MISSION, VISION AND VALUES
Mission
To contribute to a Global Culture of Sustainability through the provision of customized Learning Adventures in the fields of environmental education and cultural studies.
We equip and inspire participants for the 21st century and are a catalyst for conservation and sustainable livelihoods.
Vision
OI Learning Adventures are facilitated from two bases in Bali called the Tropical Ecology Adventure Center (TEAC) and the Centre for Sustainability (C4S). Additional satellite locations (such as home stay villages) in Bali are used as needed.
C4S and TEAC are being developed on an ongoing basis. They are located in the cultural and wilderness capitals of Bali (Ubud and West Bali National Park, respectively).
TEAC is based on a white sand beach in West Bali National Park and offers a range of tropical wilderness adventures including coral reef and rainforest ecology, conservation service projects and leadership development. TEAC offers residential programs of up to 1 week for groups of up to 50 students.
C4S (opening in 2013) is a residential facility for groups of up to 50 students and provides cultural studies programs (including digital media courses), service projects and a range of environmental education initiatives.
The first 5 years of operations at the Odyssey Institute are dedicated to the creation and refinement of a model social enterprise. In Year 5 (2015), the Odyssey Institute will begin establishment of facilities in additional countries/regions such as: the Middle East, Malaysia, China, India and Australia.
Values
The Odyssey Institute takes five core values as its guiding principals. These govern the creation and delivery of every program.
- Sustainability – relationships. environments. health.
A Global Culture of Sustainability involves a conscious deepening of our relationships with each other and the natural world. We have much to discover and learn about the complex interdependencies between species and ecosystems, and about our own place amongst this web of life on Earth.
- Collaboration – affirm. build. communicate.
Collaborative intentions lie at the heart of a Culture of Sustainability. As individuals and communities, we must identify needs, strengths and synergies and harness our full potential across language barriers and cultural divides.
Competition as a motivational force for personal growth (i.e. in education) is often the antithesis of collaboration. All Odyssey Institute programs are collaborative endeavors; designed through dialogue to inspire and equip and empower.
- Adventure – risk. innovate. explore.
The Odyssey Institute’s spirit is an adventurous one! We must take risks, break with the familiar and push to know the unknown if we are to continue to grow and evolve as individuals and a global community.
Odyssey Institute Learning Adventures engage students with unfamiliar people and places. Part of the beauty of such journeys is that they serve as powerful metaphors, for as we learn about “the other”, we learn about the self.
- Leadership – ownership. skill. vision.
“We cannot solve the problems of today with the thinking of yesterday that created them.” (Einstein)
Odyssey Institute programs are designed to create empowered, self-aware and inspired leaders; individuals that foster strong, loving relationships with the natural world and feel equipped to create and action solutions.
- Experiential education – the whole self. multiple intelligences. dynamic experiences.
An holistic, experiential approach to education is imperative if we are to cultivate a young generation of genuinely inspired and equipped leaders capable of managing the issues and challenges of the 21st century.
We must engage heart, mind, muscle and all other forms of human intelligence. As educators, our personal and professional challenge: we must allow our own ability to facilitate learning to evolve.
