SD-scene: Issue 17; November / December 2008

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Sustainable learning

Picture of Ann Children and young people have a considerable stake in the future, be it as leaders or citizens who want to lead a healthy and full life. Embedding thinking around sustainable development does not simply mean making it a more prominent subject on the national curriculum, it is about understanding the way that children and young people think, learn and behave, and helping them to start their journey towards sustainability as soon as possible.

The Sustainable Development Commission is working with central and local government to accelerate a commitment to sustainable development in the education and skills sectors. Commissioner for Education Ann Finlayson is someone who holds the power of learning close to her heart, believing it to be an essential tool in putting sustainability into practice.

“When I worked as a ranger in Scotland I led a school group and asked them to point out three things they had not noticed before,” she explains. “A nine-year-old boy volunteered to start. He could name all of the trees and plants, and track animals – he learned best outdoors. The teacher had never seen him behave in this way in the classroom. It made me realise that we could be missing children that are not academically bright, but able to learn in different ways. You have to use all styles of learning to help people develop the skills needed for the challenges ahead.

“I have been working within the Commission to encourage debate around the competencies needed to apply sustainable behaviour. This is not an academic subject and it requires a different approach to learning.” To help achieve this, the Commission has seconded three people to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), which plays a key part in defining the role of education in encouraging sustainability.

Sustainable schools

Dr Jake Reynolds is a Senior Advisor within Sustainable Development at DCSF. He is a firm believer that schools can bring sustainability to life. He explains: “There are 24,000 schools in England, each at the heart of a community. If we can showcase good practice in schools then it will be inherently integrated throughout the community; we can reach the children, their parents, visitors and so on. It is a real opportunity to pass on the right messages and to build confidence in communities to implement ideas and solutions in their local area.”

The Sustainable Schools initiative was launched in 2006 to offer guidance on implementing sustainable practice and thinking. The DCSF has set out a national framework for the initiative within which schools can develop their own approach in areas such as food and travel. While there are statutory requirements the DCSF believes that the journey towards sustainability should not be top down. “Participation in the scheme does not mean that schools are showing real interest and this is the beginning of a major transformation,” Jake adds. “And it is so much bigger than the environment; there is a strong social element. Learning about sustainability does not mean finding solutions but asking questions, and teaching children to take responsibility and think about their choices.

“We’re helping to change the way that educators think. Sustainability needs to be a part of all education policy from low-carbon buildings to teacher development and the curriculum. For example, sustainable development is a compulsory part of the secondary curriculum. It does not simply cover climate change, but social justice, being a responsible citizen, biodiversity and so on. What’s key to this is that the children are really motivated and fascinated by the topic.”

Sustainable students

Much like schools, creating sustainable universities is more than an operational matter, so says Richard Rugg, Head of Public Sector at the Carbon Trust. “It’s about educating the students themselves, engaging and influencing future decision makers.”

The Carbon Trust is working with 68 universities across the UK, and its Carbon Management Programme covers all areas from building stock to waste and procurement. “Many think this is purely a green agenda,” explains Richard. “But it is intelligent use of resources. We need universities to show leadership. For example the University of East Anglia is the first in the world to offer an MBA in Strategic Carbon Management. And students themselves have a big part to play as once they have seen sustainable practice in action they will take this with them. The social implications are very exciting and important in the context of creating a sustainable future.”

Equally important is the Carbon Trust’s relationship with the National Union of Students (NUS). Ethical and Environmental Manager for the NUS Jamie Agumbar explains: “We empower our student members not only to green their universities but to green their own lives. Universities struggle to win hearts and minds and this is what we are doing through workshops, online toolkits, and student-elected Ethics and Environment Officers. Our aim is to establish student-led that creates green communities.”

Cate Chapman, Welfare and Student Rights Officer and former Ethics and Environment Officer, Swansea Metropolitan University

“Swansea has a split campus and it is difficult to get everyone in one place. So we held screenings of An Inconvenient Truth and Black Gold and were surprised how many people turned up. Not everyone knows what is going on around the campus – we have an Environmental Manager and are hoping to get funding for an area where we can grow our own vegetables. It’s about communication and letting people know how they can get involved. Students are in a unique position as we can shout about our concerns without fear. We’re also working with the Swansea Youth Forum for Sustainable Development to recruit student ambassadors to give talks at schools. I believe that our understanding of sustainability needs to happen early on in life. Most people already have their priorities when they get to university but we are helping them to prioritise environmental issues. There is no lack of will; it’s more an issue of people committing their time alongside their studies. But what we are doing needs to be student-led and a part of our curriculum and daily lives so that people start to think about the impact of their actions on the global community.”

Partnerships for learning

Communicating at the right level is crucial when it comes to getting children and young people to take notice. And working with NGOs and charities has been key to the DCSF’s work to get the right messages out in the right way. David Serrant, Policy Advisor in the Sustainable Development Unit at DCSF, has been working on a young activists programme. Aimed at 14-19 year olds, this will be launched in 2009 and run until March 2010. “We provide guidance for teachers and lesson plans but rarely target the young people themselves. This programme comprises four projects that will involve young people in ways that they can relate to,” he explains. “For example, an online forum will provide a medium where they are comfortable expressing themselves.”

Environmental charity Groundwork UK will get participants thinking about the physical things in their local area that they would like to change. The National Children’s Bureau will encourage them to think about outcomes they want to see at the 2009 UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen. And educational charity Envision will carry out advocacy training to empower young people to communicate confidently.

Picture of kids Set up in June 2006 Envision works primarily with 16-19 year olds. Head of Programmes Rachel Urquhart explains: “This is such a transformational age group, young people can influence their parent and peers and become leaders by applying what they learn now throughout their lives.”

As part of the young activists programme Envision is working with 16 colleges and schools in London and Birmingham. “The students design and implement projects that address a sustainability issue. They lead the project and define how we support them.” Ideas generated from the pilot sessions include encouraging communities to learn about each other’s cultural background and raising awareness of global poverty through a viral campaign.

This is just one element of a series of Envision events and workshops involving 1,600 young people. “We are creating toolkits so that our work can stretch beyond the young activists programme to help teachers and other youth groups. We are providing a powerful learning experience that enables these young people to become role models on sustainable development, to lead by example and to build legacies of their own.”

Nick Stanhope, We are What we Do

In October Teach Your Granny to Text was published and 22,000 copies were distributed to primary and secondary schools across England. The collaborative effort of We are What We Do, DCSF and thousands of children and young people across the country, the book offers 30 simple everyday actions that can have a big impact. The aim was to get messages about sustainable behaviours to an audience of 7-12 year-olds in way that reflected what they thought about social and environmental issues. The key to this was asking the children to write the book. Nick explains: “In October 2007, we asked children and young people in schools, colleges and community groups to tell us what they would tell one million people to do to change the world. At first they seemed to give us what they thought were the correct answers, such as turn the lights off. Then someone said ‘teach your granny to text’ which spurred others on to be much more creative. In the end they seemed to turn responsibility on its own head by asking adults to do more. It is a unique expression of how and what young people think. And vital to this was co-creation of content. Sustainability can be discussed in so many ways, but it needs to be broken down into simple chunks.”

Updated: 29 December 2008