Sustainability Institute
Learning and Development in Stellenbosch

The Sustainability Institute, an international living and learning centre focusing on studies and experience in ecology, community and spirit.

A village, made up of the simple everyday life of infants, school children, university students and a working community, form the textured patterns in which the flows of learning are held. Sixty million year old mountains set the backdrop to our indigenous gardens, giant ficus trees, organic vegetables and farm. This is supported and encouraged through seeing ourselves as co-inhabitants of the world, questioning deeply what it means to be human and seeking solutions through wonder, mystery, intuition and solid knowledge. Active involvement means that learners move from passive recipients of knowledge to deeply engaging with intellectual, spiritual, activity and heart possibilities to find answers to complex solutions. Co-creating a learning path, forging futures that engage the present and past often means deep listening, re-learning, opening vulnerability and being guided by ways of knowing that are not always explicit, nor obvious. Nature-based learning is learning from within nature, where we are nature. Connections with all that is other-than-human creates opportunities for poetry, metaphor, ways of being and knowing that are beyond words. Like foresight intelligence, our ability to be in the moment and learn from all life with humility and humour offers a connectedness that is both clear and enriching. In our post-colonial and post-apartheid explorations means questioning continuously the traps of modern consumerism, isolation, dis-connect and destructive competition. Becoming indigenous in the 21st century is honouring and acknowledging fully our African heritages with all their complexities, and interrogating without fear the possibilities of different and more just futures. In a world of senses, cellular memories and connections form a strand in learning that is often overlooked. All courses at the SI start with morning breathing, reading and a circle that reminds us we are whole. Working in the garden, cooking and cleaning are ways of making real the sustainability pathways being explored. Connecting heads, hearts and hands is a familiar pattern that integrates rather than separates. Yoga, massage, touch and feeling form part of many courses. The laughter, joy and mystery that abound from these experiences create untold connections and new stories. Core to our learning, research and practice is the drive to unlock value-based, entrepreneurial mindsets in individuals, organisations and communities that speaks to both opportunity and responsibility. Short Course: Sustainability, biodiversity, complexity and systems dynamics.