A vital component of the curriculum at Integration Centers is Nature Sensitivity Training, cheekishly named to point out how disconnected humans have become from nature.

The basic curriculum for this nature sensitivity training is:

Introduction to Holism

• Provide perspective on how organisms form into systems, from cells to animals to forests to major ecosystems.

Humans Compared to Other Animals

• All animals destroy things while eating, walking, playing, etc. But that damage is always accounted for within the system that animal is in (if it is not a human-introduced invasive species).
• Humans destroy disproportionately
  • technology allows us to destroy way out of what a system can balance (e.g. a logging operation).
  • we as individuals and as a culture have little respect for balance, because of the break from nature.
  • our direct outputs (trash and sewage) are heavily contaminated.
  • upstream in our economy, before we ever touch a product, there are massive levels of destruction and contamination.

Product Breakdown

• Assess components of a random modern product (like a toaster or coatrack or shoe)
• Discuss progeny of each component (and the final product) and how large chunks of land and biome are destroyed for:
  • mining (etc) of component elements
  • refining/processing of elements
  • compositing of elements (manufacturing)
  • packaging
  • marketing
  • distribution
  • repackaging
  • sale
• in addition, each step involves
  • energy
  • transport & fuel
  • wastage
  • human exploitation
• As a potential resource for this instruction, a process chart for Aluminum is provided here.

Nature Observation

This step is a vital component of the curriculum!

• Sit as a group in a natural area (a small clearing in the woods would be ideal) for at least an hour.
• Be relatively still and quiet, and just observe.
• Quiet conversation is allowed, but topics of conversation must be limited to only what one is perceiving in that moment. (For example, one can talk about what a particular ant is doing, but not about the biology of ants.)
• Afterward, reference the product breakdown above, and discuss what would happen to that observed natural area if a mining operation set up in that place.

Food Cycle Introduction

• Observing, assessing, and nurturing the surrounding biome.
• Nurturing crops from seed to harvest.
• Nurturing animals (especially chickens) in balance with the biome.
• Harvesting with care.
• Nurturing the land post-harvest.
• Processing, blending, and cooking.
• Eating together. Attempt to limit the conversation to:
  • the food (and the gardens, fruit trees, etc.).
  • one’s selves and each other.
  • the community and issues directly affecting the community.
• Cleaning after eating / maintaining cooking equipment.
• Composting.
• Toilet composting.
• Compost spreading.

Return to: the Retreat Format section of the Business Plan.