Eco Practicum Catskills
Offering the choice of attending one or both of the 2-week sessions, Eco Practicum Catskills focuses on the most pertinent bio-regional issues. In the first session, meet the people who are growing and selling produce, raising animals, and changing the way we eat. In the second session, visit fracking wells in Pennsylvania, tour a wastewater treatment plant, and hike the pristine Catskills reservoirs that make up the largest unfiltered water system in the world.
Session One: Food, Farming, and Animals
May 31 - June 14, 2015 Food is both a biological and cultural imperative. Thus it plays a myriad of roles in our personal lives, as well as our ecosystems and our economy. Food choices do make an impact, but beyond the simplicity of consumer choice lies an exploration of a food system that is at once centralized and dispersed, efficient and ineffective, utterly destructive and inspiringly regenerative. Food is a driving force in the human augmentation of the earth, destruction of countless ecosystems, and subsequent extinction of thousands of species. At the same time, we have devoted nearly 1/3 of our planet’s land surface to animals that we have domesticated. Ultimately, the way we feed ourselves and relate to animals has tremendous consequences for the climate, biodiversity, and life on earth. Session One addresses... Read More Session Two: Energy, Water, and Waste June 14 - June 28, 2015 There is no doubt that man has had a tremendous impact on the planet. From micro-plastics in the oceans now outnumbering plankton, to massive terrestrial alterations that transform the wilderness into cities, we live in a time when the way we choose to manage natural resources has significant consequences for our species, and all the species around us. What approach can we use to understand the complex systems-wide challenges we face? How can we best examine the systems we use to manage our natural resources? All too often, we misunderstand one system by examining it in a vacuum and even our mechanisms for investigating are overly specific and fragmented. Energy, water, and waste are interconnected elements that shape and are shaped by both the natural and the built environment. Approaching these topics as parts of one whole picture allows us to make connections, forge new pathways, and discover opportunities for deep collaboration. Session Two examines... Read More Download the Full Eco Practicum Catskills Syllabus |
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