ZERI System Designers | Training

ZERI Graduate Program in Italy

ZERI has partnered with Politecnico di Torino in Italy to offer a Masters of Systems Design. The 2-year course embraces a new business model of open industrial systems and is geared towards implementation. To find out more visit: www.systemsdesign.polito.it.

ZERI Training Program in U.S. 

ZERI offers training for certified ZERI System Designers on a periodic basis in the United States.  Plans are being made now for training programs for 2007.  If you are interested in participating, please contact:

    Logistics: Dorna Schroeter, dschroeter@pnwboces.org, 914-248-2335

    Program: Dick White, rwhite@gobrainstorm.net, 970-382-0049

ZERI ways of learning

ZERI believes that working in harmony with nature does not mean abandoning science or becoming an escapist. While science is the key driver to ZERI, it is the fun part of demystifying science and making a culture of enquiry possible for younger minds that has led to the creation of an extensive ZERI educational component through the format of using fairy tales.

ZERI explores the deep science that informs the workings of nature through fun filled stories; and thus paves the way towards the creation of a new breed of scientists working with nature as opposed to being ignorant or even working against nature. For ZERI the real investment lies in the creation of a present and future generation which is assured of sustainable livelihoods, capable of responding to the basic needs of all living species on Earth. ZERI considers this more meaningful than focusing on the relatively narrow discourse of 'triple bottom lines.'

From Fairy Tales to Reality

The years after the World Expo in 2000, ZERI fairy tales became the basis of the ZERI Education Initiative. The 36 fairy tales wonderfully illustrated by Pamela Salazar Ocampo, are published in 2005 in one book and are but a starting point. Over the next decade we should at least have 100’s stories bringing fun, surprise, and startling ideas on how to make this world the most magnificent place to be our best. The opportunity to share the initial experiences in Brazil, Germany, USA, Japan, Ecuador, Egypt and Colombia will give rise to more publishing initiatives, a drive towards the production of animated movies, the design of electronic games and the redesign of our whole educational program, not more - not less.

The ZERI network will reserve more time for education, i.e. education of the third type: inspiration. And based on the experience of Japan, the education initiatives will be carried forward by more dedicated teams as the combination of project implementation and teacher training are not always compatible. We have to create space for creative insights into the same realities and it is our commitment to make it happen. The design of a special website, and the creation of additional material broadening the scope for participation of teachers and students is but the first step forward. This is one of the ZERI projects that is spun off in a separate unit globally.

Network of Graduate Schools

Though, the explicit commitment to work with children from kindergarten onwards may not be interpreted as a write-off of our present generation: the young who just graduated from high school, and the ones who are making day to day decisions at the business and policy level operate within a framework that is not able to respond to the basic needs of all. Therefore ZERI commits to the creation of a series of Graduate Schools. The first one is the Graduate School for Systems Design at the Science University of Turin which eventually will spin off in a separate institution. This European school started in October 2005 with 50 students for a two year master program with the possibility to continue with a PhD. The learning system is based on intensive classes and extensive field studies. The students have  only 20 professors per year and will have each professor exclusively for one week. Professors will not teach from their books. There is no need to since the students read all available material in advance.

The learning process is a Socratic dialogue started in Italy but will expand to other continents. The Master of Engineering of Natural Systems is a second one already in advanced discussions in collaboration with the Universidad de la Sabana in Bogota, Colombia. A third unit is under consideration in Cape Town, South Africa. In this way we are planning to build the network gradually but consistently. The different schools are to be interconnected through courses and field trips but the one integrating factor will be the graduate thesis is the symbiosis of all one has been exposed to with the vision of the person’s energy and commitment. We may even create a completely new university in the middle of nowhere at... Gaviotas.