Why alternative education?

Since its founding, Vcil Community has always aimed to create systemic social transformation, promoting a shift toward a development model based on well-being and regeneration. Thus, Vcil Community seeks comprehensive change. Inner transformation within individuals must go hand in hand with structural changes in how society operates and develops.

Social transformation must start with personal transformation. Individuals who experience an awakening in their awareness can bring about changes in lifestyle, values, and beliefs, moving toward happiness and sustainability.

Beginning with alternative education, Vcil Community promotes personal growth and transformation, nurturing individuals with new perspectives and ways of thinking. The Soil Project, Vcil Travel School, Money IQ - Money EQ, and Ecoversity for New Civilization were created to help Vcil Community realize this vision, marking the first steps in its mission of social transformation.

Through alternative education, Vcil Community encourages the development of individuals with values suited to a new age and new civilization: self-understanding, collaboration, an abundant mindset, sharing, an impact-oriented approach, and an entrepreneurial spirit, among others.

Alternative Educational Projects

Introduction

The Soil Project (TSP) is an initiative toward a new paradigm of education in 21st century. It is an alternative to university and gap year program that supports learners in their journey of self-understanding and explore the world.

Its curriculum focus on inner transformation, sustainability, rethinking development and social entrepreneurship education.

The Soil Project (TSP) is an international alternative and gap year program for young people. As the name implies, The Soil Project, with its “soil” educational philosophy, will provide the foundation, community, and necessary resources for learners on the journey of understanding themselves within and exploring and serving the outside world.

The Soil Project is also a self-directed education, giving a semi-structure program. It creates a space, a love-based community, in which learners support each other and choose their own programs and content (self-directed education) as well as internship programs, travel experiences, research and social entrepreneurship, etc.

Program Structure

Part 1 - Structured Curriculum (Designed curriculum): The seeds (learners) will participate in the learning / experience program designed by the project organizing team or by the learning community itself.

Part 2 - Self Learning Journey: Seeds will actively choose and design their own curriculum, experience, internships, travel, etc. Seeds can choose to stay in the "campus" or stay with their family or work or travel around themselves, do internships, personal projects, etc. whatever is in the personal learning and development needs of that individual learner.

Part 3 - Reflection and Sharing: Seeds return to The Soil Project, reflect and share the journey, lessons, re-instructing other seeds of knowledge, skills, etc. that he/she has achieved through personal learning journey.

Holistic Curriculum

An International, Youth-Led Movement for Change

The Soil Project is more than an educational program; it’s a youth-led movement. The heart of the program is to create a space for learners to explore and understand themselves while preparing them to become changemakers — individuals who are working together to explore, rethink, and reshape the future by actively contributing to build a well-being society and a regenerative future.

Our framework is built around the belief that education must empower individuals to know who they are and take action for a more beautiful world. With this in mind, The Soil Project focuses on the following key areas:

Self-Understanding: Activities and experiences that guide learners in exploring their inner selves and understanding their place in the world.
System Change & Rethinking Development: Challenging traditional concepts of progress and development while embracing more holistic ways of thinking about the world - alternatives that prioritize regeneration and well-being of people and the planet
Nurturing Entrepreneurship: Encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit to create real, positive change in the world.
Regeneration: Engaging with concepts and practices that contribute to the regeneration of both the planet and society, create equity, and ensure future generations thrive.

4 Key Modules Across The World: A Holistic Learning Experience

The Soil Project unfolds through four core modules, each designed will take place across various locations all over the world, providing learners with diverse cultural contexts and real-world experiences, ensuring they are well-equipped with experience in different cultures and approaches.

1. Nourishment:

Exploring how to understand ourselves and how to nourish the body, mind, and soul.

2. Regeneration:

Focusing on environmental regeneration, this module dives into soil health, water, conservation, climate change action, and ecological restoration. Learning to heal and regenerate not only the environment, but also the community, culture, society, and personal well-being.
It also teaches how to live with self-reliance, sufficiency and sustainability guided by the principles of the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy.

3. New Stories for the Future World:

Challenging learners to rewrite the narratives of progress, development, and success for a regenerative, fairer future.

4. Entrepreneurship & Alivelihood:

Fostering entrepreneurial spirit and meaningful livelihood practices that create impactful change.

The Soil Project doesn’t lock learners into a rigid curriculum. Instead, it adapts to the resources and needs of the learners, allowing for a more flexible and personalized educational journey. This ensures that the learning process is always relevant, dynamic, and in tune with the evolving needs of the global community.

The expected program of study and estimated cost is here:

However, The Soil Project does not fix any curriculum framework but tries to flexibly change according to the current resources and needs of the learners.

Educational Philosophy

Pedagogies

Soil Education Philosophy
Self-directed learning
Democracy Education
About individual learners:

Connecting with themselves, with nature, with family, with the community and culture, and with the world eventually.

