Veronique is a Montessori teacher in international schools. Her focus now is to develop Brighter Minds programs in Europe to give children the opportunity to connect with their intuition and sense of observation, which are lacking in most modern education. She finds that the practice of Heartfulness has helped her bring harmony into the classroom and bring up her own children joyfully.

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Veronique Desvigne

<h4 class="p1"><span class="s1">VERONIQUE DESVIGNE </span>has a passion for education and teaching. So she
    went&nbsp;with her family to one of the most inspiring schools on the planet, near Ubud on&nbsp;the island of Bali.
</h4>

<p></p>
<p class="p1">One evening in December 2008, while&nbsp;living in Seoul and being tired of the&nbsp;mass media that only
    speaks about&nbsp;the economic crisis and world degradation, my&nbsp;husband Alain saw a TED talk, and there we
    were!&nbsp;John Hardy resonated with him. The school’s&nbsp;founder and his wife Cynthia had
    envisioned&nbsp;creating an environment in which students are&nbsp;enabled and inspired to be creative, innovative
    and&nbsp;tomorrow’s ‘green leaders’. This is how the Green&nbsp;School project was born.</p>
<p class="p2">Alain works in the field of renewable energy while&nbsp;I am involved in Montessori education. Eager
    to&nbsp;pass on to our children a ‘vision of a colorful world’,&nbsp;we looked forward to visiting this Green
    School. In&nbsp;July 2016 this dream came true.</p>
<p class="p2">It is nestled in a green landscape on the island of&nbsp;Bali near Ubud, between the rice paddy fields
    and&nbsp;the Ayung river. After walking across a suspension&nbsp;bridge with such elegant curves that it seemed
    to&nbsp;fly, an architecture of outstanding beauty came&nbsp;into sight. The focus of the campus is called
    the&nbsp;heart of the school. It is made of a natural resource&nbsp;that is a giant grass, is both local and
    renewable,&nbsp;grows to a height of a coconut tree within two&nbsp;months and is harvested three years later.
    Yes,&nbsp;bamboo!</p>
<p class="p1">Green School aims to have the lowest carbon&nbsp;footprint possible, and to be the first model of&nbsp;a
    sustainable economy in the educational field.&nbsp;Meshing with the surrounding ecosystem, the&nbsp;campus blends
    into nature and strives to set the&nbsp;bar high by hoping to induce many schools in its&nbsp;wake.</p>
<p class="p1">The bamboo columns set a framework for classes&nbsp;without walls.&nbsp;It is an ideal space to learn to
    think differently and&nbsp;without limits. Each class cultivates its own organic&nbsp;garden supplying the school
    canteen. Children in&nbsp;permanent contact with nature interact with the&nbsp;natural environment, and we observe
    the direct&nbsp;impact on their behavior. A symbiotic relationship&nbsp;is then created and a respectful attitude
    towards&nbsp;the world that surrounds them becomes obvious.&nbsp;The students are encouraged to be
    responsible&nbsp;from an early age to take care of the environment&nbsp;and play while devising environmental
    solutions.</p>
<h4 class="p2"><span style="color: #008000;"><strong>A sustainable and holistic education</strong></span></h4>
<p class="p1">At Green School, desks are not aligned in squares or&nbsp;positioned in the same direction. Time
    schedules&nbsp;are flexible to leave room for creativity and more&nbsp;fluidity.</p>
<p class="p1">Green School offers a ‘hands-on’ and ‘learn&nbsp;by doing’ approach to education,
    stimulating&nbsp;students to be conscious and discerning. By living&nbsp;with nature and observing its rhythms,
    students&nbsp;develop a satisfaction to learn that goes well&nbsp;beyond the class, resulting in creative,
    innovative&nbsp;and critical thinkers, who are confident and&nbsp;capable of developing a long-term vision.</p>
<hr>
<h5 class="p1" style="text-align: center;">Students are encouraged&nbsp;to take initiative<br>
    from&nbsp;a very young age, as&nbsp;a part of the school’s&nbsp;commitment<br>
    to create a&nbsp;new generation of green&nbsp;leaders.</h5>
<hr>
<p class="p1">The curriculum covers three topics: classical&nbsp;subjects, such as maths, English and
    science,&nbsp;green studies and the arts.</p>
<p class="p1">These are all influenced by geographical and&nbsp;cultural fields. It offers a balanced approach
    to&nbsp;inspire young children to learn, and equips them&nbsp;with the appropriate and relevant tools to
    nurture&nbsp;their passion, preserving our planet at the same&nbsp;time.</p>
<p class="p1">By studying rice, for example, children learn to&nbsp;have a global vision of the development of
    the&nbsp;seeds they plant. They also learn to appreciate the&nbsp;need for healthy nutrition while cooking the
    crops&nbsp;they have grown and serving them for meals.&nbsp;Habits change naturally when being conscious&nbsp;that
    our blue planet is not indestructible.</p>
<p class="p1">Climate change and sustainable economy are&nbsp;essential subjects, which enrich the programs&nbsp;for
    older students. Applied physics is encouraged&nbsp;during engineering projects such as a bridge&nbsp;construction.
    Focusing on the natural environment,&nbsp;the students explore this project from A to Z and&nbsp;highlight all the
    physical elements and forces to&nbsp;be studied. Students are given the space and&nbsp;time to create a dynamic and
    interactive project,&nbsp;where everyone’s enriched contribution boosts&nbsp;confidence and stimulates
    entrepreneurial spirit.</p>

<h4><em>Read the complete article in Volume 2, Issue 1<br>
    </em></h4>
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<h4 class="p1" style="text-align: center;">Article By&nbsp;<span class="s1">VERONIQUE DESVIGNE</span></h4>
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