More About Earth Regenerative Studies
"We might say that our era is in need of wisdom schools, as opposed to knowledge factories…. A wisdom school would honor the heart and body, the right brain of awe and wonder, as much as it would be analytic or left brained. It would therefore honor the artist by inviting her to teach not just art but life…. If it is to once again live up to its task of leading wisdom and compassion out of our species, education needs some basic and deep remodeling…. What we can do is reinvent education. We can make it more worthy of our species, more sensitive to the Earth and other species, and more aware of our whole brain (left and right) and of our bodies and hearts. We can make it more effective, with a common goal: to build compassion." (Matthew Fox, 1994, p. 177).
Poised at a threshold of opportunity for the planet and all humans, we are called to catalyze, awaken, and embody the inherent wisdom of the planetary being. Earth regenerative education is the nurturing of this process of awakening and revitalizing wild earth. The aim is not to sustain the current catastrophe and confusion but to actively engage Earth’s natural unfolding healing processes. Earth regenerative education is the creation of contexts where the embedded, embodied wisdom of all-that-is reconnects to the great unfurling wholeness of planetary life: whole systems theory in action, processual, a creative process of discovery, increasing complexity, the wild fires of innovation and collaboration.
The Institute nurtures language and contexts for Gaia Sophia, the study and cultivation of the wisdom of the Earth, including the study and modeling of how nature itself regenerates. Our central concern goes beyond the concept of sustainability to regeneration. The Institute for Earth Regenerative Studies works at the transdisciplinary intersection of four converging streams: innovation and creativity, bioremediation and permaculture, ancient wisdom and healing, and earth-centered spirituality. Earth wisdom, compassion, and social and biocultural diversity and justice guide our path.
Please join us in exploring this fertile convergence of streams of wisdom to rejuvenate human-earth collaborations.
