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Sustainability Institute
South Africa
 The
Sustainability Institute is an international living and learning centre
located outside the South African university town of Stellenbosch.
Surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of the Cape's towering mountains
and rooted in an agricultural community needing to break free from its'
racial past, the Sustainability Institute provides a space for people to
explore an approach to creating a more equitable society that lives in a
way that sustains rather than destroys the eco-system within which all
society is embedded.
The Sustainability Institute forms part of the wider Lynedoch EcoVillage.
This is an emerging ecologically designed socially mixed community built
around a learning precinct, the heart of which is the Lynedoch pre- and
Primary School attended by over 400 children who come mainly from the
families of farmworkers. This emerging community offers a unique African
setting where creative work and learning can be inspired by the joys and
challenges of sustainability in practice.
Founded in 1999, the Sustainability Institute provides residential
accommodation for visiting writers, artists, activists, volunteers and
scholars, and a learning space for participants in the Institute's
various educational programmes.
The Institute and the Lynedoch Primary School share a large ecologically
designed building. This is why children seem so present in the daily
life of the Institute. After the chattering and giggling children have
gathered in the hall for the morning assembly, the Principal leads them
in a prayer that often starts with a word of thanks for the beauty and
wonder of the Western Cape's unique ecosystem which includes the grand
mountains, the exceptional diversity of the 'fynbos' plant kingdom, the
ancient history of local settlement, and the wild and windy coast.
Although the children come from some of the poorest families in the
country, the Principal reminds them of the promise of a better life
through education. He offers them the possibility of hope. And this, in
essence, is what sustainability is all about. If Apartheid was about
"all for some for now", then sustainability is about "some for all
forever". Learning Approach
Equipping people for the fundamental global
changes already underway involves learning that combines
explorations of deep experience with skills building and
rigorous intellectual inquiry that cross-cuts and goes beyond
traditional academic boundaries. This can best be achieved
through learning in multiple dialogue groups engaged both in-
and outside the classroom. This relational approach to learning
is implemented throughout the range of short courses and degree
programmes that are aimed at people from all countries and
across sectors.
In addition to classroom work, learning takes place through
community work, field trips, visual and performing arts,
reflection and meditation.
To enrich the learning experience, the Sustainability Institute
will strive to ensure that course participants are attracted
from different backgrounds and countries. This diversity of
experience brings a range of perspectives into the learning
process. It will also make it possible for participants to build
networks and friendships which will facilitate ongoing learning
and solidarity.
Venue & Facilities
The Sustainability Institute is located within an
eco-village development known as the Lynedoch Hamlet. This is a 7
hectare property that forms part of a wider agricultural community.
The Sustainability Institute's facilities are in a large
ecologically designed renovated building that includes a primary
school for 350 farmworker children, and a large hall that is used
for performing arts productions and community events. The
construction of Phase 1 of the EcoVillage began in January 2004 and
includes 42 ecologically designed houses which will become home for
a mixed community, plus 30 residences for the Sustainability
Institute. 11 of these residences are in a renovated Cape Dutch
Estate Home that is a national monument. The remainder will be
constructed during the course of 2004.
The Sustainability Institute's facilities include
classrooms, library, meditation room, offices, canteen and kitchen,
boardroom, and hall. The residences consist of units of 4 rooms, with
shared kitchenette and bathroom facilities. The main house has a lounge,
bar and restaurant.
The Spier Estate is located across the road from the
Lynedoch Hamlet. This includes a 150 room upmarket hotel, four
restaurants, an outdoor amphitheatre for the arts and a major winemaking
facility.
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CONTACT
Sustainability
Institute,
P O Box 162, Lynedoch, Stellenbosch,
7603.
South Africa.
Tel:
+27 (0) 21 881 3196
Fax: +27 (0) 21 881 3294
Email:
info@sustainabilityinstitute.net
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