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The College, Totnes and the Community
Schumacher College is firmly located in the Dartington, Totnes and Devon community. We intend these pages to be a developing space to enable us to post information of interest to our friends in the local area and for the benefit of those visiting this rich community for a time during a Schumacher College course.
So much depends on developing strong communities…
A recurring theme raised on many a course at Schumacher College by numerous teachers from widely different backgrounds is the importance of community.
Looking back we can easily see the value of community in ancient cultures – and the disasterous effects when that sense of community is eroded or destroyed. And looking forward, many visionaries are now suggesting that building strong communities is likely to provide the keystones that will enable us to ride the socio-political and economic storms ahead – not to mention the more literal ones caused by the impending ecological upheavals and the effects of climate change.
If you have information about events thet further transformative learning for sustainable living in the community then let us know and we will do our best to include it. publicity@schumachercollege.org.uk
Open House and Spring Celebration at Schumacher College. Saturday morning April 26, 2008 10am -12.30pm
Come and mark the opening of the new season at Schumacher College with a morning of talks and opportunity to meet with staff and local people interested in the work of the College.
There will be the chance to explore the gardens and College building: downstairs lecture rooms, library, meditation room, dining rooms and leisure rooms. Talks will be in the main lecture room.
10.00. Karen Blincoe, Director of the College will speak about new activities underway at Schumacher already and how these are furthering the aims of Schumacher College and Dartington as a whole. She will also speak about the future of the College, including plans and the feasibility study for a possible new education centre, currently known Schumacher 2.
11.00. Break for refreshments
11.30. Jon Rae, Sustainability Officer for Dartington Hall Trust will talk about actions already underway to make the Estate more sustainable. He will also demonstrate some of the results from using an Infrared Camera to establish heat loss from Dartington buildings.
12.00. Stephan Harding, Resident Ecologist at the College, will speak from themes of his outstandingly successful book ‘Animate Earth’ based on his many years of teaching at the College. Stephan gives a fascinating insight into the science and soul of the planet and how this relates to environmental concerns like climate change and extinction of species.
This event has been organised primarily for the Friends of Dartington. However, we would love to have participation from other members of the community. Therefore, if you would like to attend please email me (Anna Lodge) on a.lodge@schumachercollege.org.uk so that we can get an idea of numbers.
Please car share or come without a car if you can. However, limited parking will be available
Transition Town Totnes
Transition Town Totnes seeks to engage all sectors of the community in addressing this, the great transition of our time. The organisation offers no fixed answers, rather believing the solutions will arise from engaging the creativity, imagination and knowledge for which Totnes is so well known. TTT is designed to stimulate creative thought, and to create a plan for how Totnes can move to a lower energy future which is both abundant and delightful. Schumacher College has worked with TTT on a number of projects. Schumacher College teachers speak regularly at the jointly run Open Evenings in Totnes, the College has hosted events including world café discussions with local councillors and politicians, and most recently provided sponsorship from open evening revenues for the printing of the new, second phase, Totnes Pound. http://www.transitiontowns.org/totnes
Dartington
The Dartington Hall Trust is a charitable company based near Totnes in South Devon. The aims of Dartington are at present realised through a number of independent but complementary activities in the arts, crafts, ecology, education, enterprise and social justice. The Dartington Hall Trust set up and continues to fund Schumacher College.
The spirit of Dartington is hard to capture but the aspirations which continue to inform the work of the Trust may be expressed as a respect for the natural world; the encouragement of innovative creativity, artistic, intellectual and practical; the promotion of learning by doing; and the attainment of the highest standards of performance and execution in all the activities undertaken or supported by the Trust. dartington.org
Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.