Role of education in sustainable development



As in the case with a business organisation, much of the problem of human civilization can perhaps be traced to the graduated dawning of awareness and the consequent understanding of required fine-tuning. In a generic sense the problem can be spelt out as the gap between the ‘what’ and ‘how’. The progress of civilization is the development from a specific state of ‘what’ through a process of ‘how’ that gets generated through a process of developing awareness of faults in the process. A process that flows from the ‘what’ as a destination. The awareness in this dynamics is a compulsion as the gaps in the process of ‘how’ creates at times irretrievable losses that force actors to be aware or create a process of awareness to generate a better ‘how’.

An ideal case in point that affects every single individual on this earth is the issue of ‘sustainable development’. By 1987, it had become clear that the way we were using the nature (how) to generate development (what) would in the ultimate analysis destroy not only what we were aspiring for but would also obliterate the entire human species.

So in 1987, the United Nations General Assembly, realising the compulsion of involving every single nation in saving the earth for us, appointed a commission under Gro Harlem Brundtland, the then former Prime Minister of Norway. The Brundtland Commission defined the target of saving the planet (what) as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own need.”

This was easily said than done. Take for example the issue of energy use. The developed nations at any point of time consume more fossil fuel – a non-replenishable source of energy and creator of carbon footprint – and developing nations in their quest for development need the use of more and more of the same energy source creating increasingly greater carbon footprint with its consequent impact on the depletion of nature. Similar is the case of mowing down of trees and denuding forest cover to create space for human habitation and squeezing space for other species destroying ecological balance and environment. The quest of civilization for better living thus created the killing field of our very being.

However, initially it was thought to be addressable through a top down approach with policy diktats that sought to limit the use of nature in a manner that failed to address the aspiration for prosperity of the poor. Fossil fuel, urban land and such other things required for our living were unaffordable for the poor. They needed to cut down trees for energy needs and clear land for living. So while the definition (what) was perfect the process (how) defeated the goal.

What was needed was awareness. Awareness about the need to protect the nature irrespective of the economic station of the addressees was the need of the aware as was the need for poverty alleviation steps that were in sync with the Brundtland goal. With this awareness it was realised that empowerment through education (new how) was the fulcrum to leverage nature in a sustainable way so that we do not compromise the requirement of the future generation thereby stopping the annihilation of human species.

One doesn’t play with fire as it injures and even kills and the loss is immediately understood. That’s experiential -- both received because we are taught about the consequence from childhood and may also have personally experienced the pain. But for experience to tell us how nature retaliates would take us generations and might happen when we are at a point of no return. This realisation has led the nations across the globe to scamper towards bottom up approach from top down and focus on education and empowerment. For education creates awareness of things we might not directly experience and also empowers people to fight poverty that together lead to sustainable development by meeting “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own need.”

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3 comments

  1. Sustainable development is needed holistic planning with peoples participation. Most of the top down planning was not achieved desired results due to lack of proper implementation and monitoring. However, it is needed much sensitization to all section of people. Thanks. Sujit Chakrabarty.

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  2. In addition to the bottom up approach, there needs to be the understanding of the context a farmer is speaking, a customised approach he is looking for, the extension services he is asking for and the connection of his outlook with another, perhaps from a different geography, speaking different language. The paradigm shift of the facilitating professional hence becomes important. This may be where technology pitches in with it's all important triangulation capacity and linking to a hitherto unknown aspect in the realm. Learning to know the paradigm, the understanding, the perception, the confusion. And the solution.. is what the education should be.

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  3. Yes.. Rightly said by Dr Maity...
    As MFIs like VFS are presently contributing a lot in economics... their role in education , particularly in Financial Literacy can not be ignored...and corporate houses need to work on this and start a program with MFIs under their CSR Activities...

    Regards,
    Satya Mishra

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