Personal & Vocational Development

Empower yourself. Transform your world.

Earthville Institute’s programs are designed to catalyze evolution inside and out — because who we are is at least as important as what we do.

INTEGRATING PERSONAL & VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

“Your action, what you do, depends on who you are.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Truth be told, most of the essential qualities and skills of a consummate professional are actually personal — they’re found in the character and habits of the individual. To develop excellence vocationally we must also cultivate it personally. The two go hand-in-hand.

This is all the more important for those who seek to make a life out of making a difference. To take on the great challenges of our time requires us to reach deep into ourselves for insight, growth, healing, and refinement. As the saying goes, “Be the change…”

Key areas of personal growth:

Self-reflection: knowing ourselves more deeply
Healthy and sustainable lifestyle design
Identifying our personal mission and priorities
Well-being: physical and emotional health & healing
Contemplative practice (yoga, meditation, etc.)
Communication (deep listening, constructive speech, etc.)
Time, energy, and attention management

Key areas of vocational development:

Working from the heart
Cultivating a vision for our work
Manifesting: from vision to reality
Project management
Leadership qualities and skills
Giving and receiving constructive feedback
Specific skills and qualities in a given field

EARTHVILLE’S INTEGRATIVE PROGRAMS

Empowering the whole person: Our spacious and supportive approach

Our integrated programs pursue the intertwined objectives of personal growth and vocational development as one through hands-on education and training in a community context with ample opportunities for deep reflection and discussion. Just as in yoga asana practice the best stretch is a slow, gentle, gradual one, we take the same approach to stretching into our better selves. There’s no judgment or pressure here, just a warm, accepting, supportive community where all of us share the aspiration to grow and to serve the greater good as well as we can.

› More about Earthville’s approach to learning

TWO PROGRAM TYPES:
UNIVERSAL & SPECIALIZED

Our integrated personal and vocational development programs include both universal programs (designed to be useful to most anyone) and specialized programs (designed primarily for people working or learning within a specific field or vocation).

Universal programs

Building a Better World

Our flagship program for integrated personal and vocational development is Building a Better World, an ongoing modular program developed in partnership with Dharmalaya Institute for Compassionate Living (our sister school in the Himalayas) specifically for caring people like you who want to make a positive impact in the world. This precious opportunity is designed to empower participants as insightful, sensitive, and effective agents of change, and to help develop skills for making inspirations into realities. For details, see this page.

Summers of Sustainability

Every summer, Earthville Institute offers a three-month immersive residential service-learning program providing an engaging in-depth exploration of sustainable and compassionate living, integrating hands-on experience with contemplative practice. See our upcoming events for details.

Specialized programs

Natural building workshops in Colorado

Every summer, Earthville Institute offers workshops on various aspects of natural building, including adobe construction, straw-bale, and more. See our upcoming events.

Partner programs in sustainability in the Himalayas

Our sister school in the Himalayas, Dharmalaya Institute for Compassionate Living, offers year-round workshops and internships related to sustainability, including natural building, eco-architecture, and sustainable project development.

Internship in Sustainable Project Develpment

Internship in Vernacular Eco-Architecture

Natural Design and Contemplative Architecture

Dharmalaya Institute’s upcoming events

Featured Article

Announcing Our 2024 Programs!

Earthville Institute’s 2024 program season will weave through the spheres of natural building, organic gardening and permaculture, meditation and the creative process — and, as always, our caring community and contemplative approach will provide rich opportunities for connection, reflection, insight, and joy.

Leadership Training in the Himalayas

We have some big news to share with you about the future of our Himalayan sister campus, Dharmalaya Institute, and the headline is that you’re invited to be a part of it!

Reflections on Touching Earth 2023

Following up on the success of last-year’s 27-day Natural Building and Inner Exploration Workshop Series, we opened the doors again this year to make the ongoing construction of our Colorado eco-campus available as a learning opportunity for anyone wishing to explore earthen building and our relationship with nature.

Straw-bale Buildings Rising!

We’re delighted to report that our 27-day Natural Building and Inner Exploration Workshop Series has wrapped up with results that surpassed even our lofty aspirations. Over the month, around 100 people joined us from across the US and beyond for learning, building, reflecting, and connecting.

Traditional Timber Framing

In preparation for Earthville Institute’s inaugural 27-day Natural Building and Inner Exploration Workshop Series in 2022, Earthville’s cofounders set out on a mission to add traditional mortise-and-tenon timber framing to their natural building repertoire, embarking on a grand adventure with Robert Laporte of EcoNest.

Pedagogy of the Heart: Education for Compassion

Earthville founder Mark Moore discusses the power of contemplative experiential education and service learning to awaken compassion and help empower sensitive and effective agents of change.

What is Compassionate Living?

Everything that matters most — from the quality of our character to the survival of our species and the health of our planet — depends greatly upon our practice of compassion.

Tales of Human-Scale Education

In this article, visionary educator Arnie Langberg shares three stories from his days as Principal in two alternative schools in Denver, Colorado. These tales illustrate the critical roles that human connections play in creating effective learning communities.