We choose to seize this imbalance as an opportunity to bring a shift in world view. We view this as an opportunity to meld the wisdom developed throughout the centuries with the science and technology that has brought us such mixed blessings.
The goal of the New Life Curriculum Forum was to develop a new map for a sustainable and healthy life from a rich diversity of knowledge and experience. Key international decision makers including business, spiritual, and government leaders co-created a curriculum for all stages in life.
The first New Life Curriculum Forum (which was held July 20-24 1997) asked participants to determine the key information and tools to be shared with children and adults in the areas of health, personal and social responsibility; spirituality, ecologically sustainable communities, and global stewardship.
The proceedings of the forum are given in the interactive part of the New Life Curriculum website or you can view the Summary Action Plan here. All users can access this online discussion board by entering any username and password of their choosing. Users who have not been on the discussion board previously will then be taken to a new user login screen for further information.
At the root of the forum were the questions:
How can we
become true citizens of the world who interact with each other, with Spirit,
and with our planet from a position of mutual understanding and respect?
- How can we expand our vision of education?
- How do we teach a model for social, emotional, and spiritual competence?
- When to teach?
- Who to teach?
- What are the best ways to educate one another and what areas of knowledge do we teach ourselves and the future generations?
- How do we obtain the spiritual, emotional, physical, and social skills needed for true world citizenship?
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How can we create just and sustainable
economic/ecological/&geo-political societies?
This co-creation started from what the participants had already created, and was shared and honed through electronic and forum interaction for each participant's specific needs.
Harrison Owen, founder of Open Space technology facilitated the Forum. Monday and Tuesday were devoted to mapping the diverse issues in self selected groups, with daily compilations of the proceedings available on line for review and comment by all participants.
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A printout of all meetings and discussions was given to all participants on Wednesday morning to prioritize and to work into action plans. Self-selected teams addressed each issue and created action plans they can use in the next day and a half. Participants left the Forum after lunch on Thursday July 24th, with the results of the deliberations and with an expanded network of resources to draw upon. The interactive website is being used as a means to keep all participants connected until the next Forum.
We honor the balance of head, heart and spirit. To promote this balance, we included time space throughout the Forum for music, movement/dance and spiritual expression and activities.
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