Small is Beautiful - Buddhist Economics

I just read a piece on Buddhist Economics by E.F. Schumacher and highly recommend it.  Visit http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/pdf/buddhist_economics/english.pdf for this nine page thought provoking essay.  Some of my favorite excerpts are:

Buddhist sees the essence of civilisation not in a multiplication of wants but in the purification of human character. Character, at the same time, is formed primarily by a man’s work. And work, properly conducted in conditions of human dignity and freedom, blesses those who do it and equally their products.

The keynote of Buddhist economics, therefore, is simplicity and non-violence. From an economist’s point of view, the marvel of the Buddhist way of life is the utter rationality of its pattern—amazingly small means leading to extraordinarily satisfactory results. For the modern economist this is very difficult to understand. He is used to measuring the “standard of living” by the amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who consumes more is “better off” than a man who consumes less. A Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption.

Modern economics, on the other hand, considers consumption to be the sole end and purpose of all economic activity, taking the factors of production—land, labour, and capital—as the means. The former, in short, tries to maximise human satisfactions by the optimal pattern of consumption, while the latter tries to maximise consumption by the optimal pattern of productive effort. It is easy to see that the effort needed to sustain a way of life which seeks to attain the optimal pattern of consumption is likely to be much smaller than the effort needed to sustain a drive for maximum consumption.

People who live in highly self-sufficient local communities are less likely to get involved in large-scale violence than people whose existence depends on world-wide systems of trade.

From the point of view of Buddhist economics, therefore, production from local resources for local needs is the most rational way of economic life, while dependence on imports from afar and the consequent need to produce for export to unknown and distant peoples is highly uneconomic and justifiable only in exceptional cases and on a small scale. Just as the modern economist would admit that a high rate of consumption of transport services between a man’s home and his place of work signifies a misfortune and not a high standard of life, so the Buddhist would hold that to satisfy human wants from faraway sources rather than from sources nearby signifies failure rather than success.

Modern economics does not distinguish between renewable and non-renewable materials, as its very method is to equalise and quantify everything by means of a money price. Thus, taking various alternative fuels, like coal, oil, wood, or water-power: the only difference between them recognised by modern economics is relative cost per equivalent unit. The cheapest is automatically the one to be preferred, as to do otherwise would be irrational and “uneconomic.” From a Buddhist point of view, of course, this will not do; the essential difference between nonrenewable fuels like coal and oil on the one hand and renewable fuels like wood and water-power on the other cannot be simply overlooked. Non-renewable goods must be used only if they are indispensable, and then only with the greatest care and the most meticulous concern for conservation.

For it is not a question of choosing between “modern growth” and “traditional stagnation.” It is a question of finding the right path of development, the Middle Way between materialist heedlessness and traditionalist immobility, in short, of finding “Right Livelihood.”

Arriving in Prescott

My first residency began on August 7th with a hike through a creek restoration project on the outskirts of the City of Prescott, Arizona.  That was a really nice way to begin to get to know the program faculty and the 23 other students who are embarking on this same journey.   The majority of the rest of our time here in Prescott will be spent in the school's Crossroads building, which houses the community gathering area. It is a beautiful building made of reclaimed materials and it sets a great stage for the work we are undertaking. 

Fall Semester Courses

During my first semester, I will be taking the following three courses:

Sustainability Theory and Practice in Education I

As one of the core foundational doctoral seminars, readings and discussion will reveal how the various themes in economy and ecology have evolved and in most cases the relation between them has been uneasy and even conflicting. Despite the fact that both economy and ecology originate from the same root oikos (or the household), the two disciplines developed without the necessary recognition of or integration with each other. While economists ignored nature, ecological scientists in turn pretended as if humans did not exist in their calculations of energy flow or population dynamic. Many attribute the

potential decline of techno-industrial economy due to this basic caveat. As Herman Daly and Joshua Farley (2004) urge us, the emergent discipline of ecological economics does not simply bring the light of ecology into the darkness of economics. Along with them and others, we will examine how both disciplines need fundamental reform if the marriage between ecology and economy is to come to fruition. In order to bring the earth household (ecology) and the human household (economy) in harmony, we will examine several ways to go about such integration. Authors and texts examine various options: the concept of natural capitalism, valuing of biomass and ecosystem services, calculating ecological footprint, investing in eco-economy, developing cradle-to-cradle ecological design, transitioning to post-carbon economy, using appropriate technologies, pursuing sustainable harvest regimes, and respecting indigenous ecological knowledge.

