United Nations
Commission on Sustainable Development |
|
Background Paper |
Commission on Sustainable Development Background Paper No. 27
Sixth Session
20 April-1 May 1998
CASE STUDIES - MAJOR GROUPS IN
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION PAGES 3 - 4
WOMEN PAGES 5 - 14
CHILDREN & YOUTH PAGES 15 - 23
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES PAGES 24 - 38
NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS PAGES 39 - 50
LOCAL AUTHORITIES PAGES 51 - 61
WORKERS & TRADES UNIONS PAGES 62 - 70
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY PAGES 71 - 79
SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGICAL COMMUNITY PAGES 80 - 89
FARMERS PAGES 90 - 98
INTRODUCTION
The present collection of case studies on the Role of Major Groups in
Sustainable Development Education is prepared as a background paper for
the sixth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development which will
discuss sustainable development education among other topics.
The case studies were collected with two starting points in mind:
(i) the crucial importance of education and awareness raising in
achieving sustainable development, and
(ii) the particular role of Major Groups in sustainable development in
general, and in sustainable development education in particular.
For the purposes of this collection, sustainable development education
was defined broadly, as forms of learning for a sustainable future
whether concerned with knowledge, skills, awareness, or attitude.
Similarly, the cases studies include learning in all contexts, informal
and formal, as well as learning for all stages of life.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, Rio
de Janeiro, June 1992), clearly indicated that participation of economic
and social actors from outside the governmental and inter-governmental
fora is crucial in achieving the goals of Agenda 21. To promote
partnership, Agenda 21 identified nine key economic and social sectors,
under the concept of major groups to underline the importance of broad-
based participation in follow up of the Rio results. The major groups
identified in Section III of Agenda 21 are women, children and youth,
indigenous peoples, non government organisations (NGOs), local
authorities, workers and trades unions, business and industry, the
scientific and technological community, and farmers. Distinct chapters
of Agenda 21 (from 23-32) put forth the framework of roles and
responsibilities for each major group as well as the kinds of support
they would need from Governments and UN Agencies to fulfill their tasks
as partners in sustainable development.
The nine major groups are the source and the authors of the case-studies
assembled here. Although certainly not exhaustive of all the major group
efforts in sustainable development education, the collection attempts to
be broadly representative of activities from a range of geographical
areas and socio-economic conditions. Additionally, it seeks to include
examples demonstrating the extent and diversity of the educational
activities being undertaken. To achieve this, the selection of material
was performed, whenever possible, in partnership with leading
organizations from the major groups concerned.
The case studies depict the major groups as much more than passive
recipients of education. They are revealed as dynamic and imaginative
providers of programmes that are of immediate relevance for building
sustainable development. It is hoped that the significance of the
enterprise and energy captured in these case-studies will be apparent to
all who read them. They present an eloquent case for support and
encouragement of the education initiatives of major groups.
The present collection is not a comprehensive or exhaustive volume but
gives a sense of the ownership major groups demonstrate about the goals
of Agenda 21 related to education. There are many more successes in this
area which need to be identified, absorbed from and disseminated for
replication.
The case-studies also point to an important factor regarding the support
needed by major groups for their positive initiatives. Major groups are
committed to carrying out their responsiblies in sustainable development,
but their continued success largely depends on enabling environments.
This is an area in which further and strategic action by governments and
international organizations is needed.
Sustainable development requires significant changes in the mind-set
whether it is about changing the way goods are produced and consumed, the
way we set our political and social priorities, or about the way we sense
the dangers to the planetūs ecosystem. In other words, sustainable
development is about learning to make different decisions than we have
made in the past. Education is the key if we are to learn to make the
right decisions today and in the future.
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The Division for Sustainable Development would like to thank all the
major group organizations who submitted materials for use in this
collection. The Division would also like to thank and recognize the
assistance of Trevor Harvey, the Northern Co-Chair of the CSD NGO
Education Caucus, with the collection of materials, consultations with
the submitting organizations and preparing the first draft.
WOMEN
Agenda 21, Chapter 24
PUTTING BREAST CANCER ON THE MAP
Awareness about Causes of Breast Cancer as a Key to Sustainable
Living for All
Introduction
The Women's Environmental Network (WEN) is a non-profit organisation
that aims to educate, inform and empower women who care about the
environment. It is the only environmental group in the UK representing
women that addresses not only environmental issues particularly
affecting women, but also and those affecting the wider population. We
are also one of the few groups in the country to make the connection
between health and the environment. This has been so since WEN's
launch in 1988.
WEN considers environmental issues from a female perspective. Our
campaigns and projects address issues that are directly relevant to
women's everyday lives - yet have an impact on us all. Some WEN
members are men, and organisations can affiliate. In all our
campaigns, raising public awareness of the issues covered, and
uncovering and disseminating information are integral components.
Through educational activities of this type WEN gives people a choice
of actions they can take at various levels, such as in their personal
lives, shopping habits, or by their own activism. Other current
campaigns include:
- Food Transport Campaign - (promotes locally produced food, farmers'
markets and local food projects);
- Waste Prevention Campaign (initiated the Waste Minimisation Bill which
now has Government support; this gives local authorities a new power
to address the sources of waste); and
- Test Tube Harvest Campaign adopting the precautionary principle, this
calls for a moratorium on genetically engineered crops
All of the above campaigns have a local as well as national focus and
fit well with gaining greater understanding and control over local
influences on health. WEN campaigns have generally had excellent
scientific backing.
Background to breast cancer project
WEN started soon after its launch in 1988 with a campaign to eliminate
chlorine bleaching from paper production to prevent dioxin
contamination around paper mills and in the paper products themselves.
The campaign was centred around sanitary protection and babies'
disposable nappies, and received an enormous response from women.
These products had been perceived as clean and sterile, but were
revealed to be industrial products that were causing considerable
pollution, and actually contained measurable amounts of dioxins from
the bleaching process. The campaign had a world-wide impact. It
achieved a drop in chlorine use throughout the range of paper
production. This included products in contact with food such as milk
cartons.
At that time, dioxin contamination in body-fat was just coming to the
notice of the Government, and concern was raised about levels in
breast-milk. WEN brought together a group of organisations concerned
with breast-feeding and held discussions with environmental
scientists. A published report Chlorine, Pollution and the Parents of
Tomorrow (1991) resulted. This looked at the sources for dioxins in UK
body-fat, and the possible health effects that might result
(especially on the foetus). It found that the main source of chlorine
in the UK was not bleaching, but incineration - mainly of municipal
waste. Many industrial products contain chlorine in forms such as
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. Incineration resulted in the
production of airborne dioxins that entered the food chain via grass
and cows. The report concluded that damage to the foetal nervous
system was likely in a small percentage of babies in the UK. In
addition, it concluded that breast-feeding did not add to this
problem. On the contrary, it had other health advantages. This report
helped many grassroots anti-incinerator campaigns and contributed to
the work Greenpeace is now doing on PVC phase out which now has
mainstream acceptance.
WEN's study of dioxins led to awareness of other synthetic chemical
hormone disrupters such as the oestrogen mimics. WEN gave lectures and
published articles on this at the time in 1993-4 when the first modern
studies of sperm count reduction were being published, and responded
to media interest in oestrogen mimics. These are now recognised to
include pesticides such as DDT and endosulphan; other chemicals that
can disrupt oestrogen pathways in the body include lindane, widely
used in the UK. Because of our concern that these chemicals might be
contributing to the high death rate from breast cancer in the UK, we
became involved with the UK Breast Cancer Coalition. WEN organised a
National Breast Cancer Petition that was submitted to the Department
of Health in October 1995. The petition called for the government to
pour more money into research into the prevention of breast cancer as
well as into treatment and aftercare. We had an amazing response from
people all over the country and collected 80,000 signatures. People
wanted to do something to publicise the breast cancer issue and they
wanted to do more than just sign their name on a piece of paper.
"Putting Breast Cancer on the Map" thus grew out of all the work we
had previously done on polluting chemicals. It aims to give people the
skills to investigate possible causes of high breast cancer incidence
and death rate in their areas.
Environmental pollutants seemed to have substantial links not only
with breast cancer but with a variety of other diseases and illnesses
that affect women. To campaign on each illness was beyond our scope,
both physically and financially, so a rational way of choosing a
manageable issue was needed. We chose breast cancer because it is a
serious and often fatal disease affecting one in twelve women, and
because tackling it would also help remove the causes of other health
problems. Polluted air, soil and water can contribute to a myriad of
health problems including allergies, male reproductive disorders,
fertility problems, asthma, cancer, etc. If we clean up the
environment for breast cancer then this will generate a healthier and
cleaner environment for all. Even the dietary changes that are
recommended for cancer prevention (eating lower in the food chain)
could improve the environment by reducing agricultural pollution.
Breast cancer could be an indicator that our way of living is
unsustainable. Perhaps it has been allowed to rise partly because the
opinions of women about illness and the environment have been shut out
of the mainstream of society. By beginning to reinstate them in this
project, we will bring in new ideas for action that will contribute to
a new sustainable culture.
Breast cancer rates vary from country to country, and immigrants
rapidly acquire the risks of their adopted country. This suggests that
there are factors we can change. Although known causes (heredity and
diet/hormonal factors) account for only 30 per cent of cases, other
factors are strongly suspected. These include chemicals, reproductive
history and breast-feeding, radiation and electromagnetic fields, and
factors such as alcohol, the Pill and hormone replacement therapy.
Last year we submitted a successful bid to the UK National Lottery
Charities Board, who granted us œ135,000 to undertake a two year
project.
The debate on what to do about breast cancer is usually confined to
medical and scientific experts. They are effectively taking decisions
about prevention and cure influenced by their own unspoken
assumptions. For example they frequently treat women as passive
patients who are not expected, for example, to be able to change their
lifestyles. In fact, our experience indicates that women want to be
active in tackling causes, and often find that experts are unwilling
to discuss them. A new channel of communication is needed.
The UK has the highest death rate from breast cancer in the world. If
we change the conditions and lifestyle that cause it, a more
sustainable society will be born.
Objectives of the Project
The objectives of "Putting Breast Cancer on the Map" are as itemised
below. The project aims to:
- act as a channel of communication for women concerned about the
environment in which they live and the adverse impact it is having on
their health and that of their family, friends and community;
- create a map of various "hot-spots" around the country which show a
specific increase in breast cancer incidence and death rates while
also mapping the local area for sources of pollution;
- raise awareness, stimulate discussion and participation and generate
a network of organisations, individuals and groups who want to prevent
breast cancer but who may be looking at different causes among the
range of likely contributors;
- increase access to information by sharing information between
groups: sometimes everyone has a different piece of the jigsaw;
- put emphasis on true prevention of breast cancer. Screening is often
portrayed as prevention but real prevention involves looking at the
causes and finding ways to change them;
- give information about all known aspects of breast cancer prevention,
including changes in diet, more exercise for young women and girls,
breast-feeding, as well as avoidance of suspect chemicals in the home
and workplace; and
- produce evidence and awareness that will result in a rapid phase out of
chemicals and pollutants suspected of instigating or promoting illness
especially those associated with breast cancer.
