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EDE Gaia Academy Estonia, a Huge Success!
by Penelope Reyes
Gaia Academy’s first EDE was conducted from November 27, 2015 to September 25, 2016. It was organised in close cooperation with the vibrant Small Footprint community, where half of the sessions took place, and community members facilitated several processes and topics. The course got off to a strong start with 23 participants, balanced and diverse in terms of background, age and interests. The group evolved into a very close community as their EDE unravelled during the cou…
Envisioning a future that works for all: characteristics of the visioning process
The vision of a sustainable human civilisation must be meaningful enough to be desired by everyone. This is an excerpt from the Worldview dimension of GEDS.
By Dr. Daniel Christian Wahl |
“Vision without action is useless. But action without vision does not know where to go or why to go there. Vision is absolutely necessary to guide and motivate action. More than that, vision, when widely shared and firmly kept in sight, brings into being new systems.” – Donella Meadows (Me…
GDP as an insufficient economic indicator & some more systemic alternatives
GDP is not the most reliable measurement of wealth of a country.
By Daniel Wahl |
“Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product, […] if we judge the United States of America by that — counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break…
Nazaré Uniluz celebrates unity in diversity
By Penelope Reyes
The Gaia Education certified EDE Nazaré Uniluz was promoted by IBEST (Brazilian Institute of Studies for Transition) and Entrelaços Integral Development for the second consecutive year. This 4-week immersive program was held between April and November 2016 in Nazaré UNILUZ. Nazaré UNILUZ is a holistic university, learning center and a 35 year old spiritual community located in Nazaré Paulista, in the country side of São Paulo, Brasil.
Watch this video to have a look at wh…
Distinguishing between quantitative and qualitative growth
Distinguishing between quantitative and qualitative growth is a key aspect in Economic Design for Sustainability. Join our Economic Design E-Learning course to explore further.
By Dr Daniel Christian Wahl
We have known for a long time that judging an economy’s progress and success in quantitative (financial) terms — measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product — leads to dangerous distortions and misplaced priorities. In 1972, Limits to Growth warned of the potentially devastat…
Achieving the Global Goals: Gaia Education runs successful SDG training for multipliers in Mallorca
Gaia Education collaborated with the University of the Balearic Islands to offer the SDGs Training for Multipliers on the island of Mallorca.
By Dr. Daniel Christian Wahl |
Since the Sustainable Development Goals were ratified by the United Nations in September 2015, the focus has been to invite national governments agencies, civil society organisations, cities, businesses, universities and local community groups to adopt the SDGs and to take an active role in their nationa…
Circular Economy 101: Designing Regeneration into the System
Excerpt from the Economic Design course
By Daniel Christian Wahl | 20 February 2017
“The circular economy refers to an industrial economy that is restorative by intention; aims to rely on renewable energy; minimises, tracks and eliminates the use of toxic chemicals; and eradicates waste through careful design. The term goes beyond the mechanics of production and consumption of goods and services […] (examples include rebuilding capital including social and natural, and the shif…
Ecovillage Brazil – on the Path to the Sustainability of Being
Ilana, a Gaia Education Design for Sustainability graduate from Rio de Janeiro 2014, presents the film:
“We visited 10 ecovillages in Brazil to investigate the values informing the development of these laboratories of sustainable living. One of the lines of enquiry was how ecovillages can contribute to the paradigm shift of our civilizational model. Our film addresses a vision of integral sustainability, in its economic, ecological, social and worldview dimensions. Topics explored inclu…
The golden thread that connects the three dimensions of sustainability
An introduction to Holistic Worldviews.
By Daniel Wahl
Design can most broadly be defined as the expression of intentionality through interactions and relationships. At the downstream end of this process our cultural artifacts, institutions, patterns of production, and consumption express intentionality materially. Upstream, in the immaterial dimension, the “meta-design” of our conscious awareness, value systems, worldviews, and aspirations defines the intentionality behind mat…