User:Lawra1sussex/sandbox

Chosen topic: Ecoversities alliance

When reading through the spreadsheet of options ecoversities stood out to me for one reason, it was global, not just confined to one area. Doing light research on the topic revealed to me what ecoversiites were about, re-imagining higher education so future generation could help tackle to the critical challenges of our times. Reading about how universities all over the globe share methodologies and approaches to local issues showed me how these vital links between people and places could really help tackle current issues we are facing.

Annotated bibliography: this is one document consisting of a short overview and an annotated bibliography of at least five sources. Due on your Wikipage during the week of 1 November 2021. Participation mark: 5% (completed on word, all citations and references will be included in the 800 draft)

1)	What ecoversities are about and the aim- “The Ecoversities Alliance is committed to radically re-imagining higher education to cultivate human and ecological flourishing. Ecoversities seek to transform the unsustainable and unjust economic, political and social systems/mindsets that dominate the planet.”

Above is a direct quote from the ecoversities website, it briefly describes the aim of the movement. A simplified sentence or two summarises the objective that is incorporating demanding current issues from our world into today’s education, specifically higher education. The source itself is from the ecoversities website describing their aims, therefore it is an accurate piece of information. A negative aspect of the source is that the information is very brief, the explanation seems underdeveloped and not very specific, perhaps making it difficult for people to understand the real aim. Available at: https://ecoversities.org 2)	The values of ecoversities: -	Emergence – invitation to the unknown. -	Inquiry in solidarity – authentic, kindness and self-reflection to support others in their own discoveries. -	Experiential learning – learning with stories and senses to find ways in which people are interconnected with both struggles and hopes. -	Emplacement – reconnecting with the land and the non-human. -	De-colonising – unlearn the dimensions of oppression and privilege. -	Inter(trans)cultural dialogue – learn from within and beyond diversity. Available at: https://ecoversities.org

3)	Ecoversities is not a formal organization, activities unfold through trust and mutuality, a growing web of relationships. Available at: https://ecoversities.org

4)	The map below shows all the research centres, universities and projects currently involved with the ecoversities alliance.

Available at: https://ecoversities.org/ecoversities/

Most of these pieces of information (sources 1-4) were gathered from the ecoversities website itself, this is due to the limited availability elsewhere. The website could be seen as bias as it’s an attempt to promote the organization and its work, meaning other opinions are not available on the work being done. The source however is reliable as it is the formal website of the actual organization. Additionally, the website is constantly updated with news and events which the organization is linked with, providing more data for this article. There is evidence for the actions the organization has undertaken including YouTube videos and articles.

5)	The planetary gathering in Mexico -	“A way to reconnect with the flow of life” -	“Opportunity to learn about ecology” -	“Restoration of our humanity, restoration of sovereignty and dignity through our interconnection” -	“Seeds being sewn of our future” -	Playing, dancing and music- we make models of futures that feel abundant, minds that feel free, acknowledgement to the struggles of the marginalized, struggles of those that are massively understood…. The video available at YouTube is also linked on the ecoversities website. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa2TzSaHovo&t=22s

6)	The link below is an ecoversities alliance book of radical pedagogies- a book of entries for radical pedagogies being used by members of the ecoversities alliance. An example includes ‘Navgurukul- GBU format, beginning in 2016 the two residential campuses in Bangalore and Dharamsala offer year-long programs in software engineering and life skills for youth from underrepresented communities. The website where the catalogue-style book is published was written by Manish Jain on August 23rd, 2018. The book included different accounts from all different universities and research centres from around the world, this showing the work of ecoversiites is global and accessible. Each example includes a link to contact the creator of said program. It is a different style of source compared to the others used, rather than discussing the ecoversities alliance itself, it shows examples and how different organization are getting involved. https://medium.com/ecoversities-alliance/ecoversities-alliance-book-of-radical-pedagogies-fd2ce2193617

7)	The ecoversities alliance is briefly discussed in an article written by Sarah Amsler, published on March 13th, 2019. The article is titled “Gesturing towards radical futurity in education for alternative futures”. The alliance is mentioned in a paragraph used as an example for ‘networking’ learning projects in which alternative future-making practices are being explored. The main idea of the article is that the alliance is continuing to grow through gatherings, and that much important learning has already emerged from the creation of these transnational meetings and conversations. The article cites the ecoversities website when explaining its main aims, making it reliable. The term underdeveloped to describe the mention in this article is somewhat accurate, the actions taken by the alliance are not touched upon, like its values. The segment of the article I am interested in views the alliance as a success, adding evidence to the point which is ‘shifting the geography of learning can create possibilities for inhabiting other places.’ This source is different to the ecoversities website as it includes another opinion, can rule out bias. The source links with the ecoversities website and even cites it, showing reliability. In terms of different arguments between sources, this is limited as the website does not include any opinions. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-019-00679-8