The ultimate vision of the project is to bring about a drastic
reduction in the incidence and deaths from breast cancer in this
country.
Project Activities
The objectives will be achieved by providing individuals and local
communities with information and a questionnaire to create a map of
their own locality.
The project has two full time staff (the co-ordinator and an
administrator with scientific knowledge and IT skills). There is also
a part-time local groups' co-ordinator who promotes the project to WEN
local groups, and works with them on other WEN issues.
There is a steering group of three women living with breast cancer,
who are activists on environmental issues and/or involved with
mainstream breast cancer organisations such as the UK Breast Cancer
Coalition. They became involved through the petition and through WEN's
past work.
The project has advice from research organisations, scientists and
medical statisticians who have vetted the questionnaire (and in one
case added questions), which will enable the results to be drawn upon
by university based researchers. Advice is also available from an
expert in geographical information systems (GIS), which will enable
the local maps to be made and put together into a UK map at the end of
the project.
The maps can be compiled from either a personal or community
perspective. They can be used as a campaigning tool for women who want
to make an extensive study of their own localities and any suspected
sources of pollution influencing health. All information collected
will be compiled onto a database and used to draw attention to certain
areas that display considerable circumstantial evidence of
environmental links.
An information pack will be provided covering mapping skills,
campaigning skills and positive preventative information as well as
relevant local and national organisations. Its contents are as
detailed below:
- Background to project
- Risk factors associated with breast cancer
- Questionnaire, with explanatory notes
- Steps to help people to map their area
- Contacts - useful organisations; groups already active; websites;
useful journals and directories; book list
- Publicity information: how to write press release and sample; poster
for local publicity
- Funding sources
- WEN's general advice sheet on healthy living with lower environmental
impact
- Evaluation sheet
Results Expected
The culmination of this part of the project will be the production of
a report and map that will highlight any links identified between
breast cancer and environmental pollution in the UK.
The results depend on the active groups that respond to it. This is an
open-ended project which may produce results we do not expect, and
creative ideas that surpass our expectations.
We hope that the project will build a cohesive network of groups that
support each other. We also hope that the project will stimulate other
awareness raising and campaigns. It could provide publicity, by
approaching the issue from a different angle, for the many existing
women's groups campaigning for something to be done about the high
toll from breast cancer
Lessons Learned
Over the course of our work on dioxins, we have become aware that it
is very difficult to interest illness support groups in the idea that
an environmental cause may be involved. Individuals may be receptive
to these ideas, but the group as a whole often resists them.
Likewise, research scientists and medical experts are generally
resistant not only to the suggestion that environmental pollution is
implicated, but also the idea that sufferers should discuss the causes
of their illnesses. Some are very sceptical about women's power to
change their own lifestyles.
The project started in April 1997, and time has been taken in
appointing staff and preparing the mapping system. During this time we
have modified our ideas about what is practicable in mapping.
Individual communities may also learn in a similar way and gain from
our experience, but the potential is there for them to invent new
techniques of their own that can be shared and publicised.
This project is like much of our previous work in that it involves a
fairly abstract purpose, but has a strong practical element (the
mapping) with which people can engage. This approach has generally
been successful for our organisation.
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Contacts for Further Information
Helen Lynn and Ann Link
Women's Environmental Network
87 Worship Street, London EC2A 2BE
Tel: (44) 171 247 3327
Fax (44) 171 247 4740
E-mail: wenuk@gn.apc.org
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PROJECT MORATA - Women Support Skills Training for Sustainable
Development in Papua New Guinea
Introduction
The Morata Local Community Development Foundation (MLCDF) and AIESEC -
Papua New Guinea have combined their efforts to help the people of Morata
help themselves. MLCDF, a grassroots NGO, primarily staffed by indigenous
women from Morata, is benefiting from the experience of AIESEC trainees,
within the framework of the Youth Development Exchange Program. These
trainees are developing the young people of Morata into entrepreneurs,
thereby fulfilling AIESECūs commitment of utilising exchange to train
individuals who have a real impact on the sustainable development of the
local community.
The majority of Morataūs population is under 25, and most of them are
6th-grade dropouts with little or no future prospects. The community is
in urgent need of providing the people of Morata, and most critically the
youths, with income-generating activities. However, to accomplish this
they need skills training that is unavailable to them.
Project Activities
The project provides women and youth from Morata with the skills and
attitudes they need in order to start their own small entrepreneurial
venture. It then assists them in the development of their business,
especially in terms of business design according to environmentally
sustainable practice, financing and monitoring principles. Close
monitoring of and assistance to these ventures once they have been
created represents an important stage of the project. The people
participating in the project will be developing into community leaders,
as their ventures will contribute to the common good, creating jobs,
satisfying needs and raising living standards.
The project activities also aim to raise the cultural and social
awareness of AEISECūs Youth Development Exchange Program (YDEP) trainees.
Through exchange programmes of the type described in this case, the
trainees are exposed to very different social and cultural realities.
These empower them to bring about positive change, both in the community
they visit and in their own communities after they return home.
The Morata Local Community Development Foundation planned Project Morata
for a duration of three years (1997-1999) in co-operation with AIESEC.
The time frame adopted is sufficient to see significant improvement in
areas. The evaluation of these improvements will be carried out on an
ongoing basis.
Objectives
Sustainable development issues specifically addressed by the project are
as follows:
- poverty eradication in indigenous communities
- capacity building for women, youth and local leaders, by providing
education and training in support of sustainable development
- partnership with local business
Further very important objectives of the project relate to the
empowerment of the community through the Morata Local Community
Development Foundation. This means that the project (and through it the
Foundation) must become sustainable by late 1999, in at least two ways:
- Financial sustainability: all costs unrelated to the YDEP trainees (but
including one full-time salary for a national person) must be met by the
project's generated revenues (training fees and interests on the credit
scheme).
- Human sustainability: the community must be able to manage all the
aspects of the project that they feel must continue after 1999. A
trained, full-time national person should be able to take over the
overall management.
Another important aspect of this project is the link that AIESEC
establishes between existing companies and the small businesses of
Morata, through a godparent system. Through this, Project Morata develops
a sense of social awareness and responsibility among Papua New Guinea's
business community who support the start-up businesses in Morata.
Results
The project started in February 1997 with the first AIESEC trainee
arriving in Papua New Guinea. Two more followed in July and August. A
pilot -Start Your Businessū (SYB) workshop was successfully organised
from 28 July to 12 August 1997, with nineteen participants. Another is
planned for early February 1998. As a result, eleven small businesses are
currently being set up, after which they will be monitored for a period
of at least one year. Assistance is being provided to the entrepreneurs
in terms of access to credit, for which a small scale credit scheme is
being implemented. Another very important aspect is that these small
businesses must answer a need in the Morata community, which will be
their primary market. In parallel with the SYB workshops, AIESEC is
running Micro Enterprise Development Workshops, specifically targeted
towards the women of Morata. These workshops have been mostly focused on
the development of vocational skills such as food processing, handicrafts
or gardening, and have been resulted in the creation of micro
enterprises, that require very little capital.
In order to determine those needs, a survey of the areas was carried out
by members of the MLCDF and AIESEC-PNG. The results of this survey were
used to carry out a preliminary feasibility study for each of the
businesses proposed during the pilot workshop. Before starting each of
the formal training phases, a series of informal sessions are run in the
community in order to work on the peopleūs mind-sets and attitudes,
especially emphasising vision-building, initiative, proactivity and the
integration of sustainable solutions on a community level.
Lessons learned
Implementing the project has taught us a lot:
- The concept of micro enterprise development fits the need of community
women, who often lack even basic education. It was a better approach than
the standard SYB scheme.
- The involvement of women in this project has helped to instil a sense
of responsibility and solidarity among the youth, and from there
strengthen the community links in Morata as a whole.
Partners
- International Association of Students in Economic and Business(AIESEC)
- Small Business Development Corporation (SBCD)
- University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG)
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Contact for Further Information
Mr. Frank Kepson, Project Co-ordinator
P.O. Box 326 - University of Papua New Guinea
Waigani, NCD, - Papua New Guinea
Tel: +675 326 2357
Fax: +675 3267187
E-mail: morataf@hotmail.com
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CHILDREN and YOUTH
Agenda 21, Chapter 25
YOUTH SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS- A Rescue Mission Response to a CSD
Challenge
Introduction
The "Rescue Mission Network" is a loose affiliation of schools, eco-
groups and individuals who have worked on one of the Peace Child books
over the last five years. The network is continuously expanding as a
result of the success of the "Rescue Mission Planet Earth" book - a
children's edition of Agenda 21 that to date has sold 320,000 copies in
18 languages, generating new inquiries daily. Currently, many Rescue
Mission groups are engaged in the creation of a children's book of human
rights which attempts to link the disciplines of sustainable development
and the field of human rights. Most of our groups are composed of
activists with a keen interest in getting the job done. As such they are
generally not much impressed by UN conferences except insofar as they
free up new resources, point in new directions, and spur governments to
support them.
Rescue Mission has always followed closely the work of CSD, hoping to
persuade governments to do more to re-orient education towards teaching
sustainability studies as they promised in Agenda 21. In preparing for
the Youth Intersessional (for CSD in 1996), we decided to monitor whether
governments were fulfilling their promises effectively especially in the
area of enabling young people to participate in decision-making. The CSD
was then deep in discussion about Indicators for Sustainable Development
for the whole of Agenda 21. The CSD Secretariat invited Rescue Mission
to do for indicators what it had done for Agenda 21: that is, simplify
them, make them accessible to young people, and enable young people to
use them to participate in sustainable development processes. Although
the task was daunting, the young people of the Rescue Mission network
readily accepted the challenge. Thus, the Youth Sustainability indicators
project was born, directly inspired by the CSD.
The "Rescue Mission Youth Sustainability Indicators Project" has since
become a massive response from Children and Youth, one of the Agenda 21
Major Groups who have an immediate stake in the field of education for
sustainable development.
Objectives
The objectives of the project were to:
- help young people, especially those in the developing world, understand
the meaning of sustainable development in the context of their local
community,
- create a hands-on learning programme that leads directly to action for
community improvement,
- create new indicators that would enhance and bring new information to
the work of the CSD on Indicators,
- provide a fun activity for young people that would put them more in
touch with what is happening in their home community,
- get the indicators programme embedded in school systems so that every
student in school would, at some stage, get out and measure her/his
community's progress towards sustainability, comparing results with
previous year's findings.
By creating the indicators through a partnership between young people
from different parts of the world and top environment and development
experts, it was intended that the project would promote the concept of
partnership between youth and adults in decision-making.
Project Activity
- July/August 1995: Created First Draft Indicators Pack - questionnaires
arranged eco-regionally on environmental, economic, social and
attitudinal factors (stage I).
- February 1996: Prepared First Report, Mission Made Possible; and Second
Draft Indicators Pack in English, French and Spanish:- 16 questionnaires
arranged by topic to cover all issues related to sustainable development
covered in Agenda 21 (stage II).
