Updated Human Sustainability Curriculum – Feedback Invited

**DRAFT**
THIS DOCUMENT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Change Management in the Context of “Human Sustainability”
A Curriculum Designed for Emerging Adults (college)

Who is this for?
Students who want to have a clearer sense of personal mission and purpose related to repairing homo sapiens’ mark on Planet Earth, and who want to actively and effectively engage in that repair.

Part 1: Reframing the Issues: Wrestling with Worldviews
Part 2: Personal Effectiveness: Values, Commitment and Motivation
Part 3: Community Cohesion: Solutions and Action

My Role
EcoActivator-in-Residence

• Worldview Instigator (Part 1)
• Personal Coach (Part 2)
• Project Architect and Community Catalyst (Part 3)

Each part is outlined below with

• Why Bother?
• Content
• Process
• Reflection

Each session will include a brief meditation practice.
There will be at least one extended “nature in the wild” experience in each Part.
There will be Intake and Exit surveys to gauge course impact.


PART ONE Reframing the Issues: Wrestling with Worldviews

Why Bother?
So much confusion around terms and topics can lead to ineffective action or inaction.
Transdisciplinary perspectives* promote advanced critical thinking.
Fine-tuning a personal worldview supports intrinsic motivation at act.*

Facilitator Role
Worldview-Shifting Instigator

Content
Core framing paradigms and worldviews, including

• regenerative systems and deep ecology
• behavioral economics and change management
• human development and spirituality

Examples: Mycelial network as a model for resource usage, community building and resilience; Polyface Farm as an applied model of regenerative farming.

Process
Students will be challenged to fine-tune their own worldview by engaging with the paradigms above. Example: assignments will include questions such as What do you (strongly) agree with? What do you (strongly) disagree with? What piques your curiosity? What makes you uncomfortable? Assignment also includes a personal waste mitigation practice challenge.

Reflection
Exploring our relationship with...

• consumption
• convenience
• separateness
• nostalgia

Exploring our relationship with...

• time
• space
• species
• values

PART TWO Personal Effectiveness: Values, Commitment and Motivation

Why Bother?
Unused personal resources are wasted energy.
Knee-jerk reactions often get us into trouble.
Heightened awareness about how what inspires, attracts, distracts and repels us allows us to more intentionally set our course and make better decisions about how we spend our time,** leading to a richer and more meaningful, engaged, fulfilled life.

Facilitator Role
Personal (adulting-oriented) Coach

Content

• Integral Theory (Wilber) Model of Human Development (modified)
• Choices and Decision Making
• Change Management*

Process
Framed in a 6-worlds*** model (physical, emotional, social, intellectual, sensual, spiritual worlds), students will respond to personal assessment questions related to strengths, challenges, triggers and preferences.

• Cultivate creativity by identifying the sweet spot of “flow”
• Anticipate and mitigate obstacles to forward movement
• Develop a resilience strategy
• Implement a personal growth plan

Reflection
How and when do you manifest your best self?
How will you best manifest your best self in your repair work?


PART THREE Community Cohesion: Solutions and Action

Why Bother?
Good intentions without adequate resources will not move us forward
Good intentions without effective community support will not move us forward.
Communities are large ecosystems with energy constantly flowing between members
Taking advantage of and contributing to this flow increases the probability of success*

Facilitator Role
Project Shepherd and Community Catalyst

Content

• Community Resources Panel
• Strategic Thinking - nurturing strategic alliances
• Change Management - shifting culture
• Project Management - getting it done

Process

• Map community ecosystem with flow of nourishment*
• Evaluate project options
• Select for alignment of values and style
• Describe what success looks like
• Identify general and specific steps
• Devise accountability plan*

Reflection
Invite active feedback
Stay open to passive/observational feedback


TEXTS

Written Word

• The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan, Chapter 8, “All Flesh is Grass”
• “The Great Nutrient Collapse,” Evich, Politico
• Sapiens, Harari, Part Three, “The Unification of Mankind”
• Experiential Flashes on the Sephirot, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
• The Hidden Life of Trees
• The New Wild, Fred Pearce
• Sensory Processing, Winnie Dunn

Visual Representation

• Behavioral Economics “Deck”
• 12 Principles of Permaculture
• Integral Theory, Ken Wilber (modified)

Video

• “New Insights on Poverty,” Hans Rosling, TED

Podcast

• Masters of Regeneration, Episode 17, Alex Morton

Still Needed

• Decision Making

Footnotes
*The 3 ½ Critical Factors for Successful Action

• Intrinsic Motivation (including factors of locus of control, quality of “flow,” and sense of meaning and purpose)
• Access to Resources (including reliable information, time, geographical convenience, and all flavors of “capital”)
• Social Support (including companionship, witnessing, and all flavors of outside accountability)
• (Half… If there is a provider…) A good Relationship with the Provider

**”How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” (Annie Dillard)

***Modified from Lurianic Kabbalah 4-Worlds model of Physical, Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual worlds

Possible academic ecosystems for this curriculum

• Warren Wilson (NC)
• Prescott College (AZ)
• Evergreen College (WA)
• Ryerson (ONT)
• Sewanee (TN)
• Chatham University (PA)
• Colorado College (CO)
• Catawba College (NC)
• David & Elkins College (WV)
• Alaska Pacific University (AK)
• Northland College (WI)
• Daemen College (NY)