Earth Ethics Institute

Active Hope: Experiential Tools for Resilience and Changemaking

A Professional Development Workshop Offering 6 Hours of Credit

The challenges we currently face can be difficult to even think about, let alone to respond to. Climate change, war, political polarization, economic upheaval, and the loss of species and natural habitats combine to create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. This workshop will help build the resilience needed to expand our capacity to hold the intensity of these times and participate more fully in a positive response. Participants will explore the depths of their emotional reactions, their perceptions, and their relationship to the living world, discovering empowered next steps as they tap into inner strength and nurture a strong sense of connection with others and with the living Earth. Participants will create and clarify their intentions and affirm their commitment to positive change while assessing inner and outer resources for collaborative changemaking.

Facilitated by:
Valerie Silidker, MS
Director, the Psychospiritual Institute
Michael Matthews, MS
Director, Earth Ethics Institute 

Friday, September 13, 2024
1:00 - 5:00 PM 
Padrón Campus Room 201
Registration Link: EEI1135-1 

GSELS Learning Network: Transforming Paradigm

A Professional Development Workshop Offering 6 Hours of Credit and Presented as Part of Changemaker Week 2024 

This workshop offers an overview of Earth Ethics Institute’s Global Sustainability and Earth Literacy Studies (GSELS) learning network.  Participants learn about the development and operations of GSELS. GSELS faculty learn how to broaden their GSELS-designated courses as well as incorporating best practices. Resources and key GSELS content, including Earth Literacy, sustainable development, the Earth Charter, principles of ecology, the Eight Guiding Principles of Global Citizenship, and UNESCO’s Four Pillars of Lifelong Learning will be reviewed. 

Facilitated by:
Earth Ethics Institute staff

Date: 9/16/2024
Time: 2:00 - 5:00 PM
Location: via Zoom
Registration link: EEI1010-8 

A Journey Toward Earth Literacy

A Professional Development Discussion Series Offering 15 Hours of Credit

This professional development discussion series offers participants the opportunity to collaboratively explore the book, Now That You Know: A Journey Toward Earth Literacy, and to discuss the book’s themes and topics.  In this book, MDC Professor Emeritus and founder of Earth Ethics Institute, Dr. McGregor (Mac) Smith, Jr (1926 – 2018), offers a compelling tale of his personal journey in understanding the role of life and consciousness in an evolving universe. In so doing, he expounds on the critical importance of humanity re-learning how to live in harmony with Earth and the natural cycles on which our continued existence depends. Subjects ranging from cosmology to ecological sustainability will be addressed in relevant, engaging ways as we join Mac in his quest for a new kind of literacy beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic—an understanding of the interconnectedness of Earth and all living beings that can best be described as Earth Literacy.

Facilitated by:
Carlos Gonzalez
Senior Associate Professor, English & Communications - MDC Kendall Campus

Dates: 9/20, 10/04, 10/18, 11/01, and 11/15/2024
Times: Fist session, 12:00PM - 1:00 PM, subsequent sessions 12:00PM - 1:30 PM
Registration link: EEI1131-2 

A Call to Sustainability

A Professional Development Discussion Series Offering 15 Hours of Credit

This five-part workshop series will explore the urgent need for a sustainable society, the importance of ecological principles in understanding the many social issues that define humanity’s relationship with the natural world, social and ecological issues inherent in food production, and the impact of humanity on Earth’s dwindling water supply and the aquatic food chains on which we depend.  Participants will read selected essays followed by guided discussions.  Additional materials, such as videos and shared reflections, will be included. 

Facilitated by:
Yadira Capaz 
Earth Ethics Institute Padrón Campus Program Professional 

Dates:  9/25, 10/9, 10/23,  11/ 6, and 11/ 20/2024
Times:  Fist session, 12:00PM - 1:00 PM, subsequent sessions 12:00PM - 1:30 PM
Location:  Padron Campus |  Room 6121-04
Registration link: EEI1025-8 

Environment, Climate and County Resiliency

A Virtual Professional Development Workshop Offering 7 Hours of Credit

Climate change is influencing Miami-Dade County’s thinking on urban, regional, transportation, and economic planning. Florida has more people living less than four feet above sea level than any U.S. state, except Louisiana. The county has the most exposed assets and the fourth-largest population vulnerable to sea-level rise worldwide. This workshop, offered in partnership with the Miami-Dade County Office of Resilience, examines the county’s efforts to move toward resilience by addressing such areas as sea level rise, transit improvements, and socioeconomic concerns affecting our most vulnerable communities. 

Co-Facilitated by:
Sandra St. Hilaire 
County Office of Resilience, Resilience Coordinator
Mike Matthews
Earth Ethics Institute Collegewide Director
Date:    10/11/2024
Time:    12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Location:  Wolfson Campus |  Room 8106
Registration Link: EEI1136-1

Oleta River State Park

 A Professional Development Immersion Offering 8 Hours of Credit

This immersion explores the natural and cultural history of the largest urban park in the Florida state park system.  Oleta River State Park is a 1,043 acre natural and recreational area surrounded largely by high density residential and commercial developmental. The park is very popular with those wishing to hike, picnic, canoe, kayak, watch or photograph wildlife, and ride bikes.  There are seventeen miles of trails that can accommodate mountain bike riders of different ability levels. The Oleta River area supports abundant marine life, diverse bird populations and some of the most impressively large mangrove trees in South Florida. Upland and shoreline habitats will be explored.  Particular attention will be directed towards the challenge of achieving a sustainable balance between urban human needs and natural systems needs. 

Co-Facilitated by:
Kiki Mutis, M.S. 
Wolfson Campus iCED Director
Mike Matthews, M.S. 
Earth Ethics Institute Collegewide Director
Saturday, November 23, 2024
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM 
To Register:  EEI1003-3