On August 27, 2013 twenty faculty, staff, parents and students attended Richard Louv's lecture at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Mr. Louv is well known for his book The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder and has recently published The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age. Richard Louv helped found the Children and Nature Network, an international collaboration of nature-focused programs and researchers interested in the work and study of children in nature.
At the talk, Mr. Louv dwelt on his four largest concerns regarding the environment:
biodiversity collapse
climate change
disconnection of children to nature
and the lack of a vision for a great environmental future
Mr. Louv highlighted this last concern, critiquing what he sees as environmentalists' propensity to carry nature in their briefcases rather than their heart. In my words, a worry that environmental activism lacks a soul connection to nature. Mr. Louv made the case that one must have transcendent experiences in nature to inculcate a life dedicated to environmental stewardship. This goal is what drives his work to get children outdoors in order to create the conditions for transcendence.
Louv points to the vision of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who believed deeply in painting a picture of a world people want to go to. Louv stresses that we reach beyond a vision of sustainability, instead we move toward creating a world that is "nature-rich". A short essay by Louv on this topic can be found here.
Listening to Louv, I recognized this practice of focusing on the good, on the richness of things. At the San Francisco Waldorf School we call it "creating an environment worthy of imitation". The idea that beauty and good nourish the senses, the whole human being. The Ohlone villages in the November kindergartens, the scarlet runner beans climbing up the balcony to Grade 6's front door, the cozy corners in the Grade School library, the High School Eurythmy Troupe's graceful offerings - all examples of wonder, of possibility.
Come join us as we work to ensure all our students have the possibility of transcendence outdoors.
- Amy Belkora
At the talk, Mr. Louv dwelt on his four largest concerns regarding the environment:
biodiversity collapse
climate change
disconnection of children to nature
and the lack of a vision for a great environmental future
Mr. Louv highlighted this last concern, critiquing what he sees as environmentalists' propensity to carry nature in their briefcases rather than their heart. In my words, a worry that environmental activism lacks a soul connection to nature. Mr. Louv made the case that one must have transcendent experiences in nature to inculcate a life dedicated to environmental stewardship. This goal is what drives his work to get children outdoors in order to create the conditions for transcendence.
Louv points to the vision of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who believed deeply in painting a picture of a world people want to go to. Louv stresses that we reach beyond a vision of sustainability, instead we move toward creating a world that is "nature-rich". A short essay by Louv on this topic can be found here.
Listening to Louv, I recognized this practice of focusing on the good, on the richness of things. At the San Francisco Waldorf School we call it "creating an environment worthy of imitation". The idea that beauty and good nourish the senses, the whole human being. The Ohlone villages in the November kindergartens, the scarlet runner beans climbing up the balcony to Grade 6's front door, the cozy corners in the Grade School library, the High School Eurythmy Troupe's graceful offerings - all examples of wonder, of possibility.
Come join us as we work to ensure all our students have the possibility of transcendence outdoors.
- Amy Belkora
No comments:
Post a Comment