A LEARNING JOURNEY TO CULTIVATE
SUSTAINABILITY LEADERS
NEXT EDITION
July 2020
The Journey
The Amazon Summer School is a 21-day intensive program focused on building capacities to understand, reflect on and take action in the field of sustainable development.
Participants learn from local community leaders, sustainability practitioners, the forest and each other. Through a collective learning process, the group will build their experience together based on shared purpose, work and values.
This program is for people who have a passion for change and want to deepen their experiential and theoretical knowledge of sustainability, community engagement and collaboration.
We bring together participants from different countries, sectors, backgrounds, fields of work, and areas of study. A multiplicity of world views and practical knowledge is needed to address the complexity of our growing global opportunities and challenges.
Learning
Through participatory learning methodologies that balance practice and theory, participants are guided by experiential learning facilitators that support the individual and collective learning process.
Learning takes place on 3 levels:
Systemic
Participants learn and apply systemic thinking and complexity frameworks in order to see the whole picture and address root causes. This includes situating challenges within a greater global context and considering the interdependence and interrelated nature of their work.
Community
The local community of Tumbira where the course takes place and the communities participants are a part of are areas of focus for learning, application, and impact.
Personal
Individuals build their own leadership capacities and explore their personal journey.
This program is based on 6 inter-related modules that support personal and collective learning:
Context
The program will use a conceptual frameworks for sustainable development, an overview of relevant history from the perspective of local communities and organizations currently working in the Amazon region.
Love for Nature
Care for People
Participants will visit leading Amazon research centers and organizations to explore the ecological dynamics of the Amazon rainforest, including studies of: flora, fauna, water, climate, land use, history, and geography.
By experiencing direct exchange with local communities, their knowledge, and their wisdom participants will gain a greater understanding of how to how to meaningfully engage those impacted by actions taken in local communities and how to work collaboratively.
Know-How
Bravery
Classes with sustainability practitioners and leaders from different sectors will share stories, learnings, frameworks, practices, and concepts to enrich participant knowledge and understanding while growing their practical tool box of skills and methods.
Participants are invited to prototype solutions and put learning into practice. This is the moment to collaborate with local communities and test ideas together.
Know yourself
This module will happen throughout the program to support each individual's personal learning journey
Introduction
Know
Yourself
Bravery
Know How
Care for People
Care for
Nature
Educational Pillars
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Real case studies
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Knowledge exchange with local communities
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Group dynamics
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Collective learning process
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Leadership capacity building
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17 Sustainable Development Goals
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Access to exclusive online material
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Experiential education
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Integration of theory and practice
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Field work
Program
Setting
BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPE
INSPIRING COMMUNITY
This program will be hosted by the community of Tumbira, which is located in the Rio Negro Protected Area of the Brazilian State of Amazonas.
Check the surroundings with Google Street View
Team
Our team is made up of sustainability professionals and academics, teachers from the local communities, mentors, program coordinators and learning facilitators.
Click to know more about each one.
* This section is updated upon confirmations.
The official language is English. We will have bilingual participants to help communicate with local community members and teachers.
Most of the program will happen in the community of Tumbira (one of the communities of the Rio Negro Reserve). The community can only be accessed by boat from Manaus.
The first two days the group will be staying in a hotel with shared rooms in Manaus and then travel to the community. The group will have the chance to live a real Amazon experience, sleeping in hammocks on shared rooms, and waking up with the most beautiful sunrise over the river everyday. We can arrange accommodation in beds for special needs.
We believe that a diverse and multitalented group is extremely important for the learning process. In that sense, we will select a mix of participants that will enhance the development of the group as a whole.
Important dates:
Dec 17th to April 1st: Applications are open
During April: Final application analysis and Skype interviews
May 1st: Announcement of final selection
June: Course materials will become accessible to participants and the pre-learning phase will begin.
July 1th: all participants will meet in Manaus to begin the journey.
* We have limited spots.
To apply, please complete the registration form.
LANGUAGE:
LODGING:
PROCESS:
FEE AND
ECONOMY:
We want to form a group with social, cultural and economic diversity. Therefore, we do not want the financial question to be a limiting factor for your registration and participation. We are committed to include and welcome, within our means, the people who feel the call to participate.
We are in the process of raising funds to try to offer some scholarships and ensure inclusiveness and diversity among participants.
The 21-day program fee includes all meals, transport, lodging and materials as well as a fair wage for the community which hosts us and invited facilitators.
Once the interview process is underway we can provide more clarity about what economy is possible.
CLICK HERE to check the program fee and the budget breakdown.
For more information, contact us
at [email protected]
Application
THE PROGRAM STARTS ON THE JULY 11th to 31st
2018
Previous editions
“The Amazon Summer School was such a life changing experience for me. It was when I got certainty of what really makes my heart beat faster.”
José Arthur Botelho, 18 - Brasil
“It didn't take long for me to be in a place where these skills came in handy. Most importantly I learned that sustainability doesn't just apply to environmental issues or just the Amazon, it applied to every aspect of the human condition.”
Larry Brewer, 56 - USA
Supporters
A CALL FROM AMAZONIA-EDU AND
Leader in community led sustainable development, FAS - Sustainable Amazon Foundation - is a nonprofit, non-governmental and non-partisan Foundation. Its mission is to promote the sustainable involvement, environmental conservation and improvement of the quality of life of community residents and users of protected areas in the State of Amazonas.
Regional Network from SDSN - Sustainable Development Solutions Network. With the purpose to mobilize local universities, research centers, civil society organizations, business, and other knowledge centers around practical problem solving for sustainable development.