Geese Newsletter Southernautumn-Northernspring_2015

Gaia
education
Geeseinformation
Southern Autumn / Northern Spring
Do we need deeper questions, rather than limiting
answers and solutions?
Daniel Christian Wahl, PhD - Global Ecovillage Educator
Among the most powerfully transformative aspects of the EDE curriculum
are the design studios that encourage participants to apply what they have
learned in the co-creation of a specific project design. In these sessions we
move from exploring a series of best practices and processes to applying
them in collaboration. We move from introducing generalized solutions
to deeper questioning as we explore how to co-create elegant solutions
adapted to the uniqueness of place and culture.
The most effective skill participants learn from Gaia Education’s whole
systems design approach is how to ask better, deeper, and more systemic
questions. It is this ecologically, economically and socially literate
questioning, combined with the even deeper inquiry into values and
meaning invited by the worldview dimension, that can most effectively be transferred to
the participants’ home communities. No matter where they choose to apply what they
learn, simply by asking deeper questions in their communities or at their work place,
participants become culturally creative change agents.
Humanity seems to be obsessed with quick answers and silver bullet solutions (ideally the
on-size-fits-all kind). Yet a brief reflection on history shows us - more often than not – that
yesterday’s solutions turn into today’s problems. Why should our “sustainable solutions”
not also turn out to be transitory? Some might even turn out to have unexpected negative
side effects if applied at the wrong scale or without attention to constantly changing
circumstances. Solutions and answers are temporary means to ask better questions. As
participants in a constantly transforming and evolving whole, we have to be ready to
transform our cultures and ourselves.
Daniel Wahl has
been a member of
Gaia Education
since 2007

Gaia
education Geeseinformation 2015/1
We need to go beyond only being sustainable - “100% less bad” as Bill McDonough puts it.
In ‘Shifting our Mental Models’ Bill Reed highlights that we need to un-do the damage done
already, wherever possible. We need to move from ‘design for sustainability’ to restorative and
reconciliatory design, and beyond that to regenerative design (see Reed’s graph blow).
To design as Nature and create
regenerative cultures requires
us to question deeply into
our mental models about the
relationship between nature and
culture. Would the appropriate
cultural compass to pass on to
communities everywhere not
better take the form of a series of
questions and a deeper process of
inquiry, rather than a long list of
definite answers and permanent
solutions?
The seed for my forthcoming book
on all this was planted when I
interviewed David Orr in late 2006
and he answered my question
about the role of spirituality
and the sacred in the transition
ahead as follows: “Before we can
appropriately answer the questions after the how and what of creating a
sustainable human culture, we have to ask ourselves a much more difficult
question: Why is humanity worth sustaining? This will trigger a deeper
inquiry into Who are we? Where do we come from? What are we? Where
are we going? To whom are we obliged?” My hope is that the book will
support all of us in our work as educators and cultural change agents. Let’s
continue living the questions together.
Daniel’s upcoming book Living the Questions Together – Transformative Innovation and Design
for Regenerative Cultures (Triarchy Press, UK) explores what kind of questions might be part of the
cultural compass of regenerative communities. Due for release in July, the book demonstrates how
asking deeper questions together can catalyse the transition from the ‘narrative of separation’ to the
‘narrative of interbeing’. Stay tuned to www.facebook/gaiaeducation for more info on its release!
Bill Reed’s model:
moving from
Sustainabile Design to
Regenerative Design.