- April 1996: Presented new Indicators Pack and reported to CSD 4 at the
Youth Intersessional Meeting.
- May-October 1996: Conducted training meetings throughout Africa, Asia
and Latin America on the use of the Indicators Pack.
- February 1997: Reviewed results from over 1,000 groups in 48 countries
and created Second Report, FutureWatch; prepared French & Spanish
editions.
- April 1997: Presented report and Indicators Stage III proposal at CSD5.
- June 1997: Continued to lobby for government support for indicators
programme, and the new components of Indicators Stage III - wider
outreach to countries that had not yet participated in the programme;
setting up of self-sustaining Sustainable Development Training Centres;
New Country-specific Indicator Packs for Secondary School students and
youth eco-groups; Junior Indicators Packs for Primary Schools; Action
Funds to support small action projects that groups wish to undertake
based on evidence discovered during indicator investigations.
Results Achieved
The impact of YSI has been enormous. An estimated 45,000 people took part
in the "Indicators for Action" project, learning about and monitoring the
sustainability of their communities. In 17 countries they organised
national evaluation meetings to share the results of their findings and
to discuss further plans. Results from a few countries include:
- Pakistan - the go-ahead has been given for a project called the
Pakistani Girl Child Project which will be setting up an Agenda 21 for
Pakistani girls. Nation-wide girl councils are being set up to empower
marginalised young girls and provide a platform for their opinions.
- Peru - the Rescue Mission group in this country has been working with
their national government to develop an environmental curriculum that
involves a monitoring function for young people. This will be officially
recognised by the local government,
- Benin - The local Rescue Mission Group, Mission Terre Benin, has
established a waste collection system as a result of doing the Indicators
programme. The group is recycling biodegradable waste to use as compost
for the village vegetables. The money generated from the vegetable sales
is paying for the cost of collecting the rubbish,
- Senegal - Rescue Mission group on this country published a report on
the sustainability of Senegal with the assistance of the Dutch Embassy,
which involved a nation-wide consultative process,
- Zanzibar, Tanzania - Rescue Mission has been working with local
village-women to implement a solar-box cooker project which was in
response to findings that the need for fire-wood has devastated forest
reserves on the island. The project was developed as a partnership
between the local women and this group of young Tanzanians who were
building the solar-box cookers.
These projects and many others have been carried out by dedicated young
people from around the world. The effects of their work in assisting
schools with education for sustainability is immeasurable and we hope
that generations of young people will grow up educated in the skills that
they need to build sustainable futures in their countries.
Feedback from thousands of students showed that the Youth Indicator Pack
helped them learn for the first time about Agenda 21 and sustainable
development as well as about concepts such as "Factor Four".
Lessons Learned
We learned three interesting things from the first two stages.
First, Secondary School Students do not have much time for extra-
curricular activities. Their minds are focused on their examination and
classes. At a Youth meeting held to discuss this two courses of action
were recommended, both of which we have taken up. These were to:
- prepare a Junior Indicator Pack for primary school students. They have
more time and are equally adept at getting out and finding out what is
happening in their local communities. This we have done, and have had the
joyous experience of working in partnership with some very talented 9-11
year olds, who have ideas every bit as practical about the disciplines
of sustainability as older young people with whom we have typically
worked,
- prepare an Examination Course in Sustainability Studies. Ten pilot
schools are being selected and the examination course will be created in
partnership between the teachers, students and examiners. New Text Books
are being created, and hands-on action projects based on the Indicators
Programme included as course-work which earn examination credits.
Both these initiatives are being prepared for the UK initially but may
be quickly adapted to other country situations. Another part of the
feedback, this time from the teachers, was that they would find it useful
to know how their local indicators related to national trends. Our new
indicator packs and exam courses are linked directly to national
information and conditions.
The second lesson that we learned was that getting young people to create
their own indicators and take action based on their findings is hard.
Like pulling teeth!! The representatives of participating groups
discussed this at length at last year's planning meeting: they were all
extremely frustrated as they are all from activist backgrounds and they
had a problem with the indicators as young people and teachers felt that
just by doing them, they were contributing to sustainable development -
which of course, they were not! They might have learned the meaning of
sustainable development - but until they took action, they had not made
any contribution. Thus the idea of Action Funds was set up - small sums
of money($50-$500) for which groups could compete to do projects. The New
Indicator Packs were designed to build action integrally into the
programmes - and they have done, but, of course, the funds need to be
there to ensure it works.
The third lesson, however, was the most depressing; currently, we cannot
distribute these Indicator Packs, as we have no funding for the project.
We have learned from the past three years the enormous difficulty in
attempting to undertake a major international education programme without
commitments to "sustainable funding".
Many young people continue pressing for sustainable development education
and support from governments and international organisations for their
efforts in this direction. As Sheku Syl Kamara, co-ordinator of Rescue
Mission Sierra Leone said when he spoke to the Special Session of the
General Assembly on Agenda 21 in June 1997:
"Young people need to learn the principles of sustainable
development and we are anxious that Education for this noble concept
does not remain a "forgotten priority" for the next five years. In
the absence of a formal curriculum, we have found in Sierra Leone
that doing the Rescue Mission indicators of sustainable development
in our communities, we learn very well the meaning of the concept.
But I come here today to issue an ultimatum to governments:
particularly in Africa, you have to do more to educate us in this
concept. You are failing us. If we are going to learn how to sustain
life on this planet, you have to work education on this concept into
school curricula."
We continue responding to the challenge of sustainable development and
looking for new and innovative ways of delivering sustainable development
education to young people in the developing world. Through the World
Bank's InfoDev programme and the EU, we are hoping to receive funding to
set up Sustainable Development Training Centres - Internet Cafes which
provide sustainable development training to schools via the internet and
hands on activities, while at the same time earning their keep by
providing business services for profit to business and individuals. We
are also seeking to mainstream education for sustainable development by
making an attractive course for students to study alongside other
mainstream subjects. Without such mainstreaming, we fear the impetus for
education in this area will be lost.
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Contact for Further Information
David Woollcombe,
Director, Rescue Mission Planet Earth
Peace Child International Headquarters
The White House, Buntingford, Hertfordshire,
England SG9 9AH
Tel:+44 176 327 4459
Fax:+44 176 327 4460
E-Mail:100640.3551@compuserve.com
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Development Mission in TierradentRo Columbia: Youth Learn Leadership and
Entrepreneurial Skills for Sustainable Development
Introduction
The word Tierradentro signifies an obscure land, apart from civilisation,
where indigenous people buried their dead, making the land sacred, full
of rituals and myths that shape the regionūs identity. The Tierradentro
region is located in the south-western, mountainous part of Colombia,
about 15 hours from the countryūs capital Bogota'. The regionūs
population, mainly indigenous, lives off small scale (average 3 acres)
farming, growing coffee, corn and Colombian banana. An earth quake in the
1980s, coupled with guerrilla activity that continued until recently,
caused a virtual cessation of further development in the region. Despite
this hardship, Tierradentro was declared Cultural and Historic Patrimony
in 1996 by UNESCO. This recognised its archaeological richness and also
its cultural diversity (the regionūs population consists of a mixture of
black, white and indigenous people).
The project "Misio'n de Desarrollo en Tierradentro" is the result of an
initiative held by the indigenous student group "Protierradentro" and
"the International Association of Students in Economics and Management"
(AIESEC). The project contributes to the development of the Tierradentro
region, through the international action and co-operation of youth. The
focus of the project is community- and youth-based. After conducting a
joint investigation into the community needs, Protierradentro and AIESEC
decided to focus their work on:
- development of leadership and entrepreneurial skills among local youth;
- awareness building for sustainable use of natural resources; and,
- improvement of participation in local political institutions.
Objectives
- Developing training workshops on sustainable agriculture for local farmers
through partnerships
between the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros (National Federation of Coffee
Farmers) and the
AIESEC trainees
- Developing entrepreneurship and leadership towards poverty
eradication in indigenous communities
- Educating local leaders, youth and women on sustainable
development
- Development of youth through international exchange
Project Activities
The projectūs core is the work of an interdisciplinary group of
international students who live and work in the Tierradentro
region. The students are selected from AIESECūs world-wide
exchange network. Upon their arrival in Bogota', AIESEC Andes
provided an intensive preparation and introduction module for
the international trainees. During the nine month duration of
the project, three teams of students worked for three months
each.
In co-operation with the local school board and the regionūs
government institutions, AIESEC trainees helped local youth to
develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills. These included
how to set up micro-enterprises, and how to become aware of the
potential for sustainable use of the natural environment. The
development of "leadership and entrepreneurial skills" stands
at the very top of the projectūs priorities. Entrepreneurship
is more than creation of enterprises, it empowers the community
to address local development issues for itself. The trainees
developed a complete cycle of leadership workshops with the
following groups: students, community leaders, and community
organisations. Main topics were the development of personal
potential, the motivation of others in teams, the strategies
for an independent assessment of community needs and education
about the ways and means of political participation such as
bringing community issues and claims to local and regional
government. Participants were taught how to effectively design
community based projects and how to access international and
national funding for those initiatives.
Results Achieved
The project provided an enormous learning and personal
development experience for everybody involved, including young
people, the greater community of Tierradentro, the projectūs
organisers from Protierradentro and AIESEC-Andes, and AIESECūs
international students from countries such as Italy, Germany
and Switzerland.
"Young people" of Tierradentro learned not only how to set up
small businesses and community projects but, as importantly, to
value their own initiative and creativity. The project helped
half a dozen micro-enterprises whose progress is being
monitored by AIESEC students.
The "local community" learned how to link their projects into
national, regional, and international efforts of government and
aid agencies, as well as basic skills such as application for
funding and technical support.
Community leaders learned effective techniques to integrate
their work in local government and to press for their
communityūs needs through the local political system.
"AIESEC trainees" gained experiences they can put to work in
their home countries - bringing southern community knowledge to
their northern social environments.
Lessons Learned
The project provided important experiences about the tremendous
power that can be generated when people of different
backgrounds (youth and indigenous people) co-operate with local
government and international agencies. Among the partners of
the latter type were the Universidad de los Andes, the National
Coffee Farmers Association, the Mayorūs office of Inza, and the
farmersū co-operative NAZAQUIWI.
Project Tierradentro clearly showed that youth initiatives can
have lasting impact on community development of communities and
on the development of the youth who participate in the process.
The importance of a continuing and built-in evaluation process
was recognised. On-going feedback from participating community
leaders, NGOs and trainees helped to resolve problems and
bottlenecks quickly.
The partner indigenous youth association, Protierradentro, has
been working on issues of community education before this
project, but it found that co-operation with AIESEC and its
global network and contacts made a significant difference.
All in all, the project showed the importance to develop
individuals as such and their communities in general. Personal
leadership development and business creation went hand in hand
with the development of local government involvement and the
formulation of civil-society needs and pressures.
