Changing public attitudes to environmental issues
A new centre for education in sustainable development launched recently at Dublin City University aims to change public attitudes to sustainability and environmental issues across the greater Dublin region. The Centre will co-ordinate a range of projects from youth employment programmes in the green economy to schools disaster mitigation competitions, in order to promote sustainability within the greater Dublin region. The Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE Dublin) in Education for Sustainable Development has been recognised by the United Nations University and will work in partnership with a range of stakeholders including An Taisce, Dublin City Council, ECO-UNESCO, Educate Together, Fighting Words, JustForests and The Green Way.
Sustainability means that things can keep going, can sustain themselves, can withstand the reasonable demands and pressures of environment and populations, can continue into the future and go on forever. In order to achieve sustainable futures, society needs to re-balance individual and societal “needs and wants”. The problem that exists today for many of us is that in the absence of experiencing the effects of unsustainable activities, there is little incentive to change our behaviours. Furthermore, the evidence shows that the more educated we become, the less sustainable we are. RCE Dublin will play a vital role in addressing this awareness deficit through a range of innovative sustainability education projects:
- Green Teen Transitions will deliver further education and employment opportunities for unemployed young people in the green economy;
- The What-if: Disaster Mitigation schools’ competition will challenge school children to generate solutions to potential environmental disasters facing the Dublin region such as sea-level rises, a chemical spill in the Liffey or an avian flu pandemic;
- Sustainability Literature World Cafe Forum - Examining urban sustainability through the lens of Irish literature by organising poetry and musical events to raise awareness of sustainability;
- Horticultural Histories - Innovative initiatives, such as foraging competitions, to help map indigenous horticultural practices that support bio-diversity, sustainable consumption and eco-management within the built environment; public fora to crowd-source solutions to sustainability issues;
- The Ethical Citizen - Development of blended online courses on the themes of Ethical Sustainability and the Earth Charter for students and educators within primary, post-primary, further and higher education
Ireland’s recently-launched National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development responds to the UNESCO Global Action Programme on educating for sustainable development. This programme identifies as key priorities the integration of sustainability practices into education and training, increasing the capacity of educators and trainers, empowering and mobilising youth, local communities and municipal authorities.
Dr Charlotte Holland, Director of RCE Dublin, said,
“I would call for serious commitment by the Irish government to the appropriate resourcing of this new Irish national strategy or little change will be effected on sustainable practices. It is disappointing to witness an inequality in existing funding models where billions have been invested by the EU and national governments in research and development focussed on engineering more sustainable consumer choices such as renewable energies and yet there has been little or no investment in fostering education for sustainability which is critical for changing attitudes and behaviours. The development of partnerships across a range of stakeholders such as those operating within RCE Dublin will effectively mobilise young people to respond to the sustainability issues facing this island.”
RCE Dublin is part of a network of 129 regional centres of expertise in education for sustainable development across the globe that are acting at local, national, regional and international levels to promote peaceable and sustainable futures for all. The Centre RCE Dublin is focused on promoting ‘Mottainai’, a Japanese cultural practice valuing the dignity of living and non-living things, and underpinned by the notion that what we have is too precious to be wasted.
Anthony Purcell of An Taisce said,
“An Taisce is delighted to be part of the RCE Dublin network and looks forward to working in collaboration with DCU and other members to promote and deliver education for sustainable development projects in the Region.”
For more information on RCE Dublin, please contact Dr. Charlotte Holland on 01-700 8243 or charlotte.holland@dcu.ie