Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability

A course offering from Elder Activists for Social Justice

Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability

The Earth is our common home, and creating a sustainable world for our children and for future generations is our common task.  ~Fritjof Capra

This winter, Elder Activists for Social Justice is offering a new course, Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice and Sustainability—a six-session online study/action course that will explore the interconnected relationship between social justice, peace, the environment and systemic violence in our world.

Typically we attempt to solve problems through analysis—taking apart the pieces of something in an attempt to understand the whole. “Systems thinking” requires that we pay attention to relationships, patterns and dynamics, as well as individual parts. In order to make positive change it is vital that we see the relationships between people and the systems that contribute to or prevent peace, justice and environmental sustainability.

Our intention is that our studies together will help us all to become more engaged and effective in our actions towards a healthy future for all.

We will meet online via Zoom for two hours, every two weeks, beginning Wednesday, February 5th through April 15th (9:00 am PT/12:00 noon ET). Our in-depth conversations on each month’s readings will also support follow-up actions.

Each participant will need to purchase the course booklet for $28 (e-book that you can print for yourself), or $30 plus shipping (paperback). The e-book is delivered at the time of purchase; please order paperback copies as soon as possible. More information about the course is available here.

The course has been developed by the Northwest Earth Institute and is designed for learning, action and community building. We have offered several other NWEI courses that have been enthusiastically received by our participants.

Sign up for the course below and purchase your booklet (from the link above) to prepare for our first meeting. You will be notified in advance of the Zoom link for joining the meeting. Facilitation and other roles will be shared among participants on a volunteer basis.

As part of this course, you will need to plan to prepare for each session by reading the related course materials before our discussion time. This could take two to three hours per session.

Learning objectives for the course:

• Recognize the interrelatedness of peace, justice, and sustainability
• Identify, understand, and articulate values, visions, and frameworks that lead toward a more peaceful, just and sustainable world
• Identify, understand, and articulate some of the culturally-entrenched values and assumptions that reinforce destructive practices and systems of oppression
• Practice systems thinking skills for peace, justice and sustainability

Overview of the course:

• Introduction
• February 5 – Session 1: It’s All Connected
• February 19 – Session 2: Peace Talks
• March 4 – Session 3: Justice for the Whole Community
• March 18 – Session 4: Understanding Systems through Conflict Transformation
• April 1 – Session 5: Responding to Systemic Violence
• April 15 – Session 6: Co-creating Living Peace
• Celebration and Call to Action

Read a sample of the course materials here.

Please join us.