Schumacher College is celebrating its 30th anniversary launching an international essay competition on the theme of “Education as if People and Planet Matter”, in collaboration with Resurgence & Ecologist magazine.
Schumacher College has pioneered and promoted a very different paradigm of values-based, holistic education over the past 30 years.

Today’s education system presents young people with a world still dominated by materialism, consumerism and the heedless exploitation of both people and the planet. It’s hopelessly ‘unfit for purpose’ as we wrestle with today’s converging crises of the Climate Emergency, ecological collapse, racial inequality and worsening social injustice.
This educational system is in urgent need of transformation if we wish to see education remaining relevant to the age of ecology and serving the purpose of the regenerative culture and sustaining the integrity of our precious planet earth.

Competition rules. Schumacher College invites you to write an essay under the title “Education as if People and Planet Matter”. The essay should be addressed to general readers, and not to either education or sustainability specialists as such. The length of the essay should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words.

The Entry Fee is £10 ( or $15.00 or €15.00) and this fee will cover the administration of the competition, with any surplus going to support learning programmes at Schumacher College.

The winner will receive a £5,000 cash prize, with an opportunity to present their essay at the anniversary event at Schumacher College in autumn 2021. A £2,000 cash prize will go to the second place, and £1,000 to the third runner-up.  The winner and two runners-up will receive their awards at the anniversary event.

Apart from the cash prize, we are also planning to publish a book of essays on “Education as if People and Planet Matter”.

To enter, complete the form.

The final deadline for the submission is 1st July 2021. Winners will be announced: 1st October