Education must link citizenship and sustainability
Suggestions for action
During the consultation process for the Manifesto, we asked people to suggest actions or innovations that could get democracy to work better for sustainable development, or sustainability.
We’ve divided up peoples’ responses in line with the six themes of the Democracy and Sustainability Platform that make up the Manifesto Principles.
On this page, you can read peoples’ ideas for action to get education to link citizenship and sustainability. We hope these ideas start you thinking about what might be needed. We’d like them to inspire you as you plan your own actions to implement the Manifesto for Democracy and Sustainability.
You can read more here about the Manifesto consultation process, who was involved, how, and from what countries.
Civic education
Civic participation is at [the] lowest it’s ever been, in particular [in] places that are in deprived areas. A solution – have a wide reaching ‘intro’ workshop to both young and old on what civic participation is with the Manifesto being a hook (UK)
Transferir responsablemente a las nuevas generaciones estos principios instalandose en la education escolar y superior, como un compromiso que se actualiza y revisa de la mano con la evolucion del tema (Brazil)
Visualization exercises carried out in junior schools about the impact of policy decisions on their community in relation to themes closely related to sustainability (e.g. burial of nuclear waste). Students might be asked to explore the impacts on their community and what they might feel and do; how it would impact neighboring communities; and then potentially how such a decision might impact on people in other areas or countries (UK)
The value of first-hand encounters
Hacer más a menudo excursiones a ver espacios naturales protegidos, plantas de reciclaje, empresas de turismo ecológico etc (Spain)
The important role of social media, the internet, radios and possibly mobile phone networks in providing spaces for the kind of debates that shape the lived experience of democracy (Zimbabwe)
Encourage links between UK communities and communities in developing countries – people enjoy working together on projects (UK)
Practising participation
Use of debates for engaging people, advancing policy, and increasing legitimacy of decisions (e.g. Intelligence Squared) (Italy)
Learning sustainability
Courses for Sustainability run by the Budapest-based Regional Environmental Centre as an exemplar, and the “Folk High Schools” model in Denmark (Hungary)
Engage with the ‘squeezed middle’ about interdependence of modern world and impact on our everyday lives (UK)
Compulsory examination in sustainable development (UK)
All students need to pass a GCSE in sustainable development [NB: GCSEs are ordinarily taken by students of all abilities in the UK at the age of 15 or 16] (UK)
Combating the anti-participation effects of stress
Stress and frustration is wide-spread today especially in the Western world (often at work). This can often interrupt decision-making with respect to sustainability. I suggest the encouraging people to understand (or simply spreading awareness of) the importance of the present moment and strengthening their relationship with nature through meditation (Australia)
Share your ideas
These are some of the ideas that people came up with during the Manifesto consultation process. You can share your own ideas for practical actions under this theme by completing the Comment box below.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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