So far, the Integral University (“Université Intégrale” in French) in Paris..........

Notes from the Field

Integral University in Paris
Michel Nguyen The

So far, the Integral University ("Université Intégrale" in French) in Paris refers to a cycle of conferences organized by the French chapter of the Club of Budapest(1,2) based on an idea put forward by Michel Saloff-Coste. It is not an institute as such, as it is still in its developing stages. The idea is to organize one-day seminars on various themes in cooperation with speakers, theoreticians as well as practitioners. The use of the word integral puts the emphasis not on the integral movement, but on a common desire of being integral. With this aim in view, the systemic and transdisciplinary approaches are also considered as part of the same quest for integrality. While it is important to know the contributions of the most prominent integral thinkers, the members of the Integral University are not followers of any guru.

Over the past two years there have been six seminars; they dealt with the following themes: 1) what the integral approach is; 2) how to integrate it into our lives and actions; 3) education; 4) the social, economic and ecological crisis; 5) sustainable development; 6) civilizations from the future and the future of civilizations. The two next seminars, in 2010, deal with: 7) eco-life, eco-cities and eco-villages; 8) Asian and Western Civilizations.

The seminars consist of presentations followed by questions, mini-workshops, yoga exercises and musical interludes. The complete programs of the seminars, as well as videos, can be found on the Integral University web site (www.universite-integrale.org/).

Hereafter is a sample of the content of the seminars:

http://www.integralleadershipreview.com/archives/2010-01/2010-01notes_The_Integral-University_in_Paris.php