Exploring a Deep Ecology

A nine-week course addressing the core values that determine how we view and treat Earth, drawing on science, native wisdom and our spiritual traditions.

According to Arne Naess, who coined the term deep ecology more than 20 years ago, "the essence of deep ecology is to ask deeper questions. The adjective ‘deep’ stresses that we ask why and how, where others do not."

Three understandings of deep ecology are:

• Humans are but one species among others in the community of nature, and they are not separate from their environment.
• Everything is connected and interrelationships are constantly changing.
• Ecological sustainability requires a long-term view, as well as an understanding of such ecological concepts as diversity and symbiosis.