Schumacher College
Schumacher College is a college near Totnes, Devon, England which offers ecology-centred masters programmes, short courses and horticultural programmes. In addition to British and European students, it attracts a large volume of international students from countries such as Brazil, Japan and the USA. Description. The college was co-founded in 1990 by Satish Kumar, John Lane and others. The first visiting teacher was Sir James Lovelock, best known for proposing the Gaia Hypothesis. The founders were inspired by E.F. Schumacher, the economist, environmentalist, and development educator and the author of "Small Is Beautiful". Schumacher College runs holistic  education courses for people concerned with issues around ecology and sustainability, in which "students are encouraged to develop a deep, participatory relationship with nature". In 2019 the College was also named as a finalist in the Green Gown Awards which celebrate sustainability in education. The vegetarian College, which has its own cooking team, was selected in the Food and Drink category as over half the food that is eaten by staff and students is grown in the College gardens by volunteers and students on the horticulture programmes. The college is part of The Dartington Trust and is housed on the  1,200 acre-Dartington Hall estate, northwest of the town of Totnes, Devon. The trust's charitable aims are to use the estate to be a test-bed for a just and sustainable society and it has strong commitment to progressive education, the arts, sustainable horticulture, agroforestry and conservation. Courses. Current teachers include Kate Raworth, Daniel Wahl, Manda Scott, Martin Shaw, Rupert Sheldrake, Vandana Shiva, Colin Campbell, Jon Young and David Abram. Former teachers have included Henri Bortoft, Fritjof Capra, Stanislav Grof, Hazel Henderson, James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, Arne Naess, Brian Goodwin and many others. In 2019 the College developed its  masters programmes to encompass a blended learning model to allow students to remain in-country and study. It also became recognised by the Office for Students, enabling the College to reduce their fees and also for prospective British students to apply for postgraduate loans in order to study. In partnership with the University of Plymouth, Schumacher College offers an MSc Holistic Science, MA Ecological Design Thinking and MA Regenerative Economics. The College also runs a programme of one, two and three-week short courses throughout the year.