8)	The link below discusses the ecoversities alliance in a three-part series written by John Foran. Part-three titled, ‘Transforming the university to confront the climate crisis, part 3’ included information about the “world-spanning ecoversities alliance”. This source describes the values and outcomes of the alliance, and describes the Pedagogy, otherwise: the reader’, a compilation of essays, testimonies, poems and images by members of the alliance as a significant outcome. This source is extremely helpful in my research as it brought to light the collaboration of work written by alliance members which I didn’t know was available. The source differs from others as it describes values of the organisation and includes how it’s works encourage further study and discussion. More detail about individual universities and essays is given. Available at: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-06/transforming-the-university-to-confront-the-climate-crisis-part-3/

800 word draft article: Ecoversities Alliance

Plan:

-


 * Give a short introduction, briefly introduce topic and define the title.
 * In the article I want to discuss:
 * a brief history of how ecoversities alliance started
 * what the aims and values are
 * what actions the alliance has taken/ done so far
 * brief introduction of a few examples of different eco-versities
 * include other people’s options of the ecoversities alliance (using articles, research)
 * Websites or pieces of readings I want to use/ refer to:
 * Ecoversities website (Outlines aims, visions and a list of the ecoversities involved)
 * YouTube video link from the ecoversities website (gives an examples of ‘action’)
 * “Gesturing towards radical futurity in education for alternative futures” (article discussing the alliance and its impacts, a different perspective)
 * “Transforming the University to confront the Climate Crisis” (article including the alliance, another perspective)
 * “Deschooling from above” (another perspective, how the ecoversities alliance is helping towards reimagining higher education)
 * Publications from the ecoversity itself (Gives more examples, and adds to ‘actions’)
 * “Rewiring higher education for the sustainable development goals…” (Article which discusses an example and how the work is helping)
 * The Shikshantar movement website (An example of an eco-versity)
 * The Enlivened learning website (An example of an eco-versity)

Ecoversities Alliance

The Ecoversities alliance is a” community of learning practitioners from around the world committed to re-imagining higher education” (Ecoversities alliance, 2018). Working together since 2015 with the aim of transforming unsustainable, unjust economic, political and social systems which dominate the planet. Ecoversities being in six continents across the globe makes up the alliance of over 100 transformative learning spaces.

The alliance aims to support learners alongside communities, inspire and connect whilst building and nurturing solidarities. The values and orientations of the group are divided into six subsections: emergence, inquiry in solidarity, experiential learning, emplacement, de-colonising and intercultural dialogue. These values have encouraged international gatherings occurring every 12-18 months, such as the week-long ‘un-conference’ in Michoacán. Funding is granted by the alliance and offered to members whose desire it is to expand their knowledge or others across the organization. (Ecoversities Alliance, 2018)

History

The first gathering took place in the August of 2015, where a week-long gathering took place in South Portugal. The village of Tamera, which itself is labelled as a peace village, hosted members from 23 (55 people) different countries across the world. The ecoversities alliance do not claim to be a formal organization, but instead “its activities unfold through a process of trust and mutuality, a growing web of relationships that have been nurtured through our gatherings and beyond” (Ecoversities alliance, 2018).

Aims/visions

The name itself draws on “the meanings of ‘home’ as locality and as an ‘economy’”. (Foran, 2020). The alliance has set out its visions and hopes, somewhat like a mission statement. Individual ecoversities have separate and specified visions, some of these are released as mission statements. The ecoversities alliance has a vision which is: “The Ecoversities Alliance is committed to radically re-imagining higher education to cultivate human and ecological flourishing. Ecoversities seek to transform the unsustainable and unjust economic, political and social systems/mindsets that dominate the planet.” (Ecoversities alliance, 2018). On the website itself the hopes of the organisation are also outlined, the hope of the alliance is to support learners to reclaim own process of learning, whilst encouraging co-creation and sharing. To inspire, nourish and connect giving visibility to diverse ecoversities initiatives around the world. Also building solidarities, collective inquiries and new experiments. (Ecoversities alliance, 2018). Followed by, “Nurturing an ecology of knowledges, radical pedagogies and learning commons which expand human consciousness and cultural and ecological regeneration” (Ecoversities alliance, 2018).

