The Relevant Education Project

Relevant Education – what is it?

Relevant Education is predicated on two assumptions:

First, that Humanity is headed for a major, civilization-changing transition. (A large and growing number of thinkers, philosophers and experts in many fields have come to this conclusion. See tllp.org for some pointers. And even the UN talks about “the certainty of near-term non-linear changes” – see here. )

Provided we can muster enough collective wisdom, this transition could be the most dramatically progressive transformation in centuries, or even millenia: comparable to what happened 350 years ago (the Enlightenment), or perhaps 2,500 years ago (the Axial Revolution), or perhaps 12,000 years ago (the switch to agriculture and city dwelling) or even 50,000 years ago (when humans started dominating all other species).

On the other hand, the default trajectory is for the transition to be an unprecedentedly regressive collapse into chaos: unprecedented because this would be the collapse of the first global civilization. This goes well beyond the climate crisis, which is only one of many inter-related potential threats.

The second assumption on which Relevant Education is predicated is this: To try and ensure we avoid a collapse, we should not attempt to create a master blueprint, or rely on a single new ideology or set up some global movement. Instead, we should seek to increase our own (and others’) conscious participation in the coming transition.

By conscious participation, I mean joining in relevant conversations, deepening our wisdom and figuring out our own role. Because…

• If not enough people understand what’s coming, the transition will be a collapse.
• If not enough people take action, the transition will be a collapse.
• If not enough people take wise action, the transition will be a collapse.

We all have a responsibility, because the nature of the transition (progressive vs regressive) will depend on the consciousness, understanding and wisdom behind many millions of decisions and many millions of small and large actions by many millions of people.

With that perspective…

The content of  Relevant Education is:

“What you need to know to consciously participate in the most consequential 25 years of Humanity’s history.“

Relevant Education isn’t about creating experts. It’s about providing people with enough information to enable them to start figuring out what their role might be. Because the simple fact of being alive during these coming decades means that each of us WILL be part of this terrifying and exciting civilizational drama. There can be no passive onlookers any more.

The aim of the Relevant Education Project is:

“To scale the understanding of Humanity’s transition: and so to massively increase conscious participation.“

To re-iterate – this isn’t about creating a master blueprint, or an ideology or a single narrative. It’s about triggering informed conversations that lead to conscious participation.

The activities/deliverables of the Relevant Education Project will be:

… as many of the following as funding and resources allow.

• A Book
  
  Work is already underway on writing this. You can download a draft outline below.
• A Syllabus Framework
  
  Defining frameworks of the content of “what you need to know to consciously participate in the most consequential 25 years in Humanity’s history” for different audiences and modes of participation.
  
  The book’s contents could serve as a starting point, but it will need to be expanded into something much more sophisticated and will need to continuously evolve, through collaboration amongst many different specialists and generalists – including visionary educationalists.
  
  This would form the basis of many of the themes below.
• An online educational program
  
  Making the material freely available on a central, online educational platform.
  
  This could start as a YouTube channel, evolve into a platform with multiple courses aimed at different audiences, and then also include online communities and discussions around specific topics.
• Creating local groups globally
  
  • Encouraging individuals to set up local groups
    • … for discussions
      These could be as simple as creating Meetups (see Humanity’s Transition – Oxford Discussions for an existing example)
  • … for education
    To provide face-to-face educational settings, perhaps supplemented by the online program
    
  • Enable the sharing of ideas and resources between local groups
  • Liaising and partnering with existing local, regional, national and global groups and organizations with an interest in education
• Replication, Reuse and Development
  
  Providing support for anyone wishing to use the Relevant Education material – under the same or a different brand – including by:
  
  • Making the training material available
    for others to use/modify.
    
  • Creating a community
    for jointly maintaining, enhancing and extending the syllabus and training material.
    
• General Awareness Program
  
  Making the Relevant Education target audiences aware of the project using standard promotional techniques, including creating and professionally operating social media channels – especially Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
  
• Influencing the high school curriculum
  
  Liaising with schools, colleges, educational institutions, consultants and governments with the goal of having the topic included in the school curriculum.
  
• A “What’s Going On” Resource
  
  Development of a website listing the current players and resources associated with Humanity’s Transition.
  Version 1 of this site exists at http://tllp.org. Version 2 is under development.
  
  This component provides a follow-on to people who have been through Relevant Education. It helps them answer “what more can I learn / what’s next / what can I join in with or start?”

Note:
The emphasis on schools does not mean Relevant Education is exclusively aimed at school children. The content must appeal to any intelligent 16-116 year old.

The Status of the Relevant Education Project

The project is in its early stage of development. Until funding and additional resources are available, it’s a part-time activity of one person (Alex Goodall). A charity is being formed as a vehicle for funding.

What you can do at the moment

1. Download an early draft of the introductory part of the forthcoming book. The book will not be structured the way this draft suggests, but it does provide a good sense of the type of content and ideas to be covered.

2. Register here to get notifications of developments.

3. Email me: alex [at] relevant.education if you’d like to provide feedback, can help fund the project, think there are opportunities for collaboration, or you just want to a have chat

4. Visit the “What’s going on” website: The Liminal Learning Portal (http://tllp.org). This provides a (very partial) collection of thinkers and organizations and books and links to content related to Humanity’s Transition.

Alex Goodall (See bio / LinkedIn Profile)
Oxford, UK