Education ... Is This The Key?

For any form of development, education plays an important role. To be able to become better, or understand, a level of education is required whether that be from parent to child, amongst friends or in a school environment. Every day people experience encounters of education, whether it is relevant is then the question.

Encouraging people to become less reliant on non-renewable resources, and maybe reducing their carbon footprint, can be like talking to a brick wall at times! Although, some people I have spoken to about in the past have been of the opinion that why should we care about what we use on earth, life is too short to worry. This opinion from people is where education can encourage individuals to think of their own impacts on the society and environment for other people.

Without a solid foundation of education, sustainable development could be miss-interpreted, or the message could be somewhat watered down over time. It is clear that simple adverts in the media can make people aware of the point to re-cycle, share bath water or even use public transport. This education may not tell someone everything about sustainable development, but make them aware, that there are other ways to chuck out cardboard, or even that sharing is caring (in the likes of bath water!).

Throughout my time in compulsory education, I remember there being an emphasis on walking to school, cutting down car fumes etc. I have grown up knowing, and understanding that today’s resources will not be completely available in the future. But like all, I have trouble visualising this, and thus find it difficult to completely grasp, that unless we stop living foolishly, and be more sustainable, then we will ruin the earth for our children.

Therefore, I think sustainable development, should be included in more campaigns and education nationwide, so that people can constantly be aware of the point, sustainable living is best!

The United Nations, have dedicated the decade of 2005-14 to Education for Sustainable Development.

"The goal of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014, DESD), for which UNESCO is the lead agency, is to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning.This educational effort will encourage changes in behaviour that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations."

This goal has not been forgotten in anyway, and on January 21st 2009, a conference was held in Scotland. This was to focus on the strategies Scotland have implemented to try and achieve this goal, in preparation for the 2009 World conference in Bonn.

Although, educating sustainable development is the key, we are faced with the question, how? Haigh (2005) writes with the view, that Geography has a large role to play in education of others in sustainable development, especially at a school level.

“Geographical education has the capacity to raise its sights above the merely human to help
all humanity live with the Earth and the fellow creatures of their life support system. In
other words, it could help: “To shift from a human-centred to an Earth-centred norm of
reality and value.” Haigh (2005 pg179)

I heavily agree that the subject geography can play a huge role in the education of sustainable development, but whether they are solely responsible, I believe not. Sustainable development does not affect geographers alone, it of course is about all humans, and therefore should be across a curriculums teaching. Science... English... R.E.... History... – All of these subjects could teach an element about sustainable development, and with this broad education, it would help develop that sustainable development and re-cycling isn’t just what those geographers do!

TeacherNet has established many resources in the last couple of years, to promote and educate staff at schools, how to make their school environment a sustainable one. This makes it possible for many aspects of compulsory education in the United Kingdom, to be a sustainable one, as discussed above.

“TeacherNet is designed to support schools on their journey to sustainability, introducing the principles of sustainable development and offering guidance on how to embed these principles into the heart of school life.”

Hopefully, the goal of the United Nations will be met, and all humans, can look forward to a sustainable developing world in years to come.

Since September, I have been studying Bsc Geography, as a part of my degree; I take the module ‘Sustainable Development’. I thoroughly enjoy this module, as it doesn’t only educate to the issues of sustainable living, but encourages you to think for yourself, develop your own opinion and stand on sustainable development. As Greg (Lecturer at University of Northampton) said once in a lesson, that it is thought that you (student) won’t just learn the module, but hopefully live it too. I feel this is true, especially through the assignment of blogging. I am a lot more passionate about re-cycling now, and trying to find another use for something rather than just throwing something away.

I would hope that one day, all development will be sustainable. :)

Refrences

Haigh, M., (2005), Geography and the 'European Year of Citizenship through Education. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 29, 173-182. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=16&sid=62a6c82e-5225-4c35-b837-6a0f5895075c%40sessionmgr8

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27234&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/sustainableschools/

'Daddy ... can I have this please? ; ) '

None of my friends and young people in the UK today, have experienced something like this, and NO I am not talking about the snowy weather, but the economic crisis. Having officially been labelled that we are in a down turn in our economy, and as the depression starts to hit our every day lives, will people really think about sustainability?

As people stock up and lock up the food cupbords with asda smart price, rationing at each dinner the amount of food we will consume, the electricity to cook it should take a downturn. As electricity bills are posted through the letter boxes, televisions and wii's will be switched off earlier, and the good old monopoly board will make an appearence on the family dinner table. All these bonuses will not only better famalies and society, back to hopefully eating together and being a whole family unit, but also living a more sustainable lifestyle.

If you asked an average family to get rid of the television box, of which their living room is centered around, they would appose strongly. But, re-visit them in 6, 9 or even 12 months, when they may be unemployed, they have morgatge re-payments in their ears, and they are already turning the tv off to save electricty, I imagine they will be happy to sell the tv to you! This only shows, that people in this current time, have not bothered about the actual environment issues they should have been. This could all change in the new era.

Going through a period where, you have to really work hard to get something and not just ask daddy, or put it on your credit card, will hopefully set people back to ways where simple is best. This may indeed help sustainable goals be meet in the near future, as people cut down on car journeys as they simple cant afford it, so they walk their children to school or get a public bus.

The current economic status will cause many bad situations and tough times, but I look forward to the future, where people have got out of bad habits and are living more sustainably. I hope that not only benefitting from a housing market that will crash, (so I can get on the property ladder after university) I will be able to walk to my local green grocers, post office, butchers, sweet shops and news agents to get most of my food shopping for the week. I hope that people will follow suit in this and therefore reduce the pollution of buying vegetables and meet from foriegn countries (at local supermarkets), which may be cheaper, but causing us ( as humans ) to live unsustainably. It would be great to see people, not having a family car, the wifes sports car, the fathers landrover and the old banger for their teenage son, in their drives, but one, maybe two more energy efficient cars. As people look to being more mean with what they purchase, they may be more mean with recycling, and take the time to seperate the plastic and the cardboard from the house hold waste.

All of these ideas that are streaming through my head like a fast flowing river, and may indeed be the effects of a recession. But, I hold some fear, that this idea of a near perfect sustainable way of living under taken by all, is just a huge bubble, that will burst, especially as times get hard.

I look forward to blogging after the economic crisis, and seeing whether sustainabilty goals are actually achieved.

References

The Four Key Areas of sustainable development indentified by the UK.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Thewiderenvironment/DG_069735