About the University of the Wild

Our neighborhood on Glasheen Road.

University of the Wild

The University of the Wild is dedicated to educating new “ecological global citizens”, arming them with deep knowledge, experience, and thinking about the human relationship to the natural world, with deep earth-based wisdom from the past, the most up-to-date science from the present, and innovative concepts for the future.

INSPIRE

UofWild seeks to inspire a new generation of thinkers, problem solvers, and influencers–people who will be able to shape minds and policies to re-integrate revitalize, and restore all life for a long and sustainable future.

EDUCATE

Programs offered include events, workshops, and educational programs for the public, 1 to 4-credit courses for students of any age, and a full-semester, residential, 16-credit program for college and university students (Semester on Earth).

Using Earth-based, self-directed, mentored programming, the classes, courses, and programs are centered around the human relationship to the natural world – past, present, and future – and to effective ways of contributing to sustainable and regenerative lifestyles that will allow people to live modern lives respectful of and in synchronization with the needs of life on Earth, not just the needs, comfort, and convenience of humans.

HOPE

We need every available creative resource to stop humanity from hurtling towards the destruction of the planet we know and love. No doubt the planet would survive, but it likely would be uninhabitable by humans and many other current forms of life.

Humanity’s current view of itself is a scourge not unlike a pandemic, passing unwittingly from person to person, generation to generation, leaving climate crises, social unrest, death and destruction in its wake.

This is a dire, but not unrealistic, view of the state of the planet. University of the Wild believes that there is another side to the story – one of hope. Humanity, for all of its ecological missteps in the past several hundred years, seems to be at last awakening to what is has wrought. A significant portion of humanity is beginning to realize that we simply cannot continue along the current trajectory.

We must stop, re-evaluate, and quickly find new routes to planetary sustainability.

ORDINARY PEOPLE ARE LEADING THE WAY

Governments and big businesses are generally being slow to respond and lead in this time of planetary crisis. It is ordinary people—parents, teachers, writers, speakers, activists, photographers, architects, researchers, urban planners, entrepreneurs, …—who are rising to the challenge and leading the way. In their homes, businesses, schools, communities, and local governments, regular everyday people, individually and together, are doing extraordinary things to help save the planet.

Contribute to Earth’s Future

As humanity becomes more fearful and disempowered by the impact of environmental crises and social ills associated with how modern life has evolved, the University of the Wild is poised to significantly contribute to the new earth and the “Great Turning” by:

1. Empowering ordinary citizens, as well as thinkers, writers, teachers, and others in positions of power and influence, to change how humanity views its position on the planet, the importance of the natural world, and humanity’s responsibility to steward the earth and use Earth’s resources wisely.

2. Creating programs that honor all life and restore planetary ecological balance.

3. Offering cutting-edge programming that includes indigenous wisdom, scientific research, and a lifestyle that honors each individual species, nature, community, and spiritual initiatives.

4. Building a model Eco-Campus that is green, net-zero, and carbon neutral as a teaching site that can be replicated world-wide.

5. Creating an international network of individuals and organizations dedicated to sustainable and regenerative living and learning.

   “…to transfer the University of the Wild in Petersham to a ‘state-of-the-art’ eco-community is so important as we create models for sustainable living…to have colleges and universities involved in the new eco-community at Earthlands is an additional benefit as we strive to demonstrate new education models – great work!”
Dr. Dan Greenberg, Founder of Living Routes and former President, Global Ecovillage Network (GEN)

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