Syllabi and Course Descriptions
On this page you may access a collection of syllabi contributed by instructors who currently teach courses that integrate psychology and environmental issues. These instructors are full of great ideas, many of which do not appear elsewhere in the manual. Click on the email link to contact an instructor. Some of the syllabi may be downloaded from this page in .pdf format; others are accessible by clicking on the weblink listed.
Courses are listed by title in alphabetical order. Click on a title below or scroll down the page to see the instructor's course description and instructor contact info.
Ecological Psychology (Ecopsychology) (L. Hollis-Walker)
Ecopsychology: Health Care Theory and Practice (S. Conn)
Ecopsychology: Psychology and Environmental Ethics (N. Gowensmith)
Behavior and Environment
Raymond DeYoung [rdeyoung@umich.edu]
Associate Professor of Conservation Behavior
University of Michigan
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
An introduction to environmental psychology that examines human-environment interactions with a natural resource focus. The course develops an information processing model of human nature and then uses this model to explore human decision making, the settings humans most prefer, and how they maintain clarity and attentional vitality.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Conservation Psychology
Gene Myers [gmeyers@cc.wwu.edu]
Associate Professor
Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington Univ.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
A combined upper division elective/required course for our M.Ed. in Env. Education program, this course is aimed at environmental educators. I have taught it many different ways. It always has a practicum component involving working with young people in 1:1 or small group situations, interviewing or in other ways placing my students in the learner/researcher-practitioner role. In terms of academic content, I usually aim to highlight parts of the research bases for the following discourses / paradigms of environmental education: Systematic behavior change campaigns; democratic/ participatory collective action; and culture & connection to nature and place. The formation of an environmental morality is often a focus as it is a special interest for me. I usually manage to invite in one or two colleagues, take students to a conference, or in other ways expose them to the emerging network of conservation psychologists & related folk.
CLICK FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Conservation Psychology
P. Wesley Schultz [wsschultz@csusm.edu]
Associate Professor
California State University- San Marcos
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The field of psychology is the scientific study of behavior. Much of the discipline focuses on internal processes (like thoughts, motives, or feelings). However, in recent years psychologists have become increasingly sensitized to the many environmental conditions that affect people's behavior or are caused by people's behavior. Conservation Psychology is the scientific study of the reciprocal relationship between human behavior and the natural environment. Conservation Psychology is an applied field, meaning that it involves the use of psychological principles, theories, or methods, to understand and solve a social issue. The course will be divided into three sections. The first section of the course will examine the scientific evidence regarding a number of environmental issues, including global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, destruction of rainforests, and depletion of natural resources like fresh water, oil, and metal deposits. For each of these issues, we will examine the specific behaviors that lead to these problems. The second section of the course will examine psychological factors associated with conservation behavior. We will examine such topics as the commons dilemma, rational choice, values, and incentives. The final section of the course will examine interventions designed to change human behavior. Topics covered in this module will include public transportation, recycling, and environmental education.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Conservation Psychology
Amara Brook [atbrook@scu.edu]
Assistant Professor
Santa Clara University
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will introduce you to Conservation Psychology, that is, how psychological processes influence behaviors that help or hurt the environment, and how psychology can help encourage environmental conservation. Readings will be drawn from all areas of psychology. At the end of this course, you should know several psychological theories that are relevant to environmental conservation, and be able to design interventions based on them to promote conservation. Short weekly papers and larger projects will give you the opportunity to practice applying psychology to promote environmental conservation.
CLICK FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Counseling with Natural Attractions (Online Course)
and the Secrets-of-Nature Attractions Trail
Michael J. Cohen [nature@interisland.net]
Director, Project NatureConnect
Institute of Global Education
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
A hands-on approach for school counselors, teachers and environmental educators that integrates methods and coping skills into a process that opens bonds between humans and nature in a balancing way. This program targets the 'at risk' youth population, but is beneficial for all student groups.
