Definitions, Concepts, & Key Pillars of EfSD

Definitions 
Sustainability can easily be defined by splitting up the word:
sussed /sʌst/ - astute and well informed                           (Thanks Hala!!)
       &        
able  /ˈeɪb(ə)l/ - having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something.
Therefore, well informed power for now and later. Its hard to believe that there is any debate at all over such an undeniably positive trait to have. Just look at it!

Photo by: Ivai Acevedo
A photographer who focuses on surreal scenes or "real dreams"

 Tilbury and Cooke (2005)  say the key goals of sustainability are "to live within our environmental limits, to achieve social justice and to foster economic and social progress." The UN was the major catalyst in making sustainability part of the global discourse. Quality of life for present as well as future generations was finally promoted into the global public eye by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). 

Sustainability is open to different interpretations and takes on different meanings not only between cultures but also between different interest groups within societies. Sustainability embraces equality for all, and for this reason a key aim of sustainability is to enable multi-stakeholder groups to define  heir vision of sustainability and to work towards it.

The term Sustainable Development is often used to portray the process of becoming sustainable since it will not happen over night. Many people and entities that have committed to sustainability and have gone through with adopting its principals. Now organizations that exist in order to advocate for it. Different cultures, and interest groups in society have their own contextual interpretations of sustainability. 
In creating personal viariants of the definition some are truly looking to commit to creating a better future and sustaining themselves for the long run. Others may be green washing (Huh?) to keep up with current trends and maintain brand and company reputation. 


        Activity
   The following are examples of different conceptualizations of Sustainability.
            As you read reflect on these questions: 
            Is it important to include diverse definition sources?
            How does each unique stance affect its' definition?
            What other perspectives are important?
            Can you spot the Green Washer?!
            What language indicates possible green washing?


IE 1 : Sustainability & 
"Our Common Future" 
From the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) this document was published in 1987 and targeted multilateralism and interdependence of nations in the process of  sustainable development. Their's is the most commonly cited definition of Sustainable Development (SD). (more here)
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."


IE 2: Sustainability & 
The Boston Consulting Group 

One of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world. (more here)

            “Sustainability is an issue that is relevant and important to all companies across all industries, although certain industries and organizations may be more directly affected than others. The question of how to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs has important environmental, economic, and social dimensions.

            The world's population has more than doubled since 1960; given that fact, combined with economic growth in emerging economies, demand for many natural resources is rising faster than supply. The speed and scale of change in today’s world are unprecedented, resulting in a fast-changing market environment.

            This landscape presents not only challenges but also opportunities. The leading companies today can recognize tangible savings through energy efficiency, waste reduction, and more efficient supply-chain management. A focus on sustainability can also be leveraged to create intangible values such as brand recognition, employee motivation, and attraction of top talent.

            The question is no longer "Why is sustainability important?" but rather "How do we approach sustainability most effectively to gain advantage, leverage our capabilities, and reduce future risks?" BCG has created a global Sustainability Initiative to support our clients in developing robust, long-term strategies and help them leverage competitive advantages from their sustainability efforts." 

IE 3: Sustainability &
Interface
A company led by Ray Anderson, a pioneer  in green business from the early 1990's, Interface is the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of environmentally-responsible modular carpet.  (more here)
"Interface will become the first name in commercial and institutional interiors worldwide through its commitment to people, process, product, place and profits. We will strive to create an organization wherein all people are accorded unconditional respect and dignity; one that allows each person to continuously learn and develop. We will focus on product (which includes service) through constant emphasis on process quality and engineering, which we will combine with careful attention to our customers’ needs so as always to deliver superior value to our customers, thereby maximizing all stakeholders’ satisfaction. We will honor the places where we do business by endeavoring to become the first name in industrial ecology, a corporation that cherishes nature and restores the environment. Interface will lead by example and validate by results, including profits, leaving the world a better place than when we began, and we will be restorative through the power of our influence in the world."


