Newsletters

Changing the world: Science at Schumacher College

Challenging the status quo whilst retaining academic credibility is at the heart of what we do at Schumacher College. We are currently recruiting for our year-long Masters in Holistic Science degree programme for 2010/11, whilst we look forward to welcoming Fritjof Capra, Sean Kelly and Rupert Sheldrake to join our own Stephan Harding to teach our science-themed short courses this Summer.

Economic growth no longer possible for rich countries, says new research

Growth ‘drowns-out’ efficiency gains. Environmental ‘tolerance thresholds’ being pushed too far making a growing economy and a safe climate incompatible according to new modelling from nef (the new economics foundation) and Schumacher College.

Newsletter January 2010

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…. What Copenhagen made blindingly clear is how the world has changed. Malini Mehra, founder and chief executive of Centre for Social Markets.

A radically different yardstick of progress and development

We need, in this new century, a radically different yardstick of progress and development, to measure what matters most: well-being and happiness. We need to adopt well-being and collective happiness as the orienting principles of our governance… Dasho Karma Ura

Newsletter: New year 2009 - 2010

We leave you this year with a taste of our exciting course areas for the year to come including: organisational change, leadership and facilitation; refocusing after Copenhagen; and the meeting of Gaia and consciousness.

Newsletter December 2009

At this time we are living during with a “crisis of perception.” People tend to see the world’s problems as largely unrelated and fragmented, with limited understanding of their common ecological basis. At Schumacher College, we are continuously inviting visionary and inspired teachers who eloquently challenge these misperceptions. Our new year courses will explore this crisis through three approaches: science and spirit, economics and happiness, and the implications Copenhagen summit. The time to challenge the crisis of perception is here. Join us at Schumacher College.

Extraordinary teachers and new opportunities through science

How do we find a way through to a more enlightened understanding of our role on this planet, which embraces the wonderful intellectual achievements of our age whilst putting them in a context of responsibility, sustainability and wisdom?

Newsletter November 2009

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) taking place in Denmark in December of this year is viewed by many as a landmark in human history, whatever the outcomes. Future historians will point to it as the moment when global political leaders either had the courage to take drastic action to protect future generations’ wellbeing or failed to move beyond their own national self-interests and continued business as usual – with potentially catastrophic results.

Winter Warmer Week

As we approach the winter solstice, the longest night and the season for natural hibernation Schumacher College invites you to a Winter Warmer Week. Two courses will run during the week to inspire and nourish you: Baking for a New Food Culture and Darkness and Transformation.

Newsletter October 2009

Schumacher College was founded upon the convictions that the dominant world view has serious limitations, and that a new vision is needed for human society and our relationship to the Earth. Since it is our scientific understanding that largely informs this world view, Schumacher College has been dedicated to the exploration of a vision that is informed by a new “holistic science,” through a programme of science-themed residential courses and the revolutionary one-year Masters in Holistic Science degree programme.

Newsletter August 2009

A systemic disconnect: Money and happiness | The current economic crisis provides the opportunity to look at personal and group values in the context of our role in the world and our relationship with the planet. What exactly is the connection between money and happiness at a psychological and a systemic level?

Certificate in Sustainable Horticulture recruits the next generation of food producers

Applications for the new Dartington Certificate in Sustainable have exceeded expectations. The high demand for this new course reflects the urgent need for new ways of running in the UK and across the world.

Newsletter July 2009

Last week for Autumn courses at early booking rate. So do visit our course pages for more information about our exciting programme which includes hands-on on topics like ethnobotany to creative approaches to educating on sustainability

Newsletter June 2009

Autumn booking open – early booking discounts available on many courses
There are early booking discounts for a limited number of applicants, and normal pricing will resume after 24 July. Take advantage of early booking – go straight to on-line booking for all courses

Biomimicry: why the world is full of intelligent design

Telegraph newspaper coverage
We humans like to think we’re pretty good at design and technology – but we often forget that Mother Nature had a head start of 3.6 million years. Now, the way that geckoes climb walls, or hummingbirds hover, is at the centre of a burgeoning industry: biomimicry, the science of “reverse-engineering” clever ideas from the natural world.

Thomas Berry, 1914-2009

On June 1, the theologian Thomas Berry passed away peacefully at the age of 94. The following day, participants on our Small is Beautiful Revisited course remembered him at the morning meeting, with a reading from one of his books, The Great Work.

Governance with Ecological Integrity

Where biomimicry seeks design solutions from the natural world, Community Ecological Governance looks to Nature to derive human governance systems, built upon a foundation of ecoliteracy.

Global change and environmental crisis: Local communities hold the answers

Maintaining biocultural diversity is an act of supreme collective intelligence according to Gary Martin, Director of the Global Diversity Foundation. Local community knowledge may hold the keys to addressing global challenges like climate change, ecosystem health and food security.

Newsletter May 2009

Courses for the autumn include Biotecture in Practice: Building an Earthship; Exploring Ethnobotany: Plants as healers; and Growth and Consequence: Rethinking our economic future. We have released the initial course details so you can put the dates in your diary. Why not register your interest in one or more courses and you will be the first to know when the courses open for booking, with further details and any early-bird discounts.

Newsletter April 23, 2009

Welcome to the Dartington Schumacher College newsletter. We have ideas on G20 and the relevance of Schumacher today, eletric vans as a way forward, information about employment opportunities at Dartington, and extract from Frijof Capra’s new book and further details on our pioneering course – Valuing Diversity.