Sustainability Education and Transformational Change

Education as Sustainability explores the theories, processes, and conditions through which individuals, groups, and organizations learn and transform in ways that support a sustainable future. This entails an examination of current educational approaches and strategies as well as innovations that challenge traditional assumptions and practices. This investigation may take place in such arenas as public and private education, community development endeavors, business and economic ventures, government training programs, and through all the social and ecological networks critical for human survival. Sustainable Education is the process by which individuals and organizations engage in new learning that challenges existing norms and draws upon the resources and initiative of those involved in this learning. This approach to education is designed to contrast the predominant managerial and mechanistic paradigm of learning, such as exists in most public education settings and in much of higher education, with a more holistic and ecological model that emphasizes the realization of human potential and interdependence of social, economic, and ecological wellbeing. Such learning is more engaged, experiential, and addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components of our roles in the world and in human society. Such learning is based on core values of lifelong learning, recognition of diversity, cooperation and collaboration, personal reflection and values, integrative understanding, responsibility and faith in others, and developing learning communities with a commitment to the good of the whole. Education as Sustainability is the means through which we educate our citizenry to the values, opportunities, and choices each person has to develop one's self as an aware, independent, responsible, and active agent of one's own fate and hence contribute to the future of our society and ecological systems.

Modes of Inquiry: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research

This course is presented in two sections and provides an overview of scholarly thinking, research, and writing. The course is designed to address the following areas within graduate scholarship: how to select a research problem; how to conduct a literature review; how to design a research question or statement; how to formulate an appropriate research design; how to incorporate theory and epistemology; how to limit research parameters; and how to decide on the appropriate research methodology(ies) and method(s). It focuses on the interdisciplinary conceptual and methodological approaches necessary to understand complex social and natural systems. Section one of this course introduces the practical elements of planning, implementing, and reporting a research project. It stresses the importance that before it is possible to design effective research projects with appropriate methods in the context of sustainability, one must study the philosophical approaches that address the role of knowledge production in social reproduction, in problem solving, and in action directed at change.

A visual snapshot

There is a neat web page called "Wordle" that will create a "word cloud" out of a document.  This is the word cloud from my personal statement and program proposal.

Summer Reading List

One of the first things I did upon sending in my letter of acceptance was to start buying the books on our reading list.  It is a good sign when you are chomping at the bit to dig into school books!

The following is our summer reading list:

• Bentz, V. M. & Shapiro, J. J. (2008). Mindful inquiry in social research.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
• Capra, F.  (2002). The hidden connections: A science for sustainable living.  New York: Anchor Books.
• Jackson, W. (1996). Becoming Native to this Place. Counterpoint.
• Edwards, A.R. (2010). Thriving beyond sustainability: Pathways to a resilient society. Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers.
• McKibben, W. (2010).  Eaarth: Making a life on a tough new Planet. New York: Times Books.
• Orr, D. (2002). The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture and the Human Intention. Oxford Press
• Shiva, Vandana (2005).  Earth democracy: Justice, sustainability, and peace.  South End Press.
• Sterling, S. (2001). Sustainable education: Re-visioning learning and change.  Devon, United Kingdom: Green Books, Ltd.

My Program Proposal

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."   Howard Thurman
Introduction:

I find the cover page quote by Howard Thurman to be provocative.  As expressed in my personal statement, I have a number of passions that “make me come alive.”  I am inspired by the natural world, by being with my family, by leading a largely yogic lifestyle, by pursuing self-sufficiency.  I could focus on these personal interests and lead a blessed life.   However, at my core one of the things that drives me and causes me to feel most alive is making a difference in the world.   It is with great excitement therefore, that I prepare this proposal for a PhD program that aligns my most deeply held passions with learning and service that the world does, indeed, need.

Creating sustainable communities is one of the great challenges of our time.   In the early 1980’s, Lester Brown defined a sustainable society as “one that is able to satisfy its needs without diminishing the chances of future generations to meet their own needs.”  This definition speaks to the responsibility of each generation to pass on to our children and grandchildren a world with as many opportunities as the one we inherited.   How we go about achieving such sustainability and what it exactly means in practice is a matter of some debate, but the fundamental premise and need for action in this arena is increasingly hard to challenge. 