IE 4: Sustainability &
Walmart 
You know Walmart. They own your supermarkets, everywhere. (more here)

"At Walmart, we know that being an efficient and profitable business and being a good steward of the environment are goals that can work together. Our broad environmental goals at Walmart are simple and straightforward:

• To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy;
• To create zero waste;
• To sell products that sustain people and the environment.

Our efforts have been recognized through numerous awards, which would not be possible without the support of our customers, associates and communities around the world."

Education for Sustainable Development

The Future of the Earth is in Our Hands.
We must take care of it in order to be a part of it.

The importance of Education for Sustainable Development reaches many dire issues that humanity and our supporting biosphere face today. Food security, poverty, sustainable tourism, urban quality, women, fair trade, green consumerism, ecological public health and waste management as well as those of climatic change, deforestation, land degradation, desertification, depletion of natural resources  and loss of biodiversity are concerns at the forefront of  both environmental and development education.

Like Sustainability, Education for Sustainability has multiple definitions from varying sources with varying interests.
      Below are a few. 

Reading them had me wonder what the ideas were behind each one. I thought it would be fun to draw images are associated to each 'definer' to give an idea of where they might be coming from with their definitions.


Do I sense an Activity popping up? Yes, I do! 

         Activity
For each set, draw images which you associate to the writer of the definition. 
Give an idea of their surroundings to show where their idea of an environment might be coming from?


After this activity participants should be asked to share their ideas with one another in groups, then summarize insights aloud with everyone. 

The Key Pillars of Education for Sustainable Development
The Key Pillars of Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD) outline the overarching tools that aim towards enabling individuals to become sustainable citizens conscious of a global society.


   Envisioning.                               Values clarification.      
                       
           Critical thinking and reflection.           
  
                                                                        Participation.


      Partnerships.
                                            Systemic thinking.


Each pillar will be explained and given examples for in later posts. It can be a lot of fun to spot things in everyday life that encourage use of either of these pillars. Though each one will have its individual post they will all be inevitably alluded to throughout this journal.




___Cite___

ARIES 2009,  Education for Sustainability - the role of education in engaging and  equipping people for change, ARIES, Macquarie University, Australian Government - Department of the Environment, Water,  Heritage, and the Arts, Australia
Tilbury, D. and Ross, K. 2006, Living Change: Documenting good practice in Education for Sustainability in NSW. Macquarie University, Sydney, and Nature Conservation Council, NSW.

Tilbury, D., Keogh, A., Leighton, A. and Kent, J. 2005, ' A National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability in Australia: Further and Higher Education', Canberra: Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage and Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES).

Hopkins, C & McKeown, R. 2000, 'Chapter 2, Education for sustainable development: an international perspective' in Tilbury, D., Fien, J., Education and Sustainability: Responding to the global challenge, IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, Pg 13-24

Walmart Corporate 2010, ‘Sustainability’, Walmart Corporate, accessed on 4^th of September, <http://walmartstores.com/sustainability/>

Interface 2008, ‘Interface Values – Our Guiding Principals, Our Vision’, 4^th of September, <http://www.interfaceglobal.com/Sustainability/Interface-Story.aspx>

Oxford Dictionary 2011, Oxford University, accessed on 4^th of September,  <http://oxforddictionaries.com/>

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 2011, BCG, accessed on 4^th of September, 2011, <http://www.bcg.com/expertise_impact/capabilities/sustainability/default.aspx>

WCED 1987, ‘Our Common Future: Brundtland Report’, UN Documents Gathering a body of global agreements, April 3, 2011 <http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm>

Paralysis by Analysis

My few posts will let readers know the key pillars for Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD) and explore the concept of Sustainable Development.

But First, lets complicate things.

