Education Center

Research & Education

in Sustainable Living

Titanic Lifeboat Academy

Text Box: The time will come--the ancient teachings say--when the sons and daughters of our oppressors will return to us and say, "Teach us, so that we might survive, for we have almost ruined the Earth."
—Black Elk When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. —Aldo Leopold Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. —A. Einstein

Bhri & Fanny

Chicken Tractor

Text Box: Work Study Like an Internship, a Work Study is hands-on education. However, in a Work Study, the participant determines the length of stay and the length of the work day. Free hours may be spent visiting historic Astoria, exploring the lower Columbia River area or studying in the library. Participants must pay for their own board. Room rate is negotiable depending on the work schedule agreed upon. It’s a comfortable, educational way to “try out” sustainable, off-the-grid living or complete a personal project toward self- sufficiency . Now taking reservations for Fall 2007.

Plotting Our Course

The task that faces us in this coming post-carbon age is more complex than making a few physical adjustments in our everyday lives. To cope with the loss of inexpensive fossil fuels will require significant change and a deep shift at the spiritual level as well. We need to reorder our values and acquire a new (yet ancient) way of understanding our natural place within the Earth community. Einstein described our task as “widening our circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

Gary Snyder in The Old Ways, advises us to relearn the daily practical wisdom of our ancestors. Part of that wisdom is knowing the places that we inhabit, developing “a much deeper knowledge and self-sufficiency related to the plants, animals, weather patterns, the lore of the place…” In short, we must regain “the capacity to hear the song of Gaia at that spot.” Ecopsychology can be an effective tool in assisting us in regaining a sense of nature as Self. Only then will our Selves, our culture, and the Earth be healed.

The mission of the TLA Education Center is

¨ To teach sustainable lifestyles — of simplicity, self-reliance, balance, and spiritual unity with the Earth,

¨ To demonstrate these ideals in practice — in our agriculture, architecture, energy, and daily living,

¨ To network locally and globally with individuals and organizations on this path.

Navigation Charts

The vision of the Titanic Lifeboat Academy is rooted in the rich, philosophical soil of Deep Ecology. Arne Naess, a contemporary Norwegian philosopher, was the first to coin the term. He said, "The essence of deep ecology [as distinguished from shallow ecology, which is the usual short-term view of nature] is to ask deeper questions. The adjective 'deep' stresses that we ask why and how, where others do not. Furthermore, we ask which society, which education, which form of religion, is beneficial for all life on the planet as a whole, and then we ask further what we need to do...to make the necessary changes."

The founders of TLA support the fundamental precepts of the Deep Ecology Platform. This platform is comprised of eight basic principles:

¨ The well being and flourishing of human and non-human life on Earth have value in themselves. These values are independent of the usefulness of the non-human world for human purposes.

¨ Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.

¨ Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.

¨ The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease in human population. The flourishing of non-human life requires such a decrease. Present human interference with the non-human world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.

¨ Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.

¨ The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be profound awareness of the difference between big and great.

¨ Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.

In the spirit of Deep Ecology, the Titanic Lifeboat Academy supports continuing inquiry into the appropriate human role on our planet, root cause analysis of unsustainable practices, reduction of human consumption, conservation and restoration of ecosystems, and a life of committed action for the Earth.

Lifeboat Station

The Titanic Lifeboat Academy is housed on a working homestead, where examples of Earth-friendly alternative technologies are transforming a Carbon Age country home into a Post Carbon lifeboat. This involves integrating architecture, agriculture, waste management, water conservation, renewable energies, and animal husbandry into sustainable harmony with the regional environment.

Typical of most post-World War II building, the homestead was totally dependant upon outside energy sources for virtually everything — water, electricity, heat, transportation, waste, maintenance, repairs, food, and supplies. The owners have worked for three years to “erase” this heavy “footprint.” It is an ongoing project and one they are happy to be able to share with others through TLA.

TLA uses the homestead for hosting workshops, internships, and work studies as well as for education and research by its Education and Technology Directors, who can design, build and test tools, technologies and integrated systems (like Permaculture) which work with Nature, sharing their results with TLA and its students.

Education Center

Renewable Energy

Internships

Home Port

Education Center

The Iceberg

News & Events

Community Action

Publications

Radio Program

Re-Localization

Crew Members

Resources

Donate