Learningpath to the wilddesigner - year 2020 by Pfadis e.V.

The learning path for wildlife management prepares new educational paths into a coexistence in which individual and collective growth for a social-ecological change is promoted.

Education is an essential component of social-ecological change. In order to promote this change, new educational paths are needed which move away from standardising people in a dominant educational system. Educational pathways are needed which support the free development of people by enabling them to learn together what inspires them.

With your financial support we are exploring new forms of education. At the same time, each participant on the learning path to wildlife management combines various sustainable concepts into an individual toolbox – for active participation in shaping a future fit for grandchildren.
The learning path is a participative & child-friendly further education in 2020/21, comprising 91 seminar days (in 12 modules).

We, i.e. 7 children and 20 adults, meet regularly in camp life, explore various topics with our mentors, experience first-hand what self-organisation means and share our skills – because that’s how it becomes more and more!

So there are 3 special features that stand out:

1. the selection of the module contents and their combination

Our learning path stops at a few stations. There we get an insight into permaculture, wilderness education, (old) crafts, sociocracy, self-organisation, (food)sharing, flake, common economy, camp life, communication, activism, community building, deep ecology, humus festivals and knowledge transfer.

Each of us can choose our own learning path and share it with the other participants.

2. the suitability for children
       
Children are welcome to join the educational trail for game viewing.

We see in the participation of children opportunities of diversity as well as the strengthening of the group culture. It also allows parents to participate who are usually excluded from educational opportunities because they are not allowed to bring their children. While it is a widely accepted thesis that children disturb the concentration of adults, we see special qualities in children such as play, enthusiasm, impulsiveness and the reflection of group dynamics.

If we want a society fit for grandchildren, we must not exclude our children!

        
3. The funding model

Within continuing education, we are experimenting with different financing models in order to develop new concepts that make education possible for everyone – regardless of how much money an individual person has.

We learners pay a self-chosen contribution, which corresponds to about 1/3 of the total costs of further education. Covering the remaining costs is made into a joint project. Moved by intrinsic motivation, accompanied by experienced mentors and supported by learned methods, we dedicate ourselves to the development of alternative ways to finance education.

You can find more about the idea and implementation of the financing model in the section “That’s why we need your support”.

Personal impressions from the learning path

In this section we want to give you a very personal impression of our learning path so far.   

“Find & design new ways. My learning concern is to find out for myself how I can make an impact in this world. So the Learning Path is really a pretty good place for me right now. Here I can allow myself to dream what my heart desires. With the toolbox full of methods, which we get to hand here & with the learning content, I can build up a free, self-determined life according to my own ideas. Furthermore, I get to know wonderful people with whom I share common concerns & others from whom I can be inspired. I really appreciate all this in my life right now. (lava)

With forest and soil

in fields and fields
a learning path only?
leads here in wide curves
to unknown shores
the waves of the lake were rolling in
then, then, then, where everyone helps,
where everyone learns how everyone can live.
Sometimes paper and pen, sometimes hammer, sometimes pen,
like everybody else
shapes the world around it,
sometimes clay, sometimes drum, then fire and leather,
this is how hand changes, society then standardises.
We only have one earth to settle on,
to act, to sing, to play and grow,
to laugh and sleep and eat and sing,
and to all other things.
So I walk the learning path
that brings us together,
that cheerfully donated methods to the group,
in which one wildly thinks oneself into it.
(Sophie)

“I was impressed by the way we tried out the new content in the sociocracy module directly in our group, which changed our speech culture. Suddenly, for example, we no longer have to discuss all the topics in the big group until the end, but can quickly determine when a topic needs more talking. We then work on this in working groups with people who are interested in finding creative solutions to the topic in question and then present the proposals to the whole group. In this way everyone is still involved in the decision-making process, the solution finding process is only shifted.
Something important that I have taken away from the sociocracy: ‘The solution is good enough for now, let’s be brave enough to try even something that is not perfect, the real challenges will show up above all in practice and can then be further developed and changed’. (Lena)

Smartie’s learning concern for the learning path: “I would like to learn how to design livable living spaces for living creatures. For me, the Learning Path is a place and a community of the desire to learn, networking of ideas and joyful (self-)reflection”.
And there are two more aha-awarenesses afterwards:

1. permaculture has not only something to do with gardening

2. from the sociocracy: only when the common goal is clear, concrete and comprehensible to all can and will all pull together.

As you can read in more detail below, we play and experiment with different solidarity-based financing models within the continuing education programme.

The personal contribution, which we participants determine on the basis of our available monetary resources and pay in small instalments, covers about 1/3 of the continuing education costs. Covering the remaining 2/3 is made a central and collective project of the community. In this way we try to offer good education not as an exclusive good, but as independent of money as possible and still pay teachers in such a way that they can live from their work. The module contents are peppered with holistic methods and tools which can be helpful and supportive for this path. This promotes a dynamic away from the consumption of education – towards self-determined, free and wild learning.

Due to the partial financing through donations, the success and realisation of the further education depends on the intrinsic motivation, creativity and community spirit of us participants. This means that only if we are really motivated and convinced of the learning path, we will be able to make up the shortfall through donation runs, street actions (such as pizza parties) or this Ecocrowd campaign**.

We can only do this together – with you! Let yourself be infected by our enthusiasm and conviction to create a sustainable change on this path and become part of this movement through your support.

We are trying to break away from the logic of exchange, which is based on mutual conditions.

Our appreciation for your support cannot be expressed in any way. Therefore, we ask you to accept the exchange goods from our side as a gift.
        

Good to know: for your support we can also issue you with donation receipts if required.
       
