The Ecoversity
A decentralized learning and research network
The Story
What might a learning institution look like if it were at the service of our diverse ecologies, cultures, economies, spiritualities and life within our planetary home? This is the question we are trying to explore under the idea of the Ecoversity here in Barichara. In order to be able to share both local and global knowledge and lessons learned from field sites using regenerative techniques in the territory, we want to create structures that coordinate in-person workshops, online learning material, on-the-ground research teams and local knowledge-bearers.
We are developing on the one hand a structured learning journey which is focused around volunteering with a host family and a mentor with frequent workshops to convey knowledge and opportunities to integrate into the local community. And on the other had starting a discourse around opening up access to all the learning already in the community and that which will be brought by outsiders in a more choose-your-own-adventure style learning buffet.
In this process, we value emergence, experiential learning and trans-cultural dialogue to invite the different forms of knowing humans have developed to understand their environment.
We try to compost the old learning system with macro-degrees that you finish in your twenties and then never look back into an attitude of life-long learning focused around acquiring the skills needed for each challenge faced in the moment through sharing within the community.
