MONTE PRETI NATURE ACADEMY


Here we try to create a new recipe for learning about Nature and our cohabitation as part of the ecology. We want to try something different from what academic institutions are doing, but we also collaborate closely with a variety of universities. Our inspiration comes from Epicurus. From Ho Kepos - ‘The Garden’ - which he began. His ‘garden school’ was situated a stones throw away from central Athens, and it became a place to learn, to get together, to speak about life, creativity, knowledge, science, friendship, moral existentialism, and all the things that contribute to happiness ‘ataraxia’. It was a philosophical sanctuary, and we are inspired to take this into an ecological lens as well.

This idea of cultivating a garden, cultivating land, and living the simple life based on simple pleasures and reduced pain. Epicurus taught, that it's enough to have a handful of olives, a piece of bread, and some cheese. He described his garden as a place

‘to make room for the human 
in the midst of the inferno
by giving it soil in which to grow’
Hannah Arendt also emphasizes this need for a place to reflect when the state of the world becomes too dark. She writes that part of the human condition is a need to withdraw, to find respite and calm to think about how to act next. And at this moment, the nature academy gives this respite for critical thought, discusion and learning.

Epicurus brought forward an idea of cultivating a garden as a ‘place of learning’. Not just the transfer and creation of new knowledge practices, but learning about life through experiencing it in a garden amongst the multi-species we cohabit this planet with.

Come share a handful olives with us.

OUR COLLABORATIONS


Monte Preti collaborates with Universities, Højskole, Institutes and Organisations. We also hold lectures either on or off site, out in the fields, or at your place. Visitors come for a day field visit and workshop, or they stay a while in Pietrasanta while taking a course with us. We also hold residencies - for artists and farmers, but this is seldom as we have to take care of the farm.

In 2023, we were finalists (7 of 1400 applications) in the NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS prize for Education Champions in the category ‘Reconnecting to Nature’. Here you can see our nomination film about Monte Preti. This nomination was a collaboration with SSES.

At our Nature Academy, we ourselves are also the students. Everyday we learn about the soil, the plants, the ecosystem, in ways that we can make nature thrive on the mountain. We have experts that support and guide us on this learning journey and adventure.