As briefly mentioned before various institutes involved with the alliance have separate mission statements. The Swaraj University in India can be used as an example as it is inspired, like the ecoversities alliance by Illich and deschooling. (“While education has been framed as the cure to [our] crisis, in reality, the factory model of schooling is part of the problem’, is the released mission statement of the Swaraj University. (Shikshantar Institute, n.d). “There is an urgent need to start thinking differently”, the mission statement also includes. (Sukarieh and Tannock, 2020).

The alliance deepens its work by hosting gatherings at its eco-versities to share knowledge and practices that stretch or diversify existing frames of reference, deepen reflection on the affordances and limitations of their paradigms, and develop new vocabularies that decentre dominant grammars of knowing and being (Amsler, 2019). Amsler states that “much important learning has already emerged from the creation of these transnational meetings and conversations to reimagine education for the future.” (Amsler, 2019)

Actions, operations

International gatherings These moments bring people together from all over the world, people who are wishing to find alternatives to how higher education is taught today. The gatherings can be all over the world. In 2015 a weeklong gathering took place in Portugal, 2017 was hosted in Costa Rica and 2018 in India. These different universities are connected with different grassroots, indigenous communities and movements. (Ecoversity Alliance, 2018) “Although vastly different in their ecology, history, culture and political landscape, they all overlap in many significant ways- rethinking values of knowledge, learning and leadership that nourishes and cultivates deep wisdom.”

At the planetary gathering in Mexico peoples said: “Reconnect with the flow of life, to learn from lived experiences and from relationships” “Opportunity to learn about ecology” “co-creating a network of people committed to justice, liberation” “Seeds are being sewn of the future” “Exists by learning, embodying education” (EDIT-Education in Transformation, 2020) The above comments are from the members of the alliance who attended the first international gathering back in 2015.

Regional gatherings Regional gatherings for the ecoversity alliance occur where partners from specific regions exchange their learnings and strengthen relationships. As well as learning, the aim is to plan and implement common actions in specific issues. There have so far been gatherings in India, Ecuador, Mexico, Uganda and Italy. (Ecoversity Alliance, 2018)

Learning visits The alliance supports 1–2-month long visits for some of its members to join projects in different parts of the world, for learning and support. In the year of 2018, six exchange visits involved ecoversities including in Peru and Romania. (Ecoversity Alliance, 2018)

Publications The ecoversity alliance has published a selection of books, pamphlets, podcasts and videos on topics relating to the aims and values of the alliance. Available for visitors to the website to read, people can deepen their understanding or just skim the surface of a subject. (Ecoversity Alliance, 2018)

Ecoversities

The alliance has ecoversities in six continents across the globe, all but Antarctica. In Africa there are five, including The Green Business College. In Asia there are twenty-three currently listed on the website for the alliance. Next is central and South America, with a total of thirteen. Europe hosts fourteen ecoversities and North America nine. Finally, the pacific region is home to one ecoversity, the EA Ecoversity. With connections across the world the alliance can be labelled as global. (Ecoversities Alliance, 2018).

Ecoversities have different purposes, some the main intention is to increase the numbers of indigenous students in higher education. (The national program in Mexico proposes to increase supply in less-serviced regions, satisfy educational needs of varying ethnic groups and to strengthen the different cultures which make the country. (Schmelkes 2009). An example of an ecoversity based in Mexico ‘Instituto Superior Intercultural Ayuuk (ISIA), who seek to subsize the tuition scholarship of all its students who come from indigenous communities, via donations. (Ecoversities Alliance, 2018). Similar to this is the Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural, where its main objectives are to promote higher learning which supports the culture, foster the participation of the communities of intercultural regions and educate professionals who are capable of responding to social demand of their original regions. (Franco and McCowan, 2021).

My Given Peer reviews: 1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Icer_51020 2- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:CDB2003

Peer Review (/ = what went well, X = even better if, --> = look into this)

Specific changes

/ really good plan = well thought out = great critical thinking with articles from different POVs.

X one worry = you've got so much to say = are you going to have the time to cover all that in such a limited word count.

X Referencing = for wiki you have to use the number system so rather than doing the brackets you press the cite button. This will insert a number and then you put the reference there and they turn up in a list at the end. But you can keep your full references in the Harvard format. The reasoning behind this is it makes it easier for readers to check your sources with the number.

