Education for a Survivable Future

From CFI

Education for a Survivable Future Project Concept

The current power structure continues to ignore and worse, perpetuate the breakdown in human relations and the ecosystem around the world. The global community is currently unprepared to evolve through the social and environmental calamities that are predicted for the 21st century. Mainstream media and public education is actively dumbing down the citizenry so that they won’t react against the global corporate takeover and eradication of democracy. Much of the headway made in the last few hundred years for human rights and environmental protection is being turned back when now we need more than ever to be progressing.

For the global human civilization to survive and evolve we must face the hardest aspects of our current affairs and future. As a species we profess to have a superior intelligence, if this is the case than we must be able to find the ways and act to solve the myriad of problems we are confronted with. The educational focus of Cloud Forest Institute is to prepare students to forge a peaceful, sustainable, diverse, healthy, respectful, balanced, equitable, and hopeful future. Based on need it appears that the most common “jobs” of the future will be in the areas of environmental rehabilitation, diversity and peace studies, and social justice and activism among others, themes not yet commonly taught. As part of educational preparation for the future CFI believes that it is important to academically define the body of knowledge that encompasses what is commonly referred to as sustainability. Sustainability, however, is a level we have already gone beyond and a more apt description is survivability.

The intent of the “Education for a Survivable Future” project is to develop a curriculum standard that can be applied to all levels of education, formal and informal. The success of this project depends on the collaboration of a wide range of participants from diverse locations and backgrounds and experience in many different areas. The Internet will be the tool to connect participants and the workspace to develop the project from. Although the project has a five year completion goal, knowledge is not static and the intent is that the project will end by forming an accrediting institution under the auspices of CFI’s World Institute for Sustainability Education (WISE).

Cloud Forest Institute’s roles as initiators of this project are to:

1. Find funding to support the project

2. Design and publish the multilingual website where the project will take place

3. Develop a proposed timeline and rules to guide the discussion, development, approval and appeals procedures

4. Simultaneously develop the WISE online infrastructure including databases of educators, existing programs and places of study, and groups that could be future sister institute sites

5. Perhaps other roles that become apparent later

Education for a Survivable Future project participants will work during five years to:

1. Define the objectives of the project; the common vision of the participants

2. Brainstorm all possible topics that are integral to the knowledge that will help survival of the paradigm sift and prepare to forge a peaceful, sustainable, diverse, healthy, respectful, balanced, equitable, and hopeful future

3. Divide them into common areas, like colleges

4. Describe each areas content

5. Describe theory and practice

6. Describe levels of competence and methods of evaluation

7. Perhaps other activities deemed necessary later in the project

There will be no restrictions or requirements for participation beyond having something to contribute and willingness to do so in the spirit of goodwill with which the project is being initiated. The work on the project will be done by individuals working independently on the internet or in local workgroups who communicate over the internet via a representative. Non governmental organizations, and educational institutions and businesses that either support an individual participant or who organize a committee to communicate on the Internet via a representative. Regional and International conferences will be organized as needed to facilitate completion of the project.

First Year Budget Needs

Tech Coordinator $6,000

Project Administrator $24,000

Rent and Utilities $6,000

Publication and Mailing $5,000

Total $41,000