Gaia
Announcing the New Gaia Education Masters Programme:
Integrated Systems Design for Sustainability
Ulises
It’s with great excitement that Gaia Education announces its new
Masters programme: Integrated Systems Design for Sustainability
-Master en Diseño de Sistemas Integrados para la Sosteniblidad!!
The main goal of the program is to train and strengthen the design
skills of all types of design professionals, including educators,
architects, engineers, environmental managers, etc. so that they
may develop their careers within the framework of a culture
favouring the development of sustainable habitats, communities
and organisations.
The two year Spanish programme, offered in collaboration with the Open University of Catalonia
(UOC), includes Ecosystems and Social Dynamics ∙ Sustainable Economics and Systemic Thinking
∙ Permaculture Design ∙ Organizations as Ecosystems. Complexity and Bio-mimicry ∙ Urban
Ecosystems Design ∙ Rural and Indigenous Communities. Inspiration and Adaptation.
The formation of this programme is the result of a 7-year partnership with UOC which started in
2008 with the introduction of our first online Gaia Education Design for Sustainability programmes
in English and Spanish.
In 2011, the Spanish GEDS programme became a formal postgraduate course at UOC, completed
to date by more than 40 students, mostly Spanish, with some participation from Latin American
countries. Since then, Gaia Education has been in negotiations with UOC to convert the GEDS
Spanish course into a Masters degree… And finally here it is, scheduled to open in October 2015!
In the coming years of Gaia Education’s collaboration with UOC, we are striving to offer the GEDS
Masters degree in both Spanish and English. This dynamic and flexible format offers different
options for participants, the main objective in both cases being to provide a cutting-edge, high
quality education in holistic and integrative design.
Book your place in the new GEDS Masters programme! Visit www.estudios.uoc.edu.

Gaia
GEN+20/Gaia+10 Summit: Living the New Story Findhorn, 5-10 July 2015
Celebrating 20 Years of the Global Ecovillage Network and 10 Years of Gaia Education
We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity
must choose its future… To move forward we must recognise that in the
midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one
human family and one Earth community with a common destiny....
Organised by GEN in partnership with Gaia Education, the Findhorn
Foundation and New Findhorn Association, the GEN+20 Summit is an
invitation to celebrate 20 years of walking our talk.
Established in Findhorn in 1995, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN)
today connects more than 10,000 villages, urban neighbourhoods and
intentional communities in more than 100 countries worldwide. Spanning
all continents, GEN showcases high quality, low impact ways of living that
have led to some of the lowest per capita footprints in the industrialised
world, and a healthy integration of heritage and innovation in more
traditional settings. GEN has consultative status with the UN Economic
and Social Council.
With its 20 years of experience, GEN has a wealth of inspiration to offer, emphasising local solutions
to global challenges and demonstrating that the creation of a different world is possible!
GEN today
Going beyond the ‘green islands’ or ‘life boats’ concept of its first decade, today the GEN is shifting
into becoming a transformative knowledge network that works in close alliance with like-minded
organisations and other sectors in order to optimise sustainable development strategies for whole
societies. In conjunction with Gaia Education, GEN has developed a set of trainings to facilitate the
transition to resilience – learning journeys for change makers and design processes for communities
to chart their own pathways into the future. During the conference we will be celebrating Gaia
Education’s 10th anniversary and the success of the Ecovillage Design Education course, now taught
in over 35 countries.
You are warmly invited to join us in honouring some of the elders of the ecovillage movement,
celebrating the present holders of energy from all corners of the world and continuing to look ahead
with the next generation at where our learning edge for sustainable living is now. Together, we will
share realistic glimpses of possibility and hope for a thriving future.
Make a booking for the
GEN+20 Summit today on the
Findhorn Foundation website:
www.findhorn.org

Gaia
Increased Yields and Eco-fair in Southern Bangladesh
May East, Gaia Education Chief International Officer
A Scottish Government backed capacity-building programme led by
BASD, Gaia Education and CIFAL Scotland to support communities
in southern Bangladesh affected by devastating cyclones has held
its second Alumni Seminar in the region.
Participants from Design for Sustainable Settlements and
Permaculture Approaches for Food Production courses from
Mongla, Sutarkhali and Banishanta gathered in January to share
lessons learned during 2014.
Key 2014 outcomes included:
• Climate resilient agriculture techniques were implemented by
the beneficiaries and further spread amongst members of the
surrounding villages;
• Climate resilient agriculture techniques have increased the
yields, generating a surplus in their food production and
improving livelihoods;
• Strengthening of social cohesion amongst community members
has had an indirect effect in their household incomes.
In conjunction with the seminar beneficiaries organised an eco-fair
in Banishanta to showcase and market their fruits and vegetables,
handicrafts, fish, and other handmade and organic produce.
Local government representatives and wider community members were shown the results of
the project, which aims to bring appropriate solutions to the impact of climate change in food
production while improving livelihoods.
Participants of the seminar have identified social enterprise and food conserving
as two areas to focus in the coming year.
www.gaiaeducation.net/PBL