Current research indicates that direct exposure to nature "is essential for healthy childhood development" (Louv, 2005). Environment-based education improves standardized test scores and creativity is stimulated by being outdoors. At the same time, government studies indicate that we spend, on the average, 90% of our time indoors (Cohen, 1989). Child advocacy expert Richard Louv emphasizes this statement in his recent book Last Child in the Woods (Louv, 2005). Louv calls our indoor-bound mentality 'nature-deficit disorder.' He backs his statements with research that indicates children are inside too much. This points to some disturbing childhood trends such as obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and depression. This class addresses "nature-deficit disorder" and provides a gateway for school counselors and environmental educators to explore an educational and creative experience in nature via the web-of-life paradigm, and natural sensory awareness that can help students feel better about themselves and increase their awareness of their environment. By the end of this course participants will be able to use, as a counseling and teaching tool, the benefits of interactions with nature that enhances an appreciation for nature, a sense of well-being. Participants will also understand the organic interconnection of all life via natural sensory awareness, the language nature uses to communicate.
CLICK HERE FOR PROJECT NATURE CONNECT AND HERE FOR SECRETS OF ATTRACTION TRAIL
[back to top]
Developmental Psychology and the Human Relationship with Nature
Peter Kahn [pkahn@u.washington.edu]
Professor of Psychology
University of Washington
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
For much of human evolution, the natural world constituted one of the most important contexts children encountered during their critical years of maturation. It would not be too bold to assert that experience of nature has been and may possibly remain a critical component in human physical, emotional, intellectual, and even moral development. Despite this possibility, our scientific knowledge of the impact and significance of nature during varying stages of childhood is remarkably sparse. For example, we remain largely uninformed about the following questions:
- Do young children form deep connections with the natural world, or is that idea actually a myth?
- What are the evolutionary origins of children’s relationships with nature?
- Are people's environmental values and reasoning mentally organized (structured), and do such structures develop such that our societal discourse on environmental issues has it genesis in childhood?
- What is the place of wildness and wilderness in the human psyche?
- Do animals provide a means by which children come to care about non-sentient nature? Or about other humans?
- How does culture affect environmental commitments and sensibilities?
- Are there universal features in children's relationship with nature?
- Does it matter that many children today encounter substantially fewer opportunities for direct experience with healthy natural systems?
- What is the significance of increasing the human exposure to nature through technologically mediated interactions – as occurs with televisions, computers, plasma displays, robotic pets, “telegardens,” and computer simulations?
Even partial answers to these questions could have enormous significance in areas such as child rearing, education, land use planning, and the design of the natural and human built environment. In short, our goal is to gain depth in developmental theory, and to use it to investigate the ontogenesis of the human relationship with nature.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecological Psychology
Susan M. Koger [skoger@willamette.edu]
Professor of Psychology
Willamette University
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Environmental degradation is one of the most pressing problems society faces. Because human behavior is at the root of the problem, understanding individual and societal processes is critical to addressing and solving the problem. As a general education, “Understanding Society” mode of inquiry, this course will explore the role of social institutions and individual human behavior in terms of the creation of this problem, as well as how psychological research and theory can help to formulate solutions. Our discussion will include an overview of psychology as it may be applied to environmental issues. We'll study global problems and explore possible solutions based on behavioral interventions. Employing the principle “Think Globally, Act Locally,” we will conduct community and personal ecology projects to illuminate the ways in which our own conduct contributes to larger global patterns.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecological Psychology
Linda Riebel & Mark Pilisuk
Faculty Member & Professor
Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco, CA
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purposes of this course are to survey central issues in the emerging field of ecological psychology, to examine competing conceptions of this field, and to review our growing understanding of the relationship between human beings and the physical environment. At the end of this course, students should understand a perspective on psychology that differs from both the mainstream and from the humanistic psychology views of humans. Students should also be able to articulate a framework for addressing environmental problems and their own responses to the crisis. Students will learn how the successful self of contemporary culture may be an incomplete and unhealthy construction. They will understand how the matrix of nature within which we live impacts human health and dysfunction. The psychological roots of the environmental crisis and the psychological and cultural sources of its continuance are described. Students will be exposed to selected fields within psychology relevant to environmental issues and will acquire skills to become more effective change agents. Finally, students will develop an ecological perspective that can be brought to bear on the important issues of our times.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecological Psychology
Guy L. Osborne [losborne@cn.edu]
Professor of Psychology
Director of Environment & Community Stewardship Project
Carson-Newman College
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
An exploration of the interconnections of human behavior and well-being with the natural environment, with special emphasis on the Southern Appalachian bioregion and Upper Tennessee Valley. More specifically, we will attempt to do the following:
* Examine research and theory from the social sciences about how our attitudes, values, and behaviors in connection with the natural environment develop and change.
