Sustainable development and sustainable living

Teaching and learning strategies for sustainable development What is sustainable development? – interactive activity on definitions Analysing an issue Moving from issues to solutions Measuring sustainable development Ecological footprints and carbon footprints – websites and trialling Simulation game

What does Sustainable development mean to you?

Sustainabingo

Some definitions Discuss the following definitions Who or what are they aimed at? Do they recognise limits of the biosphere?

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987), (also known as the Brundtland Report)

Sustainable development Improving the quality of life while living within the earth's carrying capacities. (World Conservation Union / United Nations Environment Programme / World Wide Fund for Nature, (1991) Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living.)

Sustainable development maintenance of essential ecological processes and life support systems, the preservation of genetic diversity, and the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems. IUCN, WWF and UNEP (1980) The World Conservation Strategy. Gland, Switzerland.

Sustainable development is about: ensuring a better quality of life for everyone now and for generations to come. This means meeting five objectives at the same time, in the UK and the world as a whole:  improving the quality of life while living within the earth's carrying capacities; social progress that recognises the needs of everyone; effective protection of the environment; prudent use of natural resources; maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment. HM Government (1999), UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy, July 1999.

Huckle (1996, p 3) Like liberty, justice and democracy, sustainability has no single agreed meaning. It takes on meaning within different political ideologies and programmes underpinned by different kinds of knowledge, values and philosophies.

Views of sustainable development adapted from http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/node/42 (accessed February 2011)

Giddings, Hopwood and O’Brien (2002)Available at: http://www Giddings, Hopwood and O’Brien (2002)Available at: http://www.sustainable-cities.org.uk/db_docs/SDarticle2.pdf (accessed February 2011)

Giddings, Hopwood and O’Brien, 2002 Available at: http://www Giddings, Hopwood and O’Brien, 2002 Available at: http://www.sustainable-cities.org.uk/db_docs/SDarticle2.pdf (accessed February 2011)

Who decides? local global past future

Drivers for change?

Analysing an issue

N W E S Natural Economic Social What resources are used? What are the impacts on the environment? N Economic What are the positive/negative effects, who gains, who loses? Who decides? Where are the decision makers located? Who is in control of the process? What is the impact? W E S Social What are the cultural impacts, Who gains, who loses?

Ways of measuring sustainable development Indicators GDP (Gross Domestic Product) = (consumption + investment + government spending) – (indirect taxes + exports – imports) Human development index - lifespan, knowledge, and standard of living (GDP)

Human Poverty index probability at birth of not surviving to age 40, adult literacy rate, population without sustainable access to an improved water source, children underweight for age, population below income poverty line

The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare ISEW = Consumer spending adjusted for income inequality + non-defensive public expenditure + Growth in capital + non-money contributions to welfare minus Defensive private expenditure – cost for environmental degradation – depreciation of environmental capital

Ecological footprinting Put simply, the amount of the environment necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to support a particular lifestyle.

The first Footprint study of Wales showed that the average Welsh person uses 5.25 global hectares of resources – if present global trends go unchecked, the human population would need three Earth-sized planets to sustain our current consumption patterns. USA average is around 8ghapp

Measure your ecological footprint www.globalfootprint.org (accessed February 2011) Carbon Footprint at http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx (accessed February 2011)

Actions for change Discuss possible actions and those which you have seen happening

Action for sustainable change strong leadership; goal setting; co-ordinated policy approach which addresses all different aspects of development; legislation and taxes - international, national and local levels; collaboration; making sufficient funding available

Actions for SD continued education at all levels Opportunities for grass roots organisations and co-operatives lobbying for change individual action systems analysis and life cycle analysis life cycle analysis of a product (also known as cradle to grave analysis) precautionary principle

INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS - examples 1992 – Rio Earth Summit and Agenda 21 1997 – The Kyoto Protocol 2002 - World Summit on Sustainable Development 2004 – Bonn political declaration of renewable energies Millenium Development Goals 2010 5th Sustainability Summit: Asia 2010 – Remodelling Growth 2011 The First Sustainable Infrastructure Financing Summit

Science and technology debate Appropriate technology Practical Action website http://www.practicalaction.org.uk/education/resources-water-sanitation (accessed February 2011

Different views of technology Read the views on P.46 of the Sustainable Change Module Reader

What will you do?

This slide set has been released as part of the OSIER project, which is promoting the use of resources to support the training of practitioners in Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship within the curricula of all of the home nations of the United Kingdom. You can find out more about the project on the ‘About’ page of the project repository site. OSIER is part of the second round of the UK OER (Open Educational Resources) programme, funded by HEFCE and administered by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). The slide set was prepared by Sheila Bennell and copyright resides with the author. Any images or other materials are original unless stated otherwise. Copyright images may be excluded from the Creative Commons licence described below. The resource is made freely available under Creative Commons licence BY-NC-SA which allows you to use this material for any purpose as long as you: acknowledge the original author do not use it for commercial purposes publish any derived materials under the same licence conditions You can find out more about this licence at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 June 1st, 2011 This slide sets out the licence conditions for this slide set. The author should edit the relevant fields in square brackets.