About the project:

Connecting individuals, organizations, families, communities, various resources in society, making use of social resources and serving society; connecting basing on the internet and technology supporting for learning.

Community-based
Peer-to-peer learning
Context-based and Experiential learning combined with E-learning
3H Education (Heart - Hands - Head Education)
Project-based
Mindfulness-based
Deep sharing and contemplation

Project Outcomes

We believe each of us has our own goals and dreams. Even when we say the goal is to create free, liberal, or successful people, it's still our subjective goal, not that of the learner, and if we keep thinking like, unintentionally, the learners, our teammates become the tools for us to build up our dreams, not their own dreams.

This is especially important in education, we need to be more careful. Each person is their ultimate goal, that's why we are looking for a more humane approach. So, at The Soil Project, we don't have any fixed goals for learners to achieve but it is important that learners have experiences and opportunities to connect with themselves, realize their dreams and their own needs, so that the learner himself or herself can walk the path of building his own dreams, goals, and of course, with the help of the community. Just like our philosophy of soil education, the soil can provide a habitat for the tree, provide its nutrients but absolutely cannot interfere with how the tree grows.

In addition, learning must be a personal journey and a lifelong journey with no destination.

Learn more about us here

Introduction

Recognizing the importance of financial literacy yet lack of training opportunities amongst the youth, Money IQ - Money EQ was founded as a learning program to equip young people with necessary and holistic training in personal finance. More significantly, the program broadens its education to both financial education and emotional intelligence regarding money to transform people’s relationship with money to live a wealthy and happy life.

Mission

Vision

Transforming misconceptions about money and our relationship with money, emphasize on interacting with money with consciousness (Money EQ)
Educating the community about personal finance, investing and insurance to make wise financial decisions (Money IQ/ Financial Literacy)
Promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship/ social entrepreneurship
Promoting rethinking economics and financial system

Building a community of young entrepreneurs with financial literacy and social business through education.
Creating an environment for learning personal financial knowledge and rethinking our relationship with money.
Creating a safe space to share and learn about how to build a healthy relationship with money, resolve the trauma of money to achieve freedom, happiness, and fulfillment in finance.
Practicing an alternative economy, aimed at regeneration and investing in the real economy.

Curriculum

Module I: Money IQ - Financial Literacy

Part 1: Financial Planning &
Optimizing Your Finances

Earning

Cashflow Quadrant: 4 ways to make money
Diversifying your source of incomes: 8 sources of income
Principles for reducing spending
Investing in yourself

Spending

Personal financial statements; assets vs liabilities
Tracking your incomes and expenses
Budgeting
Optimizing your finances
Understanding tax system

Saving

Financial planning process
Identifying your financial goals
Retirement planning
Setting up your funds

Part 2: Financial Tools

Protecting

Understanding risk management
Understanding insurance & insurance planning
Understanding financial scams and frauds, case studies

Investing

How stock market works
Types of investment funds
Investment Risk Pyramid & Asset Classes
Guideline for creating investment portfolio

Borrowing

How the banks work
Understanding credit cards
Interest rate
Using other people’s money

Part 3: Alternative Finance

Understanding money and the history of money
Issues with the current economic and financial system
The impact of alternative economic and financial systems
Impact investing and banking practices
Learning about ethical banking, social banking
Learning about slow investing, impact investing, community banking, socially responsible investing

Module II: Money EQ
(Transforming your relationship with money)

Understanding money and the history of money
Issues with the current economic and financial system
The impact of alternative economic and financial systems
Impact investing and banking practices
Learning about ethical banking, social banking
Learning about slow investing, impact investing, community banking, socially responsible investing

Introduction

Linked with Vcil Community, VCIL Travel School is an international experiential/travel learning program that utilizes context-based learning in the cross-cultural environment. By combining education and traveling with community development for locals, cross-cultural collaboration, VCIL Travel School aims to renovate and redefine how education as well as tourism has happened.

Vcil Travel School changes the way education happens from the 4 walls classroom to the outside world where people get practical/hands-on experience by working with local organizations while creating positive impact for local community and immersing participants in different contexts to reflect upon themselves for inner change, diversify & challenge their viewpoint, broaden their knowledge/horizon, foster international collaboration.

Vcil Community has also established Ecoversity for New Civilization (ENC), an alternative university designed to cultivate the seeds of personal and collective transformation for Vcil Community Membership and social innovators. Rooted in the principles of regeneration and well-being, Ecoversity for New Civilization offers foundational knowledge, practical tools, and resource connections to help participants deeply understand themselves, the world, and its complex challenges.

Like nurturing healthy soil, Ecoversity for New Civilization provides essential grounding in how systems function and where they falter. From this fertile base, participants can grow through tailored training programs and ongoing support, aligning with their unique needs and aspirations.

By integrating these elements, Ecoversity empowers individuals and communities to become catalysts for social, ecological, and economic regeneration within Vietnam and beyond.