Culture della sostenibilità - ISSN 1972-5817 (print), 1973-2511 (online)
ANNO VI - N. 11/2013 - I semestre: 25-41 - DOI 10.7402/CdS.11.010
Resources used by leaders of sustainable
development projects. What can be learned for
environmental education?
Diane Pruneau1, Mathieu Lang1, Jackie Kerry1, Guillaume Fortin1,
Joanne Langis1, Linda Liboiron
Abstract
In our day and age, leaders involved in ingenious sustainable development projects plan spaces and implement practices that are beneficial to the
environment. These initiatives represent a fertile source of information on
the competences linked to environmental design that we should nurture in
our students. In view of improving our understanding of the competences
that should be developed in environmental education (EE), this study sought to identify the resources specific to an environmentally friendly design
used by leaders who participated in five sustainable development projects
(in sustainable urban planning and forestry). The analysis of documents and
data from individual clarification interviews revealed that the main resources
(cognitive, social, and affective) used by the leaders interviewed, depended
not only on problem solving, but also on creative, complex, flexible, longitudinal, adapted, patient, collaborative, humanistic, and environmental planning. Finally, this study, of which we present the effects on environmental
education, shows that leaders use resources which are associated with creative individuals.
Keywords: sustainability, environmental design, competences,
planning, leaders, environmental education
Oggi i responsabili di progetti innovativi sullo sviluppo sostenibile organizzano spazi e implementano pratiche che siano di beneficio per l’ambiente. Queste iniziative rappresentano una fertile fonte di informazioni
sulle competenze legate a progetti ambientali che noi dovremmo instillare
nei nostri studenti. Nell’ottica di migliorare la nostra comprensione delle
competenze che dovrebbero essere sviluppate attraverso l’educazione ambientale (EE), questo studio cerca di identificare le risorse specifiche per un
progetto environmentally friendly utilizzate dai responsabili durante cinque
progetti di sviluppo sostenibile (nell’ambito della pianificazione sostenibile
Faculty of Education, Université de Moncton
Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]
(1)
© Istituto per l’Ambiente e l’Educazione Scholé Futuro Onlus
Diane Pruneau et al.
delle aree urbane e forestali). L’analisi dei dati e dei documenti provenienti
da interviste individuali rivela che le principali risorse (cognitive, sociali e
affettive) usate dai responsabili intervistati non dipende solo dalla soluzione
dei problemi, ma anche da una pianificazione creativa, complessa, flessibile, longitudinale, adattata, paziente, collaborativa, umanistica e ambientale.
Il presente studio, di cui presentiamo gli effetti in educazione ambientale,
mostra come i responsabili dei progetti utilizzino risorse associate con la
creatività individuale.
Parole chiave: sostenibilità, progettazione ambientale, competenze, pianificazione, leader, educazione ambientale
1. Introduction
In 1977, UNESCO published a list of five main objectives for EE: awareness, knowledge, attitude, competences and participation. Here, the category
of objectives that interests us most is competences: “to help social groups
and individuals acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental
problems” (UNESCO-UNEP, 1977, p. 30). This category, relative to individuals’ capacity to commit, mainly consisted in developing citizens’ ability to
collectively resolve local problems. However, the nature of “the competences
for identifying and solving environmental problems” was not fully defined,
making this category of objective difficult to apply among learners. Luckily,
thanks to research carried out in the past decades, this category of objectives for EE could be described in more details regarding environmental problem-solving skills and could be widened to encompass other competences.
In fact, as part of a broad definition of the concept of competence—viewed
as a set of cognitive and metacognitive resources (knowledge, know-how,
knowing how to act; knowing how to observe, control, and improve one’s
cognitive strategies); conative (motivation to act); physical, social (calling
on an expert); spatial (efficient use of space); temporal (relevant organization
of time); material (use of a book or tool); and affective (Joannert, Barrette,
Boufrahi, & Masciotra, 2004)—this category could now include new competences to attain and use. Researchers now suggest using other competences
to solve problems: clarifying one’s relationship to the environment (Sauvé,
2009a), futures thinking (Godet, 2001), linking thinking (Sterling & Maiteny, 2005), decision-making (Utzschneider & Pruneau, 2010), and critical
thinking (Mogensen, 1997). In addition, when Sauvé (2009b) talks about
the competences necessary for “living together on Earth and carrying out
environmental projects together” (p. 14; loose translation), she is introducing
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Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
a dimension of environmental competences that has yet to be thoroughly
studied: competences in environmental design.
