UMass Amherst-accredited January, Summer, Semester and Year Abroad
                                programs in Ecovillages worldwide

Bring your education to life - in and outside the classroom- in Ecovillages, where issues of ecological sustainability and social justice meet. In Ecovillages around the world, people are creating and modeling sustainable lifestyles in harmony with their local environments - restoring ecosystems and habitat, developing participatory models of governance, growing healthful organic food, building "green" homes, working for justice and social change, and utilizing renewable resources such as wind and solar energy.
These communities provide ideal "campuses" to immerse yourself in academic, experiential and service learning about sustainability, and prepare for lives and careers that make a difference.

Earn transferable academic credit as you:
•    Learn the indigenous use of medicinal plants and intern in teaching in southern India
•    Study human ecology, regenerate forests and live on a self-sufficient island in       Scotland
•    Study environmental, economic and community sustainability in Costa Rica
•    Build an adobe house, learn organic farming and dance capoiera in tropical Brazil
•    Become a skilled consensus facilitator and leader for social change in Mexico
•    Design ecological homesteads/landscapes with expert faculty in western Mass.
•    Learn how High Amazon Fair Trade Coffee coops protect biodiversity & a living wage       in Peru

Living Routes offers accredited study programs (January, Summer, Semester and Year Abroad) in Ecovillages in India, Peru, Costa Rica, Israel, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S All Living Routes programs contain an intergrated Service Learning component. Students receive an academic transcript from UMass Amherst, and academic credit is widely transferable to colleges and universities. Participants who do not need academic credit often participate on Living Routes programs for the skills and experience they provide.

Living Routes programs are both academic and experiential. They challenge you to grow on academic, professional and personal levels. Programs are taught by faculty with international experience and expertise across a wide range of fields. Students and faculty together create a learning community within the living community of the Ecovillage or indigenous community. These remarkable educational environments facilitate real transformative intellectual and personal development.

To learn what students learn and experience day-to-day on one of our programs, check out student Weblogs at www.LivingRoutes.org. Living Routes alumni return to take leadership roles in sustainability initiatives on campus, pursue graduate students and work in international and grassroots organizations, socially responsible businesses, the arts, and justice and environmental advocacy organizations worldwide.

Students are accepted on a rolling admissions basis. Programs can fill up to a year in advance.