/ Great lead = short concise and informative.

X SPAG = the second sentence reads like a subordinate clause = try re-writing this.

--> 3rd sentences = *Ecoversties are in six continents across the globe, creating an alliance of over 100 transformative learning spaces.

--> Line 4 = *to inspire = your choice but may want to add an Oxford comma after building.

--> for ease of read wiki also allows bullet points = this may help when listing the six subsections

/ Summarised really well what it is, your information is great!

/ History section = short and snappy, love it!

--> You can make the headings bold for easier read if you so please

/ X Aims/vision = great information = try proof reading through Grammarly as the 1st couple sentences don't really make sense and there are a few missing words.

X *As briefly mentioned before,

X *, like the ecoversities alliance, (it's a subordinate clause)

X Don't need a bracket in front of while.

--> eco-versities? (why the hyphen?)

--> copy and paste your draft into word and click on the read-aloud button = this will help you find incongruencies in sentences.

--> Actions/operations = 1st sentence spag check

/ --> Great info on international gatherings but the 2nd paragraph does not flow quite right = you could try listing these

--> On the talk page when doing mini headings remember to click enter twice.

/ The paragraph on it being global had great flow. Nice, short sentences.

General Advice

The description is amazing. After reading the article I know clearly what the Ecoversities Alliance is. But maybe try and add a little bit more analysis. What are the strengths and limitations of ecoversities? Are they providing a model for more main-stream universities to become more eco-friendly? There may not be any limitations but try and show a different POV. You present all information neutrality limiting the effects of author bias. Your references look well formatted but make sure to double check them (I do APA so I'm not too sure on the particulars of Harvard referencing). Try and have some references from other countries = IK the ecoversities alliance is global but the majority of your sources are Western origin.

Rubric advice

Introductory section is great

Check spag, proof-read, and make headings bold = this will make your article easier to read and more organised.

You've made a great start to establishing different POVs but maybe have a few more = try to think critically as well.

Images? If you're worried about adding images that wiki doesn't already have, they have very little images to do with alternative universities, you can upload new ones. When uploading new ones make sure to check the licensing of the image and then make sure to cite in properly.

Your references are complete, well done! Make sure to do the number thing as previously mentioned and try to have a wider array of sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jemdrew (talk • contribs) 12:40, 25 November 2021 (UTC) Peer Review

Hi Great Works! The choice of topics and resources is excellent, and the way you plan each content you will present is also quite detailed. Some additional notes:


 * 1) maybe even though it is still in draft form, the citation should be given directly in the form of a link.
 * 2) make sure you can cover each subtopic well with the limited number of words specified.
 * 3) Bibliography should be directly through Wikipedia.

Overall excellent work! :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Huang sun choi (talk • contribs) 20:57, 26 November 2021 (UTC) Peer reviews: 1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Icer_51020 2- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:CDB2003

Response to peer reviews: My first peer review was extremely detailed and gave me multiple pointers. The things I will change/ work on are:


 * Re-reading work for any grammatical errors, and sentences which could be shortened making the text less tedious to read.
 * Using bullet points to list the subsections- easier to read
 * try to shorten parts
 * use the "read-aloud' feature in word to find errors
 * include mini headings
 * use the numbered referencing system, easy to follow and better pleasing to look at
 * add an image- the map of where all the Ecoversities are located
 * maybe add a contents page
 * read other point of views, include other opinions?

Final Article

= Ecoversities Alliance = The Ecoversities alliance is a” community of learning practitioners from around the world committed to re-imagining higher education”. Working together since 2015 with the aim of transforming unsustainable, unjust economic, political and social systems which dominate the planet. Ecoversities being in six continents across the globe makes up the alliance of over 100 transformative learning spaces. The alliance aims to support learners alongside communities, inspire and connect whilst building and nurturing solidarities.

The values and orientations of the group are divided into six subsections:


 * Emergence


 * Inquiry in solidarity


 * Experiential learning


 * Emplacement


 * De-colonising


 * Intercultural dialogue

These values have encouraged international gatherings occurring every 12-18 months, such as the week-long ‘un-conference’ in Michoacán. Funding is granted by the alliance and offered to members whose desire it is to expand their knowledge or others across the organization.

