- Thursday 28 June 2018
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Sus/tain/a/bil/i/ty — It’s a BIG word with a BIG meaning, requiring BIG action with the hope of achieving a BIG impact. It’s also a word that can be very personal and very wide-reaching. We’ve heard the word often enough, ... but what does it really mean?
What does sustainability mean to you?
Does it simply mean separating your household rubbish into recyclables like green waste; plastic, glass, aluminium, paper and cardboard; and sending the rest to landfill? Is that the sum total of your sustainable actions? Does it mean growing your own fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs; or using compost you’ve made yourself on your garden? Does it mean only buying products wrapped in recycled packaging? Does it mean helping your children or class to appreciate the plants, animals and environments around you?
Or ... does sustainability to you have an emphasis with a far-reaching impact?
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Sustainability, in its strictest definition means ‘the capacity for development that can be sustained into the future without destroying the environment in the process’. In simpler terms, it means that whatever we do now to provide for our own needs shouldn’t have a negative impact on things in the future.
Like many other societal roles imposed on them, educators are expected to instill in children an awareness of sustainability and how to live more sustainable lives. Often too, education departments support this role for teachers with sustainability being embedded within curriculum.
But who teaches the educators and education departments about sustainability? Where do they turn for their information? Luckily there is a well-known, global organisation that provides sustainable development goals for everyone. This organisation is the United Nations.
(ARTWORK— A CARTOONY PICTURE WITH A PERSON (GUIDE) LEADING A GROUP OF EDUCATORS/OR SHOWING THEM THE WAY TO GO)
The United Nations Sustainable Development goals are a set of 17 goals aimed at creating a better and more sustainable future for all that is fair, equitable and promising.
The goals are quite extensive and include the following:
(ARTWORK - UN sustainable development goals in a coloured table)
Why should we care about the United Nations Sustainable Development goals?
No matter our continent, country, race, beliefs and values, we all inhabit the same world. It is confronting and confusing to encounter huge inequalities across the world. Some people live in poverty, struggling to find enough food to eat, while others constantly throw piles of wasted food into landfill. There are huge discrepancies between countries and peoples in wealth, employment and educational opportunities, and access to the basic necessities of life. The future of the planet and the people on the planet is of great concern to individuals and groups in all walks of life and on every continent. We are global citizens and as such it is our responsibility to care for each other.
With the sustainability goals in mind one person can make a huge difference. Imagine the positive changes that could result across the world if every person worked towards achieving the sustainability goals!
The goals may seem unreachable but that does not mean we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed and don’t make the attempt. Sustainable goals empower us to take positive action. They should be embedded in community, school and classroom activities and programs. Even the smallest action, like reusing the blank side of printed paper or creating projects from recycled materials can have a huge impact. (Link—Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production)
Education for sustainability connects both to the present and the future. As we learn to design and implement actions for living in the present, we must always be conscious of the impact those actions will have in the future. Educating for sustainability means that individually and as a group students can dissect issues and propose actions for sustainable solutions.
With the help of the information, activities and projects in this series of blogs, we hope to offer fun, workable suggestions for ways teachers can lay the foundations to help students work towards these goals and, hopefully, develop future generations of sustainability-aware good citizens.
Interested in more sustainability resources?
Check out our range of sustainability resources here.