Remco

Invite older persons to discuss with students about the changes in the local community over the years. Students prepare questions to collect information about their life in the community in the past, the changes in their community, their relationship with the land and other species etc. Students use also history, arts, literature to collect information about their community and city and its changes. Students prepare a display showing key changes and the implications of these changes on the environment.

Investigate in pairs the different actors in production and consumption. (Preselected). Students define their roles, rights and duties and present their findings to the others.

Groups research the following issue: Citizens are paying taxes for house waste management but communities still do not have an organised waste management system. Open spaces in the community are used as landfills. Why does the problem exist? How does this impact the community life-quality? What hidden interests exist behind this issue What is the role of the local population? How can they react? Share findings.

Group discussion: open or small group discussion.
Do you think your lifestyle is sustainable? How can you tell if your lifestyle is sustainable?
How can we compare lifestyles? How would you compare your lifestyle to a student in another country?
(Use a relevant example such as comparing your lifestyle to a cousin/friend’s in another country.)
Ask students to measure/compare everything! Lead them to the concept of “Ecological Footprint” as a unit to measure and compare different lifestyles. Our ecological footprint allows us to calculate how much pressure our lifestyle is putting on the planet.

Example 1

Conduct interviews with community members in need or visit isolated or remote areas to learn in situ the problems and difficulties they have. Produce a report of findings with specific measures that can be undertaken for more sustainable living. Ask the support of NGOs and other organizations for their implementation.

Example 2

Debate: Touristic Development Vs endangered species conservation. Students are divided into two groups: one group supporting touristic development of an area and the other group supporting halting touristic development for the protection of endangered species in the same area.

Groups collect data, explore various resources for justifying their position and try to address the issue from different points of view. It is important that the ideas that will be finally adopted take into consideration the fact that our quality of life and sustainable living not only depend on economic welfare, but also depend on living in harmony with other species.

In groups: investigate access to sustainable and affordable products from a developing world’s perspective. Each group takes a specific country and researches the potential perspective of these different stakeholders. Share your analysis with others and discuss, comparing the different case studies.

Teachers, students and parents, conduct a field study in their community. Students and parents following different directions and using a map of the community, register on the map locations of practices in their community that impact on their quality of life. Returning to school, all the groups work together to compile in a bigger map, schemes, notes and drawings of the things they spotted in their area of investigation as unsustainable, justifying why they want to change them and how (proposals for changes and actions). Then they organise a discussion in the school inviting all the interested parties and community stakeholders. They present the results of their field work and their suggestions and ideas for actions and decide jointly on a long-term course of actions that will help their community become more sustainable.

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 strategies and practices of sustainable production and consumption.

Teacher and students choose an issue about their city and community that they consider unsustainable, e.g. waste management, or lack of green space in the community, or transportation systems’ problems… and organise a debate in the school, inviting local authorities and other stakeholders for the discussion. Based on the various views and opinions that the interested parties express, decide on specific actions that can be adopted to tackle the problem and set a step by step plan for their implementation as well as the responsibilities that each group of stakeholders will take.

Futures workshop

Describe the current state of practice, reflecting on a global perspective but also on your personal lifestyle habits, by drawing a picture of the state of art. Then think about a potential future scenario in 50 years from now. What do you want to see differently? What can remain? Why?
Share your thoughts with your classmates.