People all over the world have been informed and inspired by our 20 years of transformative short courses for sustainable living.
Bringing together leading international thinkers, activists and practitioners, we continue to deliver our unique brand of small-group transformative learning experiences.
With a focus on interactive and participatory learning, we offer the practical skills and strategic thinking required to face the ecological, economic and social challenges of the 21st Century.
Join us for a diversity of short courses this year, ranging from weekends to six month programmes to suit your availability.
“Schumacher is a very special place – as we try and figure out what on earth we’re going to do with this unraveling planet, it’s become a thinktank for hope, a battery for positive vision!“ Bill McKibben
Our short course teachers include: Fritjof Capra, David Orr, Satish Kumar, Jonathan Porrit, Vandana Shiva, Stephan Harding, Bruce Lipton, Bill McKibben, Rob Hopkins, Martin Crawford, Gustavo Esteva, Lynne Franks and Meg Wheatley.
Our Short Course fees reflect the calibre of the teachers who come here and the high contact time that participants have with them.
Click here for more information on how we set our Short Course fees
February 13 – March 2, 2012 | Jean Boulton, Chris Clarke, Shantena Sabbadini, Amit Goswami and Nora Bateson | Within the mechanistic Newtonian world view, questions surrounding consciousness and spirituality seem unanswerable or meaningless, but new scientific insights, particularly in quantum physics and complexity science, are leading to a very different understanding of how the world works, which shares many common themes with the paradoxes of ancient wisdom and philosophy.
March 5-23, 2012 | Jenny Mackewn, Toni Spencer, Jean-Claude Audergon, Tim “Mac” Macartney, Bob Johansen, Barefoot Partnership, Nowhere and Encounters | The emerging field of ecological facilitation and leadership looks to healthy, dynamic ecosystems for guidance in approaching change. This highly experiential and practical course from some of the leading voices in Ecological Facilitation will help you develop your theoretical and practical skills in group process, leadership and change
Two week intensive within a six month online study group: March to September 2012 (Residential dates: Sunday 25 March to 5 April, 2012 at Schumacher College) | This holistic learning journey for developing an ecoliterate worldview is specifically created to develop individual ecological awareness and practice that participants can apply to their work and personal lives. | Contributors to the residential: Satish Kumar, Stephan Harding, Philip Franses, Julie Richardson, Jonathan Dawson, Mark Burton, Martin Crawford, Gustavo Esteva (via videolink), Rob Hopkins, Terry Irwin (via videolink), David Orr (via videolink), Toni Spencer, Bethan Stagg and Emily Ryan (Facilitator).
Friday – April 13-20, 2012 | Colin Tudge, Martin Crawford, Peter Harper, Bethan Stagg and Rebecca Laughton | This course will explore food production in an ecological context. Examining the vital role that ‘human scale’ horticulture and botanical diversity can play, in intensifying production without increasing environmental degradation, climate change or the consumption of finite resource
Friday – April 20-22, 2012 | Chloe Goodchild and Malcolm Lewis | In these uncertain and challenging times, organisations and individuals are increasingly seeking the means to access higher forms of consciousness to enable them to function better, and this pioneering course provides the opportunity to explore ways that direct engagement with the human voice can introduce participants to tools and skills for authentic expression and true sustainability.
April 30 – May 4, 2012 | Dougald Hine and Vinay Gupta | As financial and ecological systems collapse around us, people can feel paralysed by despair or fear. Drawing on the inspiration of thinkers such as Ivan Illich, Gandhi and Buckminster Fuller, this course looks at the tremendous opportunities offered by the current crises and aims to develop resilient thinking about what it means to live well in a time of massive social, economic and ecological disruption.
May 7-11, 2012 | Guy Claxton| An education system that is designed to leave around half of all young people with a sense of failure is not fit for purpose. The 21st century is full of possibility and fraught with risk. If young people are to be happy, they need to be helped to know what it is they want to be great at, and how to go about getting there.
May 14-25, 2012 | Princess Irene van Lippe Biesterfeld, Satish Kumar, Jonathan Horwitz, Stephan Harding| Humans are part of nature, but few people in western society really feel this connection, with the result that the natural world is exploited and abused in ways that would seem incomprehensible to indigenous people who see the earth as their life-giver. This course offers you the opportunity to connect deeply with the natural world using a variety of traditional and transformational practices with some of the worlds preeminent voices.
May 21-25, 2012 | John Perkins | We need to understand where we went wrong in order to work out how to do things better. In this course, John Perkins, an insider in the global financial system, describes how predatory capitalism has expanded across the globe, and where the potential is to transform our destructive economic system.
Sunday, May 27 – June 1, 2012 | David Key & Mary-Jayne Rust | The concept of the ecological Self is central to Ecopsychology and challenges the idea that humans are separate from, and superior to, the rest of nature. Through a series of carefully facilitated outdoor experiences and small group work, this course will help participants experience the ecological Self and ask what it really means to “reconnect with nature”.
May 28 – June 1, 2012 | Margaret Wheatley | Our current challenge—as individuals, citizens and leaders, isn’t the rapid pace of change. It’s uncertainty—not knowing what’s next, what works, or where things are heading. Margaret Wheatley returns to Schumacher College to work with those who are trying to do good work and persevere in the face of unending challenges and uncertainty.
June 11-15, 2012 | Eve Mitleton-Kelly | Successful organisations no longer operate in a “top-down” fashion, and benefit from empowering their employees to work collaboratively. Yet many organisations are stuck in hierarchical ways of operating and lack the tools to develop alternatives. This course provides a sound theoretical and practical grounding for all those interested in generating a more collaborative workplace.
18-22 June 2012 | Jonathan Balcombe (videolink), Marc Bekoff (videolink), Richard Ryder, Rachel Hevesi, Satish Kumar & others TBC | This course brings together world renowned experts in animal behaviour, welfare and philosophy to reflect on what we can learn from other species and how it can guide our own individual and social behaviour.
June 18-22, 2012| Andrea Olsen and Caryn McHose | This course starts from the insight that our bodies are not separate from the earth, but are inherently connected to the natural world: its minerals, air and water are our bones, breath and blood. By engaging with a combination of experiential anatomy and time spent in nature, participants will clarify their perception and deepen their relationship to place.
July 2-7, 2012 | Satish Kumar, Peter Owen Jones & Stephan Harding | Our popular Earth Pilgrim course returns to our summer 2012 programme. Join Satish to share his thoughts on the importance of bringing soul into the heart of everything we do, and how this can enhance your creativity and work for sustainability and peace.
July 9-13, 2012 | Gary Reiss, Mark O’Connell and Marina O’Connell | Process Oriented Ecology is based on the belief that sustainable solutions may be found to various human and planetary problems through bringing awareness to different levels: the personal, the interpersonal, and the co-creative relationship in nature.
17-21, September 2012 | Andrew Harvey | In this special course, Andrew will share his vision, the inspiration he gained from the great poet Rumi, and the principles and practices he has developed that can help people to connect with their deepest sources of spiritual inspiration and become purposeful and effective sacred activists.
Friday, 21st – 23 September, 2012 | Tim Malnick | Far from needing to run away to a monastery or a cave, some spiritual traditions emphasise the value and potential of turning fully towards the chaos, challenge and emotionality of our work as a basis for self discovery and for benefitting others and the world at large.
Book your place on a Short Course at Schumacher College today. Click here to visit the on-line booking system now
