Topic outline

  • The source

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    The source

    Introduction

    It is good to see sustainability in a broader context. You need knowledge about the whole integral system that makes up the earth and all the relationships that exist between people and between all living organisms. The next quest creates a closer bond within a group and takes you back to the origins of humans and its connection to the animal kingdom.

    Source: from Joanna Macy’s workshops

    1. Find a classmate.
    2. Take his/her left hand in your left hand and close your eyes.
    3. How does this hand feel, is it warm, cold, hard, soft? Imagine it’s the first hand you’ve ever touched. What’s up with this hand? feel the knuckles, nails, fingers…. What is this hand doing? Does he help in the garden? Does he cook at night? Does he bring newspapers around?
    4. Now go back in the history of this hand. Do you feel the hand as it was as a small child? When he played with dolls or cars? Can you feel the hand when he was just born?
    5. Now go back even further in your imagination. Can you feel this hand when he was still a monkey’s paw? when he clutched at the branches of the trees? When he picked a fruit high up in the tree?
    6. Do you feel the hand like a dinosaur’s claw? Do you feel the sharp nails, the scales on the back?
    7. And do you feel the fin of a fish, before this hand crawled on land? Do you feel the water of the ocean flowing around your hand? And if you feel very well now, do you feel the dust of the stars of which this hand is composed?
    8. Now without words and with your eyes still closed, say goodbye to this hand and turn away from this person without opening your eyes.

    Let us once again feel the connection between people and the animal world.

    A deeper connection with all living things..

    No materials are required for this activity.

  • Connectionweb

    Connectionweb

    Introduction

    You don’t live in isolation. We all depend on each other and on everything around us to survive and thrive in our environment. If you ignore this basic truth, you will live a lonely life. There are many lines that connect us to all kinds of things and that you can discover if you just take the time.

    1. Form a circle with the group
    2. Give each participant a sustainable role that occurs in the community. Examples: food distribution, sustainable money, local businesses, inclusive leaders, equal decision-making, integrity, responsibility, love, nature, natural building, renewable energy, natural resources, etc. … find as many different elements of sustainability as there are participants. (ask participants to think of some).
    3. Each participant writes his/her role on an A4 sheet so that the others know what he/she is imagining.
    4. Now have them think about how these roles are related.
    5. Give someone in the circle the ball of wool and ask to throw it to someone their own role has a relationship with. Make sure that the end of the woolen thread is held so that a connection remains.
    6. For each roll, ask to describe the relationship according to the assigned roles. For example, how sustainable food production relates to sustainable money, which in turn relates to sustainable behavior of the local economy, which in turn relates to inclusive decision-making procedures, which in turn relates to integrity in human interaction, which relates to love, which relates to wilderness and nature, which relates to ecological building, and so on…
    7. So, each person throws the ball of wool to another while holding the rope and describes the relationship between the roles. Always throw it to someone who hasn’t already connected it first.

    You can think of this activity as a design process, where the interconnections and interrelationships are emphasized and made more visible to everyone.

    Developing a deeper personal realization that the connectedness of life is not just a metaphor, but a living truth for which we humans must take responsibility.

    A ball of wool from 30 to 50 meters long.

    Discussion of this activity is best done in small groups and then with the whole group to experience and share the various experiences.

    Students: Ask the youth what they discovered about the connections in a system. How does this relate to the rest of the community? To the rest of the world? What was most important in what happened in this activity? What did they miss?

    Facilitators: What did you notice during this activity? How well did participants do? Did they understand the directions? Have any risks or unforeseen outcomes emerged? What would you do differently next time?

     

  • Spiritual activism

    Spiritual activism

    Introduction

    Although we are often presented with denying negative images and stories, people all over the world are committed to a healthy ecosystem and healthy communities. These champions often draw their strength from their own spirituality.

    Hearing about and celebrating each other’s successes, sharing hard-won wisdom, and finding the “best practices” can move us forward in our own spiritual activism.

    This new way of being politically active emphasizes spirituality and creates just, sustainable communities. It gives the ability to solve problems creatively, discover new possibilities, and honor the earth by taking innovative solution-oriented action.

    Part A

    1. Split the group into smaller groups of three to six students and give each group a newspaper.
    2. Give each group fifteen minutes to find as many articles as possible that are solution-oriented (hopeful, optimistic, or visionary) and offer a proactive solution to a problem.
    3. Have each group share the essence of their favorite article and explain how spiritual activism was present here.

    Part B

    1. Divide the group into students exploring local, national, and international solutions.
    2. Each student prepares a 2-5 minute presentation on a person, organization, technology, policy, or project that relates to health and sustainability for both the environment and humans.
    3. Discuss the spiritual components of each presentation.
    4. Ask the participants of each group to come up with a definition of ‘spiritual activism’ and ‘solution-oriented politics’ and share it with the whole group.

    Part C

    1. Have students brainstorm problems they encounter in their community or city/village.
    2. From these, choose a priority problem and assign each team the task of coming up with a solution to the chosen problem.
    3. Appoint a jury that chooses the best solution based on the degree of spirituality.
    4. Design an implementation strategy for the selected solution.
    5. You can have the students write letters to the editors of the various newspapers asking them to publish more news about spiritual activism and solution-oriented politics or to thank them for what has already been published about this.



    Participants will learn about spiritual activism within their own community and communities around the world and thereby learn to make a difference in environmental and social justice.

    Understand the terms “spiritual activism” and “solution-oriented politics” as concepts that offer a powerful combination of politics, hope, achievement, optimism and spiritual practice.

    Flipchart, markers, papers.