Leadership, Education and the Closed Loop Economy

November 8 – 12, 2010

Ellen MacArthur, Ken Webster, Steve Martin

Click here to book your place online.

How do we educate for sustainability? What new skills and ways of thinking can help young people and the institutions that work with them prepare for a challenging – and unpredictable – future? What qualities of leadership can inspire a new generation of engaged citizens?

There is a growing awareness that we have to radically re-think how we produce everything from energy and food to objects and services. It has been called the “second industrial revolution” and its implications are wide-ranging and fundamental, but it is a hard thing to understand and even harder to communicate and get other people excited about. Talk of resource depletion and climate change tends to lead to gloom and despondency, whereas the challenges inherent in such a radical redesign of society should be inspiring the next generation to immerse themselves in this new approach.

This course will help participants understand systems thinking and its applications at the level of product design and manufacture (closed loop manufacturing) and at the level of national/regional planning (closed loop or circular economy). Ellen MacArthur will explain her own process of coming to understand the importance of systems thinking, and discuss how it can be communicated in an effective, inspirational and relevant way. Ken Webster will outline how approaching issues at the systemic level affects the kind of education, thought processes and skills that we offer our young people, particularly the need for a cross-disciplinary perspective that moves well beyond traditional models of ESD. Steve Martin will discuss the experiences of one of the country’s leading exponents of closed loop manufacturing – InterfaceFLOR. What skills do their workforce need to operate effectively in this environment and how can educators and planners ensure the next generation is ready for the challenge?

This course is for:

Senior school planners and leaders
Senior careers and industry links workers
Experienced ESD practitioners
Senior NGO representatives with a communications responsibility
Industry managers with responsibility for developing education partnerships or internships
Curriculum developers in the design and technology/ business and economics areas
Education practitioners, consultants and others interested in education and communications

The course is supported by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Teachers:

Ken Webster, Head of Learning for the Foundation and author of the influential book Sense and Sustainability: Educating for a Low Carbon World.
Ellen MacArthur joins Ken for the early part of the week where the focus is on leadership and change and the need to ‘redesign the future’.
Steve Martin is UK Operations and Site Director for the environmentally pioneering company InterfaceFlor, responsible for overseeing all of the company’s manufacturing operations.

Course Fees

£750
All course fees include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.

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For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College

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To provisionally reserve a place for 5 days, email us your contact details and the name of the course admin@schumachercollege.org.uk

We will hold the place for five working days for reservations – three weeks before a course or earlier. After five days we will automatically offer your place to someone else if we have not received your application.

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.