Clifton Neighborhood Gaia Education - Certification Application

Subject: Clifton Neighborhood Gaia Education - Certification Application v 2-0
To: info@gaiaeducation.org
Clifton Neighborhood Gaia Education - Certification Application
From Ecovillage Wiki

* 1 Gaia Education Certification Application
o 1.1 General Information
o 1.2 Program Information
o 1.3 Health and Safety
o 1.4 Course Commitments

Gaia Education Certification Application

Please answer the following questions as completely as possible. You are also encouraged to send supporting materials that would help us understand your community and other educational programs that have been offered. Please email completed applications and materials to:

May East
Programme Director
Gaia Education
Findhorn Foundation, The Park
Forres, Scotland IV36 3TZ


General Information

1. ECOVILLAGE/SITE NAME: Clifton Neighborhood

2. LOCATION/ADDRESS: Clifton Community Council, Inc.
2337 Frankfort Avenue, Box 333
Louisville, KY 40206-2467
U.S.A.

3. PRIMARY CONTACT: John Baker
Secondary: David Silverman, dwsilverman@yahoo.com

4. EMAIL: johnbaker@bellsouth.net

5. PHONE: 502 893 0477

6. WEBSITE: www.cliftonlouky.com
http://sustainableclifton.blogspot.com

7. When was community founded?

Clifton Community Council formed in 1980. Clifton neighborhood was founded in approximately 1830.

8. How many actively engaged members?

Clifton Community Council has 200 members, 90 of them active on committees at any one time. Clifton neighborhood is an urban neighborhood with a diverse income and ethnic composition of 4,000 residents and over 70 businesses and numerous other schools, community centers, non-profit organizations and civic projects. Clifton has one of the largest populations of persons with blindness in the United States. Issues of sustainability have long been of concern to the Council.

9. What are the main languages spoken?

English, Spanish

10. What is the basic ideology of the community/ecovillage? Please offer other supporting materials as appropriate.

From the 1990 Clifton Neighborhood Plan -

“Vision Statement: Clifton is a traditional neighborhood with a unique natural environment and history. The neighborhood cares about furthering sustainable economic development and viability. Underlying this vision are the values of fairness, compassion, respect, and personal responsibility. In developing this plan, the purpose is to address concerns and issues on: historic preservation, affordable housing, environmental integrity, development of social capital, public transportation, and pedestrian and bicycle amenities in a neighborhood that is safe, diverse, welcoming, and attractive.”

Clifton Community Council; www.cliftonlouky.org

Clifton Neighborhood Plan: http://home.insightbb.com/~mike-and-elwood/CLIFTON_Neighborhood_Plan.pdf

Street Map of Clifton: http://www.ecentral.com/louisvillemaps/clifton.gif


Program Information

1. What are the proposed dates this program will be offered?

Phase I: Nov 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008
Phase II: March 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008
Phase III: August 31, 2008 to August 31, 2008


2. Please indicate the focus of your EDE course (check all that apply and elaborate if desired)

* Sustainability Literacy: To provide participants with a broad exposure to ecovillage concepts, practices and worldviews.

* Training Designers: To provide participants with the skills, knowledge, and motivation to create and/or further develop ecovillages/sustainable human settlements.

* Training Trainers: To provide participants with the skills, knowledge, and motivation to lead future EDE courses.

Introduction: Urban neighborhoods face a variety of social, economic, and environmental challenges. Gaia Education’s Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Neighborhood Development are among the education and development processes that provide excellent guides to address these issues in a cohesive, holistic, interrelated manner.

Purpose: To develop educational modules relevant to Clifton and other urban neighborhoods and ecovillages across the Gaia Education dimensions of Worldview, Social, Economic, and Ecological. Further, to integrate and correlate the LEED Neighborhood Development Guidelines (Smart Location & Linkage, Neighborhood Pattern & Design, Green Construction & Technology, and Innovation & Design Process) with Ecovillage Design parameters.

Method: Four work groups will be established to examine one of the four EDE dimensions and, though the lens of Clifton’s social, economic, and environment characteristics, develop, design, and record the parameters of a place based, experiential educational process to be implemented in the Clifton neighborhood. Work group participants will consist of Clifton residents, out-of-neighborhood invitees, and interested parties.

It is important to emphasize this: The role of educators and resource people will be to serve and support the work groups development of participatory action research and education approaches to community learning. This strong process focus means that process, curriculum and resources outlined in this program will continue to be developed iteratively through the three Phases of the program to create living and learning experiences based in community.

Phased Development

We anticipate a phased development process, beginning with community participants learning how to develop and apply Gaia education training methods and content (Phase I) , followed by a Curriculum and practice integration process, (Phase II) and then a period of expansion and new module and partnership development (Phase III)

Phase I will consist of four basic Activity Areas:
• Study and action partnering for sustainable neighborhood education.
• Specific seminars and skills trainings in each Dimension Area
• Participatory planning and design processes, both active community design and planning and simulations
• Training trainers activity, focussing on specific content and process skill sets appropriate to the Gaia Education Curriculum process in Clifton
•
Phase II will establish the Project goals for each Dimension, including the Activity areas above, with targeted organzation/design/build and learning goals developed with each student, trainer and participating community organization.

