We are now living through a once-in-an-epoch threshold event in planetary history. While inevitable climate catastrophes “just around the bend” will likely make this current pandemic pale in comparison, it seems coronavirus has catalyzed humanity’s first truly global experience of our essential vulnerability and interdependence.
CAPE - Custom Academic Programs in Ecovillages - was founded in 2016 with the mission of “bringing sustainable education to life through custom programs based in ecovillages.” Incorporated in Vermont in 2016 as a Benefit Corporation, “a type of for-profit corporate entity, authorized by 33
Free Webinar Custom Academic Programs in Ecovillages March 13 at Noon EST Register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gLp2KUAnSLSLVzXwXfuUfw From rural villages to high-tech cohousing developments, “ecovillages” are preserving and pioneering ways we can live well and lightly together. As such, they provide ideal campuses for studying everything from
Humans exceeded the carrying capacity of the Earth around 1970, but academia is still catching up to this fact. In this 10-part blog series, I unpack the “hidden curricula” embedded within much of higher education and consider ecovillages as alternative "curriculum" in which to train leaders for a more
In 1859, European settlers brought 24 rabbits to Australia to help colonialists feel more comfortable in this strange new land. With no natural predators, the rabbits bred like, well ... rabbits, and it wasn’t long before hunters could brag of shooting 1,200 of them in just a few hours.
Humanity's ecological footprint has exceeded global biocapacity since ~1970. This is an astounding, game-changing fact. One species overshooting the Earth's carrying capacity has never before happened in our planet's 4.5 Billion year history. And yet, we are still educating our future leaders as if nothing has changed. Resiliency, sustainability, interdependence — these
Upon first hearing the term "ecovillage", many assume they are eccentric experiments well outside the mainstream. Let's remember, however, that for 99.9 percent of our 250,000-year evolutionary history, humans lived in small-scale, low-impact communities. Only since the Industrial Revolution have changes in human activity and urbanization led to dramatic growth in
Here are some of the best sustainability in study abroad resources I've collected while working in this nexus between international education and sustainability for over 25 years. It was last revised on May 8, 2017. Please suggest new resources in the comments so I can keep
While air travel certainly accounts for the lion’s share of environmental impacts associated with education abroad, if you’ve ever been to a study abroad fair you know there’s more to the story. In my last three blog posts I shared about how to green the
Behind every student studying abroad, there are dedicated staff from his or her home institution assisting with everything from program applications, financial aid, credit transfer, visas, medical preparations, cultural orientations, packing lists, and even (occasionally) luggage tags. So, when we consider ways to make education