**From each stage 5% commission goes to the dear people of Ecocrowd! Thank you very much!

Successes so far:

All of you have experienced individual successes so far. Whether it was about riding your own kites, i.e. dealing with things that people don’t like to do, or getting closer to our learning goals. We have already set a lot in motion that we would not have thought of in the beginning.

We also use the tools that we get to know and develop in the modules.

On our last module, where we dealt with old handicrafts, we also had successes to touch, as everyone carved unique spoons.

In addition, thanks to the great commitment of the participants, we were able to save many foods from being thrown away by means of food sharing and thus always undercut the pre-calculated food costs for the previous modules.

We found out that there are many valuable skills and interests in the diversity of our group, which are also appreciated by the mentors. We have collected these treasures in a “skill pool” and have been able to reward some mentors by sharing our skills. This way we create win-win-win situations. The mentors receive something they have wished for, we participants become aware of our ability and practice passing it on to others, and at the same time we can minimise the costs of the module.                       

 
The entire financing model can be read here:
wildgestaltung.de/pfade/finanzierung
                                                                                                                                                                              
A detailed breakdown of the costs can be found here:
wildgestaltung.de/finanzierungsdetails_lernpfad

We will be happy to provide further information on request.
This year we are also working on a documentary film on this topic, in which we want to go into the model in more detail.

We learners see ourselves as seeds, which are carried by the wind out into the world, germinate there and share and spread this wealth of experience in a very individual way.

During the further education we try out tools that help us to initiate projects and pass on knowledge in a self-organised, participative, non-hierarchical way and above all with a lot of joy and closeness to nature. And along the way we experiment and develop alternative educational spaces.

What added value do we create for our environment?

       
People

The educational offer combines the three learning concerns of permaculture: “Earthcare”, “Peoplecare” &Fairshare”. The aspect “Peoplecare” is again divided into 3 sub-items where we want to become effective: “personal development”, “development of the group” and “development in society”.

The learning path offers parents or single parents the chance of a child-inclusive further education.

We focus on self-organisation and participation instead of information consumption and hierarchies. In order to support and accompany the interaction between learners and mentors, the flake (an analogue communication platform) and the sociocracy (a non-hierarchical form of organisation in a circle structure) are the methods of our choice and are each the content of a separate module.

soil, water, air

We pay attention to a conscious use of resources and promote their appreciation.
The use and creative design of and with existing resources is a core element of the learning path.

    
Through food sharing, we try to obtain a large part of our food so that we consume the food that would still be perfectly acceptable if thrown away elsewhere. The discussion of the topic fills a complete module and runs through the entire further education.

Permaculture includes horticultural and landscape architectural aspects such as vegetable cultivation, mixed cultures, crop rotations, humus building, reproduction of beneficial organisms, and area design according to sophisticated, holistic approaches. This gentle form of gardening in biotopes is done for the benefit of the soil, water and air.

The training takes place from May to October exclusively outside. Thus we are very close to the elements and seasons. A good prerequisite not to forget them, but to understand them better.

Animals, plants and biodiversity

Wilderness education is the third basic pillar of further education (besides permaculture and food sharing). Its perspective promotes awareness of the “wild”, unknown world in our forests and ecosystems. She regards nature as a patient teacher.

We ask ourselves, what can we learn about ourselves and the world if we devote ourselves attentively to animals and plants?

Permaculture and wilderness education teach the attentive observation of the interaction of different species, life forms and traits in order to experience and deepen an impression and the often accompanying fascination and reverence for the complexity of life.

In permaculture we work to promote the diversity of flora and fauna by showing alternatives to industrial monoculture and by preserving, caring for and sharing old seeds.

Material and cultural assets

On the learning path we use and further develop cultural assets.

The Flake helps its users to directly (share) their needs, abilities or objects, for example, and thus to reuse, re-use or transform them.

The practice of original handicrafts promotes the use of natural and renewable resources and the renunciation of energy-consuming productions.

Learning and experiencing camp life and the continuation of minimalist lifestyles promotes awareness of use and reduces energy consumption.

We will make a documentary film on various topics of further education so that others can be inspired by our ways.

Transferability, Longevity and Participation

It is a fundamental aim of the learning path to document, pass on, reflect and repeat the experiences and knowledge.

       
This year the second run of the Learning Path takes place, which will certainly not be the last. Due to the already high demand, there will be two new volumes in 2021/22. You can find the registration for the Learning Path 2021 here: https://wildgestaltung.de/anmeldung/

The Learning Path is a prototype for the future development of (further) education and an alternative way of life as well as a link between already existing concepts and movements, all of which have similar goals – alternatives or extensions to today’s society.

Participation and cooperation are writ large on the learning path.

In the beginning it was the “Büro für sozialen Humusaufbau” with its founder Lauritz Heinsch, who developed the learning path and accompanied the project.
        
Now it is us, the 20 learners, who are increasingly taking the Learning Path into their own hands through their association “Pfadis e.V.”. We form a (probably not only) temporary community, in which we test together ways for a future fit for grandchildren and meet again and again individually and as a group. On our website some of us introduce ourselves, so you can get a good impression of the colourfulness of our group:
wildgestaltung.de/kreis-der-lernlinge
                                                                                                                                                                    
You can also get to know our mentors through their own profiles and ideas on this page wildgestaltung.de/kreis-der-mentoren  

If you want to learn more about the learning path, we recommend this nice article

Paths to game design, an interview with Lauritz Heinsch (General)

Humus-Hood at the Burg Herzberg Festival (applied arts module)

Humus-Festival West 2018 – Trailer (Bonus Module)

If you are interested in the 2021 learning path, click here to register