* Consider the paradox of environmentally destructive behavior from a psychological point of view. Why is it that human beings continue to degrade the air, water, and land of our one and only habitat? What kinds of behavioral interventions can environmental psychology offer that can prove effective in reversing this pattern?
* Examine special topics in ecological psychology of interest to the class. Examples--ecofeminism, environmental racism, ecopsychology, whole systems design, sustainable building, Creation spirituality.
* Become more informed about what we can do at the personal level as individual consumers and citizens to help the environment.
* "Know Your Bioregion" through fieldtrips and a research project to learn about the ioregion in which we are living, working, and going to school--Southern Appalachia, the Upper Tennessee Valley, the Holston River watershed, Jefferson County.
* Have the experience of living sustainably in community for one weekend through a etreat at Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center. Narrow Ridge is a land trust and educational facility in Grainger County that is totally "off-grid" in terms of electrical power, that recycles everything, and whose buildings are made largely of locally grown and renewal materials and constructed in such a way as to take advantage of the natural heating and cooling capacities of the Earth. We will prepare our own meals and eat wholesome and delicious organic food grown low on the food chain. We will learn about Narrow Ridge's various programs, such as its recent efforts in community-supported agriculture, and its foundational philosophy that emphasizes humanity's spiritual connections with Earth.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ONLINE SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecological Psychology (Ecopsychology)
Laurie Hollis-Walker, M.A. [lauriehw@yorku.ca]
Ph.D. candidate, clinical psychology
York University
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Ecological psychology is the study of three broad issues: environmental perception, the effects of the environment on behavior and experience, and the effects of behavior on the environment. The emerging field of ecopsychology expands these interests, adding perspectives on the nonduality of humans and nature, positive emotions as sources of environmental action, and the integration of environmental principles into psychologically relevant social science investigation. It also offers a model of human nature that is equally grounded in natural processes and human experience and development. Ecological psychology and ecopsychology are informed by other fields and disciplines (e.g., environmental science, design, architecture, ethics, and philosophy, ecological sustainability and action), thus this course applies psychological theory and research to environmental issues on multiple levels of analysis. Topics to be covered include overviews of current environmental and potentially related social issues and other relevant academic disciplines, in addition to examples of current empirical findings from psychological research in terms of our behaviors, beliefs, decisions, and values in relation to the responsibility we have for the human and non–human life with which we share this world. The course will focus on theories, methods, and assessment tools used by relevant perspectives in psychology that apply and have been applied to environmental issues. There will be a multiple level comparison of different theories and approaches and there will be a focus, also, on the attainment of individual and collective sustainable solutions.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecopsychology
Britain Scott [bascott@stthomas.edu]
Associate Professor of Psychology
Director of Environmental Studies (Former)
University of St. Thomas
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Theodore Roszak (1992) said, "Psychology needs ecology and ecology needs psychology." The field of psychology cannot continue to ignore the ecological context of human life, and environmentalists need psychologists to help them understand human behavior -- the root cause of all environmental problems. This course explores the emerging discipline of "eco-psychology." Topics include the psychological implications of the human disconnect from nature, therapeutic approaches toward healing that disconnect, and methods and benefits of staying connected in a contemporary urban context.
CLICK FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecopsychology: Health Care Theory and Practice
Sarah Conn [ecopsych@drsconn.com]
Psychology Lecturer and Private Practitioner
Harvard Medical School
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
What is health in an interconnected, interdependent world which is becoming more complex over time? What is the role of humans, individually and collectively, in the health of the whole? How does health care change when symptoms are seen as signals from the larger world or signs of disconnection from it?
