Remapping the future with innovative education

By Lionel WIJESIRI

The National Action Plan on Education for Peace and Sustainable Development was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently. The Action Plan has been formulated by the Education Ministry in collaboration with UNESCO, based on the United Nations’ Decade for Education for Sustainable Development.

Towards a sustainable world in the future

This article discusses an aspect of the Action Plan: Sustainable development.

What does education for a sustainable future really mean? According to UNESCO’s vision of education for the 21st century, it means; the education system should prepare students to enter the workforce as well as handle a crisis, be resilient, become responsible citizens, adapt to change, recognise and solve local problems with global roots, meet other cultures with respect, and create a peaceful and sustainable society.

Learning should be about knowledge and also about working and interacting with others to live in the changing world. Learning should be enjoyable, hands on and relevant to life outside school. Every person should benefit from genuine learning opportunities throughout life, in the workplace and within the community.

Every person should benefit from an education promoting development that is environmentally sound, socially equitable, culturally sensitive and economically just. This vision is infused in the Government Action Plan.

Sustainability is a complex idea. The process of sustainable decision making involves a critical examination of our priorities, habits, beliefs, and values. The challenge is that it must be a collaborative process - citizens need to agree upon the vision as well as an action plan for the future initiated by the Government. This requires collective and conscious decision-making and is the heart of Education for a Sustainable Future.

Sustainable development

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the role of education in promoting sustainable development was made explicit by what is known as Agenda 21, the global action plan for the 21st century. It said: “Education ... should be recognised as a process by which human beings and societies can reach their fullest potential. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address the environment and development issues”.

The signatories of the Rio Summit agreed that education for sustainable development is a holistic approach for a school's overall curriculum, not a separate subject. It requires reflection on what to teach and how to teach to encourage students to reflect and debate issues to enable them to form their own opinions.

Our education process should contribute to three axes of sustainable development, namely the social, economic and environmental dimensions. However, there is an information gap on how the concept of education for sustainable development could be translated into practices at national level.

It is in this context, I believe, that the concept of innovation plays a major role. There are several types of innovations we can think of. We can introduce innovative topics in the curriculum to be addressed at national level: Issues such as effects of globalisation to healthier lifestyles, to efficient energy consumption and promotion of renewable energy. We can innovate ways to forge multi-stakeholder approaches and to create a sense of ownership among students, families, teachers and decision-makers.

The use of technology such as the Internet should be promoted

The innovative ways of delivering the educational process could be by promoting interactive learning approaches and the use of new technology such as the Internet. We can innovate in forging new partnerships and networks for the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience, fostering communication and exchange of experiences.

In the curriculum we can also focus on ensuring a strong inter-disciplinary approach in addressing the inter-related social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Even though all education and training activities have the potential to reinforce sustainable development, it is acknowledged that to fully realise this potential, education activities, especially focused on sustainable development, are required. We should understand that education for sustainable development is a lifelong process from early childhood to higher and adult education and goes beyond formal education. As values, lifestyles and attitudes are established from an early age, the role of education is of particular importance for children. Since learning takes place as we take on different roles in our lives, Education for Sustainable Development has to be considered as a “life-wide” process.

Life practices

For students to make informed decisions and embrace life practices that demonstrate an understanding of and belief in sustainability, they require particular knowledge, skills, values and life practices. This will enable them to take personal responsibility for a sustainable future and work towards an equitable quality of life for all. They can think critically about global issues and take action locally and advocate a strong economy and for government policies that support a strong economy.

Eventually, he/she will care about local, national and global issues, be concerned about the future, demonstrate respect for the environment, consume less; refuses, reduces, reuses, recycles, restores and revitalises and make choices to contribute to the common good. Isn’t this the type of citizen we need for tomorrow?

Future

Embedding sustainability themes within the curriculum and in the life of the school develop our young people as global citizens and equip them with skills, values and attributes for learning, life and work. It is estimated that thousands of new jobs will be created in the green sector in the next 10 years as Sri Lanka makes a transition to a low carbon economy. Using sustainable development education as a context for learning empowers learners to contribute to this process of change within society and also helps them develop the skills required to access exciting career opportunities in the green sector.

Learning should be about working and interacting with others

If Sri Lanka is to realise its ambitions to move towards a low carbon, zero-waste future and deliver on the commitments outlined in the National Action Plan, it is also important that we promote effective collaboration between all education sectors including schools, youth and community learning and higher education.

Let us not lose sight of the fact that the young people of today are the decision-makers of tomorrow and, therefore, should be encouraged to research sustainability issues and to form and defend their opinions. In doing so, they will develop the skills to engage in informed and sustainable decision-making.

Let them understand that recent events are forcing our society to collectively address sustainability: To think about the finite nature of Earth’s resources; to understand that the damage we are inflicting on our atmosphere may be irreparable; and to realise that our behaviour needs to change if we are to sustain our quality of life in this beautiful country.

Finally, let them also learn that all of us are responsible for our personal future, for the future of our country and the world and that we can make a difference.