Big figures, but how can we transform the economic system with ‘small is beautiful’?

In his famous book, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if people mattered, E.F. Schumacher brilliantly articulated the need to align economics with natural resources.

Newsletter: April 2009

Spring has now arrived in the Northern Hemisphere and the day are lengthening and getting warmer. During May we are delighted to be welcoming back Fritjof Capra and Thomas Moore who are both returning to Schumacher after a few years.

Newsletter: Febuary 2009

The opening weeks of 2009 have been optimistic at Schumacher College as participants joined us for two challenging yet highly rewarding courses Exploring Science, Matter and Consciousness and the timely Embedding Holistic Economics: For a global community. The forthcoming courses for spring/summer 2009 are equally relevant and inspiring.

Newsletter: December 2008

Welcome to a special seasonal issue of the Schumacher College newsletter. As we celebrrate the season and look forward to the New Year we have news of staff changes, exciting courses and a wonderful range of events, where we invite you to meet our tutors, visit the college and discuss the hot topics of the day.

Certificate in Sustainable Health- Time to apply!

Schumacher College is inviting applications for the new Certificate in Sustainable Health which starts in February 2009.

Newsletter: October 2008

Welcome to the October issue of the Schumacher College newsletter. This month we are featuring two fantastic programmes: the transformative and inspirational Certificate in Education, and brand new Certificate in Sustainable Health.

Certificate in Education- Time to apply!

We hope, like us, you are excited by the potential of this programme to really engage the individual as well as have a creative and lasting effect on education for sustainability across the globe. We look forward to welcoming you, or someone you know, soon.

A legal precedent? Schumacher College hosts the debate

Schumacher College, at Dartington is welcoming four legal experts on the growing and topical legal specialism of Earth Jurisprudence or wild law, to consider how the legal system and other forms of governance may be harnessed to protect the natural world and to learn from real examples while exploring the philosophy and theory underpinning this exciting and evolving area of law. The course is timely, given events of the past week involving the court case between Greenpeace activists and energy giant E.ON.

Newsletter: September 2008

Welcome to a new academic year at Schumacher College. We have lots of new information about next years courses, more on the brilliant Allan Jones – teaching here in October, how you can help your enterprising contacts find us, and other news about a new book, a new DVD and articles on-line.

Welcome to the Schumacher College newsletter, July 2008

We know many of you are still keen to take advantage of our summer deal – so we have extended this offer until the end of July, see below for details. Also here – more details about some of the exceptional teaching in-store on our sustainability and leadership courses in the autumn, experiences from the first year of the Certificate in Education and information about a temporary post at Schumacher College

Design in context: Systems, Business and Society

This month we are pleased to be featuring two courses geared towards professionals seriously looking for innovative, creative solutions within the multi-faceted disciplines of industrial/product design, business strategy and organisational change: Biomimicry and Systems Thinking in Practice.

Newsletter: Earth Jurisprudence

Many of you have contacted us asking for more information about the exciting area of Earth Jurisprudence, and our forth-coming course by the same title. This email is an introduction to resources now available on our website about Earth Jurisprudence.

Newsletter: May 2008

We are delighted that Starhawk will be teaching on our forthcoming course Sacred Activism this summer. Starhawk is the author or co-author of ten books including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, and is internationally known for reviving earth-based spirituality, bringing techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism.

Newsletter: April 2008

This issue of our newsletter will give you new course details from our brand new programme. We realise that the ‘credit crunch’ may be making it hard for some of you to participate and have therefore drastically reduced the fees for the majority of courses in the new programme and again, offered you an early booking discount. More below.

Also in this newsletter, we have new dates for the next term of open evenings, news of the much-awaited Gaia’s Kitchen and an article from faculty member Brian Goodwin.

Newsletter: March 2008

This newsletter brings you the thoughts of two of our teachers – visiting teacher on a summer course, Mary Aver with a sneek preview of some of her writing on the power of nature, faculty member Stephan Harding on Intellengent Growth, an update on the Certificate in Education and more…

This summer, Schumacher College is running a series of courses focusing on the interconnections between nature, art, science and activism. This is a wonderful time of year to stay at the College and enjoy the bounteous gardens and natural beauty of Dartington.

Newsletter: January 2008

This is a very hands on issue of the newsletter. We have news from Satish, talking of India and of Dartmoor on the BBC, of the Schumacher College garden in transition, of ideas for using your wallet to be more ethically minded with Julia Hailes and of the new forum which lets YOU do the talking. So without another word…

10th anniversary of the MSc in Holistic Science

Dear MSc students, past and present

We invite you to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the MSc in Holistic Science with a ‘conference’ that will explore and promote the holistic vision in different areas of education and action…

London Seminar: Saturday 8th March 2008

Newsletter: December 2007

Wishing you all a very happy winter season and a positive new year!
Here are bite sized pieces of news for you, including the first Schumacher College website forum, an article from Vandana Shiva, the reprint of Gaia’s Kitchen and our new programme of Open evenings. Something for everyone – local to global.

Newsletter: November 2007

We have a new seminar in London, new teachers, a whole new programme to plan and some of you are joining us in setting up your new enterprises in a course later this month.

Newsletter: October 2007

A thought-provoking view of capitalism by Sir John Whitmore.
The latest interview with College Director, Karen Blincoe.
Early-bird discounts and other course news.