What is Education for Sustainability?

1. What is Education for Sustainability? Jason Hamilton Dept. of Environmental Studies & Sciences Ithaca College

2. Definition: Sustainability • Capable of being sustained ?

3. Definition: Sustainability What is sustainability? “Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.” http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm#sustainability

4. 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. Definition: Sustainability http://walmartstores.com/Sustainability/

5. Sustainable Development • Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs World Commission on Economic Development. (1987). Our Common Future. England: Oxford University Press.

7. Sustainability is…… • A fundamental concept like “liberty” or “justice”

10. Alternative Energy Eating Tofu Green Building Stopping Climate Change Preserving Biodiversity Saving Trees

11. First Basic Axiom of Sustainability • The current state of people • is not a morally acceptable endpoint

12. People Below the Poverty Line Haiti 41% Turkmenistan 60% Zimbabwe 95% http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?t=0&v=69&r=xx&l=en

13. People Living With Water Insecurity

14. Second Basic Axiom of Sustainability • The current state of people • is not a morally acceptable endpoint • We have reached a state where we are negatively impacting the ability of future generations to live

16. “Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.” • “Nearly two thirds of the services provided by nature to humankind are found to be in decline worldwide.”

17. Carbon Dioxide (ppm) Methane (ppb) Nitrous Oxide (ppb) Time before 2005 (years) 10000 5000 0

18. Proof that global warming is real

19. The State of Our Global Temperature • Muir Glacier, Alaska August 1941 Photos by Bruce Molnia, USGS.

20. The State of Our Global Temperature • Muir Glacier, Alaska August 2004 Photos by Bruce Molnia, USGS.

21. Third Basic Axiom of Sustainability • The current state of people • is not a morally acceptable endpoint • We have reached a state where we are negatively impacting the ability of future generations to live • The major types of problems have to be addressed simultaneously: there is no ranking of importance

22. Sustainability is the mindset that considers the systemic connections among the major challenges facing humans Royal Dutch Shell Exxon Mobil Corp Chevron Money Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Money pollution from flaring vaccination for polio & measles respiratory problems in children reduced vaccination rate Reduced rates of polio and measles & Increased rates of polio and measles impaired immune function

23. Fourth Basic Axiom of Sustainability • The current state of people • is not a morally acceptable endpoint • We have reached a state where we are negatively impacting the ability of future generations to live • The major types of problems have to be addressed simultaneously: there is no ranking of importance • The system isn’t broken

24. THE CENTRAL LAW OF IMPROVEMENT Every system is perfectly designed to achieve theresults it achieves. Donald Berwick

25. So where do we keep going wrong?

26. The “50 simple things...” Trap

27. The Basic Axioms of Sustainability • The current state of people • is not a morally acceptable endpoint • We have reached a state where we are negatively impacting the ability of future generations to live • The major types of problems have to be addressed simultaneously: there is no ranking of importance • The system isn’t broken

28. Healthy People

29. Physical Health

30. Mental Health Physical Health

31. Emotional Health Mental Health Physical Health

32. Emotional Health Spiritual Health Mental Health Physical Health

33. Healthy People

34. Healthy Environment Healthy People

35. Healthy Environment Healthy People

36. Healthy Environment Healthy People Healthy Communities

37. Healthy Environment Healthy People Healthy Communities

38. Healthy Environment Healthy People Healthy Communities Healthy Trade

39. Healthy Environment Healthy People Healthy Communities Healthy Trade

40. Healthy Environment Healthy People Healthy Communities Healthy Trade

41. Moving Beyond a Sustainability “Mission Statement” • Goals • Useful approaches • Ways to measure progress

42. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Achieve universal primary education • Promote gender equality • Reduce child mortality • Improve maternal health • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc. • Ensure functioning of Earth’s life support system • Develop a global partnership for development • Sustainability is the mindset that considers the systemicconnections among the major challenges facing humans

43. Sustainability: DESD • The UN has declared this the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and called for a complete rethinking of the role of education in our world Sustainability must become the guiding focus and organizing principle of everything we do.

44. What? • Learning that is about knowledge and also about doing, being, interacting with others and changing the world • Why? • Prepares learners to enter the workforce as well as handle a crisis, be resilient, become responsible citizens, adapt to change, recognize and solve local problems with global roots, meet other cultures with respect, and create a peaceful and sustainable society • How? • Learning that is enjoyable, hands-on and relevant to life outside school while addressing the problems of our world

45. Core Learning Objectives of Education for Sustainability: Sustainability-Oriented Content • Complexity, Systems & Design Thinking • Place-based & Locally Relevant • Agents of change • Ethical/affective values based

46. Consumption Choices Sustainability Must Become Second Nature • Sustainability is about all choices and connections Formal Education Investment Choices Political Choices Spiritual Life CommunityInvolvement Personal Development