Gaia
Food Security for Communities in Northern Senegal
May East, Gaia Education Chief International Officer
“Today rain is rarer, weather is hotter, and we have stronger winds and shorter time to
grow vegetables…”
This is how a woman addresses the impact of climate change in
the Moundouwaye Village in Northern Senegal.
Gaia Education in partnership with CIFAL Scotland has been
conducting a series of capacity building activities with the
communities of Guédé Chantier, Lahel, Moundouwaye and Diarra
to mark the launch of a three-year food security project. The
most recent took place between 20 and 30 December 2014 &
from 3 to 6 February 2015. Supported by the UK Government, its
purpose is to develop community land to produce more food more
efficiently, and increase the communities’ resilience and capacity
to adapt to the advancing effects of climate change. It will directly
benefit over 3,000 community members, especially women, by
enhancing their agricultural and economic knowledge and skills.
This February, 45 community members were invited to take part in
a Permaculture Design Course which combines both traditional and
modern land-use systems in which trees are managed together
with crops and/or animal production systems in agricultural
settings. Central to this approach is site observation and survey
described as the ability to absorb the reality of a location.
The course involved group training, peer-to–peer learning and
experience sharing, presentations and group discussions. Topics
included; soil conservation, seed saving and propagation, use of
natural fertilisers and vermiculture, water and horticulture.
Participants were presented to the basic components of ecology and socio-cultural
realities which reinforce the practices of permaculture. As a result, a village
development plan was created which will enable their lands to withstand floods
and drought, and climate change.
Funded by UK AID
www.gaiaeducation.net/PBL

Gaia
Hands-on EDE in Tallinn Free Waldorf School, Estonia
Toomas Trapido
As part of the official biology curriculum of the Tallinn Free Waldorf School in Estonia, I was
invited to teach a one-month epoch on a biological and ecological worldview to a group of
16 to 17 yr olds, in December 2014. Using the EDE as inspiration and foundation, I created a
cycle of study consisting of 15 1.5-hour lessons, plus a whole day-outing to the ecological
building and therapy centre, Hobukooli Park, in central Estonia.
The First week of the programme was dedicated mostly to the theory of evolution, the role of
cooperation and patterns in evolution, based on the work by Elisabet Sahtouris, Earthdance. The
second and third weeks were about designing an ecovillage in four groups. I covered the main
aspects of designing any settlement, while students designed their ecovillages by drawing and
modelling with clay. This method proved to be very interesting for
the students as they learned teamwork and self-expression through
creativity.
In the beginning of week 4 we visited Hobukooli Park. Students could
see and touch real ecological building, and hear from the initiators
and managers, Sven and Hele Aluste, directly why, what and how
they are doing what they are doing. Some students were so inspired
that they will be returning to work and learn in the summer. Finally,
all the groups presented their works and got feedback from the
whole group.
This EDE-inspired one-month
study period was satisfying
for the majority involved. As
a reflection, I would lengthen
the period to at least 2 or even
3-4 months. Both the youth and
teachers have expressed a repeat
of the programme and we will
probably design a longer version
(two months) of it for 2015.

