Our programs

Current programs

• Professional Certificate in Applied Sustainable Development more...
• Youth Theater for Planet in a Crisis more...
• Ups & Downs - weekly exploration of Bali's natural beauty more...

Our programs teach participants experientially about culture and sustainability. Our focus is specifically and explicitly on 3 interconnected areas:

• Environmental stewardship and taking personal action to slow and (ultimately reverse) climate change. Participants actively engage in activities aimed at understanding the causes and effects of environmental exploitation, degradation and destruction, and engaging in personal and community activities aimed at slowing and reversing climate change. We engage in projects aimed at minimizing environmental destruction. We will engage in projects that deal with the damaging effects of capitalist consumerism and exploitation of the environment.
• Traditional rituals, activities and careers. We focus on how traditional activities support community resourcefulness and the ability to live emotionally and physically healthy lives in service of community. As tourism continues to be a focus of economic growth in Bali, we aim to continue to foster pride and commitment in traditional activities that sustain communities economically, and can also be a source of tourism that contributes to (rather than destroys) the culture of Bali. Participants engage in traditional rituals and activities with an emphasis on community and cultural health, and engage in deeper discussions about the economic and cultural importance of these activities in the past and for the future.
• Applied, experiential learning. We engage in experiential education as a means to enable participants to learn in ways that are meaningful to them. Experiential education also enables participants with diverse needs to engage in learning in non-traditional ways.

Bali continues to ensure that individuals learn and develop skills that contribute to individuals’ well-being and the welfare of communities, but that are also embedded in spirituality and culture that require individuals to respect and honour the environment, the community, and the spiritual world.
We therefore have an opportunity to teach Western participants about the skills that provide the foundation for Balinese life that will:

1. Enable Western (and local) students to gain skills that prepare them to contribute meaningfully in society (in Bali and abroad);
2. Support the continuation of Balinese skills that maintain the culture of Bali and the identity and welfare of communities.

1. Life skills - including preparing for trips, navigation and orienteering, survival skills, endurance, trekking, camping, swimming, finding water and food, using plants as medicine, preserving and rehabilitating the local environment, disaster response, and respecting nature and cultural sites; and
2. Vocational skills - including, but not limited to:
   • Farming
   • Building
   • Sewing
   • Cooking
   • Storing and preserving food
   • Organizing and managing events
   • Carving
   • Painting/ drawing
   • Dancing
   • Music
   • Weaving
   • Metalwork
   • Governance, community planning, and community decision-making