Why did you create this innovation?

We need examples of regenerative cultural design where all people feel connected to the vitality within and around them. In an unsustainable dominant culture, Springhouse is a prototype of what is possible when we orient educational design around vitality. Through the Sourced Design Network, Springhouse now shares its vitality-centered design, and support practitioners globally.

How does your innovation work in practice?

Vitality centered education is embodied through our five Sourced Design principles that emerged from eight years of practice at Springhouse and include:

Taking care of vulnerability.
Cultivating personhood.
Building beloved community.
Respecting the wisdom of the Earth.
Loving and serving others.

Springhouse is located on an 11-acre farm and offers programs for teens and adults including an accredited Day School for 7th-12th graders and a coming-of-age program; an adult program including a 2-year including a 2-year certificate program in Regenerative Cultural Design and Practice and depth courses that invite adults to cultivate presence and personhood in many ways. Through the Sourced Design Network we share this life giving design with practitioners who wish to foster vitality in their lives and communities. We have reached nearly 100 people in more than ten countries.

Springhouse uses a generative economic model and does not charge tuition for any program it offers.

How has it been spreading?

Examples are what give us hope. Springhouse is an example of vitality-centered educational design. We call this Sourced Design. In the Sourced Design Lab, participants from around the world join together in small cohorts to practice the design principles and support each other in fostering vitality in their own lives and places. These Labs are part of the Sourced Design Network that also includes monthly support meetings for practitioners, and an annual gathering at Springhouse where we celebrate and learn more about designs globally that foster life. This year we will be working closely with several partner organizations who wish to integrate the design further into their place; developing more case studies of this vitality-centered design.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

If you are interested in learning more about Springhouse and Sourced Design, please visit springhouse.org. You can also access the Sourced Design curriculum at sourceddesign.org. Then if you are interested further, apply for the Sourced Design Lab which is the first step in joining the Sourced Design Network, a sustainable web of support for vitality-centered practitioners around the globe.