Leading thinkers in sustainability such as Fritjof Capra, Paul Hawken, David Orr, and E.O. Wilson assert the key to an operational definition of ecological sustainability is the realization that society does not need to invent sustainable human communities from scratch but can model them after nature’s inherently sustainable ecosystems.  The implication of this definition is that the first step in the endeavor to build sustainable communities must be to become ecologically literate by developing an understanding of the principles of ecology and organization common to all living systems.   “Eco-literacy” must therefore become a critical skill for leaders in all spheres of society and should be the most important part of education at all levels.   A growing number of organizations are developing systems of education for sustainable living, based on ecological literacy.  This involves a pedagogy that puts the understanding of life at its very center; an experience of learning in the real world (growing food, exploring a watershed, restoring a wetland) that overcomes alienation from nature and rekindles a sense of place; and a curriculum that teaches children the fundamental principles of life.

If eco-literacy is the first step on the road to sustainability, the second step is to move toward eco-design in which ecological knowledge is applied to the fundamental redesign of technologies, social institutions, and the built environment.  Eco-design is a process in which human purposes and needs are carefully meshed with the larger patterns and flows of the natural world.  Fortunately, there has been a dramatic rise in ecologically oriented design practices in recent years.  This “new” area of practice draws upon the ancient wisdom of natural systems and processes and ultimately can help people to create sustainable communities in which they can flourish without using up the natural capital, the planet’s resources and ecosystem services,  on which the well-being of all living creatures depends.

It is my intent to focus my doctoral studies on using eco-literacy and eco-design as a framework for re-envisioning our communities as places where children can connect with and learn from nature in their daily lives, both through the educational system and through opportunities designed into the fabric of the community.   Focusing the creation of sustainable communities through this lens recognizes the urgency in ensuring that young people have the opportunity to connect with nature and grow to become informed and responsible stewards of our environment.

Phase One: Re-Envisioning the Foundational Courses

Sustainability Theory and Practice for Education:

This course examines the intellectual history and current status of the concept of sustainability with an emphasis on the main aspects of environmental, economic, and social sustainability narratives in solving the problems of global unsustainable development.  I intend to explore this material with a focus on achieving sustainability at the community level and better understanding the implications of what sustainability means for community-level policy and practice.  Proposed supplementary reading for this course includes:

• Brown, Lester. Building a Sustainable Society.
• Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism.
• Gustave Speth, James. Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment.
• Lovelock, James. Healing Gaia.
• Welch, Bryan. Beautiful and Abundant: Visualizing a Sustainable Human Future. 

Modes of Scholarly Inquiry: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Design

This course examines, in part, how systems analysis and thinking are critical to effectively applying scholarship to problem solving and social action.  I intend to delve further into the systems thinking on sustainability being done by Fritjof Capra and his colleagues at the Center for Ecoliteracy.  From this foundation I will use the principals of action research to explore the most effective ways to promote community level social learning and change through child-focused innovative design and program development.   Using my hometown of Columbia, Maryland as a case study, I will seek to identify important project-based research that fosters action and community participation, with an emphasis on engaging youth.  Proposed supplementary reading for this course includes:

• Capra, Fritjof. The Hidden Connections: Integrating the Biological, Cognitive, and Social Dimensions of Life into a Science of Sustainability.
•  Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life.
• Winter, Richard. Learning from Experience: Principles and Practice in Action-Research.
• Winter, Richard. New Directions in Action Research.

Sustainability Education and Transformational Change

This course explores the theories, processes, and conditions through which individuals, groups and organizations learn and transform in ways that support a sustainable future.  This entails an examination of current educational approaches and strategies as well as innovations that challenges traditional assumptions and practices.   I will seek to focus this investigation on the arenas of public and private education and community development endeavors.  Proposed supplementary reading for this course includes:

• Sterling, Stephen. Sustainable Education – Re-Visioning Learning and Change. 
• Sterling, Stephen. Sustainable Education – Towards a Deep Learning Response to Unsustainability. 
• Therling, Sue. Theory And Practice In Sustainability: Building A Ladder Of Community Focused Education and Outreach.
• UNESCO. Education for Sustainability – From Rio to Johannesburg: Lessons Learned from a Decade of Commitment.
• Williams, R. See Change: Learning and Education for Sustainability.