--------------------------------------------------------------
For Further Information Contact
Protierradentro
Mr. Eliecer Morales
Guanacas - Inza
Tierradentro, Cauca
Colombia South America
Tel: +57-28-252546
AIESEC Andes - Mr. Carlos Sanchez Casas
Cra 1E No 18A-10, Universidad de los Andes
Santafe de Bogota', Colombia, South America
Tel: +57-1-286 9211 Ext. 2228, Tel: +57-1-256 8015
Fax: +57-1-284 1890
E-Mail: aiesec@uniandes.edu.co
E-Mail: car-sanc@uniandes.edu.co
URL: wwwprof.uniandes.edu.co/~aiesec/home.html
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INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Agenda 21, Chapter 26
LEARNING TO VALUE TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE - Developing a Local Curriculum
in Mae Wang, Thailand
Introduction
The "Inter Mountain Peoples Education and Culture in Thailand
Association" (IMPECT) was founded with the intention of supporting,
promoting and revitalising the traditional belief systems, agricultural
systems and cultures of the hilltribes in Northern Thailand. At the heart
of this aim is the need to educate the youth, the future of the tribe,
in traditional knowledge. Therefore it was decided that IMPECT would
become involved in the development and implementation of local curricula,
to be taught alongside the Thai curricula already being taught in all
village schools. Obviously these curricula are incredibly complex and
completely different for each of the tribes concerned. They involve not
only the language and beliefs of each tribe but the site-specific
agricultural systems that have evolved within each community.
Throughout Northern Thailand there is a serious threat to the
"sustainability" of the hilltribesū distinct cultures. This threat is
posed by the influx of consumerism, lack of land security, large
migrations to the cities, and to the formal schooling being used at
present in these communities. This schooling has some very basic problems
that must be addressed if the children are to get the education they
need. Three main problems can be seen with formal schooling, (i) the
teachers are not hilltribe persons and lack basic understanding of the
traditions and way of life of the communities, (ii) the communities
themselves have no input into the education given them, and (iii) the
curriculum is biased towards industrialisation and has no provision for
the retention of traditional knowledge.
These problems with the existing curriculum have led to community
children becoming alienated from the local wisdom and values. In some
communities there are large gulfs between parents and their children in
terms of what is held as valuable and what is considered unworthy. Such
gulfs feed the "unsustainability" of the communities. Therefore it is
necessary to link the school into the life of the community, to make it
a valuable and relevant part of the communityūs life. One way to ensure
this was to institute a curriculum designed by members of the community
that can address the real and distinct problems facing hilltribe youth
as they try to become part of the Thai society while retaining the values
and wisdom of their culture.
In 1996 the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development at its
Fourth Session, focusing on education in support of sustainable
development, called for education programmes for indigenous peoples that
valued traditional knowledge. The present project contributes to the
implementation of that policy.
Objectives
The development and implementation of a locally based curriculum had
seven main objectives, namely;
- To provide the children with the educational opportunities as a basic
right.
- To make the children and youth proud of their culture and enable them
to master local wisdom and help them adjust to the multi-cultural society
of modern Thailand.
- To create a situation in which the children can be happy, have hope and
are proud of their locality.
- To prepare the children for their future careers and help them make
effective career decisions as they face the many choices now available.
- To prepare children and youth for taking leading roles in the
perpetuation of their cultural heritage and at the same time function
effectively as a member of the society
- To create a partnership between school and the community, making the
school system a relevant and valuable part of the community.
- To develop locally created curricula that best suits the local needs
of the community and to start pushing for educational policy concerning
these local curricula to be culturally relevant.
For each of the hilltribes of Northern Thailand, and especially for the
Pgakenyaw living in the villages where this project was implemented, the
relationship between the traditional lifestyle and the conservation of
their natural surrounding is integral. By supporting the retention of
these agricultural systems in the locally developed curriculum,
sustainable management of natural resources of the villages can be
ensured. It is hoped that the curriculum will ensure that these farming
practices are able to continue, by being supported by knowledge about the
importance of maintaining the environment. Towards this end additional
activities were held to educate the youth in environmental issues.
Project Activities
In the area of Mae Wang the idea of a local curriculum was new; therefore
the initial emphasis for the project was on educating and strengthening
the community organisations in the area. Once the support for the
curriculum was in place there were two distinct stages to be carried out.
Firstly the curriculum itself had to be developed, involving the
development of the learning media itself and the training of the teachers
who were to use it. The second stage was the actual implementation of the
new curriculum. In this state, it was found necessary that the curriculum
be used with not only the children still in school but also with young
people who had left the school system.
Details of Specific Activities towards the development and testing of the
curriculum:
- A series of meetings (six in total) were held with peoples'
organisations in the five villages of the project
- Data collection throughout the area and translation from the local
dialect into Thai and production of the teaching materials.
- A seminar with 100 youths from the five villages was held on
environmental education and study visits were organised for 25 of these
youths.
- Consultative meetings were held with 24 officials from governmental
institutions, NGOs, members of the academia and community leaders.
- The developed local curriculum was tested in five schools, for a total
of 12 periods.
Results Achieved
The process of implementing the curriculum is just beginning with the
project advancing to its completion in May 2000. The results expected at
the completion of the project will be far reaching with the knowledge
gained by the children standing them in good stead for the difficult
decisions that lie ahead.
To analyse the results at this early stage, then, is perhaps a little
presumptive. Nonetheless, it can be said that there is an increased
feeling of the value of traditional knowledge among the children and
youth in the target villages. Additionally, strengthening peoples'
organisations in the Mae Wang district has resulted in a revitalisation
of the traditional respect systems, such as the respect traditionally
accorded to the elders of the villages as the chief educators of the
young.
Lessons Learned
The process of formulating a local curriculum is long and difficult. Its
success in Mae Wang district must be taken as an encouraging sign.
However the very nature of "a local curriculum" means that there are no
rules for easy transfer to other communities, peoples or areas, as each
place different values on aspects of their cultures. Perhaps the most
valuable lesson learned was the importance of information collected on
which to base the curriculum. The community needs to see that the
curriculum is truly reflecting their culture and their needs for it to
foster a closer link between the schools and the communities.
It is also necessary to spend some time to strengthen organisations
already working in the areas, such as local peoplesū organisations and
traditional leadership systems. It was clearly seen in the Mae Wang area
that the local curriculum would succeed only if it had the support of the
community. This is a lesson that is transferable to other communities.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For Further Information Contact
Prasert-Trakansuphakon
(Director)
Inter-Mountain People Education and
Culture in Thailand Assosication (IMPECT)
252 Moo 2, Amphur Sansai, Tambol Sansainoi
Chiang Mai 50210 THAILAND
Tel. 66 53 398591
Fax. 66 53 398592
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WE CAN DO IT! A Hope For Sustainable Development of Forest Resources in The
Solomon Islands
Introduction
The indigenous peoples of the Solomon Islands are forest dwellers and
depend heavily on their forests for survival. The forest provides them
with food, shelter, medicine and clothing. Unlike most other countries
where most of the land and forests are owned by the state, ownership by
people is more than 80 per cent.
Logging operations started in the 1960s, and by the 1980s it had become
a major concern for both the government and the indigenous peoples of the
Solomon Islands. Since then, despite many awareness campaigns on
sustainable development, both the number of logging companies, and the
unsustainable rate of harvesting of timber resources have been
increasing. The local communities (resource owners) are determined that
they can carry out sustainable logging and milling once proper training
and financial assistance are made available.
"Soltrust" is one of the major local indigenous non-government
organisations in the Solomon Islands dedicated to promote sustainable
forest management. Established in 1986, it has more than ten years of
experience in outreach, extension, training and awareness programmes in
eco-forestry.
In 1990, Soltrust established an Integrated Eco-Forestry Programme (IEFP)
to complement its awareness campaigns. Lack of investment capital to buy
the equipment necessary to start sustainable milling projects was
identified as a serious obstacle.
In 1992, the Eco-Forestry programme was launched to give communities
training on forest management, resulting in 17 projects being assisted.
In 1995, a small revolving fund was established to assist resource
owners. This has funded 9 community-based Eco-Forestry Model Projects
(EMPs).
This case is about Soltrustūs more recent effort involving the Rarade
Community of the Isabel Province. Although this island province has been
out of reach by loggers until recently, it is now threatened as logging
companies look for new forest resources. Its growing concern led the
Rarade Community to request Soltrustūs assistance. A partnership has been
created as a model for future eco-forestry activities, not only in Isabel
and in the Solomon Islands at large, but also for neighbouring countries
facing similar situations.
As part of its design, the partnership will also test the applicability
of the timber certification programme, initiated by the Forest
Stewardship Council in the Solomon Islands. The Smartwood Program of the
Rainforest Alliance an international NGO based in the USA, conducted a
preliminary certification assessment on this operation in December 1997.
Timber certification is envisaged by 1998.
Objectives
- To conduct a training programme for Rarade Community Timber Milling
Project.
- To train members of the Rarade community on how to manage their forests
properly.
- To produce 40 cubic metres of timber, initially, to cover costs of
machines and training
- To make the people understand what and why certification is important.
- To train the people in how to produce quality timber in an
environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.
- To have something concrete to prove to the people that there is a
substitute and better alternative to large scale logging.
Project Activity
The planned training and activities were conducted. Their progress was
covered in Soltrustūs newsletter, "Sol-Tree Nius", as well as being
broadcast on the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Co-operation (SIBC) through
the awareness and education programme "Can We Do It?" every Sunday at
8.30 - 9.00pm.
Five Officers engaged in this operation were sub-divided into three
groups, according to the three areas to be covered in the training (two
persons for forest management training, two persons for timber
milling/production and one person for chainsaw/equipment maintenance and
servicing training). These five officers had to spend the period of three
months (September - December 1997), training in all aspects of starting
and continuing their milling operations.
At the end of the three months, the community will be able to master the
skills needed for managing the project themselves. Also, this period of
time will give enough time to produce enough timber to meet the cost of
machines and part of the training costs. Training sessions were held on:
- Forest Management - land demarcation, forest inventory and selecting
the trees to be felled.
- Land Demarcation - setting up blocks using foresterūs compass and
linear tape measures.
- Forest Inventory - taking stock of the demarcated blocks to find out
the approximate volume of timbers that can be extracted from the area.
- Tree Selection for Felling - assessing trees for felling with emphasis
on standing volume, natural tree lean, topography and volume per hectare
stock.
- Timber Milling (Production) - how to fell a tree in a way that will
cause less damage to the surrounding vegetation and how to obtain maximum
and quality products out of trees. A production target of 40 cubic metres
was targeted which was an order for Holland. Recording of timbers
produced for timber certification purposes (chain of custody, etc) is
also part of this training.
- Chainsaw/Equipment - maintenance and servicing.
Results Achieved
- 28 m3 of timber was produced within the time specified. Of this 18 m3 was of
export quality and sold to Germany.
The remainder was sold locally.
- Rarade community is now able to obtain milling equipment for their
future operations.
- Six resource owners from Rarade Community were able to master skills
and techniques for sustainable milling operations, thus increasing their
commitment to harvest their own timber resources. The six trainees are
also able to identify among themselves which roles each of them will play
in their operations.
