Antioch University New England

We recently made the decision to change one of our core graduate course names from Environmental Ethics to Ecological Ethics. Below, our Director of Graduate Programs, Mary Pat Champeau, reflects on what the catalyst was for this change, and why we feel it’s an important one.

“Sometimes, wisdom is so close to us we cannot see it. This was the case for me as I listened to Nandita Bajaj interview Sarah Bexell, both of whom are longtime friends of mine, and esteemed IHE/Antioch University faculty, for the Population Balance podcast OVERSHOOT. They were talking about Sarah’s work at the University of Denver's Center for a Regenerative Future, and in response to Nandita’s question about the difference between environmental justice and ecological justice, Sarah said: “𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀. 𝗔𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀. 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀… 𝗘𝗰𝗼-𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹…”

A new awareness dawned on me, one that had been lurking on the fringes of my brain but that I hadn’t focused on until I heard Sarah’s words. In collaboration with our full faculty and IHE co-founder, Zoe Weil, we changed the name of a core course in our graduate programs from Environmental Ethics to Ecological Ethics; a name that more accurately represents the spirit of the course, and our field. (Bonus sidenote: Ecological Ethics is currently taught by the podcast co-host and executive director of Population Balance, Nandita Bajaj!)

Today is World Environment Day. I wonder if we might expand our understanding of this day to include justice and compassion for all living beings on the planet, as well as the abiotic components. For those who enjoy commemorating days like this with deeper reflection, I encourage you to listen to the full interview with Dr. Sarah Bexell on the Overshoot podcast, hosted by Nandita Bajaj and Alan Ware. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

Enjoy the full episode: https://www.populationbalance.org/podcast/sarah-bexell-2

From Grief to Regeneration — Population Balance We have it in us to create a more beautiful, regenerative future that allows both humans and nonhumans to flourish. Dr. Sarah Bexell, professor of social work and co-founder of the Center for a Regenerative Future at the University of Denver, joins us.

Happy Pride Month!

We’re hopeful in the continued effort to build a world where everyone can bloom, flourish, and flaunt their true colors. That's why community is so crucial in our present day; we must continue to create space with liberation and equality for all.

Jason Rhoades, Core Faculty of Environmental and Sustainable Studies, and alum Ximena Gallegos Gutierrez (MS Environmental Studies), published a new article in Environmental Education Research titled, “Comparative Assessment of the Environmental Education Policies of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela.”

The study tackles a practical problem: national environmental education (EE) policies shape what countries can implement at scale, yet researchers and policymakers have had limited comparative guidance for how to design strong national EE policy. Rhoades and Gallegos Gutierrez address that gap by building an assessment framework tailored to a South American context and applying it to publicly available national EE policy documents from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. They evaluate policies across six dimensions —evidence-based grounding, regional relevance, attention to community issues, political feasibility, financial realism, and stakeholder consensus—and map how countries differ in content, approach, and underlying theories.

Read the article here:

Comparative assessment of the environmental education policies of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela While national environmental education (EE) policies are crucial in advancing the field, there is a lack of available research and guidance to inform their development. This research aims to fill t...