Phase Two: Proposed Courses

Course 1 - Environmental Awareness in Current American Culture

In order to figure out where we are going, it is helpful to understand where we are.  This course will examine current relationships to nature and awareness of environmental issues in the United States to determine the cultural foundation from which we are building a more sustainable global, national and local community.   Proposed reading includes:

• Berry, Thomas.  The Dream of the Earth.
• Buell, Lawrence. The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing and the Formation of American Culture.
• Carson, Rachel. The Sense of Wonder.
• Goldsmity, Edward.  The Way: An Ecological World-View.
• Kahn, Peter.  The Human Relationship with Nature: Development and Culture.

Course 2 - The Imperative of Reconnecting Children with Nature                    

The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, yet they are more disconnected from nature than any previous generation.   It is imperative that this connection be regenerated because how the young respond to nature will shape the configurations and conditions of our communities and the health of the Earth.  This course will examine literature on the state of the child-nature relationship in America, the importance of this connection both for the wellbeing of children and the environment, and key strategies for reuniting children and nature to ensure that the natural world will be deeply valued and protected by future generations of leaders.  Proposed reading includes:

• Chawla, Louise.  In the First Country of Places: Nature, Poetry, and Childhood Memory.
• Hart, Roger. Children’s Participation: The Theory and Practice of Involving Young Citizens in Community Development and Environmental Care.
• Kellert, Stephen and Peter Kahn.  Children in Nature.
• Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.
• Orr, David. Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment and the Human Prospect.

Course 3 - Ecological Literacy: Educating our Children for a Sustainable World

Efforts to build a sustainable world cannot succeed unless future generations learn how to partner with natural systems to their mutual benefit. This course will use the book of the same name as a starting point to explore the concept of ecological literacy – from the discipline of environmental education to a deeper transformation of the substance, process, and scope of education at all levels—familial, geographic, ecological, and political.  Proposed reading includes:

• Orr, David. Ecological Literacy: Education and Transition to a Postmodern Word.
• Sobel, David. Childhood and Nature: Design Principals for Educators.
• Sobel, David. Place-based Education: Connecting Classrooms and Communities.
• Stone, Michael.  Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability.
• Stone, Michael and Zenobia Barlow. Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable Word.

Course 4 - Ecological Design:  Using the Principles of Natural Systems to Design Sustainable Communities

Ecological design is an integrative, ecologically responsible design discipline that helps connect scattered efforts in green architecture, sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration and other fields.  By placing ecology and the integration with natural systems in the foreground of design, it provides specific ways of minimizing energy and material use, reducing pollution, preserving habitat, restoring ecosystems, inventing landscapes, and fostering community, health and beauty.  Ecological design provides a new way of thinking about human interventions into the natural world that goes beyond the minimization of human impacts on the natural world to deliberately attempting to improve natural conditions or reverse environmentally destructive impacts.   This class will focus on using ecological design principals in the context of reinventing existing communities to create the conditions for sustainability. Proposed reading includes:

• Kellert, Stephen.  Building for Life.
• Mollison, Bill.  Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual.
• Orr, David. The Nature of Design.
• Van der Ryn, Sim and Stuart Cowan. Ecological Design.
• Wilson, Edward O. Biophilia.

Course 5 - Child-focused Design: Creating Communities Where Children Can Connect with Nature

The built environment of a community affects children's opportunities to connect with nature. This course will focus on how communities can provide opportunities for nourishing and educational daily interactions with the natural environmental through the strategic design of play spaces, parks, open spaces, school grounds, and community centers  as well as the preservation and integration of accessible wild spaces and agricultural activities.  Proposed reading includes:

• Chalufour, Ingrid and Karen Worth. Nature with Young Children.
• Grant, Tim and Gail Littlejohn.  Greening School Grounds: Creating Habitats for Learning.
• Johnson, Julie.  Design for Learning: Values, Qualities and Processes of Enriching School Landscapes.
• Robin Moore, Natural Learning: Creating Environments for Rediscovering Nature's Way of Teaching.
• Wilson, Ruth. The Wonders of Nature - Honoring Children's Ways of Knowing.