- Greater understanding by the people regarding sustainable development,
as they are able to physically see a sustainable milling operation.
- Resource owners able to see what quality control and eco-timber means,
(good and high quality timbers harvested in an environmentally friendly
manner, meaning better and competitive prices).
Rarade community is able to understand better what forest certification
is and why it is important.
Lessons Learned
As a result of this case study, a lot has been learned as important areas
to be considered for sustainable small scale milling projects. These
areas were identified during general discussions with members of the
Rarade Community in the course of training.
- "Training" is key in this type of operation. Such developments are new
to the people, and their operations as well as the success of their
projects depend on the training given. Follow-up training also has to be
organised and arranged according to need.
- "Monitoring and Evaluation" of the project on a regular basis is essential
to ensure that operations are in line with sustainable standards and also
to identify training needs.
- "Transportation" will become an issue as the project expands inland, because
a.bulldozer would be needed to construct road access (though not to use
in the management area). Such an operation would require planning and
training to minimise damage. Financial and technical expertise would also
be needed.
- "Financial & technical" assistance is an area of need by forest resource
owners of the Solomon Islands. The resource owners have the natural
resources but are unable to harvest them due to the lack of investment
capital to purchase the required equipment for their operations.
The resource owners are more than willing to harvest their own timber
resources in a sustainable manner. Thus it is not a question of their
willingness or commitment but lack of understanding among the donors
about the situation facing the indigenous people.
Soltrust believes that the approach it has developed is the only
effective means, if the forest resources of the Solomon Islands are to
be sustained for future generations. This will enable indigenous peoples
to take control over their own forest resources. With this kind of
approach, we can effectively work as partners with the people to achieve
sustainable management of their forest resources. Thus, training and
education will be incomplete without such support and assistance. The
export of the eco-timber provides the indigenous resource owners and the
country with better economic returns compared to income earned from
logging.
Finally, Soltrust concludes that experience including that of the Rarade
Community has shown that awareness programmes can only be effectively
carried out if attached to the financial and technical sources required
for actual establishment of indigenous peoplesū projects.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contacts for Further Information
Solomon Islands Contact
Soltrust, P.O.Box 748
Honiara
Solomon Islands
Phone: +677 30947/48
Fax: +677 30468
E-mail: soltrust@welkam.solomon.com.sb
London Contact
Ian Aujare
International Alliance of Indigenous Peoples
of the Tropical Forests
Phone: +44 171 587 3737
Fax: +44 171 793 8686
E-mail: morbeb@gn.apc.org
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A UNIVERSITY OF THE ARCTIC - Indigenous Peoples Participate in the
Creation of a Higher Education Institution in Support of Sustainable
Development
Introduction
The "Circumpolar Universities Association" (CUA) aims at encouraging co-
operation and promoting higher education and research in the northern
circumpolar region of the world. CUA was established in the late 1980s,
when the universities and colleges in the circumpolar north started
recognising that, in addition to their own scholarly work, co-operation
with other northern institutions would considerably enhance their
northern knowledge and ability to serve their regions. CUA, with a
current membership of well over 50 institutions from all over the
Circumpolar world, focuses its activities around the biannual
multidisciplinary Circumpolar Co-operation Conferences. The conferences
provide significant opportunities for higher education institutions and
researchers to seek information on and partners for institutional
development and co-operation. Between conferences, the Association,
through a Secretariat at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland,
acts as a communication link for both member and non-member universities,
research institutes and individuals seeking contacts with each other on
issues relating to circumpolar education, research and institutional
development.
The initial proposal for the establishment of a University of the Arctic
came as one branch of the "Rovaniemi process".The concept of a University
of the Arctic so clearly matches the aims and objectives of the
Circumpolar Universities Association, that its General Meeting decided
to be actively involved with the development process of the concept.
Further, it determined that its membership should be committed to
conducting a feasibility study on the initiative. As a result of this,
CUA, representing the academic community in the circumpolar north, was
formally approached by the Government of Canada to conduct a Feasibility
Study. This would be undertaken in conjunction with the Permanent
Participant Indigenous Peoples Organisations of the Arctic Council during
1998.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992, held
in Rio de Janeiro (Rio) provided a renewed impetus for the proposals.
Agenda 21, one of Rioūs major outcomes, devotes a chapter to the concern
for strengthening the role of indigenous peoples and their communities.
This identifies the need for the provision of capacity building,
education and research to enable indigenous peoples to contribute fully
to sustainable development practices. It was clearly seen that the
project was not only fully in accord with these, but was actively seeking
to implement them. Accordingly, we were encouraged to redouble our
efforts to bring our proposals to fruition. We felt that the immediacy
of the Arctic environment when combined with its strong influence on the
livelihoods of Arctic indigenous peoples and the character of their
political efforts made the need for sustainable development even more
obvious than it might otherwise be. As a result, it was acclaimed as the
guiding vision for the University of the Arctic.
Objectives
The long-term objective is to create a University of the Arctic that
serves the needs of people living in the northernmost regions of the
"Arctic Eight" countries (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland,
Norway, Russia, Sweden and United States). The University should, as far
as possible, be for the benefit of, and exist through, the efforts of
people living in the Arctic. Since many indigenous peoples not only
inhabit the Arctic, but often constitute the majority population of these
regions, a concept of a University of the Arctic is inconceivable without
the central engagement of indigenous peoplesū representatives.
The clear need for such a university can be found first of all in the
characteristics of the Arctic itself. By usual standards, everything
about the Arctic is extreme - the weather, climate, the long distances
and remoteness, the low population density, the richness of the natural
resources, the cultural diversity, to name only a few factors. As a
consequence, its inhabitants often experience a lack of attention from
the economic and power centres of their respective countries. Differences
in standard of living, provision of services and degree of infrastructure
are some of the main categories of inequality that Arctic communities
must cope with when attempting to develop education systems that prepare
them for the challenges and expectations of life in a globalizing world.
And in the Arctic at least as much as anywhere else, it is clear that
this situation is even more acute for its indigenous peoples. At the same
time, a number of new autonomy arrangements - land claims agreements,
home rule governments and new territories - are calling for the creation
of entire public services from amongst the indigenous peoples.
The short-term objective has therefore been to ensure the full
partnership of indigenous peoples of the Arctic from as early a stage as
possible in the process of envisioning and creating a University of the
Arctic. This objective has been challenged by the fact that the
Circumpolar Universities Association is a non-governmental transnational
organisation whose members are already-existing institutions of higher
education and research, without any specific indigenous peoplesū
participation, apart from various roles in some of those same
institutions. Thus, the objective has been re-stated as a question: how
can the Circumpolar Universities Association achieve the full partnership
of indigenous peoples of the Arctic in creating a new kind of university,
a University of the Arctic?
This objective has been broken down into several steps, or sub-
objectives, in order to cope with the complexity of the long-term goal.
The present case study concerns a clearly defined crucial step, which has
now been concluded, in this process.
Project Activity
Project Title: "Indigenous Peoples and the Formation of a Representative
Working Group for a University of the Arctic"
The long-term objective of creating a University of the Arctic has been
envisioned as requiring a number of clearly defined projects. These
should all contribute concrete results that strengthen the viability of
the overarching objective. Some of these have already been completed,
others remain to be developed and some are on-going.
The most significant project to date has been to secure appropriate and
interested representation, from the wide range of constituencies and
communities in the circumpolar north, on the Working Group that will
conduct the feasibility study of the University of the Arctic. This
representation will determine the essence of the Working Group, and in
turn, will determine the success or failure of this process. A
circumpolar university that did not represent the aspirations,
contributions and participation of indigenous peoples would be a failure,
as was indicated above. On the other hand, a feasibility study performed
by a Working Group composed of individuals who not only represent their
constituencies, but who are also strong academics committed to the
educational goals of indigenous peoples, has a much increased chance of
receiving support from funding agencies interested in creating a new and
different kind of university.
Although this understanding made our objectives clear, the key question
remained; to recapitulate, how could we be confident that the membership
on the Working Group was anchored not only with Arctic indigenous
peoples, but amongst indigenous people who were involved in matters of
higher education?
For guidance in assuring such a specific category of representation, we
followed the pattern of the circumpolar Arctic Councilūs composition. In
addition to the eight member countries, the Arctic Council also has three
Permanent Participant Indigenous Peoples Organisations, (PPIPOs). This
is widely felt to be appropriate representation at the circumpolar level.
These organisations are the Association of Minority Indigenous Peoples
of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation
(RAIPON), the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), and the Sami Council.
The task appeared simple: we simply needed to contact the three PPIPOs
and they would nominate their representatives to the Working Group. Since
we felt that the University of the Arctic proposal was so transparently
and obviously in the best interest of indigenous peoples, everything
should go smoothly.
Results Achieved
Although we were in the end successful in being joined by three
wonderfully qualified and capable academic representatives of each the
three indigenous peoples' organisations, the process of getting to this
point demanded that the preparations for the beginning of the Working
Group's activities have been radically altered.
The situation with communications was eventually solved. Although in one
instance, a representative was informed late in the afternoon that a
Working Group meeting had been called for the next day he braved a 600
km drive over icy roads across Lapland and arrived intrepid if slightly
late. Accounts of difficulties faced by other delegates could also be
related.
R
In spite of the difficulties and the resultant worry and expense, the
Working Group of the Circumpolar Universities Association is now formed
and has the strong commitment and engagement of the three largest and
most important indigenous peoples' organisations in the Arctic. It is
truly circumpolar. The representatives are highly qualified academics and
their organisations are feeling that they, too, own the process, and the
rest of us feel that we now have true partners in this endeavour.
Lessons Learned
The first round of contact was different from the experience of the
Circumpolar Universities Association. While the CUA is an organisation
of academics representing their institutions, indigenous peoplesū
organisations represent a vastly broader spectrum of interests and
concerns. Thus we noted that the usual forms of academic and educational
contacts were insufficient.
This was also part of the reason behind the communications problem. It
was eventually explained that our attempts at contact were not duly
recognised because they had not been preceded by interpersonal, real-
time, live communication. In other words, using meetings or telephone
calls rather than our approach of using written materials such as fax,
regular mail, and e-mail. Although the latter had their value for us as
records, and as formal, well-considered and serious statements of intent,
we eventually found that there was a need to personally convince key
individuals, often through intermediaries, about the merits of the
proposal on the University of the Arctic. Once convinced in this fashion,
the commitment was total.
Another issue is language. It is today very common in academia to rely
on English as a universal medium, but as we were to discover, this was
not the case especially for the Russian-based indigenous peoplesū
organisation. Even if that body appears to want to participate in
transnational discourse, it is a fact that its representativesū skills
in English, as they themselves have expressed it to us, are almost
completely insufficient for what they would like to achieve. We have been
attempting to translate all of our materials into Russian. This effort
seems to have made a great difference in establishing our credibility
with our new-found partners in proceeding down the path to an eventual
University of the Arctic.