I can never bring myself to understand the complications human-beings create when it comes to... lets see...  everything.  
The controversies on climate change, sustainability, and sustainable development can be traced directly to an individuals or an entities underlying interests; if they are involved in financially benefiting at the expense of everybody and everything else.
(hit the jump for an obvious revelation)
9/10 Climate Denying Scientists Have Ties to Exxon Mobil Money

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and The World Trade Organization, for example, might have risen out of social purpose, but are imperial powers with a stronghold on neo-colonialism. 
(hit the jump for a good read or skim on the ramifications of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO)
The Unholy Trinity
Similarly, many companies have a dark history of fighting local empowerment (what are you doing!) to the escalated point of staged coup's and passioned wars of nationalization efforts, such as the United Fruit Company (Now Chiquita Brands Int.) in Guatemala and BP in Iran. In both cases, the companies, with foreign government aid, installed dictatorships and threw fuel to the fire of polarization between the global north' and  south.
(hit the jump for juicy references from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel Cien Años de Soledad and a review of Bananas.)
How the United Fruit Company Changed the World
(hit the jump for yet another BP spill. Hey hey!)
 BP and Iran: The Forgotten History

This taste of imperial organizations taking advantage of social injustice with the help of governments  shows where the roots of unsustainable practice tend to grow and the challenge to eradicate these practices do to an ideology backed by immense financial and political power.


Rather then allowing to strike the roots of polarizing social inequity and daunting ecological degradation, engaging in a constant, paralyzing analysis & debate of terms & concepts takes urgently needed attention away from attacking the source of the problems we are facing today & allows these unsustainable organizations to continue their raping and pillaging.

Lets take a look!

Lost Haitian boy after 2010 Earthquake. Haiti is the poorest country on the western hemisphere.

 

Gull During BP's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Delicate marsh in Louisiana after BP Spill

Sleeping beggar woman with child.

Typical site in Managua, Nicaragua: Riot police.  Riot police are often used to confront student protesters and peaceful marches against the corrupt government.  

Typical site in Managua, Nicaragua's city dump: A child inhabitant of the dump sniffing-glue and shading himself from the sun with a Sandinista flag - the government party who led the Revolution in the 80's and is now in office
...once again.

  ___Photo Cred'___
from top to bottom: 

Rafael Sanchez Fabres on Postcards from Hell Foreign Policy OnlineCharlie Riedel on The Buzz Media, CNN Oil Spill Time Line, Complete Mystery, My Mom, Gerda Kochanska, Visualphotos.com.

Post #1

Starting is the hardest part...

I'm so immersed in academics that it's hard to let myself free write. That ain't right.
Muuuuussstttt accc-cessss t-t-truuuee se-se-self!!!!
(Hjbptmuh...akk! ... ø_ø.  ahhhhh! #* &™@!!!)

Phew...  Here I am.

Piece by: Moksha Funk

This blog is an exercise that I'm starting as a grad student for my Masters in Environmental Studies. Though it's for a wonderful class (that allows one to be creative FINALLY!) I hope to continue it for a long long time, to add my own twist to everything as to never let myself be bogged down by the man ever again!  ...I've had enough of you 'man'
       *neurotic 'Kramer-esque' mocking gesture*.

This is a constant reflection process on encounters throughout life with art, nature, science, and people.

                    ...this is a place to express abstract ideas
                    and fulfill curiosities.

Since, as of late, I am convinced that at least in some sense it is my duty to be an 'educator' or an 'idea spreader' (as I'd rather think of it), the goal of this endeavor is to learn to communicate and innovate ideas better by questioning values, detangling ideas, fostering creativity, and growing professionally.

Vetruvian Man by Leonardo DaVinci. A characteristic symbol of the enlightenment during the renaissance period. 

In beginning a project to better understand
Education for Sustainable Development (EfSD)
and create my own framework that can be used to plan EfSD programs,
this blog will initially follow a 'Journal-Portfolio' project outline inspired by Tilbury and Ross (2006).

*oh yes, and if you click around you might find some easter eggs, if your lucky. ;)

              Cite:        
         Tillbury, D. and Ross, K 2006, 'Living Change: Documenting good practice in Education for     
         Sustainability in NSW', Macquarie University, Sydney, and Nature Conservation Council, NSW.