Celebration of a Dynamic Year

by Ava Klinger

Gaia U has gone through some major transformations over the last year with many new offerings and opportunities now available to our student associates and other members of our community. Much of the shift began when we decided to update our website and shift our online learning platform. This gave us a great opportunity to develop a new free course “Regenerative Livelihoods by Design.” We also began the Climate Steward Scholarship Fund starting with the amazing new student associates who began programs in October of this year. This new cohort includes student associates from ten countries over six continents. We are so impressed by the quality of these individuals who are involved with significant world change work. In addition, we have had reports from graduates that show the ripple effect of the amazing work they began during their Gaia U programs.

Members of our core team also attended several events and gave presentations over the last year. Some events we participated in include: Immersion: Education for a Resilient Future in Kizema, Russia, Food Funded 2017 and Soil not Oil in San Francisco, CA, the Northern California Permaculture Convergence in Hopland, CA, and the International Permaculture Convergence in Hyderabad, India.

Another intriguing project that really got off the ground in 2017 was Cambia – a project that Gaia U founders, Liora Adler and Andrew Langford have pioneered with the intention of both regenerating the almond industry in California and creating drawdown of significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Here are some highlights from members of the Gaia U community that reflect on the many positive outcomes of 2017 I mentioned above and more:

• Reflections from the Northern California Permaculture Convergence
• Growing a Resilient & Regenerative Future in Kenya by Sheena Shah
• The Cambia Solution by Liora Adler
• Jonny Waywell and the Free Glades Project by Jonny Waywell
• The Heritage of my Heart: my journey and vision for the future of South Africa by Jason Engledoe
• Creating a More Beautiful World by Nalini Singh
• Deep Ecology and Mindfulness Expedition by Lawrence Schuessler
• Action Learning Adventures in the Pacific Northwest by Derek Angevine
• The Ecology of the 2017 Burning Man Temple by Dr. Lee Klinger
• A Day at Can Masdeu by Ava Klinger
• Collectively Visioning for the Future in a Remote Russian Village: my reflections from the Immersion Event by Ava Klinger

Keep your eyes peeled for some of our COMING ATTRACTIONS in 2018 and beyond:

• Sudden Oak Life Certification with Dr. Lee Klinger
• New Website Development
• Presentations by Gaia U community members at the European Ecovillage Convergence in Estonia in July, 2018 and the European Permaculture Convergence in Ireland August, 2018
  

From me and the rest of our growing community, we wish you a very happy solstice! May we look forward to more stories of love, leadership, and resilience in the future.