SYSTEMS | Extractivism Alternatives

Satish Kumar on Peace, Nature, and Schumacher College (1 of 4)

In this four-part interview, Satish Kumar shares his views on peace, our relationship with nature, and what led him to found Schumacher College in 1991. Among those who inspire him are Vinoba Bhave, Mahatma Gandhi, Bertrand Russell, and E.F. Schumacher.

Satish Kumar shares with Kakoli Mitra his views on education and why he founded Schumacher College in the early 1990s. He felt the need to develop an education system that is not egocentric but ecocentric, for nature is not simply a source of raw material for the economy, but the source of life itself. Mr. Kumar advocates for education of head-heart-hands, an education that is focused on meaning, value, and love, not one that is limited to mere intellectual learning. Inspired by Gandhi’s community self-reliance model and the ‘small is beautiful’ economic principle espoused by E.F. Schumacher of small, appropriate technologies and policies, Mr. Kumar founded Schumacher College in the United Kingdom in 1991. Dartington Trust provided a large estate building and grounds — where Rabindranath Tagore had stayed decades earlier — to Schumacher College for its use. Mr. Kumar asserts his views on how education must become earth-friendly, for otherwise, nature will not be able to sustain the type of egotistical education that is generally imposed on students in mainstream institutions.

author Satish Kumar (he), a peace pilgrim, life-long activist, and former Jain monk, has been an advocate for global change for over 60 years. In his ecology-rooted work, he is inspired by Vinoba Bhave, Mahatma Gandhi, and E.F. Schumacher.
author_affiliation South Asia | Rajasthan
residence United Kingdom
organizational Schumacher College