Competences in environmental design appear slightly different from
competences in environmental problem-solving. For example, in problem
solving people improve the quality of a river’s water by accomplishing the
usual steps of identifying, analyzing, posing, and solving the problem. In
the case of environmental design, like when architects plan an eco-district
or when technicians apply sustainable forestry management techniques, people’s objectives are not necessarily to solve a problem. Rather, they wish
to do things differently, manage or use environmental resources in ways that
prevent problems. The work of those solving problems is mostly reactive,
whereas the work of environmental designers, which relates to planning, is
proactive.
Although still little known, it would be interesting to develop environmental design competences among students in EE. However, few competences in design or planning are taught in schools. What resources would enable
citizens to design environmentally friendly spaces? Are they mainly competences related to planning? How do leaders view sustainable development?
Do competences mobilized for problem solving prevail in their approach?
Our study sought to identify the cognitive, conative, physical, social, spatial, material, temporal, and affective resources related to environmental design used by leaders working on five sustainable development projects. The
projects studied were the Bonne eco-district (Grenoble, France), the Village
en haut du ruisseau, Hall’s Creek, ACFOR’s sustainable forestry, and the city
of Edmundston’s sustainable development project (Canada). Indeed, citizens
now succeed in restoring biodiversity, providing alternative transportation
and renewable energy, and creating community spaces or regenerating forests. Such initiatives offer a rich source of information on competences that
would be particularly useful to develop in our students so they can become
capable of designing environmentally friendly spaces around their schools,
in their neighbourhoods, or on a wider scale when they reach adulthood.
We begin this article with a review of literature on planning, which is a
competence closely related to designing. Then, we explain our methodological approach and describe our study’s results. We end the article with a
discussion on the competences associated with design that would be useful
to develop in learners by involving them in real sustainable development
projects.
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Diane Pruneau et al.
2. Planning and Sustainable Planning
Given the absence of descriptions of competences in environmental design, we focused our literature review on planning, which is a competence
traditionally associated with design. Planning involves orchestrating interdependent cognitive and motivational processes, which are influenced by their
context and brought together to reach a goal (Friedman & Scholnick, 1997).
A plan represents a series of actions organized to produce a specific outcome
after it is implemented (Pea & Hawkins, 1987). The planner anticipates a
reality that does not yet exist (Scholnick & Friedman, 1987) and must be
able to visualize in space and time the actions that will have to be taken, the
moments, the duration, the frequency, the location, the functions, the consequences, and the circumstances (Kreitler & Kreitler, 1987). It is essential in
planning to be able to form mental representations of the spatial and causal
structure of specific events (Cocking & Copple, 1987). Planning also consists of evaluating in advance possible actions according to criteria such as efficiency, context, and certain mathematical considerations like size, number,
and spatial proximity (Zhang & Norman, 1994). Planning means building an
ordered sequence of actions and preparative actions that we wish to carry out
while taking into consideration limitations and situations (Gauvin & Rogoff,
1989). Sometimes, we plan every action in advance and then we execute,
and sometimes there is a continuous flow of information between creating a
strategy, its execution, and its revision as unforeseen events happen (Sacerdoti, 1977). Memory is vital to planning because the planner must remember
the contextual elements, the objectives, and the details of the plan. Finally,
planning consists in monitoring the progress of actions and repairing failures
(Friedman & Scholnick, 1997).