Course 6 - Using Graphic Design to Create and Communicate Visions of Community Sustainability

Graphic design is a creative process through which designers develop images to represent the ideas they want to communicate. This course will develop the graphic design skills that will enhance my ability to visually communicate sustainable design concepts and projects with an emphasis on methods used in landscape architectural analysis, design, and presentation.   In addition to techniques for orthographic drawing, this course will focus on providing a comprehensive introduction to using SketchUp, an architecture computer modeling program. Proposed reading includes:

• Bertauski, Tony. Plan Graphics for the Landscape Designer.
• Ormsbee Simonds, John. Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Land Planning and Design.
• Reid, Grant. Landscape Graphics.
• Tal, Daniel. Google SketchUp for Site Design.

Phase 3: Research and Methodologies Course: Defining the Attributes of a Sustainable Community

As the concept of sustainable communities increases in popularity, efforts are being made to define what exactly a community should do or include to become more sustainable.  For example, the US Green Building Council has a LEED for Neighborhood Development standard and ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) has developed the STAR Community Index, a planning and performance management system that offers local governments a road map for improving community sustainability.  This course will focus on comparing metrics such as these with the approximately 30 towns that have been nominated by Mother Earth News during the past five years as sustainable communities to assess the commonalities between what is proposed for communities to be sustainable and the attributes of communities that are currently perceived to be sustainable. Proposed reading includes the following books which provide additional context for this research:

• Beatley, Timothy. Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities.
• Clark, Woodrow.  Sustainable Communities.
• Hawken, Paul. Sustainable Communities: A New Design Synthesis for Cities, Suburbs, and Towns.
• Kaplan, Rachel.  With People in Mind: Design and Management for Everyday Nature.
• Wheeler, Stephen.  Planning for Sustainability: Creating Livable, Equitable and Ecological Communities.

The core set of attributes of sustainable communities identified by this research will be examined through the lens of those that help to reconnect children with nature to identify potential practica that can be completed in Columbia, Maryland.  Examples of potential practice include: advocating for the creation of community learning gardens or “edible parks” in collaboration with Open Space Management staff of the Columbia Association; supporting the development of nature-based curricula for the Howard County school system, focusing on pre-K through 5^th grade; the creation of a city-wide, family-focused farmers market by engaging the fledgling farmers markets in local villages to facilitate collaboration and synergy;  actively promoting the creation of schoolyard habitats that support outdoor classroom programs by providing design support and coordination with local organizations such as the Maryland Master Gardeners.  To expand on the later practicum idea, schoolyard habitats are naturalized areas on school grounds that are easily accessible to the entire school community. The common qualities of well designed schoolyard habitats are: ecological significance, long term community connection and curriculum integration.  Well designed schoolyard habitats improve the community’s environmental health by reducing storm-water runoff, solving erosion problems, increasing canopy cover, raising the biodiversity index as well as providing children with opportunities for formal and non-formal interactions with the natural world.  Longfellow Elementary School, which serves my neighborhood, is surrounded by ample mowed grass areas and is an optimal candidate for an integrated schoolyard habitat and food garden that leverages Permaculture design principles.

Phase 4: Proposed Dissertation

“Eco-Literacy and Eco-Design: Creating the Conditions for Sustainability by Reconnecting Children to Nature”

Using the learning of the previously described course of study, for my dissertation I plan to use my hometown of Columbia, Maryland as a case study of what communities can do to create an actionable plan for a sustainable future.   Columbia was one of the first planned communities in the United States.  Designed by James Rouse in the late 1960s, Columbia began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life by focusing on human values.  The city was designed around ten villages, each with a center that provided basic daily amenities and all of which were made to be accessible by a network of almost 100 miles of trails.   Revolutionary for its time, at 40 years old Columbia is still a thriving community, ranked as the second best place to live in the United States in 2010 by Money Magazine.  However, Columbia is facing many of the common problems of suburbia and a process is underway to create a master vision for its next 40 years.   As such, it makes for a unique yet broadly relevant case study. 

