Support for sustainable community projects could come from diverse sources
by Global Good News staff writer

Global Good News    Translate This Article
12 March 2013

The Sustainable Living degree at Maharishi University of Management prepares students for careers in sustainable community development and environmental coordination.

This goal will be taken even further in the upcoming master's degree programme in Sustainable Living, in which students will have the opportunity to go into the field to assist communities directly. These communities are ones that have requested help from Maharishi University of Management to become more sustainable and self-sufficient.

When it comes to community development, a pertinent and persistent question is always how to fund such projects?

Dr David Fisher, founder and chair of the Sustainable Living department, answered that sources of funding can be as diverse and creative as the communities themselves.

He shared the story of a man who is working to find 'environmentally responsible ways to extract minerals' without harming the environment.

This man is advising mining companies that generally set up operations in uninhabited areas.

'He would like to see [the companies] build sustainable communities from the ground up,' said Dr Fisher, explaining that, in that case, the mining company would fund the sustainable communities.

But for communities in Africa or central Asia, securing support may be more difficult.

Sometimes with populations of indigenous peoples, as in the United States or Canada, there may exist government funding to help community development projects.

There are also many federal grants in the United States specifically for environmental projects.

'I can imagine that there would be many different ways in which the funding would get underway,' Dr Fisher commented.

In addition to the hands-on experience of assisting a community with sustainable development, the new master's programme in Sustainable Living will provide students with cutting-edge knowledge from top experts.

'An extremely important part of [the Sustainable Living master's degree] is that we have widely recognized visiting scholars and visiting experts. . . . We want to have as much high quality instruction as possible right there in the classroom.' Dr Fisher noted that students would also learn about the knowledge in these courses in light of fundamental principles and dynamics of consciousness—the unifying framework for all knowledge provided by the university's Consciousness-Based Education approach.

See previous articles in this series:
∙ Sustainable Living Center moves closer to full self-sufficiency
∙ Sustainable Living Center 'the most ambitious environmental building'
∙ New master's degrees in Sustainable Living to launch next year at MUM
∙ Popular Sustainable Living department to offer MA and MS degrees: Maharishi University of Management
∙ Sustainable Living Center truly local, community built
∙ Master's in Sustainable Living to provide community assistance, valuable skill set
∙ Sustainable Living Center self-sufficient for water, greenhouse soon finished

Copyright © 2013 Global Good News Service



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