The conference I went to last weekend focused on different sorts of place-based learning. I heard a number of presentations on projects intended to foster greater awareness--from both social and ecological standpoints--of the localities where people live and study.
The details of any of these aren't terribly important here, but it was a pleasure to spend time with people who are thinking hard about and trying to resist the trends make all places look like each other, and that disconnect people from the spaces where they reside. There were no manifestoes advancing sweeping changes to lifestyles and values, but many accounts of well-conceived, small scale, practical work-in-progress that is changing habits of thought and behavior in the people who have participated in it. These included: envrionmentally and socially responsible development of decayed urban areas; college courses bringing students into sustained interaction with the ecology and the permanent residents of a rural community; ongoing work to bring green values to all aspects of managing a university campus; a coalition of homeowners, environmentalists, and local politicians in San Diego that successfully steered new housing development away from sensitive wild areas; all sorts of strategies and activities for promoting place-sensitivity in a variety of classes or gatherings.
As I said, it was a pleasure to learn about these things, but a bittersweet one. Listening to all those encouraging presentations, I couldn't help thinking of just how strong and widespread are the institutions and attitudes that oppose the efforts discussed at the conference. Still, I'm not tossing in the towell. I've long been interested in connecting writing with the exploration of place, and by next fall, I'll have a class dedicated to that. Maybe next time around, I'll be able to give one of those inspiring presentations.
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Working too much? A fine presentation at the conference described how the disappearance of personal time from our lives carries significant physical, psychological, and environmental costs. Learn more about time deprivation and what you can do about it here. (Hat tip to Rebecca Gould, Middlebury College)
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