Last week I completed my training to become an Eden Alternative Associate, and I could not have predicted the immense value of this course! The principles of the Eden Alternative are sound, humanitarian principles that we should all be striving to follow, but Eden goes much further than just a declaration of values!
What I truly respect about my Eden Alternative training is it’s focus on implementation. The course used effective, interactive, confidence building exercises to teach the Eden principles and empower the attending service management to use these same techniques to educate their own staff teams. The Eden Alternative is being visionary in its focus on action as opposed to just philosophy.
I hope to write future entries on my thoughts and experience, but I will end this post with a list of projects that are using the Eden Alternative or inspired by “culture change.”
- Sherbrooke Community Centre
- This center has “houses” joined by interior “streets,” much like a mall, but with people living there.
- The Green House Project
- This is the initiative meant to be the architectural manifestation of the Eden Alternative as imagined by the Eden creators.
- Wayne County Nursing Home and Rehab Center
- This center is based on the Pioneer Movement
- Westminster-Thurber Community