Articles by Visiting Teachers

An Introduction to GNH (gross national happiness)

by Karma Ura 11 November 2009
…If a society moves towards GNH as the goal of society, its government organisational structure should change to include psychological and community well-being, cultural and ecological resilience, balanced time-use and other important elements or domains of GNH…

After Copenhagen, before Mexico and during crisis

Miriam Kennet comes to Schumacher to work with participants on what we do next
Miriam Kennet was the leader of the delegation from the Green Economics Institute at the Copenhagen Summit, which included the author of the Kyoto Protocol carbon market, Kyoto 1 and the author of Kyoto 2. The small island states aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, from pre- industrial times, was managed by negotiators in her delegation.

Copenhagen - the Munich of our times

By Malini Mehra 21 December 2009

People will be discussing the Copenhagen climate conference for years to come. Opinions will be mixed as to whether it was a step forward or a failure. Only history will tell whether it was a turning point or a tipping point.

The New Economics

By David Boyle and Andrew Simms
Extracts of comment and review on Earthscan website
Economics sometimes seems to be stacked against social, environmental and individual well-being. But it doesn’t have to be like this.

Get real!

By Andrew Whitley
What’s in a loaf of bread? Flour, water, yeast, salt and maybe some seeds or flakes? Wrong… allow me to let you into a secret: there’s something else in your bread – and it’s not declared on the label.

Educating for Sustainability: Systems and Citizenship vs Me and Consumerism

Ken Webster
The current framework on educating for sustainability suggests young people should be on the side of the angels, accept their responsibilities and do the right thing… if it should be more ‘systems and citizenship’ then it’s about having some tools to get there, to at least get the balance right, some intellectual tools, some philosophy.

Business for a Better World

Chris Nichols & Chris Seeley
What if we thought about business as a relationship; a relationship with people and the planet.

The Science of Leonardo

Fritjof Capra
An extract from the Preface
….there are surprisingly few books about Leonardo’s science, even though he left voluminous notebooks full of detailed descriptions of his experiments, magnificent drawings, and long analyses of his findings.

Biomimicry: New Directions in Sustainable Design

By Michael Pawlyn
Biomimicry is a rapidly developing discipline that finds inspiration in the startling solutions that natural organisms have evolved over the course of the last 3.6 billion years. Proponents of biomimicry contend that many of the solutions that we will need during the sustainability revolution are to be found in nature: super-efficient structures, high strength bio-degradable composites, self-cleaning surfaces, zero waste systems, low energy ways of creating fresh water and many others.

Earth Jurisprudence

Ian Mason
Humility, generosity, patience and restraint are the four pillars on which Earth Jurisprudence is founded. They will be the principles at the heart of the transition to climate stability, biodiverse environments and resilient livelihoods.

Journey from the Mountain

Mary Aver
An extract from this working title

Q: What’s in your wallet? A: Power...

Julia Hailes
Think green consumerism’s the latest thing? Well, we’ve been here before. Back in 1988, the million-selling Green Consumer Guide helped sweep aerosols off a thousand supermarket shelves. Then it all went a bit quiet. So what’s different this time round? And will it last? Julia Hailes, co-author of the original eco-shopper’s bible, has some answers

Food, Forests and Fuel : From False to Real Solutions for Climate Change

Dr. Vandana Shiva
December 3 – 14, 2007 will see more than 10,000 representatives of Government and civil society gather in Bali for a meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is the international treaty under which the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated. The Protocol expires in 2012, and Bali is supposed to begin negotiations on a post Kyoto framework.

Teaching Children About Sustainability

Caroline Walker, who taught (and cooked) for years at the Small School, Hartland and facilitated the first Roots of Learning course and wrote of her experiences.

Ecology and the Sacred

Marie Satrdeski
My Schumacher experience continues to fuel my desire for promoting ecological education in the school system…

Exploring Goethean Science

Natasha Myers
Why we need a new Science

Revisiting the roots of progressive learning

Dr Su-ming Khoo
Schumacher course: Economics for a Green World
Teachers: Martin Khor, Juliet Schor and Prasannan Parthasarathi
Course dates: July, 2005

A Buddhist Response to Global Development

Sulak Sivaraksa
Educated in the West, Sulak is a translator and Buddhist teacher
who brings Buddhist teachings to laypeople around the world.

World As Lover; World As Self

Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy discusses how seeing the world as oneself, or as a lover, transforms ordinary reality and provides a greater sense of purpose.

Ecopsychology

John Seed
In spite of the modern delusion of alienation, of separation from the living Earth, we humans are not aliens, we belong here…

Extract from The Spell of the Sensuous

David Abram
It was only after the publication of Descartes’ Meditations, in 1641, that material reality came to be commonly spoken of as a strictly mechanical realm…

Extract from The Web of Life

Fritjof Capra
As the century draws to a close, environmental concerns have become of paramount importance…

Denial and Demise

Sir John Whitmore
Capitalism is a flawed economic order that is palpably failing humanity. Is it curable?

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.