Caring for Common Ground
Author: Claire Catherine Shaller Bjork
Publisher:
Published: 2019
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The human dimensions of ecological restoration have been considered with increasing focus over the past several decades. The Earth Partnership program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has presented an evolving model of restoration as education since 1991, with growing awareness of the need for multicultural approaches to learning about and doing local land stewardship. My dissertation presents the story of the development of a pilot restoration education project, using Earth Partnership content and pedagogy with a group of interfaith participants at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin. Through a collaborative learning approach, participants in the "Caring for Common Ground" project explored the meanings ascribed to restoration by spiritual and faith practitioners, the tools required to enact ecological values, and the community of practice formed around spiritually-based ecological restoration. Adopting a community-engaged approach, I strive here to authentically relate the story of this unfolding program, honoring the experiences and knowledge that participants have shared throughout the process. I describe the development and implementation of a pilot workshop, participant meaning-making and learning processes, sustained community-building and resource-sharing, and illustrations of restoration projects planned by participants in their communities. I conclude with a discussion of how the frameworks and knowledge associated with ecological restoration, learning communities, and interfaith/spiritually-based community engagement have been intertwined in new ways through this educational experience
