ENV Skill no 8: Endurance and Agency

My artifact nr 3 relates to Environmental Skill no 8.

This artifact is the course "Zen and the Art of saving the Planet", a 7-week environmental field professionals and activist course, which was offered online by monastic mindfullness teachers from the Plum Village Buddhist Trradition. This course required a minimum of 5 hours of personal mindfullness practice and reflection and 2 hours of shared exchange with others in groups weekly.

Environmental skill no 8 relies on the integration of the preceding 7 Environmental Studies skills. In the face of the social-ecological multi-crisis´ of the 2020´s, I would suggest that we incorporate some less traditionally academic skills into developing Skill no 8. This approach aims to maintain long term personal and professional endurance and prevent burn-out and disillusion. These less traditionally academic skills include strengthening personal community ties, spending committed time in nature for physical & experiential connection, and engaging in some form of personal spriritual or mindful practice.

This theme of how to sustain endurance and agency, and stay impactful, both personally and professionally, while working in the environmental field, has been occupying me since I began at UPEI. As a result, I decided to enroll in mindfullness courses for environmental professionals and activists alongside my studies. This has helped me to broarden my educational objectives beyond the academic realm.

One of my learning goals in ENV 3010 has therefore been to concentrate on enjoying interactions with the staff at the community partner, MacPhail Woods, and with my fellow intern. Additionally, I have aimed to mindfully percieve and experience the natural environment around me while carrying out the tasks requested by the community partner. Returning to school at a mature age, and setting such learning goals alongside more academic objectives is proving very valuable to me, and I am observing how I am work-wise able to maintain a more visionary and optimistic approach.