Sustainable Development approaches treat each
sector as overlapping with the others – not separately.
Environmentalism, international development and
economics have already shown us that their problems
cannot be treated as ‘simple’.
Some countries have bigger issues in
one sector…
so to them, SD “means” the environment…
…or on the economy….
…or social justice; empowerment.
Common characteristics of such
problems are….
• Involved different specialisms INTERDISCIPLINARY
• Overlapped with social issues everywhere –
TRANS-DISCIPLINARY
• Involved many stakeholders
• Often GLOBAL and LOCAL impacts
• Inherent UNCERTAINTY of related knowledge
• No linear, deterministic modelling - COMPLEX
• No specific end point; only ‘better’ or ‘worse’
Approaches required….
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CRITICAL THINKING
INTEGRATED thinking
Fullest PARTICIPATION / local ownership
True CONSULTATION
Learning to see DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
Respecting different VALUES systems
Exploring NEW TYPES of knowledge
(local, non-academic, social)
• thus, prepared to develop NEW WAYS of working
Some other principles naturally follow from
sustainable development approaches, like:
Operating within the earth’s
environmental capacity (and thus
conserving for future generations)
Working in partnership with
communities and other stakeholders
Working towards greater equity in resource use
Be Careful! Students also have to learn how individual
parameters individually affect outcomes (scientific
method); don’t confuse them!
Be clear which aim you are working
towards; don’t start with one
and finish on another.
Teach about single parameters first, in separate lessons –
e.g. cost of food; nutritional value; how much I like it.
In a later lesson, look across these parameters: how do we
decide what food to buy? Is there a ‘right’ answer?
Nitty Gritty Sustainabilitymaking it tangible in the classroom
Prof. Marie Harder,
Sustainable Development Facilitator