University of Gloucestershire Sustainability and Well Being International Workshop

25th Oct – 31st Oct 2009 00:00

The University has been awarded funding by the European Union, under the Grundtvig, fund for hosting an international workshop in the areas of Sustainability and Well-being. The Faculty of Sports and Health and Social Care in collaboration with International Research Institute in Sustainability will host this event. Grundtvig is part of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme and aims to strengthen the European dimension in adult education and lifelong learning.

The international workshop will focus on core contemporary issues. The overarching aims of the workshop are for lifelong learners to exchange ideas about the notions of sustainable lifestyles, well-being and the links between them; to identify how the participants might change their own lifestyle; and, to gain the vision and skills to contribute to initiating change in their own communities.

The international economic recession and the environmental crises such as climate change have a greater impact on disadvantaged communities as they have less financial capacity to off-set the negative impacts. This forum aims to de-couple economic measurements of living standards from quality of life indicators, by exploring consumer and non-consumer lifestyles and their links to well-being. Shifting dependency to locally produced resources and lessening dependency on oil-based energy is something that numerous communities are exploring across Europe. In the UK and Ireland this has manifested itself in the Transition Town movement, which is particularly strong in parts of Gloucestershire and the south west of England generally. This Gruntdvig workshop seeks to adds the benefits of inter-cultural exchange and international links to local community action. The content of the workshop will help participants to assess alternative approaches to sustainable lifestyles and to establish the links between sustainable lifestyles and the well-being of individuals and communities from different parts of Europe.

This workshop will be under-pinned by an active learning methodology which will be made overt to the participants so that they can adopt the techniques when they return to their communities. This workshop will be the first project for the Health, Wellbeing and Sustainability Strand of IRIS and will be a combination of class activities and field visits focusing on alternative approaches to sustainable lifestyles and individual and community well-being.

Funding is available for European participants from outside the UK to attend the workshop.

Please note the application form should completed and emailed to: [email protected] and a signed hard copy sent by post to:
J Bevan
University of Gloucestershire
Oxstalls Campus
Oxstalls Lane
Longlevens
Gloucester
GL2 9HW
UK