Current Initiatives

The Utne Institute’s two major and interrelated initiatives are:

Community Earth Councils (CECs)
Community Earth Councils (CECs) are groups of elders (50+) and youth (16-28) working together to address global environmental and social challenges at the local level. CECs build community, helping young people find meaning and purpose while providing elders with a way to give back, inspire, and impact the future. Participants in a CEC explore how, together, they can bring vision into action.
Visit: earthcouncils.org

Whole Systems Healing (WSH)
John Miller and Eric Utne, co-directors of the Utne Institute, are collaborating with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing to create a series of under-graduate courses designed to help students find their service callings and become agents of social and environmental healing. Course 1 was first offered in the fall, 2008 at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and has been offered each semester since. Once in place, the WSH curriculum will be expanded to the graduate level and to other colleges and universities worldwide.
Visit: www.csh.umn.edu/wsh

Future Activities

Organize and produce a World Peace Forum and Peacemaker awards ceremony, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute and the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, to celebrate young, visionary environmental and social entrepreneurs.

Conduct workshops and trainings designed to inspire, prepare, and enable participants to secure paid assignments with environmental and social justice service organizations.

Organize a global media campaign designed to increase the number of people volunteering for environmental and social justice service organizations.