Ecopsychology is a field which recognizes that human sanity must include sustainable and mutually-enhancing relations with the natural world as well as within the human community. Ecopsychology attempts to bridge psychology and ecology, to learn again to see the needs of the person and the needs of the earth as interrelated and interdependent. In this course, we will examine the Western tendency to individualize and pathologize personal pain, and work towards creating new models of health which focus on the connections between "personal" and planetary healing.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Ecopsychology: Psychology and Environmental Ethics
Neil Gowensmith [nilsynils@yahoo.com]
Forensic Psychologist
Adult Mental Health Division, State of Hawaii
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Ecopsychology seeks to creatively combine aspects of psychology and environmental studies to increase our understanding of how we as humans relate to our natural surroundings. Psychology and ecology both have much to teach one another. This course will focus on psychological elements found in the ecology movement (i.e., what motivations and attitudes influence environmental behavior?) as well as on ecological concepts often overlooked in traditional psychology (i.e., should a definition of mental health include our environmental actions?). The content will explore the most basic spiritual and human instincts/inclinations and raise the question of identity in the context of community and environment. This course will focus on integrating ideas, focusing on success stories, and exploring how psychology, ecology, and faith can strengthen each other.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values
Riley E. Dunlap
Professor, Department of Sociology
Oklahoma State University
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is intended to provide an in-depth introduction to the vast literature on environmental attitudes, beliefs, values or EABV (and “cognitions” more generally) that has developed over the past four decades—with primary attention to recent work. Social and behavioral scientists (and others) have conducted hundreds upon hundreds of surveys of populations (from small samples of students to national and even international samples) designed to gain information on their environmental cognitions, consciousness and so forth, and the basic goal of the course will be to help you get a good sense of this literature. (We will also deal with the link between EABV and actual behaviors to some degree, but cannot do so in detail as that would require another course.) We will focus on the key conceptual and methodological issues that have emerged, paying particular attention to conceptual and methodological shortcomings that have hampered work in the area as well as recent developments that have attempted to solve some of these problems.
CLICK FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Design
Stephanie Allard [sallard@zooatlanta.org]
Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology
Georgia Institute of Technology
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Introduction of psychological concepts relevant to environmental design. Survey of selected methods for assessing human-made environments and development of design solutions to selected problems.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Problem Solving: Psychosocial Barriers to Adaptive Change
Julie Devlin [jdevlin@cogentconsortiuminc.ca]
Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology, University of New Brunswick
Instructor, Maritime College of Forest Technology
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Conventional "command and control" approaches to environmental management have fallen into disrepute these days. There is now more emphasis on participation in environmental decision making by a much wider variety of stakeholders. There have also been attempts to include insights from the psychosocial disciplines into environmental problem solving. But these latter innovations only skim the surface, incorporating what might be called safe social science and psychology into the methodological stew. Such ideas are attractive in that they ruffle no feathers and rock no boats. They offer comforting reassurance that the new participatory methods will re-direct the ship of state on to a sustainable course. Yet our problems remain as intractable as ever and conflict
continues unabated. Why?
In this course, we argue that what is missing is an acknowledgment of the darker side of human nature, those aspects of ourselves which confound even the most strenuous efforts to overcome the problems confronting us. The course, therefore, examines the way in which our more irrational side hinders adaptive problem solving. We begin by
exploring the complex nature of environmental problems; move on to an examination of the psychosocial shortcomings of conventional
environmental problem solving; suggest what a more adaptive form of problem
solving might look like; explain how psychosocial pathologies block such adaptive
behaviour; and conclude by outlining how these barriers might be overcome.
The course is multimedia in format and interactive in intent. We assume little
familiarity with psychology and the social sciences. A great many case studies are used
to illustrate the various points raised. Participants should leave the course with a
working knowledge of basic psychosocial ideas and a grasp of soft systems approaches to
complex problem solving. Primary text for the course is: Miller, A. (1999). Environmental problem solving: Psychosocial barriers to adaptive change. New York: Springer.
