A SHORT HISTORY OF SCHUMACHER UK

Following the death of E.F Schumacher in 1977 Schumacher UK was founded in 1978. Originally named the Dr E.F Schumacher Society which was later altered to The Schumacher Society and now is known as Schumacher UK.

The first meeting of the society was held in Bristol on 19th November 1978. The founding members present on that day were Maurice Ash, Gerard Morgan-Grenville, John Seymour and Anthony D. Lewis with the appointed Chairman Satish Kumar. At this first meeting it was discussed and decided that a series of lectures would be hosted each year, speakers were organised and they commenced the following year. In the early development of the scheme the lectures were given by such distinguished speakers as Gerald Leach, Colin Wilson, Shirley Williams, Johan Galtung, Petra Kelly, Sigmund Kvalöy and Rupert Sheldrake.

It was also decided that the society should be based around the ideas of Small is Beautiful (E.F Schumacher's most famous and influential book). We were to promote New Thinking and New Ideas along with the Human Scale Development Movement. Some of the society's first work was the forming of the ERA (Environmental Research Association) and supporting organisations such as the Soil Association (of which E.F Schumacher was himself an early supporter and later its president) and the ITDG (Intermediate Technology Development Group) which E.F Schumacher himself established in 1965, as well as wide range of causes all over the world.

By the middle of the 1980's we had not only staged lectures, but also created an award for outstanding achievement in ecological work (The Schumacher Award), created an annual essay competition, were running Resurgence Magazine, launched the Green Books service and opened the Small School in Hartland, Devon. Since then the society has carried on with these ventures and many more, including the opening of Schumacher College at Dartington in early 1991, created and published a series of briefings and staged many small seminars, lectures and events.