Summer school
iWEEK Training 2021
SAVE THE DATE: 4-10 July!
The iWEEK is designed to give you tools and experiential knowledge on how to deal with and address major societal and environmental challenges of our time. It is an i(nteractive)WEEK with workshops and spaces to exchange, allowing you to explore the principle of inner sustainability: how do you relate to others, yourself and nature?
This year it takes places from the 4th till the 10th of July. We could adapt the iWEEK last year successfully to the Covid-19 measures, and we will do the same this year. In these times of quarantine and 1,5 meter distance, we feel it is even more important to emphasise the importance of feeling connected to the world and fostering those connections.
Keep an eye on this page or on our Facebookpage (https://fb.me/e/7i3215e1k) for updates!
Want to be sure not to miss the updates of the iWeek? You can pre-subcribe by sending an email to otherwise@wur.nl. We will then keep you updated on all the developments.
= Who is this training for =
This training is open for everyone. We invite everyone who is looking for a chance to balance the predominantly rational and individualistic lifestyle that is the status quo in our society with a more embodied, emphatic and communal way of knowing, relating and being. Because all outside sessions are given in Wageningen or surroundings, it is convenient if you are a Wageningen resident. Previous years the iWEEK was focused on students, recent graduates and PhD's between 18 and 32 years old. Since last year we decided on not having an age restriction.
= Why this training =
Sustainability is oftentimes discussed within the realm of technological solutions, policy measures or innovations. This could be called the 'outside' of sustainability. However, there is a growing awareness that at the base we are intricately connected to all life. This could be called the 'inside' of sustainability. When the awareness of this interconnectedness is not experienced, this can give feelings of isolation, disconnectedness and a loss of respect for other lives, including the natural environment. As long as other people and other life forms are recognised as part of a whole that we all belong to, it becomes very difficult to do harm to another being. When this connectedness is experienced consciously, decisions are made differently than when we presume to be on our own. This embodied sense of sustainability and interconnectedness is what we call 'Inner Sustainability'.
When talking about sustainability, we often try to find solutions that should be implemented in the world, but we struggle to develop sustainable ways of living in practice in our personal lives and in society. We lack space to reflect on a deeper level on how we want to relate to ourselves, others and the non-human living environment, and we lack a vision in our hearts from where we can initiate a regenerative culture. The global environmental crisis needs more than technical solutions, it needs people who feel connected and who know how to shape a new future within the entanglement of current confusion. The iWEEK is an experimental playground for social innovation, aimed to inspire you and show that a different, more intimate way of relating to the world is possible. We invite you to become inspired through interaction with others, your own intuition and various nature- and community based practices.