History
The first gathering took place in the August of 2015, with a week-long gathering in South Portugal. The village of Tamera, which itself is labelled as a peace village, hosted members from 23 (55 people) different countries across the world. The ecoversities alliance do not claim to be a formal organization, but instead “its activities unfold through a process of trust and mutuality, a growing web of relationships that have been nurtured through our gatherings and beyond”

Aims/visions
The name itself draws on “the meanings of ‘home’ as locality and as an ‘economy’”. The alliance has set out its visions and hopes, somewhat like a mission statement. Individual ecoversities have separate and specified visions, some of these are released as mission statements. The ecoversities alliance has a vision which is: “The Ecoversities Alliance is committed to radically re-imagining higher education to cultivate human and ecological flourishing. Ecoversities seek to transform the unsustainable and unjust economic, political and social systems/mindsets that dominate the planet.”. On the website itself the hopes of the organisation are also outlined, the hope of the alliance is to support learners to reclaim own process of learning, whilst encouraging co-creation and sharing. To inspire, nourish and connect giving visibility to diverse ecoversities initiatives around the world. Also building solidarities, collective inquiries and new experiments. . Followed by, “Nurturing an ecology of knowledges, radical pedagogies and learning commons which expand human consciousness and cultural and ecological regeneration”.

As briefly mentioned before various institutes involved with the alliance have separate mission statements. The Swaraj University in India can be used as an example as it is inspired, like the ecoversities alliance by Illich and deschooling. (“While education has been framed as the cure to [our] crisis, in reality, the factory model of schooling is part of the problem’, is the released mission statement of the Swaraj University. . “There is an urgent need to start thinking differently”, the mission statement also includes.

The alliance deepens its work by hosting gatherings at its eco-versities to share knowledge and practices that stretch or diversify existing frames of reference, deepen reflection on the affordances and limitations of their paradigms, and develop new vocabularies that decentre dominant grammars of knowing and being. Amsler states that “much important learning has already emerged from the creation of these transnational meetings and conversations to reimagine education for the future.”

International gatherings
These moments bring people together from all over the world, people who are wishing to find alternatives to how higher education is taught today. The gatherings can be all over the world. In 2015 a weeklong gathering took place in Portugal, 2017 was hosted in Costa Rica and 2018 in India. These different universities are connected with different grassroots, indigenous communities and movements. “Although vastly different in their ecology, history, culture and political landscape, they all overlap in many significant ways- rethinking values of knowledge, learning and leadership that nourishes and cultivates deep wisdom.”

At the planetary gathering in Mexico peoples said: “Reconnect with the flow of life, to learn from lived experiences and from relationships” “Opportunity to learn about ecology” “co-creating a network of people committed to justice, liberation” “Seeds are being sewn of the future” “Exists by learning, embodying education” The above comments are from the members of the alliance who attended the first international gathering back in 2015.

Regional gatherings
Regional gatherings for the ecoversity alliance occur where partners from specific regions exchange their learnings and strengthen relationships. As well as learning, the aim is to plan and implement common actions in specific issues. There have so far been gatherings in India, Ecuador, Mexico, Uganda and Italy.

Learning visits
The alliance supports 1–2-month long visits for some of its members to join projects in different parts of the world, for learning and support. In the year of 2018, six exchange visits involved ecoversities including in Peru and Romania.

Publications
The ecoversity alliance has published a selection of books, pamphlets, podcasts and videos on topics relating to the aims and values of the alliance. Available for visitors to the website to read, people can deepen their understanding or just skim the surface of a subject.

Ecoversities
The alliance has ecoversities in six continents across the globe, all but Antarctica. In Africa there are five, including The Green Business College. In Asia there are twenty-three currently listed on the website for the alliance. Next is central and South America, with a total of thirteen. Europe hosts fourteen ecoversities and North America nine. Finally, the pacific region is home to one ecoversity, the EA Ecoversity. With connections across the world the alliance can be labelled as global. .

Ecoversities have different purposes, some the main intention is to increase the numbers of indigenous students in higher education.The national program in Mexico proposes to increase supply in less-serviced regions, satisfy educational needs of varying ethnic groups and to strengthen the different cultures which make the country. . An example of an ecoversity based in Mexico ‘Instituto Superior Intercultural Ayuuk (ISIA), who seek to subsize the tuition scholarship of all its students who come from indigenous communities, via donations. . Similar to this is the Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural, where its main objectives are to promote higher learning which supports the culture, foster the participation of the communities of intercultural regions and educate professionals who are capable of responding to social demand of their original regions.