Sustainable planning—in which actions are planned and organized for
the short, medium and long-term, taking into consideration various elements
related to location and possible impact on the environment—may require
the use of complementary competences such as futures thinking (Pruneau et
al., 2012), risk prediction (Environmental Protection Agency, 1992), decision-making (Utzschneider & Pruneau, 2010), problem solving (Friedman &
Scholnick, 1997), creativity (Leslie, 1987), and governance (Blomgren et al,
2005). Futures thinking consists of thinking ahead before acting, predicting
the future with some degree of certainty, extrapolating how current trends
will evolve, taking into account environmental turbulence to adapt one’s
goal, and maintaining a coherent and functional vision of the future (Godet, 2001). Risk prediction consists of an evaluative process that measures
the probability, timing, and scale of the harmful environmental effects after
exposure to stressors (Environmental Protection Agency, 1992). Environmental decision-making refers to the way individuals, groups, and organiza28
Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
tions make choices that have an impact on the environment (National Research Council, 2005). Since environmental problems are complex, dynamic,
unstructured, and difficult to solve, the ability to pose a problem (Pruneau
et al., 2009), the ability to form visual representations of the problem, creative thinking, collective self-efficacy (Bandura, 1995), and critical thinking
(Sauvé & Godmaire, 2004) are necessary for environmental problem solving.
Governance consists of creating and implementing actions based on goals
shared by citizens and organizations that may or may not possess authority
or law-making power (Rosenau & Czempiel, 1992). Governance is often associated with skills in participation, negotiation, conflict resolution, problem
solving, decision-making, active listening and reframing, deliberation, collaborative administration, and consensus building (Blomgren et al., 2005).
3. Methodology
To describe the resources leaders used to design environmental spaces,
we carried out a descriptive and exploratory study. Since the study’s approach did not allow for direct observation of the participants while they worked
on their projects, our objective was to identify their personal resources
(cognitive, conative, physical, social, spatial, material, temporal, or affective) rather than their competences. In fact, according to Jonnaert (2009),
a competence can only be defined and observed in action and thus in situ.
Competence consists of the utilization of a variety of resources in a coordinated fashion and rests on the “selection, mobilization, and organization of
these resources and on the relevant actions they allow to successfully deal
with the situation at hand” (Jonnaert, 2009, p. 44; loose translation). The resources—that Legendre (2005) defines as “data, means, and possibilities” (p.
1190; loose translation)—include, according to Jonnaert, various abilities:
knowledge, soft skills, know-how, and know how to act.
The participants (leaders recognized by their peers) took part in one of
three eco-district initiatives, in a sustainable city project, or in an environmental forestry management program. Although considered as exemplary by
their government, the eco-districts selected were more or less complete. In
the Village en haut du ruisseau (Dieppe, Canada), 80% of the natural environment was preserved and energy-efficient measures were implemented as
well as measures for the natural management of rainwater. The developer of
the Village en haut du ruisseau and the project’s urban planner participated
in the individual interviews. In Bonne (Grenoble, France), an old military
barrack was transformed into a mixed neighbourhood (residential, commercial, and cultural), with permeable soils, green roofs, insect refuges, water
filtering ponds, and energy-efficient techniques. In Bonne, an urban planner,
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Diane Pruneau et al.
a citizen, and a school principal participated in the interviews. In addition,
we analyzed the document entitled De Bonne, un écoquartier dans la ville
(an eco-district in the city of Bonne; loose translation), which contains the
accounts of 26 other people who contributed to the success of this eco-district in Grenoble. In the Hall’s Creek eco-district (Moncton, Canada), a variety
of conservation design elements (Arendt, 1996) were used, among which
were the preservation of 70% of the natural environment, a centralized heating system, and the use of indigenous plants on residential lots. The Hall’s
Creek developer participated in the interviews. Still in Canada, a young entrepreneur heading a sustainable forestry management company also participated in the interview as well as the environmental coordinator of the City of
Edmundston. The entrepreneur founded the ACFOR company that assesses
resources found on private woodlots in view of selective cutting to preserve
natural elements and improve the quality of forest resources. The Municipality of Edmundston is currently implementing its Green Plan, which will
steer the city’s sustainable actions and those of its citizens regarding five
areas: water, air, territory, energy, and materials and matter. Several projects
are underway: replacing traffic lights, an energy audit of municipal facilities,
planting urban forests, and more.
