Education, Development and Sustainability Learning, Education and Development: Concepts and Issues 5th February, 2008 Dr Tristan McCowan

A world in meltdown? Deforestation, Bolivia [stats on env destruction etc.] Climate change / GMOs / biodiversity Deforestation, Bolivia

Favela Morumbi, Sao Paulo, Brazil

People, planet and profit? Compatible interests?

Evolution of a concept UN Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm – 1972 International Workshop on Environmental Education, Belgrade – 1975 First Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, Tbilisi, Georgia – 1977 World Conservation Strategy – 1980 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (The Earth Summit or Rio Summit) – June 1992 Rio +10, Johannesburg – 2002 UN DESD – 2005 -2014 This is often presented with a graphic timeline of all the key dates and key international agreements / policies that inform current thinking on ESD. This is a selection of what can be included.

Defining sustainable development “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Brundtland Report, 1987 “Sustainable development is …improving the quality of human life whilst living within the carrying capacity of the ecosystems” Caring For the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living, 1991 “Sustainable development means inspiring people in all parts of the world to find solutions that improve their quality of life without storing up problems for the future, or impacting unfairly on other people’s lives.” (DfES 2006) Report of the Brundtland Commission (1987) Our Common Future, Oxford: Oxford University Press. UCN, UNEP, WWF (1991): Caring for the Earth. A Strategy for Sustainable Living. Gland, Switzerland. Department for Children, Schools and Families, (2006 ) Sustainable schools for pupils, communities and the environment. DfES : London

MDG7 Target 1: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources Target 2: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss Target 3: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation Target 4: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers These are the Millenium Development Goals.

Radical environmentalist Key critiques Radical environmentalist Socialist

Rich world problem, poor world solution? Nelson and the forests of England The ‘bottom billion’: a right to unsustainable development? The prisoner’s dilemma Questions of sovereignty The role of indigenous peoples / knowledge International /global action In last point discuss multiple forms of activity: inter-governmental, grassroots CSO etc.

Development education Education for global citizenship Education for sustainable development Environmental education

Promoting and improving quality education Aims Action Fostering peace Fighting against global warming Reducing North/South inequalities and fighting against poverty Fighting against the marginalization of women and girls A different vision of the world Promoting and improving quality education Reorienting educational programmes Building public understanding and awareness Providing practical training (UNESCO 2005) United Nations Decade of Sustainable Development – see www.unesco.org Mention: UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development , Bonn, Germany, March/April 2009

Pedagogical approaches Discrete subject Key subjects Cross-curricular / transdisciplinary (UNESCO 2005b) Sustainable schools Holistic approach (Orr 1994) Teacher education (Shallcross et al. 2006; Ravindranath 2007) Learning in the community Education or campaigning? Orr, D (1994) Environmental literacy : education as if the earth mattered. Nr Bath : Human Scale Education, Shallcross, T et al (eds) (2006) Creating sustainable environments in our schools. Stoke on Trent : Trentham Books, Ravindranath, M. J. (2007). Environmental education in teacher education in India:experiences and challenges in the United Nation‟s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of education for teaching, 33, (2), 191-206.

Model 1 Education about sustainable development Education for sustainable development Education through sustainable development

Model 2 Separation Harmony Unification ‘Proximity’ of ends and means: (McCowan 2008) McCowan, T (2008) Enacting citizenship : a study of three educational initiatives in Brazil Thesis: (PhD) University of London Institute of Education,

Model 3 Jickling and Wals 2007 Wals, Arjen E. J. (Ed) (2007) Social learning towards a sustainable world : principles, perspectives, and praxis. Wageningen, The Netherlands : Wageningen Academic, Jickling and Wals 2007

Case study: Costa Rica ¿‘Desarrollo sostenible’?: Latin American doubts about SD CR as environmental trailblazer Transversal themes in the formal curriculum Education in conservation areas The role of the media Transferring the experience (Blum 2008a; 2008b) Blum, N. (2007) 'Environmental education in Costa Rica: building a framework for sustainable development?', International Journal of Educational Development 28(3), 348-358. Blum, N. (2008) 'Ethnography and environmental education: understanding the relationships between schools and communities in Costa Rica', Ethnography and Education 3(1), 31-48. Blum, N. (2009) 'Teaching science or cultivating values? Conservation NGOs and environmental', Environmental Education Research 15(6), 715-729. Cloud forest, Costa Rica