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Introduction to Education

for Sustainable
Development
Denise Summers
Autumn 2009

Adapted from presentation by


Dr Stephen Sterling, Centre for Sustainable Futures, UoP, 20.3.08

Questions to Consider
What is sustainability?
Why should we bother

with it?
The challenge to education
The implications of
sustainable education
Sustainability literacy
and competencies
A wonderful world?

What is sustainable
development?
Development which meets:

the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future


generations to meet their own needs.
taken from the influential Brundtland report Our Common Future (World
Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, http://www.undocuments.net/ocf-ov.htm#I.3)

However,
sustainability and

development are
contradictory concepts and
sustainable development
is just economic growth
dressed up in the language
of deliberate obfuscation,
used knowingly or not by
those who care nothing for
the Earth in order to fool
us into thinking that they
are taking her concerns
seriously.
(Harding, 2006: 232)

Selby (2007: 249) is

also concerned about


the concept of ESD and
argues that the
heating is happening
and calls for education
for sustainable
contraction in which
we accept the climate
change threat, move
away from the current
denial or business as
usual mindset (Selby,
2007: 265) and respond
to the need for
transformation.

Everything we thought was good turns out to

be bad. It is an act of kindness to travel to


your cousins wedding. Now it is also an act of
cruelty. It is a good thing to light the streets
at night. Climate change tells us it kills more
people than it saves. Climate change
demands a reversal of our moral compass,
for which we are plainly unprepared.
(Monbiot, 2005: 23)

In pursuit of happiness
If I were caught in the

trappings of wealth and


power, I would be unable to
live a truly comfortable,
creative, and compassionate
life. Much of my time would
be absorbed in taking care
of houses, cars, household
gadgets, furnishings,
paintings, silverware and
china, computers, yachts
and umpteen other things. I
would need to work hard to
earn enough not to meet my
needs but to service these
possessions. (Kumar, 2006:
302)

As Professor Daniel

Kahneman of the
University of Princeton
suggests, our
standard of living has
increased dramatically
and happiness has
increased not at all and
in some cases has
diminished slightly"
(Kahneman, 2007,
http://news.bbc.co.uk).

Climate Change

Image: free.images.co.uk
Image: free.images.co.uk

The Future isnt What it Used to Be

global warming

peak oil

insecurities

unsustainability
uncertainty

globalisation

dense
interdependence

stresses

complexity

ecosystem
degradation overconsumption

population
pressures
inequity

The Learning & Skills Council


Strategy
states that by 2010 all its providers
will embed SD skills in education and training
programmes so that all learners are able to
acquire these skills
and remind us that:
Sustainability is a journey. If we wait until we
understand everything, we will never start out

Aspects of Well-being
Basic Needs Food, shelter, secure livelihood
Good Health Physical and mental health and
a robust natural environment

Healthy Social
A supportive social network
Relations
Security Personal safety and security of
ones possessions

Freedom The capacity to achieve ones


World Watch Institute

development potential

http://eduwight.iow.gov.uk/parent/my_child/images/EveryChildMattersteenagerspiderchart.pdf

Five guiding principles of


SD

Our generation is the first to


knowingly
degrade the environment at the
expense of children now and in the
future a fact that challenges
much of our rhetoric about the
importance of children in society.
The evidence suggests that it
may not be possible to deliver ECM
at all unless the environment
becomes one of its leading
considerations. Sustainable
Development is not an optional
extra ; it is a necessary part of
building a society that cares for its

1. Living within
environmental limits
2. Ensuring a strong,
healthy and just
society
3. Achieving a sustainable
economy
4. Promoting good
governance
5. Using sound science
responsibly

The Earth Charter:


Four basic principles
1.

Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.

2.

Care for the community of life with understanding,


compassion, and love.

3.

Build democratic societies that are just, participatory,


sustainable, and peaceful.

4.

Secure Earths bounty and beauty for present and future


generations.

Video link

A Sustainable Society
is one that can

persist over
generations, one that
is far-seeing enough,
flexible enough, and
wise enough not to
undermine either its
physical or social
systems of support.
Meadows et al, 2005

Decision-making at the Eden


Project (talk given at
Hestercombe, July 2009)
The triple bottom line

A Environmentally sound
B Socially acceptable
C Economically viable

David Orrs Nine


Challenges

Power civilisation by sunlight


Grow food and fibre sustainably
Dis-invent the concept of waste
Preserve biodiversity
Restore ruined ecologies
Reduce materials, water and land use per head
Rethink the political basis of modern societies
Develop economies that can be sustained within
natures limits
Distribute wealth fairly within and between
generations
Daunting agendaexciting possibilities

Thinking critically about


ESD
Do the ESD diamond 9 exercise in
small groups.
Share responses.