Gaia
Gaia Education’s Commitments to the Global Action Programme
Gaia Education is now a contributor to the UNESCO Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable
Development - a global effort to generate and scale up action on all levels and areas of education and
learning with the aim of accelerating progress towards sustainable development.
This is a continuation of our active participation during the United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development, 2005-2014.
Under the Global Action Programme, or GAP, Gaia Education have committed to achieving the below in
the next 3 years, by the end of 2017:
• Translate the 4Keys into two more languages
• Reach 50 countries teaching the EDE
• Translate and conduct GEDS in Hindi and Mandarim
• Start 2 new Project Based Learning projects
Gaia Education is Changing Lives...
From the development to of our ground breaking EDE curriculum to the publishing of
our 4Keys, from our grass roots project based learning initiatives in Senegal, Bangldesh
and India, to EDE programmes across the globe and the virtual classrooms of GEDS
Masters and Postgrad, Gaia Education is changing lives.
Our continuous contribution to education for sustainable development is changing
the way people engage with each other, with the Earth, and with themselves, and
through this, more of us are living the new story, are being the change we want to see in the world.
It is the generous financial support of people like you and institutions like yours which enables us to share
our dynamic educational and culturally enriching resources with thousands of people worldwide.
If you are interested in supporting Gaia Education’s crucial work, either as an individual donor, or as an
institutional sponsor, visit www.gaiaeducation.net/support or contact giovanni.ciarlo@gaiaeducation.net.

Gaia
Gaia Youth EDE - Rio de Janeiro – 2014
The Gaia Jovem Team
Once again our dream came true and between
August and November 2014, Cocriare held our
second Gaia Jovem – Gaia Youth - EDE, in the city of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Our co-ordination team started with 11 people,
complimented by seven Gaia Youth 2013 volunteers
who assisted throughout the journey. 17 participants
aged between 12 and 18 years old completed the
course, creating a wonderfully diversified profile.
The three men and fourteen women were all
students in high school, except one girl who is an
independent learner, involved in unschooling. The
course offered partial scholarships to students who
could not afford the course, adding income diversity
to this already diverse group.
Most of the meetings took place at the Design Tent of the Pontificial Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
(PUC-Rio), Casa Alice and GOMA, a co-working place shared by many different young entrepreneurs.
Casa Alice has an excellent garden space, including a swimming pool, where we could freely enjoy more
practical activities.
The programme was divided into 70 hours of theoretical-practical
lessons, holistic design processes and, by the end of the course,
30 hours of practical community living training at the El Nagual
Ecovillage. There were 10 meetings, with days starting at 10am
and ending at 6:30pm. Each day included practical activities,
reported experiences of educators, and addressing topics of the
Gaia Youth curriculum.

Gaia
Shared meal and snack times became rich moments of exchange between students, coordinators
and educators. They played guitar, had fun in the swimming pool and talked about what was
going on in their lives. The day always ended with a council of visions.
As it happened in the pilot project last year, all guest educators had time to interact with
students during breaks and classes. Participants requested lot of attention from the educators
during this time with both questions and worries.
Our dynamic lesson format encouraged questions any time, creating an atmosphere very
similar to a large casual chat. The classes also had moments of movement, of playfulness and
work in small groups or pairs.
The Social Dimension was the beginning of a transformative journey among all of the
participants, including the coordination team. We started accepting young people in the circle
of Gaia Education, where they were able to present themselves. Collective agreements for our
shared living were created and the Gaia Education context and the story of how Gaia Youth was
born in Brazil were introduced. Highlights of included the dynamics
developed by the coordinating team in focusing on personal and
social transformation in activism and deep ecology.
Our main objective in the Ecological Dimension was to empower
students to create their own connections and relationships with their
surroundings. The high point was the practical action on an urban
garden near the University campus with Nicolás Gomez.
The Economic Dimension brought high points of discovery, knowledge
exchanges and a lot of inspiration from the young team leading the
dimension: social entrepreneurs like Guilherme Lito and Fabio Levi,
in addition to an experience in the Economy of Love with Marcos
Arruda.
Finally, the Worldview Dimension gave these young people the
opportunity to meeting their internal flow with educators like
Vanessa Moutinho and Wanderley Paris, a meditation teacher that
has a strong history of overcoming.
The closure of the programme was a residential experience of 2 days
at El Nagual Ecovillage, giving the students a real experience in a
community ecovillage and practice some of the theoretical learnings.

