Imagine This in Oaxaca!!!

Berkana: Launching a Learning Center

The Berkana Institute connects and supports pioneering, life-affirming leaders around the world who strengthen their communities by working with the wisdom and wealth already present in its people, traditions and environment. We define a leader as anyone who wants to help, who is willing to step forward to create change in the world. We work with leadership learning centers, places where people gather to develop the capacity to solve their most pressing problems—such as food security, community health, ecological sustainability and economic self-reliance—by acting locally, connecting regionally and learning “trans-locally.” We have found these learning centers on every continent. We know they are everywhere.

What are we seeing that is causing us to call this into the world?
• Thinking green may have tipped—but it’s not sufficient. Living a “zero waste” or “one planet” lifestyle is barely on the horizon. We need a demonstration center in our urban communities that can introduce people to a direct experience of how to practice zero-waste living.
• We don’t really know how to “live locally.” As with going green, there’s a strong movement toward buying locally. But we really don’t know how to live within the resources of our bioregion—especially those of us living in urban centers. We need to learn together how to develop practices that rely upon locally available resources.
• Sustainability requires a shift in consciousness, not just action. It’s when we start looking at the interrelated aspects of our lives—food, waste, health, education, social systems—that we make available a new perspective on our impact. We need to create spaces that host people in this exploration.
• Transformation is more accessible face-to-face and hands-on. Virtual learning is strong and powerful, but it has its limitations—particularly when we want to practice with our hands. Cultivating plants, working with compost, making furniture out of waste—these activities engage us physically. And people still yearn for the kinds of connections we can only create in person together.

We could also host gathering space for meetings and events, workshops and conversations. ... and an incubation space for social innovators … Other space for artistic exploration... For music, dance, poetry. And so on…