Gaia
Geese information Northern Summer/Southern Winter 2011
education
Together We Fly Further – Celebrating 13 Years May East, Programme Director Gaia Education’s originating impulse was given wings in Denmark in a 1998 gathering of ecovillage educators from across the globe. This group later on called themselves GEESE– Global Ecovillage Educators for a Sustainable Earth. Over subsequent meetings of the GEESE Gaia Education and the EDE curriculum were developed. Since then, 97 programmes have taken place in 22 countries and over 2,500 EDE alumni from 61 countries across all continents have emerged, being the wind and carrying the wisdom of this global education for sustainability movement to new heights. What We Need Is Here Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear. What we need is here. From Wendell Berry’s Poem The Wild Geese (submitted by Maddy Harland)
From 25-27 June 2011, new and old GEESE will be gathering again, returning to Denmark after 13 years for a 3-day sharing, this time in Duesomegaard, the new farm-house and centre of Hildur and Ross Jackson. This issue of the GEESE InFormation Newsletter is dedicated to the many alumni who continue to inspire Gaia Education to further develop its programmes responding to the urgent issues of our times. From organising and assisting new EDE’s, to starting your own communities, sharing the wisdom of green building and working with the youth; from following your own creative impulses to reviving humankind’s traditional wisdom and translating EDE concept into strategic government policies; from bringing innovation to mainstream organisations and re-designing the human presence in cities and towns. Thank You to the many, many alumni from around the world for flapping strongly your wings and for your dedication to a Sustainable Earth. Together we fly further!