My dissertation will focus on applying the principles of eco-literacy and eco-design to Columbia’s master planning process to identify best practices for creating a community that is made sustainable, in part, by ensuring that youth have the opportunities to connect to nature in their daily lives both through the education system and through opportunities intentionally designed into the fabric of the community.  The outcome will be an actionable vision plan that Columbia, as well as other communities, can use to ensure that the experiences and lessons gathered in children’s developing years stay with them throughout their lifetimes, preparing them to take active roles in addressing the complex environmental and economic challenges facing our world, and instilling in them a sense of responsibility for and stewardship of the open spaces, waterways and natural resources that so richly shaped their childhood.

My Personal Statement

The following is the personal statement I submitted as a part of my application:

Myself in relation to my proposed doctoral studies:

From the desert of Saudi Arabia to the farmland of Illinois, from the woods of Maryland to the grandeur of California, the natural environment has been at the core of many of my oldest and best memories.   I am blessed to have been raised by parents who prioritized community, nature, and a holistic lifestyle.  My father built greenhouses when I was young and now manages open space for Columbia, Maryland.  My mother is a massage therapist, photographer and active volunteer.   At their encouragement, my childhood was largely spent playing outside and as a result I developed a deep and lasting connection to the Earth and its many inhabitants.

My early education was in Friends and Montessori schools, which helped instill me with a love of learning. As a result, I have always excelled in academic pursuits and sought to learn as much as possible about the world - both in and out of the classroom. Some of my favorite elementary school memories are of playing among the roots of a large tree on the edge of the playground and of a science project in which we made a close study of all the life contained in a two foot square plot of grass.  In contrast to these earliest educational experiences, my middle school had no windows in the classrooms and there is little that I recall from these years that resonated with my young spirit.  By the time I reached high school, I felt that classes were being taught to the lowest common denominator and the emphasis was on rote memorization for test achievement.   I had a few remarkable teachers, but was largely uninspired and frustrated.  In tenth grade I approached my parents about leaving the public high school and enrolling in a home school program so I could complete my course work at the local community college.  They supported the idea and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

While attending Howard Community College (HCC), a family friend came to live with us after he was critically injured in a car accident. His name was Joe Allen.  Before his accident, Joe was the president of his university’s environmental club and avid outdoor enthusiast.  As his recovery progressed, Joe was able to enroll in courses at HCC and I became his support system as he tried to navigate school with multiple physical handicaps.  To help Joe reengage his passion for environmental conservation, I helped him co-found HCC’s Environmental Club.   As a result, I became more deeply involved with environmental issues, helping the college to begin a comprehensive recycling program and completing the University of Maryland’s Master Gardener certification, through which I learned a tremendous amount about organic agriculture.  After completing my Associates degree as an honor student in HCC’s Rouse Scholars Program, I was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) to continue my undergraduate education.  Joe passed away my first week at UNC, a tragedy that further affirmed my commitment to continuing our shared passion for environmental activism. 

In the absence of a dedicated environmental major at UNC, I developed my own academic plan that provided me with a well rounded curriculum in environmental studies by coupling a Biology major that emphasized ecological systems with an International Studies major that focused on trade, economics and the environment.   To help create a community of similarly minded people at my new school, I became very active with environmental extracurricular activities such as the Student Environmental Action Coalition and the Outdoor Club.  I was assigned to the school’s arboretum for a work-study program and continued to develop my horticultural knowledge with a focus on edible and native species.  I spent the summer between my junior and senior year in Salzburg, Austria in a UNC study abroad program that focused on environmental risk analysis and was enthralled by the sustainability principles ingrained into the design of this gorgeous city - from the highly used public transportation system and the pedestrian-only downtown, to the daily farmer’s market, and the abundance of green spaces.  Inspired, during my senior year I wrote an honors thesis investigating the opportunities for creating sustainable communities in Latin America using Alan Weisman’s study of a remote Columbian community called Gaviotas as a benchmark for what is possible.