In Table 1, we show the training background of each participant, who all
held either a college or a university degree.
Tab 1 - Participants’ Areas of Training
Sustainable Development Projects
Number of Participants and
Areas of Training
Village en haut du ruisseau
1 urban planner & 1 administrator
Bonne
2 urban planners, 1 teacher, 1 school principal, 1 architect 26 leaders having written
accounts: architects, urban planners, engineers, landscapers, and economists
Hall's Creek
1 administrator
City of Edmundston
1 environmental scientist
ACFOR
1 forestry technician
During individual clarification interviews, leaders were asked to discuss
their work on their projects, the obstacles encountered, the solutions applied,
and the success factors, among which were the competences they deemed
most useful. These interviews were organized in a manner that would lead
participants to talk about when they planned or carried out tasks and included
questions such as: If it’s alright with you, I would like you to think about a
specific moment when you were reflecting on the project that you wanted to
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Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
accomplish. What were you doing? What were you thinking about? Were you
writing or drawing? What did you write or draw? Now, I would like you to
think about a specific moment when you were talking with somebody about
the project. What were you doing with this person? What did you say to him
or her? Did obstacles arise while you were carrying out the project? What
solutions did you apply? What kind of person can successfully complete a
sustainability project?
Following the typology proposed by Paillé and Mucchielli (2008), two
researchers carried out a thematic analysis of the data first separately and
then together. The conceptual framework presented above, on planning and
on the complementary competences related to planning, facilitated the analysis without limiting it to the researchers’ knowledge at the beginning of the
study.
The units selected for analysis were placed in a three-column table: the
first column contained the complete transcripts of the participants’ interviews, the second contained the resources (cognitive, conative, physical, social, spatial, temporal, material, and affective) identified by the researchers,
and the third contained comments regarding the use of these resources.
Some of the resources described in the conceptual framework stood out in
the analysis, others were less present, and new ones emerged. The degree of
agreement between the two researchers was measured according to Cohen’s
kappa (Cohen, 1960) with a 96% result.
4. Results
Resources identified among leaders were categorized according to the
typology established by Jonnaert et al. (2004): cognitive, conative, social,
spatial, temporal, and affective. In Table 2, we list the cognitive resources
used by leaders, the related projects, comments on their use, and verbatim
excerpts. The resources listed in Table 2 include those generally associated
with good planning: knowledge of development practices, decision-making,
critical thinking, visualization and sequencing of actions, mathematical resources, organizational skills, ability to anticipate obstacles, and problem solving while the project is being carried out. However, other resources in Table
2 show a different kind of planning that would be called creative, complex,
flexible, and longitudinal. The leaders used their creativity and flexibility to
implement sustainable techniques (by adapting, combining, and improving
them). Planning was complex since leaders had to take into consideration a
large number of factors: natural elements to preserve, finances, constraints
of the location, its cultural value, regulations, sustainability principles, needs
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Diane Pruneau et al.
of clients, etc. Planning was flexible because taking into consideration these numerous factors required preparing new plans repeatedly. Finally, planning was longitudinal because leaders used futures thinking, risk prediction,
and project monitoring (after implementation) to ensure that sustainability
objectives were reached in the long term.
Tab. 2 - Cognitive Resources Identified Among Project Leaders, Use of Resources,
and Associated Verbatim Excerpts
Cognitive
Resources Used Projects (n=5)
by leaders
Creativity, flexibility
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Decision-making
Flexible planning
(set objectives and
make plans
several times)
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources
in Projects
Verbatim Excerpts
To initiate innovative projects by
creating, combining or adapting
new ideas into
sustainable development.
To change how
things are done
A good planner is an artist.
And an artist is someone
who takes something, or a
way of thinking, and says,
“wouldn’t it be interesting if
we changed that and if we
did it this way?”
To solve technical
problems caused
by different practices
We have to find technical
solutions to the parking lot
and the underground water
problems.
But it’s out of the question
to spread the parking
across all of the properties
and to waterproof it all.
To assess possible
actions according
to criteria such as
efficiency, context
and certain mathematical considerations.
By solving one thermal
problem, we will create
structural and moisture
control problems.
