passive activism
lars schmidt

mountains and rivers are speaking

Art, Ecology & Education
2006 - 2013 // Working with Processes

-> Gallery on flickr
(facebook: this way)

The intention of the project, which I started in 2006 in Berlin, was to provide and facilitate ‘input and impulses for life-sustaining cultures.’
We shared in many ways.
There were art/activism projects, lectures, concerts, and workshops integrating dance, acting and deep ecology.
We participated in community gardening, inspired the first Berlin Transition Town Initiative, gave permaculture courses, and did a lot of international networking.

One central instrument was an extensive website, which finally had been hacked and severely damaged in May 2013.
You will find the content via https://archive.org/ by typing in www.art-ecology-education.org.

AEE has changed form. It continues to be present in my work and ways and in what I call 'Passive Activism'.

This is the original outline, that was to be found on the website:

Statement

What would our human endeavors look like if we learned a different way of being in the world?
Art, Ecology & Education contributes to the growth of the ethical-ecological consciousness in our society and supports the paradigm shift towards an integrated/systemic understanding of the world and a more ‘Earth-centered’ approach to living.
We believe that such a development is crucial on our path towards building sustainable communities.
Our approach is based on inspiration through artistic expression, on the communication, development and sharing of knowledge that already exists, as well as a learning process that carefully integrates intuition, sensory awareness, feeling and rational thinking, in order to help us develop a sense of the interconnectivity and interdependence of all organic and inorganic existence, and a profound sense of the intrinsic value of all life.

Objectives

_to live life consciously
_to empower individuals to make creative use of their potential and resources, to inspire and strengthen their relationship with the natural world, and enable them to make ‚Earth-oriented’ decisions on an every day basis.
_to facilitate meetings, exchange and creation in the fields of music, dance and self sufficiency skills
_to bring together old/traditional wisdom and new visions to be part of the movement that will create new natural cultures
_thus: to facilitate experiences/processes that have the potential to transform ways of being and build up/strengthen the ability to create and live in lively and living communities

What is AEE?

The answer to this very much depends on the context you are in.
For people in the academic art world it maybe called a 'socio-ecological sculpture' (after Beuys...), for people of the organizational world it would be a provider of information and experiences to facilitate ease in systems.
People from the social entrepreneur context might call it a NGO committed to social change, environmentalists would probably include the environmental aspects, and for permaculturists and people interested in sustainable living it could be described as a creative, holistic and interdisciplinary information-system for the communication of ethic-ecological issues.
All that is fine. - And of course there are more labels and descriptions. (Sustainability educator, filmmaker, photographer, dancer, artist...)
Without ruling out any of the above, Art, Ecology & Education is in its essence an individual undertaking to integrate and implement the idea of life as a creative process.

What we offer

Integral Ecoawareness Training and Practice / www.integralecoawareness.org (Workshops, School Programs, One year training, Coaching)
Artprojects: Gardens, Initiatives, Performances, Artworks
Permaculture Courses and Know-How
Access to Knowledge and Information for Integrated, Sustainable Living