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Eco-Collaboration Between Higher Education and Ecovillages A Partnerships for Sustainability: Eco-Collaboration between Higher Education and Ecovillages A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Kiernan Jeanette Gladman IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LIBERAL STUDIES February 2014 ©Kiernan Jeanette Gladman 2014 For John May the soles of our shoes wear down together. i Paradise (John Prine) When I was a child, my family would travel Down to western Kentucky where my parents were born And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered So many times that my memories are worn Chorus: And Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County Down by the Green River where Paradise lay Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away Well sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols But empty pop bottles was all we would kill Chorus And the coal company came with the world's largest shovel And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man Chorus When I die let my ashes float down the Green River Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin' Just five miles away from wherever I am Chorus ii CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................................................ iv TABLES .............................................................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. vii ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH THE SYSTEMS LENS............................... 8 Land and Facility Systems in HEIs and Ecovillages ............................................ 11 Social and Organizational Systems in HEIs and Ecovillages .............................. 14 Integrating and Interacting with Other Systems ................................................... 17 CHAPTER 3: SUSTAINABILITY IN 15 MINNESOTA HEIS ............................................ 21 Sustainability in Minnesota HEIs .......................................................................... 22 Connecting Minnesota HEIs Through a Resource Guide .................................... 24 CHAPTER 4: SUSTAINABILITY IN ECOVILLAGES ....................................................... 44 Highlights of the Selected American Ecovillages ................................................. 47 Mutual Goals and Missions for Sustainability Transformation ............................. 31 CHAPTER 5: VALUE AND FUTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY IN HEIS ............................ 64 The Changing Tides of Value ............................................................................... 64 Transformative Experiences for Learning ............................................................ 65 Ecologically Sustainable from the Inside Out ....................................................... 67 Moving from “Feel Good” to “Real Good” ............................................................. 70 Keeping Identity While Embracing Sustainability ................................................. 73 CHAPTER 6: ECO-COLLABORATIONS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE ........................ 77 Partnerships .......................................................................................................... 78 Creating New Environments for Living and Learning........................................... 84 Weaving the Systems ........................................................................................... 86 Measuring Success............................................................................................... 91 TABLES ............................................................................................................................ 95 LIST OF WORLDWIDE ECOVILLAGES .......................................................................... 97 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 108 APPENDIX A: Internet References for 15 Minnesota HEIs ........................................... 115 APPENDIX B: Internet References for Eight Ecovillages .............................................. 128 iii ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1—Nesting of Systems ............................................................................................ 9 Figure 2—Stocks, Inflow, and Outflow ............................................................................. 10 Figure 3—Hierarchical University Model, “Siloed” Effect ................................................. 14 Figure 4—Organizational Chart of St. Olaf College, Board of Regents .......................... 15 Figure 5—Fully-Integrated, Heterarchical Ecovillage Model............................................ 16 Figure 6—Fully-Integrated, Heterarchical University Model ............................................ 19 Figure7—Venn Diagram of Triple-Bottom-Line of Sustainability ..................................... 21 Figure 8—Venn Diagram of Five-Fold Sustainability ....................................................... 22 Figure9—STARS Logos of Rating.................................................................................... 23 Figure 10—Augsburg College .......................................................................................... 28 Figure 11—Carleton College ............................................................................................ 29 Figure 12—College of St. Benedict .................................................................................. 30 Figure 13—Concordia College ......................................................................................... 31 Figure 14—Gustavus Adolphus College .......................................................................... 32 Figure 15—Hamline University ......................................................................................... 33 Figure 16—Macalester College ........................................................................................ 34 Figure 17—Minnesota State University, Mankato ............................................................ 35 Figure 18—Minnesota State University, Moorhead ......................................................... 36 Figure 19—Southwest Minnesota State University .......................................................... 37 Figure 20—St. Cloud State University .............................................................................. 38 Figure 21—St. Olaf College .............................................................................................. 39 Figure 22—University of Minnesota, Twin Cities ............................................................. 40 Figure 23—University of St. Thomas ............................................................................... 42 Figure 24—Winona State University ................................................................................ 43 Figure 25—Structure at Anathoth ..................................................................................... 47 Figure 26—Berea College Ecovillage .............................................................................. 49 Figure 27—Drawing of Aquaponics at Berea College Ecovillage .................................... 50 Figure 28—Courtyard and Structures at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage............................... 51 Figure 29—Structure at Earthaven ................................................................................... 55 Figure 30—Neighborhood at Ecovillage at Ithaca ........................................................... 56 Figure 31—Structure at Sirius Community ....................................................................... 58 Figure 32—Structure and Garden at Sundog Ecovillage ................................................. 59 Figure 33—Venn Diagram of Heads, Hands, and Heart ................................................. 65 iv Figure 34—CLEAR Model of Collaboration ..................................................................... 87 Figure 35—MCM Model of Collaboration ......................................................................... 88 Figure 36—Stage Model of Collaboration ........................................................................ 89 Figure 37—Ecovillage and University Acting Independently ........................................... 90 Figure 38—Eco-Collaboration for Shared Mission ........................................................... 90 Figure 39—Ecovillage and University in Transformative Partnership ............................. 91 v TABLES Table 1—Metrics of Some Sustainability Efforts at Minnesota HEIs ............................ 108 Table 2—Three Types of Community Partnerships in STARS Manual ......................... 109 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Were I to thank every person by name who helped along the grand journey of the Master of Liberal Studies and thesis, this section would be insufferably long, for I would not be able to
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