To set a number of
goals and priorities
I’ve always had two fundamental ideas. The first
was to build the largest
urban park possible... The
second was functional
diversity.
To adapt to the
constraints of the
property, needs of
users, and principles of sustainable
development
First, we defined two or
three programs for each
block. But we realized that
both levels of parking...
32
Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
Cognitive
Resources Used Projects (n=5)
by leaders
Taking into
consideration a
number of elements
during the planning
process
Accurate mental
visualization of
spaces to be
designed
Futures thinking,
risk prediction
Knowledge of
several sustainable
development
practices
Monitoring
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Village en haut du
ruisseau
ACFOR
Use of These
Resources
in Projects
Verbatim Excerpts
To integrate the
natural elements,
the constraints of
the site, the financial requirements,
the particularities
of the location,
its cultural value,
the regulations,
the principles of
sustainability, and
so on
(When I plan),
I always start by thinking
about Grenoble, its constraints, its environment, its
planning tools...
Doing urban planning
right, means organizing
in phases and taking into
consideration people’s
needs and difficulties
To imagine the
results of the
proposed designs.
To see them from
different perspectives. To have an
overview
The space available in the
south makes it possible
to build blocks of residences that open onto the
central park. If we had
placed the businesses on
the boulevard, we would
have blocked the patrimonial open spaces of the
barracks.
To anticipate longterm impacts and
address risks
I think about the way the
building will evolve, the
need to carry out actions
to fight against climate
change. It would be nice
to build narrower streets,
but you have to make sure
that when a person gets
to the end of a street they
can see clearly in both
directions.
To deal with these
practices and
implement them
The project has features
you find in eco-districts:
wide green space that
allows for good permeability of soils, which improves the management of
rainwater...
To monitor the progress of actions
carried out and
repair failures. To
ensure the longterm accomplishment of objectives
and execution of
the plan
33
In the established
sections... we encourage
people to think about what
they want to plant. Something that doesn’t need
too much fertilizer. To retain surface water instead
of letting it drain away.
Diane Pruneau et al.
Cognitive
Resources Used Projects (n=5)
by leaders
Mathematical
resources
Organizational
skills
Ability to anticipate
obstacles
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut du
ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources
in Projects
Verbatim Excerpts
To rely on data, on
facts
I try to maintain diversity.
There are 40% broad-leaved trees, 60% coniferous trees. I try to keep
that balance. I don’t just
remove softwood, or just
hardwood. The first thing I
did, when I arrived in 2008,
at the beginning, was to
gather all the information
I could on the five crucial
areas.
To be efficient,
save money, and
maximize results
I filmed a video with my
iPhone that I uploaded on
my online system which
sent an email to my client.
Seeing this, they have
access to maps, to forestry
equipment reports. So, I
use this technology. I save
time.
To be prepared to
face obstacles
I’ve been doing this for 12
years now. I’ve seen all the
obstacles that exist. When I
figure out a project, I know
there’s a certain probability
that this can happen, and
that and that, so...
In Table 3, we show the conative resources used by leaders: courage,
audacity, optimism, perseverance, and passion. These resources appear to go
hand in hand with a new environmental design, which provokes controversy.
Planning, in this case, could be characterized as patient.
Tab. 3 - Conative Resources Identified Among Project Leaders, Use of Resources,
and Associated Verbatim Excerpts
Conative
Resources Used
by Leaders
Courage, audacity,
optimism
Projects
(n=5)
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources in
Projects
Verbatim Excerpts
To accomplish a
new, controversial,
and difficult project
You can clearly see the
role that some people
have played because they
were bold! I fought to build
a neighbourhood with a
shopping centre, offices,
premises for associations...
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Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
Conative
Resources Used
by Leaders
Perseverance,
passion
Projects
(n=5)
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources in
Projects
Verbatim Excerpts
To continue the
project without
getting discouraged by human and
material obstacles.
We had to be convinced in
order to convince others.
From time to time, we
were fed up with all of the
meetings.
