The Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems

The Schumacher Society UK has run its lectures for over 25 years with acclaimed success. These have contributed greatly to raising awareness about the many critical environmental and social issues that we face. However, the Society has long wanted to make a greater impact on the decision-making done by governments, businesses and individuals, at local and global levels. It wants to place the philosophy that we have developed from Schumacher’s work at the centre of policy thinking and to do this by getting closely involved in the processes of change.

We believe that a research institute will achieve this aim - an institute dedicated to the question: what makes our natural and social systems viable in the long term?

A research institute, or ‘think-and-do’ tank, needs to investigate problems in collaboration with those affected; it also needs to engage with those who can make changes happen. The institute will provide many forums for this collaboration and engagement through seminars, workshops and direct local action with close involvement of members of the Society.

The theory

Schumacher’s work influenced many others. A body of knowledge and understanding has grown up around the concepts of appropriate scale, local action, uniting differences, non-violence, simplicity and spiritual development. It is a unique philosophical expression of ideas drawn from alternative and radical views of how we should live on this planet. Thinking about the future as ‘complex systems where people matter’ is not easy. We are not alone in trying to think this way, but we are blessed with a coherent vision and a substantial following.

We are aware of the interdependencies of the systems in which we belong. To tackle these messy problems requires the tools of systems thinking and complexity sciences – we have much to learn and much to contribute.

The practicalities

The institute has started its life at the CREATE Centre at Bristol. It is developing a programme of work that will generate the capacity to do research and to hold seminars and workshops. We need to recruit and nurture people to do the research, we need facilities and resources – computers, journals, subscriptions, and books, we need a funding programme and research administration, and we need supporters at all levels to build our reputation and promote what we do.

As part of its resources the Institute will create an archive of important documents from the many Schumacher Fellows and associates and so preserve their work as a vital resource, a repository of radical ideas.

We will provide a place for people to come, from all over the world, to work with us, a stimulating, residential place where they can generate new understanding and take away something special - seeds for a better world.

The Proposal

Download a proposal to create the Schumacher Institute for Sustainable System (290KB)