By Inga Page, Programme Manager, Schumacher College
July 2010
Planning the Schumacher College short course programme is itself a lesson in the challenges of working in a world of ever-increasing interdependence, chaos and uncertainty. Mercifully, some courses fall into place quite effortlessly, whereas others go through many incarnations and permutations before finally appearing on our website.
I’m currently putting the finishing touches to our 3-week courses which take place between January and March of next year. These courses are not only optional modules for our MSc in Holistic Science students but are also open to the wider public, most of whom will choose to attend only a week or two. The topics need to span the range of our curriculum, bring in teachers who are at the cutting edge of their fields, and provide a coherent and attractive set of sub-themes within each course. Having decided on all that, there’s then the issue of whether the desired teachers are available when you want them. If not, it’s back to square one, or maybe square three….
Our January 2011 course, Systems Thinking in a Complex World, builds on an earlier, very successful, course on systems thinking run in 2009. It starts with an introduction to systems thinking and complexity and its centrality to an understanding of sustainablity, co-taught by Hardin Tibbs and Phil Franses. We then look at how this applies to organisations and social systems, with contributions from Jean Boulton and the Transition Network, and a videolink with Peter Senge who was one of the very first to apply complexity to management and organisational change. In the final week, Gunter Pauli returns to describe his inspirational work setting up complex zero-waste industrial ecologies inspired by nature.
I’ve been struggling for a while with the title of our February course. “Development” as conventionally understood is an idea whose time (we think) has come and gone, and the teachers on this course are reluctant to use the term for that reason. Yet the issue of how, within a grossly unequal world, communities can and should be mobilised to improve their own lives and their environment is more vital than ever. Transformative Development begins with an examination of the global economic, social and ecological context in which such work takes place: can the many crises the world is facing help to bring about a transformation in how we live? In week two, Allan Kaplan will introduce participants to a holistic model of community development which has grown out of his study of Goethe’s intuitive scientific method. In the final week, participants will hear from two very different practitioners of radical activism from India – Bunker Roy, founder of Barefoot College, and Aruna Roy, founder of MKSS, a grassroots movement campaigning for freedom of information in all spheres of government. What can we learn from their work about change and empowerment?
In March, we will run, for the first time in many years, a course on Ecopsychology. We are working with Dave Key and Mary-Jayne Rust, who have many years of experience in the field, to design a course that moves from understanding what we mean by the ecological self in week one, to an investigation of the cultural roots of our alienation from nature in week two, and an exploration of practical examples of ecopsychology in action in week three. Dave and Mary-Jayne will be present throughout the course, inviting in other teachers in the second and third weeks with expertise in mythology, indigenous cultures, storytelling and effective activism.
And so we begin 2011, the 20th year of the College’s existence. We hope that the programme that develops across this important year will reflect both the past, the teachers and subjects Schumacher has patiently explored over the years. But also we want to look at the future – the new areas that need our attention. If you have ideas for teachers or subjects for our 2011 programme then please do let me know as ultimately we want the programme all of you, out their in the world, making a difference in the work you do. Email inga.page@schumachercollege.org.uk
