
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Director of
Operations
Kirsten
Liegmann
“The changes and challenges we currently face are
unprecedented. It is to the Earth and the emergence of a new humanity that
I dedicate my service.” Kirsten Liegmann is Gaia University’s
Director of Operations, but as she puts it, “Titles don’t really give
the whole picture.” Due to the organic nature of Gaia U’s organizing
structure, it’s often difficult to put a finger (or a title) on the
multifaceted roles of those behind the scenes. Kirsten’s main focus has
been the design and development of the University’s operational systems,
but that is only one aspect of her work. She also communicates regularly
with applicants, associates and advisors; assists in the development of
regional centers; and oversees the organization’s accounting and
financial analysis. Kirsten began her work with Gaia U after
meeting its Co-founders, Andrew Langford and Liora Adler, in 2007. She was
deeply inspired by their vision of an educational experience that offers
its ‘associates’ a uniquely balanced integration of freedom and
structured support: “Gaia U offers the structure and advising
support within which people with great ideas can experience their own
creative liberation. While there is a high standard of quality assurance,
in Gaia U you’re not limited by someone else’s idea of how you should
be doing your work…it opens up a lot more freedom.”
Read more2009 Gaia U International Orientation
Programs
Virgin
Islands Sustainable Farms Institute
Orientation
December
1 - 9
(St. Croix, Virgin Islands)
Extension
Workshops
December 9 -13
Re-Evaluation Counseling
Fundamentals Workshop
Gaia
U Deutschland
Orientation
Jelinek Akademie
Vienna, Austria
November 20 -
29
2010 Gaia U International Orientation
Programs
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
April
Portland, OR, U.S.A.
May
Bolinas, CA, U.S.A.
October
Virgin Islands, U.S.A.
TBA
2010 Gaia U Southeast Programs
(dates tentative)
Orientation
September
4-10
End-of-Year Intensive
September
11-17
Permaculture Content Session September 18-25 - Topics
TBA
2010 Gaia U Germany
Programs
(dates
tentative)
Findhorn, Scotland
February 27 -
March 10
Germany
March
12 - 21
Germany
September 10 - 19
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