Gaia
The high point of the entire Gaia Education Youth 2014 programme
was a shared gathering between the pilot project group and the
2014 group. This, perhaps, the most defining moment of the
transformation generated by the Gaia Jovem programmes. We, the
adults, observed the beautiful, young circle quickly joining together
and share their aspirations, dreams, experiences and points of
view for building a new time… It was the opening of Worldview
Dimension. Now, we can only thank the opportunity to live the
transformation again, through young people's eyes, some our own
children, and see that this is a real connection and transformation
path of our relationship with ourselves, with others and with the
Earth.
We are very grateful for the Gaia Education trust and for the strength
and energy of the youth. We dedicate this EDE experience to all the young people of the world in
this and in the next generations.
Gaia+10 Celebrations: Win a Copy of Gaia Education’s 4Keys Books!
Gaia Education will soon be celebrating 10,000 friends on our Facebook page,
in the year of our 10th anniversary! We wish to celebrate this milestone with
you - our supporters - by offering an opportunity to win a digital copy of Gaia
Education’s 4Keys books! The Keys are four comprehensive books, compiled
by Gaia Education associates, offering an overview of cutting-edge thinking
on design for sustainability at local, regional and global scales:
Social Key: Beyond You and Me Inspiration and Wisdom for Building
Community
Economics Key: Gaian Economics Living well within planetary limits
Ecological Key: Designing Ecological Habitats Creating a Sense of Place
Worldview Key: The Song of the Earth The Emerging Synthesis of the Scientific and Spiritual
Worldviews
You can read more about the 4Keys by visiting www.gaiaeducation.net/4keys. In the mean time,
keep your nose close to ground to win your copies! Follow us on www.facebook.com/GaiaEducation.

Gaia
EDE Buenos Aires 2014, Argentina
Gabriela Salvaneschi
EDE Beunos Aires 2014, organised for the second
year by Espacio ECO and attended by a team of
international educators and local experts, created a
unique environment of sharing valuable tools and
encouraging participants to be the multipliers and
leaders of change they are!
This year, to make the EDE operational, we used a
system of solidarity economy - offering sliding scale
fees, accepting exchanges and providing scholarships.
The faculty was a multidisciplinary team of professionals, including
30 educators from national and international origins including
Brazil, Italy, USA, Chile, Germany and Argentina. Among these, 18
were women and 12 men. Participants where highly appreciative
of their passion and wisdom.
With participants interested in rural and urban contexts, the
localised EDE curriculum focused on both ecovillage design and
transition town principles. Complementing the theoretical classes,
the practice was held in the Eco Aldea Centro Nakkal. Here
participants could engage in practical application, enabling the
integration of the four dimensions while experiencing a pedagogy
of coexistence.
Not to be side-lined, artistic expressions such as music, dance,
theatre and visual arts were present during all modules. Group
celebrations, harmonization of the space and many circular and
sacred dances were shared during the whole program.

Gaia
In addition, we had several open extracurricular classes, sharing
the wisdom of our educators with the larger community and to
galvanise interest for our next EDE.
Overall, the journey of the EDE was very intense and inspiring.
Participants got involved in new projects. Some made great
personal changes in their lifestyles, others had great insights,
expanding their consciousness.
Outcomes
The programme brought a very valuable energy, enhancing
connections between networks of sustainability activists,
empowering them and facilitating synergy among educators,
participants and projects.
The University of Buenos Aires & University of Palermo FADU and
UP expressed interest in workinEspacio ECO were invited to collabo
the program at the while new partnerships between universities,
organizations and related sustainability networks were created
and strengthened
Love and Gratitude for each and everyone who made this
wonderful EDE possible, was a highly collaborative learning for
all of us.
Get Your Programme Certifield!
Those wishing to certify or recertifying upcoming EDE programmes should apply
before 30th April 2015. In general, certification applications should be made at least
six months in advance of your programme.
Visit gaiaeducation.net/certification or contact certification@gaiaeducation.net for
further information.

