Nazaré Uniluz celebrates unity in diversity

By Penelope Reyes

The Gaia Education certified EDE Nazaré Uniluz was promoted by IBEST (Brazilian Institute of Studies for Transition) and Entrelaços Integral Development for the second consecutive year. This 4-week immersive program was held between April and November 2016 in Nazaré UNILUZ. Nazaré UNILUZ is a holistic university, learning center and a 35 year old spiritual community located in Nazaré Paulista, in the country side of São Paulo, Brasil.

Watch this video to have a look at what they got up to.

The thirty participants mainly came from São Paulo State, but also from the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Niterói and Brasília. It was a mature group, very willing to engage, with ages ranging between 25 to 71 years old, and with the most diverse backgrounds, which are: business, social activism, psychology, anthropology, agronomy, administration, architecture, biology, holistic therapy, medecine, engineering, IT management, consultancy, design, organic farming, higher education and most of them are educators and formal professors in schools and universities.

The immersive experience in Nazaré UNILUZ brought a unique atmosphere of learning: the interaction with the community, the rhythm, the campus and green areas and surroundings. There was an excellent team of 21 instructors, most of them references in their field, besides being experienced educators of EDE Programmes in Brasil.

Both Taisa Mattos and Larissa Oliveira, who were part of the core teaching team, have been UNILUZ community members in the past, besides experienced EDE coordinators, and this resulted in a very context-based design of the programme, weaving together the curriculum with the community experience.