Ernst L. Gayden Lectureship in Human Ecology

This fund honors the memory of Ernst Gayden and continues his interdisciplinary and integrative work in crucial areas of human ecology and sustainable development. It focuses on sustainable human settlements, agriculture and food systems, alternative energy technologies and design, environmental planning, and the development of sustainable urban and rural communities. Additionally, it emphasizes global awareness and fosters international and global viewpoints. 

The Ernst L. Gayden Lectureship in Human Ecology offers an opportunity to support one or more public educational lectures or presentations. These foster a deeper understanding of human interactions with the environment, highlighting the importance of human ecology as a field of study. Lectures give an opportunity to explore diverse topics related to sustainability, environmental challenges, and the socio-cultural dimensions of human life within ecological systems. Through this endowment, we hope to cultivate greater awareness and appreciation for the interconnectedness of humans and their surroundings, paving the way for informed action and responsible stewardship of our natural resources.

Qualifications: Scholars and activists with strong potential for contributions and leadership in the field of Human Ecology and Sustainable Development shall be major factors for awarding funds.

Definitions: 

Human Ecology is the study of the nature of human interactions with the natural and built environments. Such interactions are, unlike those of other species, mediated by human society, with its shared norms, values, knowledge and, especially, technology. These interactions change as cultural systems evolve through time, creating increasing complexity of human-environmental relations and problems.
Applied Human Ecology is the process of re-fitting most human activities into a finite resource environment, and bringing government and the economy back to human scale. Because technology has been such a powerful force for cultural and environmental change, this re-fitting process must call into use Appropriate Technologies. Appropriate Technologies are those that are designed to meet specific human needs for basic goods and services, while causing minimal environmental disruption. Their purpose is to help people become more self-reliant and responsible, as individuals and communities, and to help them improve the quality of human life in its most tangible aspects.
Appropriate Technologies are most applicable, therefore, to the utilization of sun, wind, and biomass for the production of energy; to the use of intensive organic gardening/farming methods and greenhouses for producing safe, nutritious food; to the development of community-based health maintenance systems; to the development and spread of cooperatives for producing and distributing safe, sound useful goods and a viable local economy; and ultimately to the development of new patterns of human settlement that are appropriate to all of the foregoing, and which allow greater integration within supporting natural systems.
 

Please submit proposals here. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis, with priority consideration given for proposals received by March 1st.