Gaia
Featured Partner:
UN DPI - United Nations Department of Public Information
As the public voice of the United Nations, the UN DPI promotes global
awareness and greater understanding of the work of the United Nations, using
various communication tools including radio, television, print, the internet,
videoconferencing and increasingly, other new forms of information technology.
Gaia Education is in an active meeting of the circle of 1,300 NGOs associated with
the UN DPI.
Visit http://outreach.un.org/ngorelations/ for more information.
Partnership Updates
ECOLISE
On the 6-8 February 2015, around 50 people, representing over 30 different
organisations from across Europe met in Freiburg, Germany, for the first General
Assembly of ECOLISE, the European network for community-led initiatives on climate
change and sustainability. Read more at www.ecolise.eu
New Partnerships
We are excited to announce two new Gaia Education partnerships: Ashoka Spain and IIFAC.
Visit www.gaiaeducation.net/partners for more information!
New EDE Currciulum Translations
French & Spansish EDE v5 Curriculums now available!
A special thanks to the awesome teams of translators and formatters who have made our new French and
Spanish EDE currciulum available. As always, the currciulums are available to download gratis, along with
translations in 7 other languages. Visit from www.gaiaeducation.net/curriculum.

Gaia
GEDS English 2013-2014
Case Study: Proyecto Bizitza
Students: Trini Anguita, Maite Benejam, Teresa Fondevilla, Marina Tarrus
Project Type: Rural Community Design
Location: Granada, Spain
The Bizitiza Project is an intentional, sustainable community in
the Alpujarras of Granada, Spain, which advocates for the care
of the earth, as well as creativity and personal development. It
promotes the well-being of the planet and its inhabitants, and the
deep interconnection with the nature through artistic and cultural
expression and a methodology that empowers affective exchange
between people. The project promotes opportunities for deliberation,
where consolidation of group consciousness and empowerment of
individuals is enhanced by providing tools for personal growth and
collective welfare. The project also boosts the local economy through
the use of local currency and barter and creating spaces and specific
activities of exhibition and sales of local products.
Case Study: Pirilampos Home for Children
Students: N. Machado, M. Mitterlehner, N. Ziglio, U. Kandjii
Project Type: Home for Children
Location: Portugal
Pirilampos Home for Children is one of the hundreds of homes that
belong to the biggest Portuguese NGO, a Charity named Santa Casa da
Misericórdia, dedicated to help children, youth, elderly, handicap and
various other groups of people in need. The Pirilampos Home aims
to provide children with a decent, safe and suitable environment so
they can fully develop. These children are either orphans or destitute
and Pirilampos is aimed to be a cozy, colorful, protective, sentimental,
sweet, loving, fun and bright home.
GEDS Spanish 2013-2014

Gaia
Current & Upcoming Gaia Education Programmes around the World
Another new programme in a new country is coming up: Canada! Check out the below current & upcoming
programmes, and more, on www.gaiaeducation.net.
Gaia Education Online Programmes
English: Oct 2014 - Sep 2015
Spanish: Oct 2014 - Jul 2015
Portuguese: Oct 2014-Jun 2015
www.gaiaeducation.net
Design de Systèmes Durables, Switzerland
6 Sep - 28 Nov 2015
www.maison-verte.ch
Gaia Nazaré UNILUZ
9 Mar - 27 Sep 2015
Cours en Éducation au Développement d’Écovillage, Canada
10 Jul - 10 Aug 2015
www.capecocommunautaire.org
EDE Florianópolis, Brazil
10 Jul - 15 Nov 2015
EDE Damanhur, Italy
1-29 Aug 2015
www.damanhurwelcome.com
The Park, Findhorn
Forres, IV36 3TZ
Morayshire, Scotland
United Kingdom
info@gaiaeducation.net
Phone: +44 131 225 3407
NGO Associated with the Department
of Public Information of the United
Nations.
Company Limited by Guarantee
Registered in Scotland No 353967
Scottish Charity No SC040839
Gaia
education

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