Section
5: A National Collaborative Approach
To
date, in this book, we have talked largely about how
business, government, civil society, research organizations,
etc. can step up to make the most of the opportunities
provided to those who lead. We have shown inspiring
examples of the benefits for those who already have.
Change in these organizations occurred because an
individual or a group of people effectively catalysed
and then facilitated change. In earlier sections,
we discussed significant signs that attitudes and
values about sustainability are changing.
What
is lacking in many countries to achieve sustainable
development is reliable information, and dissemination
of that information to empower people, whatever their
station in society, to act. But also importantly in
this information age, we all need critical literacies
to be able to most effectively and wisely use such
information. David Orr, one of the world's leading
environmental educators, has argued that the environmental crisis
is actually a crisis of education: 'The crisis we
face is first and foremost one of the mind, perceptions,
and values; hence, it is a challenge to those institutions
presuming to shape minds, perceptions, and values'.
This
is now widely recognized. The recent major report
from the New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for
Environment, Sea Change: Learning and Education for
Sustainability, showed that 'The need for education
to play a key role in addressing the challenge of
sustainable development was articulated at the Earth
Summit in 1992. All 40 chapters of its action plan
Agenda 21, called for education. Governments from
around the world agreed that education for Sustainability
is 'critical for achieving environmental and ethical
awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour
consistent with sustainable development and for effective
public participation in decision making'. Agenda 21
also called on all countries to develop a strategy
to implement education for sustainability.' The United
Nations has now declared that 2005-2015 will be the
Decade of Education in Sustainable Development.
Global
Warming Materials for Educators
Union
of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Global Environment Program
All of these materials are based on published, peer-reviewed
science, and have themselves been peer-reviewed by
scientific experts in the relevant fields.
View
Website
References
from the Book
1
Orr, D. (1994) Earth In Mind, Island Press, Washington,
DC, p27.
2
PCENZ (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
New Zealand) (2004) See Change: Learning and Education
for Sustainability, PCENZ, Wellington.
3
The Sustainable Schools programme is the integration
of existing and fragmented
approaches
to sustainability education into a holistic programme
with measurable
environmental,
financial and curriculum outcomes. The programme does
not seek to
replace
other environmental education initiatives in schools,
rather it links to and
complements
existing resources such as Energy Smart Schools, WasteWise,
Waterwatch, Waterwise and Landcare.
4
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization) (1997a) Educating For a Sustainable
Future: A Trans-disciplinary Vision For Concerted
Action, UNESCO, International Conference Tessaloniki,
8–12 December; UNESCO (1997b) Environment and
Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability,
November, UNESCO, Paris.
5
Thomas, I. (2004) ‘Sustainability in Tertiary
Curricula: What is Stopping it Happening?’,
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher
Education, vol 5, no 1, 23 January, pp33–47.
6
Hawken, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, L. H. (1999) Natural
Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution,
Earthscan, London.
7
Tilbury, D. (2003) ‘Environmental Education
for Sustainability: A Force for Change in Higher Education’,
in Wals, A. and Cocoran Blaze, P., Higher Education
and the Challenge of Sustainability, Kluwer, London.
8
Jenni Goricanec and Roger Hadgraft of RMIT University
provided this discussion to the Editors.
9
Refer to the RMIT Global Sustainability Institute.
10
Information about this curriculum project is available
through the BELL section of the WRI website.
11
This curriculum work is available through the Natural
Capitalism Inc website.
12
More information is available at the Presidio world
college, San Francisco website.
13
See the Delft University of Technology website for
information about the conference.
14
Sudan Virtual Engineering Library – Sustainability
Knowledge Network (SudVEL-SKN), Pilot Project Report:
15 December 2003 to 15 February 2004, Charlie Hargroves,
The Natural Edge Project.
15
The Green Chemistry Institute has affiliate organizations
in over 20 countries (refer to their website for more
details).
16
Contact John Fein through Griffith University, or
refer to the UNESCO website.
17
More information about the Institute for Sustainability
and Technology Policy is available through Murdoch
University’s website.
18
The ECOS magazine is published on CSIRO’s publishing
website.
19
This e-newsletter is coordinated by Dr Elizabeth Heij
of CSIRO.
20
The university is based in Canberra, Australia. More
information can be found at ANU’s website.
21
Those involved with the ANU Green Guide project are
keen to network with other local green/sustainability
guide teams worldwide to build a central website.
More information can be found online through ANU’s
website.
22
Refer to the ANU website for information on the symposium.
23
‘Tela’ refers to the Latin word for ‘integrated/web’
and has been used for the Australian Conservation
Foundation (ACF) report. The report is available online,
through the ACF website.