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Contact for Further Information
Dr. Richard Langlais, Research Project Director, or
Ms. Outi Snellman, Secretary-General
Secretariat
Circumpolar Universities Association
University of Lapland
P.O.Box 122
FIN-96101 Rovaniemi
Finland
Tel.: +358-16-324-767
Fax: +358-16-324-777
E-mail: richard.langlais@urova.fi
E-mail: outi.snellman@urova.fi
Web: http://www.urova.fi/home/cua
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NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
Agenda 21, Chapter 27
THE ETHICAL TRADING INITIATIVE - An NGO Helps Companies to Learn in
Partnership to Improve Supply Chain Ethics
Introduction
The "New Economics Foundation" (NEF) is a UK based NGO which for over a
decade has worked to identify, design and encourage the take-up of
socially just and environmentally sustainable approaches to economics and
business. It has been a leader in the development of the "Ethical Trading
Initiative", which it is currently chairing.
The Ethical Trading Initiative was developed in response to a growing
concern among consumers that the goods they buy should be produced in
conditions that are safe and decent, and that enable working people to
maintain their dignity and a reasonable standard of living. Consumers,
citizens' groups, non-governmental organisations and trades unions have
in recent years put pressure on companies to ensure that acceptable
working conditions are guaranteed in the production and distribution of
goods, including those of their contractors and subcontractors.
Many companies have drawn up codes of conduct that cover these basic
standards. For example, in the USA up to 85 per cent of large companies
now have codes of conduct. In the UK, seven out of ten of the top
supermarkets have adopted ethical sourcing policies. This is a positive
step. However, these written commitments need to be backed up by action -
monitoring working conditions and working with suppliers to improve them
- if they are going to improve the lives of workers.
For many, this is a new process. Companies accustomed to monitoring the
quality of products in their supply chain are beginning to think about
how they can monitor issues such as child labour and workersū rights.
Campaigning groups and NGOs accustomed to attacking companies through the
media are beginning to think how they can play a part in making this
monitoring effective. There is much to learn and much to be gained from
working together.
Thus, the Ethical Trading Initiative is based on a number of educational
elements: training, raising awareness, capacity building, and developing
resources. Essentially, the initiative is focused on "learning" about
ethical trading. It serves as a focus for mutual learning from the varied
experiences of its wide-ranging membership, as well as from other
stakeholders active in this area and from parallel initiatives.
Objectives
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) aims to improve labour standards
down the supply chains of the retailers supplying into the UK market. It
is a unique "civil initiative" that brings organisations to the table
that have traditionally fought each other, whether over ethics or market
share. Participants include many of the largest retail companies trading
in Britain, the international trade union movement, major development and
human rights non-profit organisations, and the UK government.
ETI serves as a forum for experimentation, learning, dialogue, and
negotiation aimed at reaching agreement on how best to improve the
situation of workers in supply chains through the adoption of codes and
associated monitoring and verification processes.
Project Activities
ETI emerged from the work of an alliance of NGOs which formed in 1996
under the umbrella of the Monitoring and Verification Working Group. This
group's initial work culminated in the report, Open Trading: Effective
Options for Monitoring, published last year by The New Economics
Foundation, in association with the Catholic Institute for International
Relations. Following this, a series of consultations involving companies,
trade unions, and government, was brokered by this group, in the main
chaired by the New Economics Foundation and organised jointly with the
Fairtrade Foundation. Finally, after over a year of hard work, ETI was
born, greatly accelerated by the interest in labour standards generated
by the campaigns of Christian Aid, Oxfam, and the World Development
Movement, and also the support of the UK Government through the
Department for International Development.
ETI was formed as a response to the danger that, in the international
flurry of activity around codes of conduct, creative energy would be
unnecessarily dispersed and wasted through a fragmentation of efforts and
outputs. ETI was therefore set up as a forum in which companies, NGOs and
trades unions could:
- dialogue with key stakeholders internationally
- try different approaches to monitoring codes of conduct
- learn from these experiences and also from the experiences of others
working in this and related fields
- link this learning into the development of local institutions which
would have the capacity to deliver monitoring
- develop a practical tool-kit of meaningful labour standards, monitoring
and independent verification procedures and training processes which can
be widely used by companies to improve working conditions within their
supply chains; and
- develop a common framework of quality for monitoring and verification
Results Achieved
The Ethical Trading Initiative has developed and secured funding for a
three year program of work including pilot monitoring, regional seminars
and an international conference, publications and regular briefings and
training development. At the time of writing it is only two months into
this program of work so the final results are some way from being
realised. However, the collaborative development of this work plan
reflects the exchange of ideas and understanding within the diverse group
of organisations involved in the Initiative.
The potential for ETI to support real changes to people's lives is
underlined by the breadth of participation even at this early stage. For
example, the companies involved in the Ethical Trading Initiative extend
across the food, textiles and household goods, and telecommunications,
sectors. Each participating company deals with hundreds or thousands of
direct suppliers, many of which in turn buy from other companies further
down the supply chain. Taken together, the current businesses
participating in ETI purchase from upwards of 5 million factories, farms
and plantations in 50 countries. These therefore affect the lives of tens
of millions of workers, their families, and the communities in which they
live.
Lessons Learnt
The last decade has seen the emergence of a renewed and direct, dialogue
between business and civil institutions. The term, "dialogue", should of
course be used advisedly since it evokes a sense of calm interaction.
Often dialogue has been far from that. The business community is,
however, responding to civil pressure; the move towards adopting codes
of conduct and independent monitoring is just one example of how it is
doing this. Others include companies such as British Telecom. This has
announced that it will move towards measurement and public disclosure of
its social performance, following the path of innovators in this field
such as The Body Shop in the UK, Sbn Bank in Denmark, and Tata in India.
There is an emerging pattern in the manner in which companies and civil
actors work through their differences and move towards a common programme
of action. There is an increasingly typical cycle of public awareness
raising, civil action, corporate response, dialogue, remedial programmes,
and shifts in corporate performance. New structures and forms of
institution are evolving that are neither voluntary nor statutory. They
enable and help to stabilise what are otherwise volatile situations. The
Ethical Trading Initiative is one example of this type of institution.
The Ethical Trading Initiative offers an example of companies commencing
and maintaining a dialogue, and working together in partnership with
other sections of civil society. Partnerships are not made up of like-
minded people or similar institutions. Complementary differences,
together with understanding and respect for such differences, are more
important in building effective partnerships than mere sameness. Those
who are struggling against each other often have the most to learn from
each other and to gain from working in partnership.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact for Further Information
Maya Forstater
The New Economics Foundation
Tel: +44 (0) 171 377 5696,
Fax: +44 (0) 171 377 5720
E-mail: maya.forstater@neweconomics.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A CURRICULUM FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP - An NGO Contribution to Education for
Sustainable Development
Introduction
"Oxfam" is a non-governmental development organisation (NGDO) with over
50 years experience in the field of poverty reduction and the alleviation
of suffering. It is based in Great Britain and has programmes in over 70
countries, working with the poorest people. Oxfam also works with policy
makers at a national and international level in order to promote the
interests of the poor. In Great Britain, it also has a strong campaigning
and education programme. This seeks to raise awareness about the nature,
causes and effects of poverty.
Oxfam has over 21 years experience of running a development education
programme which for the last 15 years has worked specifically with
educators in the formal sector to bring about curriculum change. This
programme is delivered through Oxfamūs own staff based in London,
Cardiff, Glasgow and Oxford, and by working with Development Education
Centres (DECs) and other like minded organisations and partners, on a
range of publication projects, lobbying and advocacy work.
Agenda 21 represented an acknowledgement by all the countries of the
world that poverty and environmental degradation are inextricably linked
and that sustainable development for all is not achievable without the
eradication of poverty. In the light of these concerns about poverty,
global equity and environmental destruction, Oxfam is seeking, by means
a "Curriculum for Global Citizenship", to show how education can
contribute to building a more equitable and sustainable world.
Oxfam sees the Global Citizen as someone who:
- is aware of the wider world and has a sense of his or her own role as
world citizen,
- respects and values diversity,
- has an understanding of how the world works economically, politically,
socially, culturally, technologically and environmentally,
- is outraged by social injustice,
- participates and contributes to the community at a range of levels from
the local to the global,
- is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable
place,
- takes responsibility for personal actions.
Few of us will feel that we yet measure up to this description of a
Global Citizen but most of us will wish to encourage this for the next
generation.
We also wish to emphasise that this is a local Great Britain (GB)
response, although we hope that it will also have resonance and relevance
for other countries. We recognise that many people in the South may
already be good Global Citizens, both through the contribution they make
to their local communities and by the fact that they are making only a
minute global footprint. But, at a time when most governments are
emphasising the importance of literacy and numeracy programmes, we also
feel that it is important to ask "What is the purpose of our current
education curricula?"
An increase in basic skills will not, on its own, bring about the change
required to ensure a safer and more sustainable future for us all. Most
education systems in the world have been designed for the needs of the
past, not of the future, and we believe that they need to be looked at
again with the needs of the 21st century in mind, and re-orientated
towards sustainable development for all.
A curriculum for Global Citizenship should, therefore, be based on:
- The importance of re-affirming or developing a sense of identity and
self-esteem
- Valuing all pupils and addressing inequality within the school and the
wider world
- The importance of relevant values, attitudes and personal and social
education
- Learning from the experiences of others around the world
- Relevance to young peoplesū interests and needs
- Supporting and increasing young peoplesū motivation to effect change
and a belief that anything is possible
- A holistic approach to the curriculum and the general ethos of the
school
Objectives of the Project
To incorporate global citizenship into the GB formal education curriculum
by:
- Producing and publishing a rationale and outline for a curriculum for
global citizenship,
- Setting up projects to demonstrate examples of good practice,
- Lobbying curriculum bodies,
- Organising a series of seminars for educationalists,
- Working in partnership with other development education and
environmental education practitioners to ensure wide dissemination of the
curriculum for global citizenship,
- Contributing to the work of development and environmental education
networks, such as the Education for Sustainability Forum (ESF) and the
UNED-UK/ESF Education Task Group,
- Producing and publishing relevant materials for teachers.
Project Activity
The first thing we had to do was develop a vision of a curriculum for
Global Citizenship. In order to do this, Oxfam education staff relied on
wide consultation with a range of key players in the field of education
in Great Britain. Inputs included comments from practitioners (teachers
and lecturers) as well as feedback from QCA (the Qualifications and
Curriculum Association) which is the lead body overseeing the curriculum
in England.
We were able to proceed to set up a range of projects to explore the
potential of Global Citizenship for the curriculum, and to develop
examples of good practice on which to build further support. Partners
include Local Education Authorities, Development Education centres, Local
Agenda 21 offices, and Initial Teacher Training colleges. These projects
build on Oxfamūs previous experience of working with teachers and other
educators. For most of the projects, teachersū groups are brought
together with training provided around the issues of Agenda 21. Following
this, projects are being set up in the relevant schools.
Once the projects have been successfully tested and evaluated, further
partnerships are planned.
In order to encourage acceptance and implementation of these policies
Oxfam has been active in a number of ways as detailed below.
