Ecological Design

The Ecological Design dimension of the full Gaia Education Design for Sustainability (GEDS) course starts 2 January 2018. Join the online course and become an ecological designer to ensure that life-supporting natural functions are not only preserved but regenerated whenever possible.

Many of us feel that our current consumer lifestyles are no longer sustainable nor desirable on a personal to global level, and that our ecological systems appear to be edging closer and closer towards collapse, but we believe that more sustainable or regenerative ways of living our lives are possible, feasible and viable, but what are these alternative ways of living?

In trying to Design for Sustainability, Gaia Educations seeks to consciously reinvent ecological living from the ground up, honing in on aspects such as sustainable production and consumption, regenerative agriculture and food production, appropriate technologies for water and energy systems, green and sustainable building and construction, and weaving it all together through whole systems and regenerative design approaches and methods to achieve one planet living design and development outcomes.

Gaia Education is a leading-edge provider of sustainability and regenerative education that promotes thriving communities within planetary boundaries.

Gaia Education’s online course in Design for Sustainability offers you an opportunity to learn practical effective ways to create the change that we all seek, in your community. The Ecological Design dimension, which can be completed as a stand alone-course, or part of the full 10-month course, starts on 2nd January 2018 and there are a limited amount of places left for this year, so sign up now.

The Ecological Design dimension covers the following topics:

Module 1: Whole Systems Approach to Ecological Design

What are the historical roots of ecological design thinking? How do whole systems thinking, permaculture, ecological economics and engineering, industrial ecology, ecological engineering and cradle-to-cradle/circular economy, and environmental restoration and regenerative design work and contribute to an integrated co-design approach?

Module 2: Appropriate Water Technology

What do you need to know about sustainable and ecological engineering, water resources, systems and watershed management, rainwater harvesting, compost toilets, biodigesters, constructed treatment wetlands, lagoons and tanks, as well as the fundamental processes of biological wastewater treatment – such as anaerobic and aerobic digestion, nitrification and denitrification – in order to take informed design decisions for sustainable water systems at any scale?

Module 3: Local and Sustainable Food Systems

How can we use fungal mycelia, activated bio-char, Terra Preta and other carbon farming techniques to build healthier soils and respond to the threats of climate change? How can we harness permaculture and regenerative agriculture design approaches for organic production, food forests, agroforestry, holistic pasture management, aquaculture, environmental restoration and many other regenerative methods to create a local, responsive and sustainable food system for all.

Module 4: Appropriate Energy Technology

What should we consider and how when we have to choose between wind power, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, renewable biomass, biofuels, hydroelectric, marine wave or current and geothermal energy systems, as well as, efficiency measures taking into account embodied energy, energy return on energy invested, to design with local conditions and ecosystems in mind and integrate it into the overall design?

Module 5: Green Building & Retrofitting

How could we aspire to co-creating sustainable and ecologically designed buildings (new or retrofitting existing) that function like an ecosystem and help to regenerate health and wellbeing for their residents and the ecosystems within which they are located including carbon and energy positive developments?

This course begins on 2 January 2018. You can find all the necessary details here.