Newsletter January 2010

A radically different yardstick of progress and development

How does money relate to society’s concepts of happiness and well-being, and to what extent do public policies and the economic system support this relationship? Next month we’ll be exploring in depth the links between happiness, well-being and material wealth, and how economics impinges upon them, in our short course The Economics of Happiness (February 2010)

All the evidence shows that beyond the sort of standard of living which Britain has now achieved, extra growth does not automatically translate into human welfare and happiness… If you spend your time thinking that the most important objective of public policy is to get growth up from 1.9% to 2% and even better 2.1% we’re pursuing a sort of false god.

This is not a quote from one of our visiting teachers, but from Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) (The Guardian, 1 January 2010). Could this indicate that our society is now poised to review its values and focus some attention towards an economics of happiness? Among the line-up of esteemed teachers for this course are Dr Tim Kasser (Knox University), Dasho Karma Ura (Centre for Bhutan Studies) Nic Marks (founder of nef’s award-winning Centre for Well-being) Dr Per Espen Stoknes (BI Norwegian School of Management) and Andrew Simms (nef Policy Director).

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….Through GNH [gross national happiness], we have to generate the social heartbeat of the community… Dasho Karma Ura, teaching on The Economics of Happiness next month at Schumacher College.

Read about our short course The Economics of Happiness

Copenhagen – the Munich of our times

Malini Mehra will be teaching on our forthcoming course After Copenhagen. Directly following her ‘ringside view’ of the Copenhagen Summit, Malini Mehra, writes about the outcomes and the future.

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. We are in a new geopolitical era. Gone are the days of lazy definitions of the world as ‘developed’ and ‘developing’. Nations such as China and India showed that they are the new power players and will act as nakedly in their self-interest as western powers have…. There is a very positive agenda ahead. The post-Copenhagen anger that many are feeling now can perhaps best be channeled into a determination to see a new, more responsible world order emerge… Read more of Malini Mehra’s reflections after Copenhagen

After Copenhagen, before Mexico and during crisis

Miriam Kennet was the leader of the delegation from the Green Economics Institute at the Copenhagen Summit. She witnessed the power struggles and conflicts of interest that led to a near collapse of the summit. In the spotlight with all the world’s media focused several new issues arose. A “new world order emerged” in several respects. Read more of this article

Participants on our course After Copenhagen will be invited to discuss what these power relations mean in terms of looking constructively at expectations and targets for the Mexico summit and how the lessons learnt from the difficult management issues of the Copenhagen summit will be invaluable for the future of climate change negotiations and the reform of institutions. Moving forward from the Copenhagen Accord, participants on the course will have a chance to contribute towards documents and briefings for the Green Economics Institute’s international negotiators attending the Mexico Summit with Miriam and to explore the potential for their own work in this area.

Beyond Copenhagen

By Stephen Hale, Director Green Alliance, Published in Resurgence, January 2010

Why our leaders are failing us and why, collectively, we now need a far broader and deeper global movement for change… The ‘third sector’ holds the key to success in the struggle against climate change. It is made up of the community groups, national membership organisations, trade unions, faith communities, social enterprises and co-operatives that provide people with collective opportunities to act. The third sector can provide the leadership we need to transform the politics of climate change and make it the primary issue of public concern. Read more of this article

Ian Christie, an associate of Green Alliance will be teaching on After Copenhagen. He will look at the political, social and psychological dimensions of climate change and other crises that not only demand urgent and difficult action but also challenge the master concept in the West’s politics and economics – indefinite growth.

Ecology and Equity: Transformational learning from Schumacher College and the Sustainability Institute

Eve Annecke, co-founder and director of the Sustainability Insitute in South Africa has been an occasional short course participant at Schumacher College. Seven other members of the Sustainability Institute team recently attended Ecoliteracy: First principles for radical change. Hundreds of miles away from the Sustainability Institute in both distance and context, she talks about the work at Schumacher College as being deeply influential. “In all the creative work we have done in the last 10 years the work we have done with Schumacher has been one of the highlights.”