CONTACT INSTRUCTOR DIRECTLY FOR MORE INFO
[back to top]
Environmental Problems and Human Behavior
Bob Riesenberg [briesenb@whatcom.ctc.edu]
Psychology Instructor
Whatcom Community College
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will focus on the application of environmental psychology paradigms and theories to understand the causes and potential solution strategies to present day environmental problems in Whatcom County, Washington State, the United States, and the globally. Many environmental problems have their origin in human behavior, and psychology is uniquely equipped to identify avenues for behavioral change. The cognitive-behavioral perspective will be emphasized in understanding these issues. The global perspective reflects the reality of the planet’s ecosystems which are impacted across political and cultural boundaries. Also, the global perspective enables us to understand our own behavior’s causes and effects on the planet’s ecosystem in relationship to the values, attitudes, and lifestyles in other cultures.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Psychology
Cay Anderson-Hanley [andersoc@union.edu]
Assistant Professor
Union College
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Environmental Psychology is a subfield of psychology. It covers the inter-relationship between humans and the physical environment (both natural and constructed). In this course we will examine the bi-directional relationship between the environment and our psyche: the effects of the environment on our behavior and experiences, and the effects of behavior on our environment. Topics will include: psychological theories and the environment; environmental perception and cognition; the dynamics of place; the effects of temperature, sound, light and spatial arrangements in neighborhoods, homes, schools and workplaces; mutual influences of human behavior and the natural environment; examination of educational and intervention efforts; and other topics. The course will incorporate an inquiry-based learning component in which students will be able to experientially engage in the process of research (e.g., how psychological principles affect behaviors in environmental issues on campus and in Saratoga Springs). [Note: This course description is from the academic catalog and does not fully capture the course's heavy emphasis on human interaction with the natural environment]
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Psychology
Joanne Vining [jvining@uiuc.edu]
Associate Professor
University of Illinois
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of the course is to provide an overview of theory, research, and methods in environmental psychology, with most attention devoted to natural environments. The course is structured to place an emphasis on learning to synthesize diverse information, to critically evaluate conceptual material and empirical studies, and to employ life experiences as well as substantive information in developing questions for theory and research in environmental psychology.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Psychology & the Wilderness Experience
David Campbell [dec1@humboldt.edu]
Professor
Humboldt State University
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Exploration of behavior-environment relationships. Ecopsychology, wilderness experience, and appraisal of our natural environment. Analysis of the social environment (privacy, territoriality, crowding). Evaluation of the built environment (home, workplace, community).
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ONLINE SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Environmental Psychology at Rocky Mountain National Park
Donna K. McMillan [mcmillan@stolaf.edu]
Assitant Professor of Psychology
St. Olaf College
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course investigates -- academically and experientially -- the human relationship with the natural world, examining ways in which the natural environment is important psychologically to human beings. Integrating aspects of theoretical and empirical psychology, environmental studies, and literature, we explore meanings, values, and questions such as: How are we affected by nature? What does nature mean to people? What affects people’s attitudes and behaviors toward the environment? How do we respond to environmental challenges? How does the field of psychology address the natural world?
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Humans and other Animals
Joanne Vining [jvining@uiuc.edu]
Associate Professor
University of Illinois
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
In this class we examine theories of and research on interactions between humans and other animals. The predominant disciplinary perspective will be psychological although other social scientific disciplines may be brought to bear on the topic.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Psychological Elements of Global Citizenship (Online Course)
Michael J. Cohen [nature@interisland.net]
Director, Project NatureConnect
Institute of Global Education
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
"We are dysfunctional socially and environmentally because we are cut off and isolated from the world of nature and the natural."
-Albert Gore
Discover how the excessive separation of our psyche from nature stressfully frustrates or injures our sentient inner nature to produce our psychologically bonded dependencies and "unsolvable" personal and global citizenship problems. Learn to reverse this destructive process. Using the book "The Web of Life Imperative," master thoughtful nature-reconnecting Organic Psychology support activities that help us reduce stress and dysfunction by reconnecting us to our fulfilling origins in nature's balance and renewing ways. This accredited online-study education program improves our thinking by satisfying our deepest natural curiosity, loves and spirit. It enlists nature to help us "compost" the hurtful and destructive elements of psyche and their detrimental effects .