After graduating with academic honors and awards for community service, I accepted a full scholarship to continue my studies at UNC in the Environmental Science and Engineering Master’s program.   My graduate coursework was heavily science based, but also afforded the opportunity to take courses in “triple bottom line” sustainability at the Business School and to conduct my thesis research on a project my advisor, Dr. Pete Andrews, had funded through the Department of Public Policy.  This research, as a part of the National Database on Environmental Management Systems, was the beginning of my investigation into the use of voluntary programs to achieve environmental goals which has continued to be a unifying thread in my career.  In addition to this research assistantship, I was also awarded a teaching assistant position with the newly formed Carolina Environmental Program, which offered undergraduate environmental degrees.   Through this experience I found that I have a love for teaching.  Designing and leading field experiments, both at the local biological reserves and in Salzburg where I went back to co-teach the study abroad program, was particularly fulfilling.  Helping people to connect to and appreciate the amazing ecosystems that make human life possible is deeply rewarding for me.

Upon completion of my Master’s degree, I was hired by the global consulting firm ICF International in their Energy, Environment and Transportation division based in Washington, DC.  My initial work was focused on evaluating the success of the Multilateral Fund for Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, followed by an evaluation of the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility, which funds international environmental treaties that don’t have internal funding mechanisms.   After these projects were complete, I had the opportunity to take a personal and professional leap by moving to California to design and implement a program for Southern California Edison focused on improving the energy efficiency of residential new construction.  This was the impetus for the development of my expertise in residential energy efficiency and green building, which I have now focused on for the past five years.   I currently manage the team supporting the USEPA’s ENERGY STAR for New Homes Program and the Baltimore Gas and Electric ENERGY STAR for New Homes Program, which provides a balance of national policy development and direct, local implementation.

The work I have done as a consultant over the past seven years has been professionally rewarding.  However, it has also become very focused on managing residential energy efficiency programs.  To help expand this focus to broader green building principals and quench my life-long thirst for learning, I have earned numerous professional certificates including the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation by the US Green Building Council.  I completed the Permaculture Design certificate in 2008 as a way to learn more about an area I am deeply passionate about: hands-on, nature-based, community-level sustainable development.   I have not yet been able to incorporate these interests fully into my consulting work, but since my husband and I moved back to Columbia, MD, the town where I spent most of my youth, I have thoroughly enjoyed volunteering my time in support of developing a community driven vision for the future of our village that is based on the principals of sustainability.

The birth of our first child in late 2009 has deepened my commitment to the creation of sustainable communities in which there are ample opportunities for children, and others, to connect with nature.   A tremendous amount has changed in the relatively short time since my childhood. Per Richard Louv’s book, I feel that I may very well have been the “Last Child in the Woods.” Children don’t spend their free time engaged in “free play” outside in the environment with their peers – free time is now largely consumed with video games, texting, and surfing the virtual environment.  The educational system has moved further towards an emphasis on standardized testing that leaves little room for the arts, physical education and experiential learning around nature.   I believe that it is imperative for children to reconnect with nature for their own well-being and because if they do not have an appreciation for and relationship with the natural world they won’t be as compelled to be stewards of the Earth as adults. 

Going back to school to earn my PhD in Sustainability Education will allow me to recalibrate my life’s work to focus on these most near and dear issues and to have more time to focus on being a mother, which is the most challenging and rewarding job I have ever had.   The emphasis of sustainability education on the realization of human potential and the interdependence of social, economic and ecological well being to achieve locally and globally sustainable communities is the exact work my life experience has prepared me for and is at the core of what is most important to me. 

Learning Goals: What Do I Want to Learn and Do and Who Do I Want to Be

I believe that I truly am a sustainability synergist and want to expand my knowledge and experience to be a teacher, designer, and urban farmer.   I want to learn how to create opportunities for children to engage with nature both as a part of their education and as a part of their daily lives.  I want to learn how to design beautiful, accessible spaces in which people can connect to their local ecosystems and food systems. I want to learn how to visually articulate and communicate the visions of beauty and sustainability that I have in my mind’s eye.  I want to learn how to identify opportunities for change through sustainability education and empowerment.  I want to learn cutting-edge techniques and design practices for bringing multiple stakeholders together around a common vision of environmental, economic, and social sustainability.  I want to learn methods for expanding perspectives to a more long-term holistic view of prosperity and human development.  I want to learn how to harness my academic and professional experience to achieve the highest and best for myself and the communities and organizations that I am dedicated to.