- We are holding a series of seminars in different regions of Great
Britain to which educators at all levels are invited. The aim will be to
encourage them to become advocates for the Global Citizenship curriculum
and to explore the potential for further collaboration.
- A formal response to the review process of the national curriculum in
England and Wales has been made to the Advisory Group on Citizenship. The
Global Citizenship document has also been sent to the Scottish and Welsh
Curriculum bodies.
- Lists of development education resource materials are being produced
to support teachers who are interested in global citizenship. All new
Oxfam Education publications will support the Global Citizenship
curriculum.
- It is intended to try to encourage exam boards to take on some aspects
of the curriculum for global citizenship. For example, work has been
carried out with the Welsh exam board to place sustainable development
at the heart of the compulsory modules for geography in the A level
syllabus.
Results Achieved
Our work in developing a vision resulted in a publication entitled "A
Curriculum for Global Citizenship". This includes a rationale for global
citizenship and an outline curriculum for pre-school to post 16. The
curriculum demonstrated progression of the key skills, knowledge and
values that are essential for global citizenship. The publication has
been widely disseminated to educators throughout Great Britain and
Europe.
Our curriculum projects are steadily getting off the ground. A brief
account of the progress made in three of them follows.
"The Basic Rights Project" was based on a partnership with Sheffield
Development Education Centre in the area of personal and social
education. Working with a group of teachers, this has resulted in a
publication for secondary schools looking at the issues of basic rights
for all. It included case studies from the UK and from the South on, for
example, bullying and violence against children. One example encouraged
children in the UK to look at the common causes behind such violence and
to learn about conflict resolution. They learned from the experience of
street children in Brazil who had worked together to claim their rights
and establish legislation to protect them.
"The Global Footprint of Schools" is a partnership project being
undertaken by the Tower Hamlets Development Education Centre, Tower
Hamlets Local Agenda 21 Office and Oxfam Education. It aims to encourage
local schools to identify and then to reduce the environmental and social
impact that they are making both locally and globally by assessing their
Global Footprint. It is seeking to take the idea of the ecological
footprint one step further in order to include issues of social justice
and equity as well as the environmental perspective. It is a
groundbreaking project in that it aims to bring together the environment
and development agendas in a way that is accessible to teachers and
children and to develop activities for use in schools.
"The Global Citizenship in Croydon and Sutton Project" is being developed
in partnership with the relevant local authorities. The project seeks to
ensure that global citizenship becomes embedded in the curriculum and in
school policy. This work is building on previous collaboration when a
series of training courses on education for sustainability was run in
these boroughs by Oxfam Education staff in conjunction with Local Agenda
21 officers and Local Education Authority Advisers.
We have achieved results over a whole range of activities undertaken.
Examples of these are given below.
- A formal response by Oxfam to the national curriculum review has been
made and to the Advisory Group on Citizenship. To the latter we have been
asked to provide case studies of good practice.
- A training session on the GC curriculum was held with school
inspectors.
- Formal meetings have been held with the Qualifications and Curriculum
Association and the Department for International Development when the
document was very well received.
- The national geography advisers and inspectors group have discussed and
promoted the GC document.
- Oxfam has worked with the Geography Association Primary Group to
promote the GC curriculum document in an article for their journal.
- A paper was presented on the GC curriculum at the UNESCO / Government
of Greece conference in Thessalonika, Greece.
Lessons Learned
We learned a great deal about negotiating with competing agendas. Local
authorities have many priorities and education for global citizenship is
not at the top of their list. We have also learned that careful
strategies need to be put in place to bring them on board. For example,
linking with their Local Agenda 21 initiatives, and demonstrating how
global citizenship can help deliver other priorities in education, such
as literacy and numeracy.
Similar lessons apply to national government. Despite signing up to
Agenda 21 the UK government, like so may others, has many other
priorities for education. It has, therefore, been important to play a
part in all new debates and curriculum initiatives at a national level.
This has helped us to identify a niche for the GC curriculum within the
ongoing debates about citizenship and values. Achievements and success
need to be seen as incremental, building up over a period of time.
Whether at local authority or at national level, it is important to
identify key players and influentials and to bring them on board. For
example, key advisers and inspectors who are willing to support the GC
curriculum can make a huge difference to the success of the project.
The project has also reinforced our ideas about partnerships and
networking. Oxfam does not have the resources to make sufficient impact
on its own so working with a range of partners is essential. These need
to be relationships built up over a period of time, which can be tried
and tested. Partnerships need to be collaborative and flexible so that
we can learn from each other. Excellent communication is essential. An
inclusive agenda that does not seek to vaunt one NGO over another is
essential. This is not always easy as NGOs have their own internal
agendas too and there may be an element of competition between them.
Some of the difficulties in combining the development and environment
agendas have become very apparent as a result of the project. For
example, in the case of "trade": how do we make choices about products
on environmental and social grounds? In some cases this is fairly
straightforward as in Fair-traded tea or coffee, which is produced by
small communities with a view to developing sustainable lifestyles that
do not destroy the environment. However, with other products, such as
"mange tout" peas from Zimbabwe, the choices are less obvious. Do we buy
the peas and accept the environmental damage caused by intensive
agriculture and aviation transport, or do we refuse to buy and put the
community in Zimbabwe in jeopardy? There is little doubting that with
an increasingly globalised and interdependent world, such choices are
going to become more complex not easier. This underlines the need for
environmental and development practitioners to work together to find
common ground and mutual agendas.
Our final conclusion is that until governments are really prepared to
prioritise education for global citizenship within their education
agendas, it will always be an uphill struggle to achieve our long term
objective, of making this curriculum for global citizenship an
entitlement for every child in Great Britain. While there are numerous
directives on numeracy and literacy, the debate about citizenship and
values education goes on largely unheeded. Global citizenship needs to
be seen as an integral part of the curriculum with resources and training
to match. If we are to achieve the objectives of Agenda 21, this is no
longer an optional extra, it is an imperative.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact for further information
Ros Wade or Mary Young
Oxfam Education
4th floor
4 Bridge Place
London SW1V 1XY
Tel: +44 171 931 7660
E-mail: xch95@dial.pipex.com
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LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Agenda 21, Chapter 28
VISION 2020 - Community Education and Awareness are Essential Components
in Planning for a Sustainable Future by a Canadian Regional Municipality
Introduction
Located at the western end of Lake Ontario, "the Regional Municipality
of Hamilton-Wentworth" lies in the middle of Canada's manufacturing
heartland. The Region, which covers an area of 111,300 hectares, is home
to almost 469,000 people (1996). Regional functions and responsibilities
include waterworks, sewage, social services, public health, police
services, roadways, drainage systems, and transit systems. The Region is
also the central planning authority for the purposes of physical, social,
and economic planning and development. Like most municipalities in
Canada, Hamilton-Wentworth has a long history of community participation
in decision making and community involvement in addressing local issues
of concern.
This commitment to community participation is evident in the Region's
involvement in the "Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) Model Communities Programme"
(MCP), co-ordinated by the "International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives" (ICLEI). ICLEI is an association of approximately 300 local
governments dedicated to the prevention and solution of local, regional,
and global environmental problems through local action. The LA 21
Initiative was launched by ICLEI at the United Nations "Earth Summit" in
1992. To support the process of developing LA 21s at the municipal level,
ICLEI launched a world-wide action research project, the MCP, in early
1994. Fourteen communities, including the Regional Municipality of
Hamilton-Wentworth, from countries around the world participated in the
MCP. ICLEI has worked with these local governments to develop, test, and
implement sustainable development planning processes.
"VISION 2020", Hamilton-Wentworth's sustainable development planning
initiative, evolved from a new approach to decision making used by the
Region for the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan (RAP). The RAP
initiative started in 1986 and involved a multi-stakeholder round-table
approach to the development of the plan. The success of this initiative,
which continues today, showed that organizations with divergent views and
opinions could work together to address community concerns. After the
success of the RAP, the Region organized the Chair's Task Force on
Affordable Housing. This initiative, which met with mixed success, was
the Region's first effort in opening up the decision-making process to
greater community involvement. The lessons learned from this project and
the RAP provided the framework within which the Sustainable Community
Initiative, which developed into VISION 2020, was started.
In June 1990, Regional Council created the Chair's Task Force on
Sustainable Development. Following the model of the Hamilton Harbor RAP,
the task force was set up as a multi-stakeholder roundtable. There were
originally eighteen members of the task force, each representing various
key sectors in the community - agriculture, business, community
organizations, education, health services, labour, natural environment,
social services, and urban development. Its mandate was integrated into
the decision-making process of the Regional Council.
Objectives
The terms of reference for the Chairman's Task Force on Sustainable
Development required, as one of its six purposes, the establishment of
a public outreach program to increase public awareness of the concept of
sustainable development and to act as a vehicle for feedback on potential
goals, objectives, and policies for the Region. The nine goals of the
public outreach program fell into three general categories - education,
citizen input, and quality. The goals specific to education were:
- to inform the general population of the basic principles of sustainable
development and of the purpose and mandate of the task force;
- to inform citizens of the range of regional government activities, such
as public expenditures and investments, the Regional Official Plan, and
the Economic Strategy; and
- to communicate information generated by citizens back to the public.
These goals, which were developed by the task force at the early stages
of their mandate, were integrated into all subsequent phases of the
sustainable development planning process. This included partnership
formation; community consultation for issue identification and priority
setting; issue assessment and analysis; action planning; and
implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation.
Project Activity
From 1990 through the present, Hamilton-Wentworth has incorporated a
public education component in all phases of defining and implementing its
sustainable development planning process. Specific avenues of action to
increase community awareness included a media campaign, individual
feedback opportunities, community workshops, focus groups, and community
forums.
A broad media campaign that included the use of local print, radio, and
television media, the development and delivery of information booths in
local shopping malls and other locations, and the preparation and
distribution of 150,000 copies of the first "Task Force Newsletter", was
initiated in late 1990. The campaign informed the community about the
purpose of the Task Force and the upcoming opportunities available to
people to become involved in the work of the Task Force.
The major activity held at the time was the convening of seven community
workshops or Town Hall Meetings. Approximately 160 people participated
in these meetings, which included a brief overview of sustainable
development followed by brainstorming sessions designed to identify which
issues needed to be addressed and which values should guide the work of
the Task Force. Citizens' responses to specific questions about their
community and the values that should guide decision making were recorded.
The results of each Town Hall Meeting were summarized into a report
provided to each member of the Task Force and made available upon request
to the public. People who did not wish to participate in the Town Hall
Meetings were provided with the opportunity to contribute their ideas by
submitting written comments or phoning the Ideas Telephone Line. Almost
1,200 citizens from all walks of life were eventually involved directly
or indirectly in the community consultation work of the Chair's Task
Force on Sustainable Development, which also served as a vehicle for
educating the public.
The resulting vision statement, VISION 2020, describes a concept for
sustainable development in Hamilton-Wentworth by the year 2020. It has
been adopted as the basis for regional decision-making in Hamilton-
Wentworth, including such policy documents as the Hamilton-Wentworth
Official Plan, the Regional Economic Strategy, and the capital budget
process.