This course scientifically teaches lasting, hands-on, education, psychology and leadership skills and support activities that enable us to feelingly tap the "higher power" grace and wisdom of nature's creation and restorative processes. Its email and telephone contacts between course members let nature help us nurture warm interpersonal relationships, well-being and responsibility.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ONLINE COURSE
[back to top]
Psychology of Environmental Problems
Deborah DuNann Winter [winterd@whitman.edu]
Professor of Psychology
Whitman College
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This seminar provides an overview of psychology for application to solving environmental problems. Using empirical and experiential methods, we analyze how psychology can contribute to the project of building a sustainable society. Environmental conflict and nonviolent action are addressed. Using the principle “Think Globally, Act Locally”, students conduct a community, campus, or personal ecology project to illuminate the ways in which our own conduct contributes to larger global patterns. Weekly reading, writing, discussion, a class presentation, and a final paper are required. Many sessions will take place at the Johnston Wilderness Campus.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Psychology of Environmental Stewardship
Raymond DeYoung [rdeyoung@umich.edu]
Associate Professor of Conservation Behavior
University of Michigan
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
A course that explores research on the psychology of environmental stewardship and creates a toolbox of approaches for promoting durable conservation behavior. Includes the study of the relationship among stewardship behavior, mindfulness-based practices, and time spent in natural settings.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Psychology of Sustainability and Behavior Change
Christie Manning [christie.manning@gmx.net]
Research Fellow and Adjunct Faculty Member
Hamline University Center for Global Environmental Education
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides a theoretical introduction to the psychology of environmental problems. It also introduces several practical strategies, described in the psychological literature, for bringing about behavior change.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Seminar in Conservation Behavior
Raymond DeYoung [rdeyoung@umich.edu]
Associate Professor of Conservation Behavior
University of Michigan
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
A graduate level seminar that examines current psychological research on promoting environmental stewardship and sustainable living.
CONTACT INSTRUCTOR DIRECTLY FOR MORE INFO
[back to top]
Social Dynamics and the Environment
Britain Scott [bascott@stthomas.edu]
Associate Professor of Psychology
Director of Environmental Studies Program
University of St. Thomas
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
In this course, we draw primarily on the fields of psychology and sociology to explore the role of human behavior in creating and attempting to solve environmental problems. We examine general social dynamics in the history of the U.S. environmental movement. We consider individual-level cognitions and behaviors related to environmental degradation, the social construction of environmental problems, and the development of interventions to solve those problems.
CLICK  FOR SYLLABUS
[back to top]
Sustainable Living for a Sustainable Earth (short courses)
Werner Sattmann-Frese [slse@bigpond.net.au]
Notions of ‘Sustainable Living’ have recently been considered in relation to topics such as clean air and water, Permaculture, solar panels and mud-brick houses. Although environmental groups and government programs will continue to play important roles in these issues, there is now a growing awareness that to live sustainably we will also have to address the emotional and psychosocial aspects of sustainability, including the following: satisfying relationships; creative expression; meaning and purpose; fairness in the workplace; the underlying causes of wellness and illness in our society; violence and peace; equality between genders, races and other expressions of difference.
These factors, as much as a healthy natural environment, will determine whether or not people can live with a sense of ease and happiness in a life-supporting world. Research has shown that those who live psychosocially sustainable lives are more likely to care for others and the non-human environment than those who struggle with the above issues. Sustainable Living for a Sustainable Earth is an enterprise committed to researching our environmental crises from a depth psychology perspective. It also provides the emotional support that many people need to make their lives more emotionally and psychosocially sustainable. It does this by assisting people in: deepening awareness of one’s emotional and social sustainability; enhancing ability to understand the psychosomatic meaning of one’s illnesses; deepening understanding of the links between personal, social and ecological sustainability; better understanding their disowned and projected feelings, and how these might contribute to emotional rises, relationship breakdowns and the deterioration of the natural environment.
CLICK  FOR SHORT COURSE OFFERINGS
[back to top]
|
INTRODUCTION TO INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES 
