Meet Katharine Burke, author, in conversation with Martin Lee Mueller, Secretary General, Arne Næss Center for Ecology and Philosophy.
‘Katharine Burke’s Earthwards, is a game changer. She confronts the deep ecological sadness of our time, and points us toward a broader, deeper environmental education. She not only focuses on how to teach about the natural physical habitat, but also about the habitat of the heart — which is where our future will truly be shaped’. -Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.‘
How can we support students who have difficulty in coping with the world we have created?’ asks Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General of the International Baccalaureate Organization, and answers, ‘It all starts with changing the way we see ourselves as humans and how we see the world, environment, and nature.’When Katharine Burke’s student asked her, ‘Miss Do you think we are going extinct?’ she knew that it was time for schools to shift sustainability education from prescribing action for students toward developing deep relationship with the living Earth. This shift in paradigm builds resilience and resolve and fosters a culture of care for ourselves and the planet. Earthwards: Transformative Ecological Education looks at how we can do this, with stories of real teachers working with students in primary classrooms, gardens, wilderness trips, service clubs, and in secondary level language, social studies and geography courses.
Katharine Burke has been a lifelong educator and workshop leader in international schools and has taught in Norway for the past twenty years, at Skagerak International School in Sandefjord. She is a permaculture farmer, geography and social studies teacher, garden coordinator, regenerative design practitioner, and facilitator of the Work that Reconnects. She is also a mother and grandmother, passionate about leaving a viable world for her children, grandchildren and students. In keeping with Katharine’s belief that emergence of new understanding and practice comes from collaborative interaction and relationship in community, this book launch will include discussions and presentations from several other academics, artists, teachers, and though leaders exploring these guiding questions from the book:
13.00- How do we address ecoanxiety in schools in ways that build a culture of care?
14.00 How can we reimagine sustainability in schools as relationship with the living Earth?
15.00 How can we promote new paradigms for ecological systems thinking and social change in schools?
16.00 Book Launch: Katharine Burke in conversation with Martin Lee Mueller; book signing.
Each session is independent but connects to the others and includes discussion/reflection/exercises with audience participation. Welcome to one or all sessions! Registration: please email earthwardsproject@gmail.com (please state which sessions you will attend)