Is Education Part of the Solution


?

or Part of the Problem?


Sustainability is about the terms and conditions
of human survival, and yet we still educate at all
levels as if no such crisis existed.
The destruction of the planet is not the work of ignorant
people. Rather it is largely the result of work by people
with BAs, BScs, MAs, MScs and PhDs.
David Orr

Is Education a Good Thing?


the volume of education has

increased and continues to increase, yet


so do pollution, exhaustion of resources,
and the dangers of ecological
catastrophe. If still more education is to
save us, it would have to be education
of a different kind: an education that
takes us into the depth of things.
(Schumacher, 1997)

Goal of UN Decade of
Education for Sustainable
Development 2005-14

to integrate the values inherent in


sustainable development into all aspects
of learning in order to encourage changes
in behaviour that allow for a more
sustainable and just society for all. This
involves learning the values, behaviour
and lifestyles required for a sustainable
future and for positive societal
transformation.

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29008&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

The Government Talks of the


Crisis in Education and it:
prefers to stress ICT, literacy and

numeracy on the grounds, perhaps, that


as the good ship Humanity finally steams
into the icebergs, we will at least be able
to send grammatical SOS messages, read
the instructions on the lifebelts, and count
the survivors. Of course, if all the
prognoses about global warming are
correct, there wont be any icebergs and
we shall need a new set of metaphors. (Scott,
2002, p5)

but David Orr suggests it is a


Crisis of Education
The fact that we see social and

environmental decay as disconnected


events or fail to see them at all is evidence
of a considerable failure that we have yet
to acknowledge as an educational failure.
It is a failure to educate people to think
broadly, to perceive systems and patterns,
and to live as whole persons.

A Sustainability Literate Person


would be expected to:

understand the need for change to a sustainable

way of doing things, individually and collectively


have sufficient knowledge and skills to decide and
act in a way that favours sustainable
development
be able to recognise and reward other peoples
decisions and actions that favour sustainable
development

- Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability


www.heps.org.uk Forum for the Future

Key Questions ??
In what ways does our practice advance
the kind of learning, teaching, thinking
and research that contribute to
unsustainability?

How do we balance practicability with


urgency?

What kinds of learning would best equip


your students for their likely future(s)?

Students as Active, Engaged, and


Effective Citizens are

Comfortable dealing with ambiguity


Willing to take a risk to make a difference
More interested in solving problems than
taking credit
Both effective advocates and listeners
Eager to imagine and implement daring
multifaceted solutions together
-

Lawrence Bacow, President of Tufts University, Rappaport A and Creighton


S H (2007) Degrees that matter. Massachusetts: MIT Press

References
Harding S (2006) Animate Earth. Dartington: Green Books Ltd.
Kahneman D (2007) The Science of Happiness

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/ happiness_formula/4783836.stm
(date accessed 22.2.08)
Kumar S (2006) No Destination an Autobiography. Dartington: Green
Books Ltd.
Monbiot G (2005) A restraint of liberty, The Guardian, 24 May, p23.
Scott W (2002) Sustainability and learning: what role for the curriculum?
Inaugural Lecture, University of Bath, April 25.
Selby D (2007) As the heating happens: Education for Sustainable
Development or Education for Sustainable Contraction? International
Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol 2, Nos 3/4, pp 249267
Sterling S (1996) Education for Change in Huckle J and Sterling S (Eds)
(1996) Education for Sustainability. London: Earthscan.
Sustainable Development Commission (2009) Every Childs Future Matters.
www.sd-commission.org.uk (date accessed 7.12.09)

New Sustainability Online Resource and Toolkit


for Education from the Environmental
Association for Universities and Colleges
Mainly aimed at FE
http://www.eauc.org.uk/sorted/home
Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit
Developed by the University of Tennessee,
www.esdtoolkit.org
Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future (A
UNESCO site) This is a multimedia, interactive
professional development program with materials,
exercises, and links
http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/

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