10/10/2021
sChOoL🤸♀️withOuT frOntiers⛵’ Adaptable Global Intentional Living Empowering Learning seminar has come to a closure...- but it’s only a new beginning!
15 days that passed like a whirl
An uplifting spiral of human and nature interactions
A step to reingeneering school in the 21st century
in the most amazing campus of The Southern Lights
An open-air university in Greece - reminiscent of the ancient Pythagoric or Aristotelian schools, immersed in Nature.
We explored physical sciences, eco-construction, community building, sustainable food production, neurosciences, interpersonal communication, history, philosophy and so much more.
Thanks to the deep preparatory ground work of Sustain Sabine, and the Southern Lights team, co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union - still for a fraction of the cost of present-day universities - healthy food included!
Bless you too participants and contributors! Heartful team of scientists, creators, educators and entrepreneurs, a tapestry of talents from the Nile valley to the Baltic Sea... Creating a rich humus of exchanges, so many « ah-ha (eureka !) moments » and transformative learning.
Reexploring meanwhile, under the clear Hellenic light, the Levantine and African origins of Greek philosophy and the birth of Europe⛵.
We reminded ourselves of the sometimes surprising yet original meaning of School in the Greek language : open time (rather than idle time :) - possibly best rendered with the word *recreation*. As, according to ancient wisdom, only when the soul and body are - so may the world be recreated...
How much deep transformational learning ( /unlearning) can indeed happen when we make breathing space for observation, experiment, conversation, meditation, reflection, assimilation, sharing ! 🎆
Ancient schools never meant the four walls and the factory model of learning prevalent today in the world since the industrial revolution.
Epicurus taught in a Garden, Plato in the Olive grove, Diotima over a banquet, Aristotelis on a walk, Hypatia in the Egyptian library and Socrates on the market square.
Pythagoras and his community were observing stars and sunrises, journeying between Asia Minor, Aegypt and Calabria. They reimagined the world - in direct contact with its elements. With the land, with nature - with all the passers-by, traders, merchants, soldiers and travelers.
They believed that open thoughts need an open space, and an active brain needs an active body, lungs and blood : mens sana in corpore sano.
Hence Gymnasiums are meant to be places of exercise, where one can feel the sunlight directly on her skin. Inhale the sand of the arena, the smell of the Earth. Nothing like the conditioning we know today - where even the air is conditioned.
And so we tried and immersed ourselves, in direct feet-contact with the land (and Thalesian water !), in an edible jungle of pears, figs, pomegranates and oranges🌱🍇🍊- with plant-based, vegan diet, zero waste ♻, circular agroforestry, regenerative culture creation - powered by Agile Learning (and some delicious Egyptian dates😜)
Particularly inspiring appeared to us the deep resonances between Agile and permaculture. The significance of observation and adaptation. Interactions and connections over fixed processes. The fair share spirit. 🍃And so much more...
that only the flight of birds sipping water from the pond in the twilight could capture...
There are thousands of learning initiatives out there all over the world that create life-changing synapses - for a fraction of the cost of the current industrial model. We hope we brought some seeds with us. To syntonise with the newly emerging world, it may be time now to reinvent the old paradigm and make new connections!
#AgileLearning
#RegenerativeCultures
#Syntropy
#ConnectingWorlds
🤝
With Nariman Moustafa, Sheila Darmos Πάνος Ντάρμος Κάλλι Χανδρινού
The Southern Lights - Το Νότιο Σέλας
Mesahat: Liberating Learning - مساحات: تحرير التعليم
Manthos T Anna Szczukocka
Corina Angelescu
@centrul de Resurse pentru Organizatii Studentesti
Evangelos Vlachakis
Rebecca Matteus
HortaFCUL HortaFCUL
Ilektra Koutsiviti
Joyce 'n' Fun
Agence Erasmus+ France Jeunesse & Sport
Erasmus+