In Table 4, we show the social resources used by leaders: communication,
education, networking, negotiation, participatory governance, listening to
clients, and conflict management. Leaders demonstrated genuine abilities in
convincing others, team working, and educating the public about the benefits
of new practices. This can be viewed as collaborative planning.
Tab. 4 - Social Resources Identified Among Project Leaders, Use of Resources, and
Associated Verbatim Excerpts
Social
Resources Used
by Leaders
Communication,
education,
networking,
negotiation
Participatory
governance:
collaboration,
consensus building
Listening to clients
Projects
(n=5)
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources in
Projects
Verbatim Excerpts
To motivate all of the
participants to complete the project. To
communicate the benefits of the projects.
To keep all of the
partners up to date regarding the progress
made. To change the
ways certain things
are done
You always had to tell
yourself: yes, it’s different, but for this or that
reason, it makes sense
and it can work. I would
send updates every two
or three days. Here is
what these guys are
doing and here’s what
you’re supposed to do
Participation of multidisciplinary teams and
clients: to determine
roles, share points of
views, learn from the
experiences of others,
and find support
It’s the way you get
people to work together:
the supervisor, the contractor, and the planning
department. Everybody
worked together, even
the businesses played
their role to the end
To make individualized plans that meet
clients’ needs. To
understand the point
of view of others.
It’s really a question of
looking at the needs
of the groups who are
going to use the centre,
who are going to use
the building.
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Diane Pruneau et al.
Social
Resources Used
by Leaders
Conflict management
Projects
(n=5)
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources in
Projects
To enable the project
to move forward
smoothly.
Verbatim Excerpts
The moment there was
a conflict, I would take
the blame. I’d say, “it’s
my fault.”
In Table 5, we show the spatial resource used by leaders: experiential
knowledge of the location. The leaders did their best to survey the land often
in order to be familiar with it so they could adapt their project accordingly.
In this section, we added experiential and place-based planning, which is
different from the kind of planning that applies to any context.
Tab. 5 - Spatial Resource Identified Among Project Leaders, Use of Resource, and
Associated Verbatim Excerpt
Spatial Resource
Used by Leaders
Experiential
knowledge of the
location where the
project is taking
place
Projects
(n=5)
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of this
Resource in
Projects
To come up with
adequate plans
Verbatim Excerpt
We need to know the
site. Your piece of land,
your property. Is it a
property that has green
potential?
In Table 6, we show a temporal resource used by leaders: the ability to
sequence development-related actions in a kind of management that includes
the participation of a large number of people. Sequencing is probably more
demanding when many specialists participate in the same project. It is still
possible to view this as complex and collaborative planning.
Tab. 6 - Temporal Resource Identified Among Project Leaders, Use of Resource, and
Associated Verbatim Excerpt
Temporal
Resource Used
by Leaders
Sequencing
Projects
(n=5)
Bonne
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of this
Resource in
Projects
To anticipate the
steps of the planning
and building process
over a period of time
36
Verbatim Excerpt
We had to determine
the stages of
construction, from the
designer to the builder
to the promoter, the
architect, and the
planning department
Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
In Table 7, we show the affective resources used by leaders: concern
for the natural environment and for others, desire to do better, autonomy,
self-confidence, love of learning, openness to the new, and humanistic values
(family, balanced life, and mutual aid). It is still possible to view this as humanistic and environmentally friendly planning (for the benefits to humans
and to the natural environment).
Tab. 7 - Affective Resources Identified Among Project Leaders, Use of Resources,
and Associated Verbatim Excerpts
Affective
Resources Used
by Leaders
Projects
(n=5)
Concern for the
natural environment
and for others
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
To try to protect
the environment as
much as possible
I spend winter outside.
I’m sure it has something
to do with the fact that if I
can save some sectors in
a project, I’ll try to do it
Desire to do better
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
To help the environment and promote
quality of life. To
adapt what already
exists and make it
more efficient.
A sustainable planner is
open, listens to others,
and always wants to go
the extra distance. You
can’t change systems
completely, but you can
adapt them.
To get involved
in an innovative
project. To be able to
function in uncertainty. To bring about
change
A bit of open-mindedness
and to not be afraid. To
accept, OK, I’m going
to put some land aside
and not develop on it.
