Technological innovation, improved legislation and regulations, and fundamental policy changes are key weapons in the battle for global sustainability. But are they enough? Ultimately, sustainability must become embedded in our thought processes and lifestyle, becoming an integral part of our system of standards and values. But the realisation of this vision calls for educational strategies that reach beyond the traditional transfer of knowledge. When people from diverse backgrounds get together in a setting where they feel at ease and learn to understand one another better, chances are that they will generate new knowledge, energy and creativity – all essential building blocks for a more sustainable society. In his inaugural lecture on 27 May, Arjen Wals, Professor by special appointment of Social Learning and Sustainable Development at Wageningen University, further explores this process, which he calls “social learning”.
There has been a growing awareness for some time now that we are making excessive ecological and technological demands of our living environment and that we are now locked into a sustainability crisis. More recent research has shown that environmental issues are not just a question of nature and ecology but are also determined by social, economic and cultural factors as well as geographical scale. All these factors are woven together and this is what makes climate change and other ecological “disturbances” so uncertain and complex, says Professor Wals in his inaugural lecture, Message in a bottle – learning our way out of unsustainability. Wals argues that the dominant mechanisms, solutions, scientific strategies and educational methods are still based essentially on fragmented approaches rather than on the recognition of interconnections, relationships and synergy. As such, they are adding to the problem rather than helping to resolve it.
In his lecture, Wals traces the historical development of education, communication and learning from nature conservation education, over fifty years ago, through environmental education – now firmly embedded in the national curriculum of various countries – to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), which is based more on international agreements and new forms of governance that emphasise public involvement in the development of vision and decision-making.
Social learning
Sustainability requires more than policies on technological innovation, improved legislation and regulations, and policy changes. Wals stresses that we must never lose sight of the human factor. Upbringing and education are therefore essential. We must seek alternative forms of upbringing and education that reach beyond the traditional transfer of knowledge and which are crucial to the quality of interaction with other humans and the environment: social learning, bringing together people from widely different backgrounds to share knowledge and experience and to discuss and devise creative solutions, could be the key to educating people in sustainability.
Social learning is a process that enables people to learn from and with one another and to give creative and concrete meaning to sustainability in everyday life. Not only do we need to accept one another’s differences, we need to utilise them as well.
As Professor of Social Learning and Sustainable Development, Wals is particularly interested in cross-boundary learning between formal and informal education, where public organisations, the business community, local authorities, schools, universities of applied sciences (hogescholen), universities and knowledge institutes can make use of and further develop one another’s qualities.
Fast food
As an example of effective ESD, Wals describes how a group of pupils unravelled the end-to-end production process of a “happy meal”, sold by a well-known fast-food giant. They were asked to find answers to two questions: What do the various ingredients contain and where do these components come from? The first result was that the more the pupils discovered, the more enthusiastic they became about the project. They learned so much – also in unexpected areas – that their attitude to fast food changed and they took on board a third question: Can we develop an alternative and fair product that will make everyone really happy? The answer to this question raised further questions and thus turned the project into an exercise in social learning in the true sense: an ongoing quest for what is needed to make society more sustainable.
On 1 April 2009, Dr Arjen Wals (1964) became the Professor by special appointment in Social Learning and Sustainable Development, part of the Education and Competence Studies Group at Wageningen University. The Chair is funded by SenterNovem, now part of Agentschap NL, which falls under the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.