Since 1993, the Region has annually held a VISION 2020 Sustainable
Community Day to bring the community together to examine the progress
made in relation to the goals of VISION 2020 and continue to educate the
public as to the importance of the environment and sustainable
development. Over the years, the event has turned into a month long
festival involving tours, workshops, a Children's Sustainability Fair
(attended by thousands of children), and various other special programs.
Another program, Young Citizens for a Sustainable Future, has been
developed in partnership with community organizations and is geared to
towards educating the youth of Hamilton-Wentworth on sustainable
development. Efforts are made to have exhibits at major community
festivals and staff are available to make presentations to interested
community groups. Other activities include special events such as the
Crazy Commute Challenge, which educates the public about transportation
issues and encourages them to leave their motor vehicle at home for the
day.
O
Results Achieved
Over 10,000 copies of VISION 2020 have been printed and distributed
throughout the community, leading to an increase in community awareness
about sustainable development initiatives. Within the community there is
a heightened awareness about environmental protection and the need to
find a balance between economic and environmental concerns. This is
influencing the community and the types of decisions and actions being
taken. Although implementation of VISION 2020 has been a bit sporadic,
events and activities sponsored by the Region have received excellent
support from the community and corporate sponsorship. For example, the
Sustainable Community Day and Children's Sustainability Fair held in 1996
cost around $60,000 to develop and deliver. Almost 70% of those costs
were covered by in-kind and financial contributions from the community.
In addition, over 150 local organizations and businesses became involved
in those events.
Unfortunately VISION 2020 is still seen as an initiative to guide the
decision making of Regional Council as opposed to the decision making of
everyone in the community. The community led review process that has been
proposed for 1998 and is being developed by Regional Staff will try to
address the issue of creating stronger community ownership.
Lessons Learned
Despite these efforts, the Region identified lack of community awareness
and understanding as probably the most significant barrier to the VISION
2020 Initiative, and one that the Region perhaps should have spent more
time on at the outset When the initiative started awareness was
extremely low. The efforts of the last seven years have increased the
proportion of people in the community who are aware of sustainable
development to between 10 and 15 per cent.
In addition to addressing the lack of initial community awareness, the
Region made a list of other recommendations for communities considering
a similar undertaking. Among these recommendations, Hamilton-Wentworth
identified the following key issues related to the public education
component:
- "Empowerment" - There must be a clear willingness on the part of
municipal staff and Council to allow the community to become directly
involved in the decision-making process. The process must include
components where the community is allowed to take direct responsibility
for initiating and implementing projects.
- "Patience" - Within the community, there is a wide range of abilities
and knowledge. Time is required to bring everyone's understanding to a
common level. Also, at many times it has been difficult for the "experts"
to not take control for the process and direct it in a manner that they
feel is appropriate. If community responsibility and ownership are to be
developed, it is imperative that the members of the community investigate
and develop their own solutions.
development of other initiatives. For example, the Region has, with the
direct input of the community, developed a series of sustainable
development indicators. These indicators, which are monitored on an
annual basis and presented in "report card" format during the Sustainable
Community event, serve as an ongoing evaluation of the Region's progress
towards the goals in VISION 2020.
Looking to the future, the Regional Council has developed a Web page to
provide current information on these and related activities.
Strategically, the Council has established the "VISION 2020 Progress
team" to renew the policies and processes, whilst perhaps more tangibly,
the Council has created a "Sustainable Community Recognition Awards
Programme" to mark significant achievements.
Through all the education and awareness processes described in this case-
study together with other ongoing public education, the Region hopes to
make the decision making process of government, especially as it relates
to sustainable development, more open and understandable to people in the
community.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact for Further Information
Norman Ragetlie
Policy Analyst, Strategic Planning
Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth
Environment Department
35 King St. East, Main Floor
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 4A9
Canada
Tel: +1-905/546-2153
Fax: +1-905/546-4473
Email: rhwplan@interlynx.net
Sheilagh Henry
Local Agenda 21 Administrator
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
World Secretariat
City Hall, East Tower, 8th Floor
100 Queen St. West
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N2
Canada
Tel: +1-416/392-1462
Fax: +1-416/392-1478
Email: la21@iclei.org
Website: http://www.iclei.org
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EDUCATION INTO SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN PIMPRI CHINCHWAD, INDIA - A Municipal
Corporation Works in Partnership with NGOs
Introduction
Pimpri Chinchwad, located 150 kilometres west of Mumbai in the state of
Maharashtra, is one of the leading industrial cities in India with over
2,000 engineering, chemical, rubber, pharmaceutical, and automobile
factories. Many of the workers at these factories are recent migrants
into the city, and as a result, approximately 100,000 of the city's
population of 600,000 live in illegal slum settlements without basic
amenities such as safe drinking water and sewage systems. Although the
"Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation" (PCMC) and local non-government
organizations (NGOs) have put considerable effort into improving these
conditions, the lack of conscious environmental education and awareness
has hampered their initiatives.
For its part, the PCMC has addressed the conditions through its
involvement in the Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) Model Communities Programme
(MCP), co-ordinated by the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI). ICLEI is an association of approximately 300 local
governments dedicated to the prevention and solution of local, regional,
and global environmental problems through local action. The LA 21
Initiative was launched by ICLEI at the United Nations "Earth Summit" in
1992. To support the process of developing LA 21s at the municipal level,
ICLEI launched a world-wide action research project, the MCP, in early
1994. Fourteen communities, including the PCMC, from countries around the
world participated in the MCP. ICLEI has worked with these local
governments to develop, test, and implement sustainable development
planning processes. As part of its involvement with the MCP, PCMC
consulted with 12,500 citizens to identify and prioritise the issues the
community faces.
NGOs such as the "Centre for Environment Education" (CEE), "Regional Cell
for Central India", and the "World Wide Fund for Nature" - India (WWF-I),
have long recognized the need for environmental consciousness, especially
among those living without adequate housing or amenities. However, with
adult members of these households employed in different sectors, it has
traditionally proven difficult to develop effective, targeted, strategies
for environmental education and consciousness. Children are the next
logical target group for environmental consciousness raising, in the hope
that they will carry the message home. Thus to address the issues facing
the community, the CEE and the WWF-I undertook an environmental education
initiative in 90 municipal schools in Pimpri Chinchwad. The PCMC was
selected to participate in the pilot phase of this initiative due to its
involvement with the MCP.
Objectives
Recent trends in this region have shown a growing recognition by
governments of the importance of environmental education. Although there
have been significant efforts to infuse environmental education into
curricula, the results have not been very positive because of a lack of
community-specific environmental education resources, networking among
government and NGOs, overburdened teachers, and lack of funding. This
situation is far worse in schools catering for the needs of students
whose parents' incomes are below the poverty line.
Thus the two main objectives of the pilot phase of the environmental
education curriculum program were:
- to develop ways to overcome the obstacles mentioned above;
- to infuse environmental education into school curricula.
Project Activity
The pilot project, which received financial assistance from the Education
Department of the PCMC, began in July 1997. It was divided into the three
phases outlined below.
Phase 1: Production of Teachers Activity Handbooks
A series of handbooks was developed to provide teachers with a bank of
activities and reference materials in Marathi, the local language. The
CEE had already developed an activity handbook series, The Joy of
Learning, which outlined activities for students in standards 3 to 8. The
activities in the handbook series were developed in view of the meagre
resources available to most Indian schools; they had been tested by
several hundred teachers across the country, and therefore made an ideal
starting point. However, since this material was written in English, a
team of 25 primary, middle, and secondary school teachers and other
environmental resource people was assembled to oversee the translation
and adaptation of the handbook series for Pimpri Chinchwad. Three
handbooks were developed: Joy of Learning - Environmental Studies
(standards 3 to 5); Joy of Learning - Science (standards 6 to 8); and Joy
of Learning - various subjects (standards 3 to 8).
Phase 2: Dissemination
A series of ten workshops for teachers was organized through August and
the beginning of September. Each of the first nine workshops had between
25 and 30 participants from primary schools; the last had 12 participants
from the PCMC's secondary schools.
The aim of the workshops was to expose the participants to the need for
environmental education, distribute and discuss the handbooks, present
various approaches to environmental education, and encourage the use of
what they had learned during the school year. A field trip on the second
day of each workshop helped the teachers get an idea of how to use the
outdoors for creating environmental sensitivity among their students.
At the end of each workshop, the teachers were asked to select at lease
five or six activities, along with one long-term activity, to be
conducted in the upcoming year.
Phase 3: Trials and Feedback
Based on the activities the teachers outlined during the workshops, the
WWF-I/CEE team visited schools to discuss the project with the teachers
and maintain support for integrating environmental education
considerations in to these schools.
A more formal evaluation was undertaken later in the year to gather
information for further activities.
Results Achieved
In its pilot phase, the environmental education initiative achieved its
goals and led to areas for expansion of the project in the future.
An interesting aspect of the project was the working relationship of CEE,
WWF-I, PCMC, and the schools for a common cause. Because of diverse
experiences of each organisation, each one was able to play its role to
a fuller extent. Such strategic alliances are very important if
sustainable development is to be achieved.
The initiative also led to the development of Nature Clubs in each
school, and the beginning of an environmental education resource centre
and project newsletter, "Shrishti" (Creation). These activities will
continue to add support to environmental education in the schools, and
encourage the dissemination and sharing of knowledge between students,
teachers, the PCMC, and the larger community. Exhibitions, presentations,
and other activities by the students are planned for times when working
parents will be able to attend in order to further foster the
environmental message outside of the schools.
The nature clubs and the newsletter played a crucial role as a catalyst
for sustaining the program. It also helped in networking among the ninety
schools of the PCMC, which earlier were devoid of any channels of
communication.
Lessons Learned
Although the teachers were sceptical at the start of the project, they
started showing a keen interest on the importance of infusing
environmental education into the curriculum, once they became involved.
In their feedback, all stressed the need for a massive teacher training
initiative. They also identified the critical importance of having
specific environmental education resources for their communities and in
their first language. Given the activities planned for the coming years,
there are plans to further develop these suggestions.
The importance of communicating what is going on in the schools to the
parents was also realised during the pilot phase of the project. Unlike
in other areas, there are no Parent-Teacher Associations in the schools
where the pilot project was conducted. Parents are only available to come
to the schools during holidays when the factories are closed.
Exhibitions, presentations, and activities related to what students are
experiencing have been planned for these days, so that the parents can
understand the process.
In the long run, environmental awareness must move from the classroom to
the community, if the overall goal of increasing environmental education
in the community is to be achieved.
C
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Contacts for Further Information
Mr. Rohddas B. Konde
Deputy Municipal Commissioner
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation
Pimpri Chinchwad, Pune
India 411018
Tel: +91-212/772970
Fax: +91-212/779999
Email: pcmc@giaspn01.vsn1.net.in
Mr. Rahul Barkataky
Programme Associate
Centre for Environment Education
Regional Cell for Central India
18 Green Park
Aundh, Pune
India 411007
Tel/Fax: +91-212/385875
Email: cee@giaspn01.vsn1.net.in
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