To do things differently,
it takes somebody who
is bold, who sees what
others don’t see in the
organization.
To keep up to date
on new techniques
and ideas in one’s
field of work
Well, look at that! There’s
an article on healthy
management practices,
how it’s been applied
elsewhere. Well, I’m
going to read that!
To desire serving the
natural and human
community
We value family more
than money. For me,
the environment means
improving the quality of
life. If you improve the
quality of the environment
in an area, it improves the
quality of life
Autonomy, selfconfidence, audacity
Love of learning,
openness to the new
Humanistic values:
family, balanced life,
mutual aid, etc.
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Bonne
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Village en haut
du ruisseau
Hall’s Creek
ACFOR
Edmundston
Use of These
Resources in
Projects
37
Verbatim Excerpts
Diane Pruneau et al.
5. Discussion
The analysis of the participating leaders’ results shows that environmental design requires the mobilization of resources usually linked to planning
in general: knowledge, decision-making, critical thinking, visualization and
sequencing of actions, mathematical considerations, organizational skills,
ability to anticipate obstacles, and problem solving while the project is being
carried out. However, other resources identified among leaders make it possible to associate environmental design with a creative, complex, flexible,
longitudinal, experiential, adapted, patient, collaborative, humanistic, and
environmentally friendly planning. Such resources as flexibility, the consideration of environmental elements while planning, futures thinking, risk
prediction, follow-up, communication of benefits, participatory governance,
and humanistic and environmental values all appear to play an important role
in environmental design.
When we analyze Tables 2 and 7 from another perspective, leaders demonstrated several characteristics associated with highly creative people:
flexibility, looking at tasks from a new angle (need of clients, desire to preserve natural and cultural aspects, etc.), ability to go against usual practices and defy regulations, ability to tolerate uncertainty, confidence in one’s
ideas, resilience, and autonomy (Stemberg, 2004). This result supports the
relevance of developing creativity in EE to encourage students to do things
differently: observe more closely and from several points of views, invent
new lifestyles and production methods, use resources differently and more
efficiently and build with nature.
6. Conclusion
Despite a small sample, our study widens the fourth category of EE objectives (UNESCO-UNEP, 1977) originally focused mainly on problem-solving
competencies. In our study, problem solving emerged, among others, when
leaders in Bonne talked about how new ways of building required resolving a large number of technical problems. However, the resources linked to
planning in general and to sustainable planning (creative, complex, flexible,
longitudinal, experiential, adapter, patient, collaborative, humanistic, and
environmentally friendly) also emerged from the interviews with leaders.
It may be advantageous to promote among EE learners the environmental
design resources identified in this study. In fact, human beings are constantly
modifying their environment whether positively or not. It would be crucial
for students to learn to not only solve environmental problems, but also to
38
Resources used by leaders of sustainable development projects
plan healthy environments and to adapt those that are less healthy. Along this
line, our study provides a number of competences that could be developed in
young people. As part of urban agriculture projects, biodiversity restoration
projects, or urban forest projects, students would learn to create responsible
environmental designs by learning not only to plan as usual (make plans,
visualize, sequence, criticize, decide, organize, anticipate obstacles, etc.),
but also to apply a form of creative, complex, flexible, longitudinal, collaborative, and experiential planning. Educational strategies that promote the
development of competences related to sustainable planning could be the
object of theoretical investigations (e.g., literature reviews to improve our
understanding of competences) and practical research (e.g., testing strategies in view of increasing competences). For example, a literature review
on risk prediction would enable us to confirm that this competence requires
the description of several risks, their severity, when they appear, the level of
exposure at which they are dangerous, their probability, and the vulnerability
of areas and citizens (Morgan et al., 2002). After gaining a more in-depth
understanding of this competence, educational strategies could be tested to
eventually be used by teachers with students, which would take into consideration all of the aspects of risk during the designing process. In future
studies, we will seek to widen and diversify our sample number of leaders
interviewed in order to have a stronger research base supporting the competences in environmental design that should be promoted in EE.
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