Students study the relationships between humans and their natural environments, such as this 'Living Machine' ecological waste treatment center.

We are living in the most challenging, yet also the most promising era of human history. While the details of global warming, environmental degradation, xenophobia, social injustice and armed conflict are debated endlessly, the bottom line is that our dominant global culture is very much like the Titanic -- a gigantic, human-made enterprise that is headed for certain disaster unless its course is significantly altered. Our navigational charts are hopelessly out-of-date and we desperately need to develop new visions and new maps that will help guide us toward more sustainable lifeways.

Fortunately, as deep ecologist Joanna Macy would say, we have already begun this "Great Turning". Like lifeboats that have "jumped ship" in search of verdant lands, thousands of intentional communities, institutions, and individuals all around the world are discovering and pioneering social and ecological systems that offer positive, regenerating visions for humanity and the planet. Together, these groups and individuals are truly part of an emerging sustainable culture.

Such a cultural shift must certainly bring with it a dramatic reorientation of our educational system. As the author David Orr noted, "the skills, aptitudes, and attitudes necessary to industrialize the earth are not necessarily the same as those that will be needed to heal the earth or to build durable economies and good communities." It is vital to acknowledge that our present educational system, with its emphasis on fragmentation rather than integration and domination rather than cooperation, is not part of the solution, but part of the problem. We now need to develop new models of education that support the development of whole persons with the understanding, skills, and commitment to help build sustainable communities and environments.

At Living Routes, it is our firm belief that ecovillages are ideal contexts for developing such educational models and methods. In addition to pioneering a myriad of social and ecological tools such as consensus decision making, ecological design, and community-scale renewable energy systems, these communities are bringing these tools together within human-scale communities in ways that are greater than the sum of their parts. What emerges in these settings, and what people who live, visit, or study there experience, are new relationships, paradigms, and "stories" in which these specific tools have meaning -- stories about what it means to be in right relationship with each other, the world, and ourselves.

Living Routes' mission is to provide future leaders with the skills, knowledge, and wisdom needed to repair the earth after 200 years of industrialization and to build durable economies and healthy communities that can thrive into the indefinite future. We offer for-credit sustainability education programs on every continent in semester, January-term and summer formats, and continue to develop new and innovative programs to meet an increasing demand. Over 1000 college and university students have benefited from these personally and professionally transformational experiences. They have returned with deep practice-based knowledge, valuable skills, and a renewed passion and vision to make a difference in their local communities and in the world.