Phase III is focussed on establishing a regular series of Gaia education trainings on an annual basis for Clifton and surrounding neighborhoods and communities.


Work group parameters:

Participation in a work group will be based on self-selection, Council leadership, and invited valuable participants to include, but not limited to:

Persons with disabilities
Neighborhood profit and non-profit corporations
Ecological experts
Transportation experts
Spiritual leaders
Financial experts
Green Building experts
Farm-to-market experts
Energy/Building/Renovation experts
Etc.

Each work group will be given resources and materials relevant to their topic prior to the first meeting.

At a minimum, each work group will select a chair, vice-chair, and recorder.

Each work group will meet a minimum of three times for a total of six hours of group time and an additional three hours of individual homework.

Each work group will document its process.

Each work group will produce Audio, written, and visual training modules.

Time line and benchmarks for implementing their training program.


Outcomes:

Tangibles:

Four training programs covering the four dimensions.

Correlating work group outcomes with LEED Neighborhood Development guidelines.

Requests to Metro Government, Metro United Way, Foundations, and private sector for resources and policy changes to assist with addressing Clifton specific sustainability in consort with, when relevant, other urban neighborhoods.

“Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods” product for distribution to interested parties and other neighborhoods.

Intangibles:

Social capital gains.

Nexus of the Clifton 2010 Neighborhood Plan.


3. Please include a daily schedule of your EDE course along with a breakdown of proposed contact/instructional hours within each of the four dimensions of the Ecovillage Design Curriculum.

Courses will include:

1) Evening Workshops
2) Weekend retreats
3) Experiential Work with community learners onsite at appropriate facilites
4) Participation in community decision making, planning and design
5) Cultural and creative projects
6) Internships, service learning and similar opportunities
7) field trips to local and regional sister ecovillages., farms, businesses and community organizations involved in sustainability transitions

Daily schedules will include appropriate mixes of all these forms over the course of every week.


4. Please attach whatever additional materials you have available about the EDE course you are seeking certification for (e.g. brochures, itinerary, handbooks).

See http://sustainableclifton.blogspot.com for details of coursework and learning practice.

5. What are the skills and backgrounds of the educators? Please offer resume's or one-page descriptions of each of the primary course educators.

Resident Skills and backgrounds brought to bear in the Phase I process literally cover the entire range of community activity, and will be detailed in the processes that emerge from resident collaboration.
The initial facilitator bios are attached.

6. What sustainability "infrastructure"/resources would be available to students?

* Ecological appropriate technology (e.g. mud ovens, masonry stoves, solar ovens, solar heaters), energy (e.g. 100% supply by wind), waste (e.g. gray water system, composting toilets), food (e.g. agroforestry system), shelter (e.g. natural building materials

* Social (e.g., decision making, communication skills, health and healing)

* Economic (e.g., local economies, right livelihood, cottage industries)

* Worldview (e.g., rituals, meditative practices, art and creativity)

Clifton is home to the full set of resources necessary for this work. See in particular the Clifton Neighborhood plan resources sections and the Sustainable Clifton website.


7. Students

* What is the min/max number of students this course can accommodate? 10/500

* Will this course draw student from other countries? If so, will international students require visas? Yes, in Phase II and beyond. Students who matriculate for credit may need visas.

* What language(s) do you intend to teach the course in? english

Do you expect language to be a barrier for any students? No.

If so, how will you accommodate these students? Translation is available in 70 languages locally. Other assistance is available.

* Are you prepared to accommodate students with special needs (e.g. physical disabilities, dyslexia, chemical sensitivities, dietary restrictions) Yes.

8. Accommodations

* How many students per room? (ideal 2-3/room if longer than one week) 1-3

* How close are student facilities to central facilities? Within 1 mile

* Are students within walking distance of each other? Yes

* Is there close access to nature and/or wild spaces? Yes

9. Food

* What is the typical diet? Wide range, from vegetarian to "typical american" and diverse ethnic and health diets.

Can special diets be accommodated? Yes.

* Where will the food come from for the course? Preference is given to local community supported agriculture farmers and providers

* Would students help prepare meals? Yes, as well as having access to neighborhood food resources.

10. Money and access

* What do you intend to charge for this course?

Phase I: $0
Phase II: TBD
Phase III: TBD

Note: Program access will include free courses and community process trainings as well as specific per course fees for continuing education units and some other offerings.

* Will you offer scholarships?

At this time, we will offer free or sliding scale access to courses and events.
As additional funding becomes available we will consider other financial support and scholaship opportunities.

If so, what is your total allotment and how will you allocate and disburse this money?