I want to earn a living by doing something tangible, meaningful, and that has a local yet broad impacts.  I want to actually create and design a more sustainable future by working in collaboration with schools, communities, and local governments.  I want there to be a visual, hands-on component to this work.  I want to become well known and respected for what I do.  Not because those are valuable goals in their own right but rather because I think that would be a good litmus test for whether I have created a life’s work that I am passionate about and dedicating myself to fully.  I want the opportunity to teach and to travel as a part of a diverse career that I can integrate into a life that has ample focus on my family.

I want to explore the world to learn from different cultures and practices that seem to show much more wisdom than our own with respect to the Earth and use that knowledge to help create more sustainable human systems.  I want to help protect the plants and animals that we share the earth with and the complex ecosystems that we all depend on. I want to have a Permaculture family farm that is located in and actively connected to a vibrant community.  I want to be able to fundamentally survive without all the trappings of modern day life, but ideally would like to create a lifestyle that harmoniously blends both and serves as a learning laboratory for my local community and the broader region. 

 I want to continue to develop a community that is deeply supportive of one another and is working together to make a positive impact.  I want to grow and sustain friendships with people who are dedicated, passionate, creative, proactive, honest, hardworking, playful, ecologically and socially minded. I always want to keep learning and growing – intellectually and spiritually. I want to take time every day to just sit and breathe and give thanks. I want to cultivate a stronger relationship with my higher power – one that helps me to have greater ease and trust that there is a divine order both for my life and for humanity as a whole.

Merging Interests and Course of Study

My program proposal is tailored to expand my perspectives and knowledge base to allow me to be an agent of change and a catalyst for sustainability focused education and sustainable community design.  It is my intent to focus my doctoral studies on using eco-literacy and eco-design to create the conditions for sustainable communities, with a focus on the critical need to reconnect children with nature.  I am interested in utilizing permaculture design principles to investigate how to reinvent our communities to be places where there is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.   I am very interested in the concept of creating bioregional learning communities where sustainability synergists can work together at a regional level towards specific sustainability goals and would love to take a leadership role in creating this sort of network in the mid-Atlantic region.

Readiness for Doctoral Study:

Earning a PhD has been a part of my life plan since high school.  The seven years since I was last in academia have been a period of tremendous learning and growth that have led to a clear vision of the area in which I want to develop deep expertise – using the principles ecological literacy and ecological design to create sustainable communities that help reconnect children to nature.   

I have always thrived on independent projects – from initiating early high school graduation by taking courses at the community college, to designing an environmental college curriculum and honors thesis.  In my current work as a consultant there is a mix of independent and team work.  I have spent the last three years working primarily from a home office while simultaneously managing residential energy efficiency programs and teams of staff operating at the national and regional level.  I enjoy having this balance and having a team of people that I can engage for thoughtful insight on the projects I am doing independently.  I have a predisposition to taking on projects myself and working them through to completion utilizing regular communication touch-points to engage my team or advisors as appropriate.  Especially in today’s highly connected world, independent study does not mean true isolation.  Feedback or insight from a colleague takes only minutes via email or a conference call and I have developed strong communication skills that will help facilitate successful independent study.

Furthermore, given how full my life is with family, work, and community volunteerism, I anticipate that I will relish the time spent on my PhD and find the pockets of solitude and focus to be rejuvenating instead of isolating.  One of my greatest joys is sitting down with a good book and a cup of tea and immersing myself in the topic at hand.  The content of the program’s foundational courses and the courses I have proposed is of deep personal and professional interest to me and the prospect of reading the books that have been beckoning to me for years within the framework of a rigorous program of study is truly exciting.

Based on the biographies of the faculty within the Prescott College PhD Program, I have no doubt that they will bring invaluable insight and guidance as I pursue my studies.  Having experienced educators and practitioners in the fields of sustainability education and sustainable community design to provide mentorship will be fundamental to the success of my educational journey.  Particular expertise I am seeking includes knowledge on how to create opportunities for children to connect with nature through environmentally focused curricula and learning gardens, design strategies for creating communities that  connect citizens with nature,  and effective approaches for community engagement including tools for visually communicating design concepts. 

I already own a substantial library of books on the topics related to my proposed program.  While I could potentially make the space in my life to read them all, I know that would not provide nearly the same level of learning, growth, and implementation of the principles therein as the discourse and collaboration that will come from my dedication to this PhD program.  I look forward to establishing life-long relationships with the faculty at Prescott College that lead to collaboration on projects or research long after my PhD program is complete.