Living Water
Live Micro Course
Registration Open for Summer '26
Now Until July 31st
4 Live Sessions
Starting August 5, 2026
Wednesdays 4–6 PM EST
Registration Closes July 31st
Water Wisdom as TEKnology
Explore how ancestral water systems can reshape the way we think about ecology, adaptation, infrastructure, and relationship in an era of environmental change. Through live sessions with global participants, the Living Water Micro Course invites learners into an interactive and evolving exploration of water wisdom, regenerative systems, and ecological thinking across cultures and landscapes.
What is the
Living Water
Micro Course?
This micro course is a live 4-session learning experience exploring ancestral water systems, ecological intelligence, adaptation, and regenerative design through the framework of Water Wisdom as TEKnology.
Grounded in the Lo—TEK Institute’s approach to Embodied Planetary Pedagogy, the course brings together Indigenous and ancestral ecological systems, contemporary environmental challenges, philosophical inquiry, and participatory dialogue. Through live lectures, case studies, group discussions, visual learning, and embodied reflection practices, participants engage water not simply as a resource, but as a living system that shapes culture, governance, adaptation, and relationship.
What makes this course different?
This is not a passive or self-paced online course built around isolated recordings. The Living Water Micro Course is taught live with teachers and participants joining from a range of countries and disciplines. Each session includes guided dialogue, visual learning, systems-based inquiry, and interactive activities that invite participants into conversation and reflection with one another.
While recordings are provided after each session for participants who cannot attend live or wish to revisit material, the course itself is designed as a collective and evolving learning environment shaped through participation, encounter, and exchange.
Because Living Water is part of a living curriculum, sessions continue to evolve over time in response to ecological realities, participant dialogue, emerging research, and contemporary water conversations.
Who is this course for?
The Living Water Micro Course is designed for participants arriving from many different relationships to this work. No prior expertise is required.
The course may resonate with:
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educators and curriculum designers
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architects, planners, and designers
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environmental practitioners
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artists and storytellers
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students and researchers
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climate and sustainability advocates
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museum and cultural workers
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individuals seeking deeper ecological and philosophical frameworks for understanding adaptation, water, and relationship
No prior expertise is required. Participants are invited into the course through curiosity, humility, and sustained inquiry rather than mastery.
How CanThis Work Be Applied?
Living Water invites participants to rethink how ecological systems, infrastructure, ritual, adaptation, and community care operate within both local and global contexts.
Participants often apply the work toward:
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curriculum and educational development
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regenerative design and architecture
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ecological storytelling and arts practice
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climate adaptation frameworks
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systems thinking and organizational practice
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community engagement projects
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environmental humanities research
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land and water stewardship initiatives
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personal ecological reflection and embodied practice
The course encourages participants to connect ancestral and contemporary systems back to their own communities, landscapes, practices, and disciplines.
Testimonials
Melissa Hunter Gurney
Melissa Hunter Gurney is a writer, educator, and land steward focused on equitable, embodied, and interdisciplinary approaches to education, ecology, and cultural stewardship. She is the co-founder of the Lo—TEK Institute and Black Land Ownership, a grassroots organization addressing systemic inequities in land stewardship and ownership across the Americas. Her work spans education, community advocacy, and the arts, and her writing has been published in journals including The Yale Review, PANK Magazine, and Paris Lit Up.
Julia Watson, BA, GDLA, MLA II
Julia Watson is a designer, activist, academic, and author specializing in Indigenous nature-based technologies and regenerative design. She is the author of the bestselling TASCHEN books Lo—TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism and Lo—TEK Water, A Field Guide for TEKnology and has taught at Harvard, Columbia, RISD, and Rensselaer. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Monocle, and Architectural Digest, and her TED Talk, “How to Build a Resilient Future Using Ancient Wisdom,” is included in the international AP curriculum.
Facilitators
Course Structure
Introduction to Floating Island TEKnologies
August 5 | 4-6pm EST
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Introductory keynote by Julia Watson on water wisdom, TEKnology, and contemporary ecological thinking
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Introduction to four floating island systems:
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Baira of Bangladesh
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Maa + Mu’ut of Micronesia
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Ye-chan of Myanmar
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Athaphum of Northeast India
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Introduction and guided tour of Living Water curriculum
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Introduction to Identity section through Art as Story
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Exploration of Adaptation as a nature based philosophy
Circularity, Regeneration & Ritual Ecology
August 12 | 4-6pm EST
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Introduction to Concepts section
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Exploration of Circularity, Regeneration, Terrestrial Intelligence, Ritual Ecology, and Sub-Irrigation as core concepts shaping floating island systems as living ecological relationships
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Rotating dialogues, collaborative reflections, and visual learning activities
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Exploration of the connections between regeneration, land intelligence, water movement, and ecological care
Water Wisdom & Hybrid Water Worlds
August 19, 4-6 pm EST
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Live synthesis lecture and discussion on ancestral water systems and contemporary design
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Exploration of climate adaptation, regenerative infrastructure, and hybrid ecological futures
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Reflection on how ancestral knowledge systems can inform present-day environmental challenges
Embodied Practice:
Shifting Ritual Ecosystems
August 26, 4-6pm EST
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Embodied reflection and applied ecological practice
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Small-scale ritual ecosystem shift mini project
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Closing dialogue on adaptation, relationship, stewardship, and carrying practice forward