11. Meeting and Study Space

* Can the space accommodate the expected course enrollment? Yes

* Can the space be dedicated to the program for the entire course? Some areas, yes.

* Is there a black/white or chalk board? Yes

* Is there computer access? (ideal: 1 computer per 4 students) Yes.

* Is there consistent and reliable access to Internet (at least once a week) Yes.

12. What other opportunities are there for learning (i.e. Service Learning Projects, Independent research, Internships, etc.) Please list as many as possible (name, phone, email):

Most of the partner community organizations have service learning, independent research and internships available.

Certification and Continuing Education Credit in Sustainability Studies is available through Webster University.

Academic credit for some learning opportunities is available through Webster University, University of Louisville, Spalding University and Indiana University Southeast.

Nearby classrooms at Webster University and other venues will be available for seminars. Faculty and students from area institutions will be able to work with the Living and learning Network, including with Berea College, Webster University, Adena Institute, University of Louisville, Spalding University, Jefferson County Schools, and others.


All of the following community based organizations projects have additional learning (Service Learning, Independent Research, Internships, etc. opportunities available:

Clifton Community Council
Adena Institute
Crescent Hill United Ministries
Community Farm Alliance,
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth,
Kentucky School for the Blind,
Faith and Justice,
Just Creations,
Heine Brothers Coffee,
Sustainable Agriculture Louisville,
Sustainable Louisville,
Kaviar Forge,
Food Literacy Project,
Preservation Alliance,
Sustainable Business Networks,
Environmental Educators Association,
Sustainability Forum,
US Green Building Council,
Urban Design Center,Open Journalism Project
Brick House
Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation
WXBH-FM
Kentucky Solar Partnershp


13. What other resources are in the surrounding area? (within one hours drive). List potential sites, contacts, and notes (sustainable farms, organizations, wild areas)

Resources in the surrounding area include a variety of close community organizations business and agencies which are invited to participate in and contribute to the Living and Learning Network : Community Farm Alliance, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky School for the Blind, Faith and Justice, Just Creations, Heine Brothers Coffee, Sustainable Agriculture Louisville, Sustainable Louisville, Kaviar Forge, Food Literacy Project, Preservation Alliance, Sustainable Business Networks, Environmental Educators Association, Sustainability Forum, US Green Building Council, Urban Design Center, and others.

Field visits to communities regionally include Imago in Cincinnati, OH, Berea Ecovillage in Berea, Kentucky, Oberlin Green Campus in OH, The Farm, in Summertown TN, Earhthaven in TN, the Lexington Sustainable Communities Network and others.

Health and Safety

1. What is the access to health facilities?

* Name and telephone University of Louisville Hospital 502 852 2285 / 502-562-3015

* Address http://www.uoflhealthcare.org/

U of L Health Care facilities are located in downtown Louisville in the heart of the Louisville Medical Center bordered by Muhammad Ali Blvd, Floyd St., Chestnut St., and Clay St.

* Distance from ecovillage: Approximately 2 miles.

2. Is the ecovillage located in a healthy and safe physical environment? Yes

* Is there access to clean water and food? Yes

* What is the risk level from political turmoil? Low

* What is the environmental risk level? Low

3. Does your ecovillage/community have liability insurance? No - But the facilities involved do.


Course Committments

1. Can you commit to equal employment and educational opportunities for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, or place of birth? Yes

2. Can you commit to running a safe and non-violent course for all participants? Yes

3. Can you commit to submitting an End-of-Program Report and Course Evaluations? Yes



Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. Please also feel free to comment on this form and the certification process as we hope to continue to adapt it to better meet everyone's needs. We commit to responding within four weeks of receiving a completed application. The Certification Committee will review the programme and determine one of three levels of certification:

* Full Certification: The programme is able to use Gaia Education and UNDESD logos and is able to apply for a Start-up Grant
* Supporting Certification: The programme is able to apply for a Start-up Grant, but is not able to use Gaia Education and UNDESD logos.
* Non-certification: The programme is not able to use logos or apply for a start-up grant, but is encouraged to review feedback from the certification committee and reapply the next year.

Thank you again for your good work and we look forward to being in touch.


Attachments

Files:
David_Silverman_res_1_07v1_5.pdf David_Silverman_res_1_07v1_5.pdf (120k)
JOHN_BAKER_resume.doc JOHN_BAKER_resume.doc (22k) [Preview]
Mark_Isaacs.rtf Mark_Isaacs.rtf (2k) [Preview]

JENNIFER_OLADIPO.rtf JENNIFER_OLADIPO.rtf (2k) [Preview]
Whit_Forrester_Resume.10.31.07.doc Whit_Forrester_Resume.10.31.07.doc (32k) [Preview]
Resume_Daly07_1.pdf Resume_Daly07_1.pdf (80k)

Steve Sizemore Resume

Todd Ecklof Resume

Gary Watrous Resume

CLIFTON_Neighborhood_Plan_1.pdf CLIFTON_Neighborhood_Plan_1.pdf (666k)