…The effect of the Ecoliteracy course was phenomenal. Each participant had their own learning journey but there was a common language that emerged which they continue to use in their work back home. “Colleagues recognised that the approach of Schumacher College is not replicated at the Sustainability Institute but forms a contribution to the whole. And this approach keeps developing.”…

What is Ecoliteracy?

On our forthcoming Ecoliteracy course participants will be exploring what ecoliteracy is and how to apply it. We asked some of the teachers on the course: What is Ecoliteracy? From their responses we see it can be an intersection between understanding and practice, applicable to all aspects of life from creativity to economy.

Anne Miller: Similar principles underpin both ecoliteracy and creativity: Intuition, questioning, seeing the big picture and recognising diversity are all as valuable for encouraging creativity as they are aspects of ecoliteracy. My teaching on this course will explore how to develop your creativity and use it in addressing ecological problems.

Oliver Greenfield: I see ecoliteracy as the understanding of the interactions between natural systems and human systems. This understanding is important so that we can change the human systems of specifically economy, finance, food, housing, transport and energy, in order that we can live sustainably and well, whilst at the same time maintaining and improving the health of natural systems and the diversity of life.

Mark Burton: The rapid expansion of human economic activity has taken place without regard to our dependence on the world around us or to any limits of that world. Rather than the narrow focus of the western economy on increasing financial returns, ecoliteracy gives us a more holistic perspective compelling us to organise the economy in ways consistent with ecological principles and with the purpose of systemic well being.

Reminder – Resourcing Ourselves: Effective working in organisations
This Schumacher College workshop offers the opportunity for friends and alumni of the College to come together as a “community of practice” to share, learn and reinvigorate our work.

New – Pilgrimage and Discovery: Further explorations with the Earth Pilgrim
By popular demand, our Earth Pilgrim course is being both lengthened and deepened to enable participants to have more time to explore and experience a deep connection with the land.

Courses open for booking in 2010

The Economics of Happiness
Tim Kasser, Dasho Karma Ura, Nic Marks, Per Espen Stoknes, Andrew Simms
1 – 19 February 2010
Resourcing Ourselves: Effective working in organisations
Chris Nichols, Chris Seeley
22 – 25 February, 2010
After Copenhagen: Opportunities and challenges
Vandana Shiva, Malini Mehra, Ian Christie, Clare Short MP, Rob Hopkins, Miriam Kennet, Nigel Topping
1 – 19 March 2010
Ecoliteracy: First principles for radical change
Fritjof Capra (Via video link), Stephan Harding, Philip Franses, Satish Kumar, Anne Miller, Oliver Greenfield and others
22 March – 1 April 2010

Ecological Facilitation: A gritty and creative approach to leadership
Jenny Mackewn and Toni Spencer
April 6 – 10, 2010
Green Design in Practice: Building an earthship
Kevan Trott
16 – 27 April 2010
Leadership in Times of Chaos: Exploring Old and New Wisdom
Margaret Wheatley
May 10 – 14, 2010
Creativity, Perception and the Modern Mind: Leonardo and the Search for Holism
Fritjof Capra, Peter Adams with guest lecturer: Iain McGilchrist
May 17 – 28, 2010

Open Evenings for February and March 2010
Speakers include: Tim Kasser, Dasho Karma Ura, Per Espen Stoknes, Vandana Shiva, Miriam Kennet and Alex Randall
Click here fore more details about Open Evenings.

Children and Nature: Rediscovering a sense of wonder
Richard Louv, Kathy Louv, Jan van Boeckel
31 May – 4 June 2010
Pilgramage and Discovery: Further explorations with the Earth Pilgrim
Satish Kumar, Chris Lloyd and others
11 – 18 June 2010
Gaia and the Evolution of Consciousness
Sean Kelly, Rupert Sheldrake, Stephan Harding
June 21 – July 2, 2010

MSc in Holistic Science
September 2010

We would like to acknowledge the following organisations and individuals who have supported us in the promotion of The Economics of Happiness:

Alan Kirkham, Director, Investing Ethically Ltd http://www.investing-ethically.co.uk
Barchester Green Investment, http://www.barchestergreen.co.uk
Robin Currie, IFA, http://www.makingfriendswithmoney.co.uk/

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