Remco

A scenario is presented, for describing the problem in Koh Pich a small island in Cambodia, where the Government in 2004 decided to remove from the island the 134 agricultural families aiming to transform the natural island to a free trade centre, attracting multinational companies to invest on it. The discussion of the scenario is based on issues like changing the use of land and the social, economic, ecological consequences of this change; the destruction of professional groups, the uprooting of populations, the disruption of social cohesion.

When the issue is discussed in depth, using various sources of information, the group is divided in small groups taking different roles:

Each group justifies its opinion and uses various resources of information to build their arguments. Role-play is expected to reveal all the different aspects of the issue, their consequences and impacts, aiming to reach a decision that will ensure the sustainability of the island and the population.

Group activity/discussion. Discuss the challenge of finite resources. Direct the discussion towards our use of finite resources. You might ask: What kind of resources are we using in our everyday life? Could we keep going with the way we currently live forever? What are the limitations? What could we do about it?

Ask the students to discuss in pairs or groups first. Then collect some responses on the white/black board. 

Then ask the students: How can we best come up with ideas and responses to the challenge that soon we will run out of non-renewable resources?

Energy inspectors: The energy consumption at the school is too high and students undertake an energy consumption campaign for reduction of energy in the school and community. They suggest and adopt specific measures for energy reduction and examine how their life style has been energy dependent and impacted negatively on the environment.

Group activity. Set up production/ consumption related scenario, e.g. a supermarket. Students adopt different roles e.g. manager, older person, pregnant woman, environmentalist, vegan, meat eater. Role-play team meetings based on resolving different issues, e.g. how to change consumer habits, increase profits, become more environmentally friendly. Groups share experiences and outcomes.

Scenario: Local authorities decide to turn a free space in a densely populated community (suffering from urbanization and a lack of green) into a trade centre instead of a community park. A role-play is organised based on this scenario. Different roles are identified as well as conflicting interests and opinions. Students are divided into groups with each group representing one role. The groups collect information in order to build arguments supporting their position. Act out the role-play and explore the issues from different perspectives. At the end of the play, show the problems and issues through a web or concept map so as to indicate their systemic and complex character. The role-play ends with specific decisions that are reviewed and discussed according to their impact on the community.

Individual task. Do research on campaigns that promote sustainable practices. Present your findings to class. Discuss with others the following questions:

Conduct a field trip in the community to a protected area. With the use of various techniques (interviews with locals, narratives, observation of the landscape), students capture how the natural environment impacted the culture and identity of the locals. Discuss with locals the problems they are facing and how these affect the communities’ sustainability, as well as actions for their resilience and local sustainability. Students analyse the proposed actions considering specific criteria (e.g. easy to integrate, cost, short/long term implementation, benefits in social, economic, natural dimensions, resistance for their implementation etc.).

Having done so, they come up with an action plan for addressing the specific local issue and proceed to its implementation.

Share, swap and give away party. Bring things that you no longer need to class and have a swap party. Each student can take something home from these available products.

They then report how they have used their new item.

Organise a visit to industries that apply innovative technologies e.g. managing waste, saving energy/ water, creating green buildings and discuss with the scientists, producers, contractors how these technologies are designed and how they help cities become more sustainable.

Develop an inquiry-based project about sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation. Students work in groups to design innovative sustainable technologies and ideas in order to find solutions for unsustainable practices in the community.

School project. Set up a development partnership with another school from the Global South. Exchange with other students from the partner school and create a project where you develop new forms of sustainable lifestyles.