Groundwork’s Philosophy

There is a central question we wrestle with at Groundwork: with our world in trouble, where does real change come from? A trend in environmental thought blames the big things for our problems: corporations and governments. It’s easy to point to faceless entities liquidating the living world for profit. But if that’s the only answer, where then does hope come from for ordinary people? If we point out the window towards the CEOs and the politicians, a part of what we are pointing at is the reflection of ourselves […]

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Listen to a conversation between Groundwork’s director Jeff Wagner and Kelly Moody, an incredible botanist, teacher about people’s relationship with land, and instructor for Groundwork’s field programs. Kelly interviewed Jeff for her Ground Shots Podcast. The conversation focuses on the Colorado River, industrial food production, and how the Colorado River is a microcosm of the U.S. relationship with the natural world. Listen Now

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Shannon first introduced me to the adage that “a river flows between banks” many years ago. She was describing the need for a clear container in transformational education experiences. But the adage extends beyond the watershed of education and into other streams of creativity, community, and culture. The constant current of a river requires clear banks. Many systems and processes likewise benefit from such boundaries. Creative writing requires a form and an intention. Music generally finds its aesthetic in the structures of rhythm and scales. […]

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The Bolivian community of Tiquipaya where I live and work made international headlines this month for the first time in over a decade. After three years of drought, the rains came all at once this month, consolidating an entire rainy season worth of precipitation into one week. It wouldn’t have made such big news, except for the forest. The Cordillera de Tunari forms a 16,000-foot tall mountain wall that defines the valley we live in, and its lower elevations used to be draped in trees. […]

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