1. Redefining Education in a Climate
Changing World
Redefining Education in a Climate
Changing World
Dominic D’Souza
Associate Director, Laya
FABC
1st Climate Change Regional Seminar - South Asia
Mumbai, India
March 3 - 4, 2015

2.  ‘Unsustainable development’ - cause of human-
induced Climate Change
 Environmental degradation and Green House Gas
(GHG) emissions: 2 dimensions of ‘unsustainable
development’
 ‘Skepticism’ and ‘Certainty’
 Human response: frog in warming water
 Paradigm shift needed in understanding ‘sustainable
development’
 Focus on ‘ecosystems’ help to understand and
respond to impacts of Climate Change
Some Assumptions

3.  Natural resources are limitless?
 Industrial Revolution: wanton degradation and
destruction of the natural resources:
 overuse of fossil fuels, and also,
 acceleration of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions
 Corporate greed and ‘unjust’ profit real cause of GHG
emissions.
Unsustainable Development

4.  depletion/pollution of natural resources: air, water
and soil;
 destruction of ecosystems and
 extinction of wildlife
Environmental Degradation
Environmental degradation

5. ‘Historical emissions’ overstressed the global
atmospheric commons ‘climatic imbalances’ –
climate change:
Impacts experienced in different ecosystems differently
by:
incidence of cyclones/typhoons,
erratic rainfall,
floods and droughts,
rise in temperature, sea level rise, etc.
Climate Imbalances and
Disasters

6. The Green House Effect:
Tipping Point
SUN

7. • 350 ppm of carbon: sustainable carrying
capacity of earth
• Increasing at @2 ppm of carbon per year
Carbon consumption:
• World’s average: 4 tons per person/year
• Sustainable average: 2 tons per person
/year
Climate change: ‘heightens’/ ‘accelerates’
the intensity and frequency of natural
disasters and accelerates environmental
degradation
Climate Change: Urgent
Issue

8. Virtue of Feigned Ignorance?

9. Skeptics

10. Hobson’s Choice?

11. Increasing ‘certainty’ of human induced Climate Change:
International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Assessment
Reports:
First Report: 1990
Supplementary Report: 1992
Second Report: 1995
Third Report: 2001
Fourth Report: 2007
Fifth Report: 2014
Certainty?

12. Human Response: The Frogs
in the Pot

13. … Pot of Boiling Water

14. Sustainable development is a contested and constantly
evolving concept that is guided by the will to improve
everyone’s quality of life, including that of future
generations, by reconciling economic growth, social
development and environmental protection.
Improving the quality of our life implies a change in our
learning. As UNESCO’s Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura
stresses: "Education – in all its forms and at all levels – is
not only an end in itself but is also one of the most
powerful instruments we have for bringing about the
changes required to achieve sustainable development."
From UNESCO (2005) ‘ESD at a Glance’
Sustainable Development

15. Communities - dependent on eco-systems for their survival:
coastal, forests, arid and semi-arid, mountainous, urban
•affected differently in different ecosystems
•do not contribute to the problem: low carbon users
15
Impact of Climate Change
on Ecosystem Communities

16. Education in the Times of
Climate Change - A Template
Key components of holistic education in a
climate changing world:
Science and wisdom: basis of the crisis
Political economy: the dynamics of decision-
making
Ethics: justice and equity aspects
Relevant action: engagement opportunities
at the micro-macro level

17. Science and Community
Wisdom
 Concepts (from ‘science’ and
‘community wisdom’) related to
the history and causes of climate
change;
 Knowledge and skills to discern
between certainties,
uncertainties, risks and
consequences of environmental
degradation, disasters and
climate change;
 Knowledge of mitigation and
adaptation practices that can
contribute to building resilience
and sustainability.

18.  Industrialized countries historical and present emissions;
 Developing countries future emissions Industrialized
countries have accumulated enormous wealth: at what cost to
the global commons?!
 The poor the current stabilization of the environment
by their low carbon lifestyles
 Developing countries must have the means to take care of a
majority of their marginalized population
 Per capita consumption of the marginalized must increase to
maintain quality of life
Political economy – local and
global
International impasse:

19.  Science – the causes and effects of climate change, -
what we can do about it.
 Ethics: what we should do!
 Ethics: making judgments about what is fair, equitable
and just
 Ethical dimensions of climate change: climate justice;
ecological justice (eco-justice).
 Not been addressed adequately in climate policy
debates or literature on climate change
Climate Ethics

20.  Truly global phenomenon
 Compromises basic human rights
 Historical and current emissions have profoundly
intergenerational effects
 Our theoretical tools are underdeveloped
Climate Change: Challenges
to Ethical Action
Climate Change:

21. Ethics and Values
 Need v/s greed: challenge the consumerism culture
 Survival v/s luxury emissions: sustainable living
 Polluters must pay: responsible for overexploitation
 Equity in the ‘global ecological space’
 Intergenerational responsibility

22. Urgent Relevant Action
 Critical reflection
 Name and shame the culprits
 Pursue sustainable development
 Vulnerability assessments of communities in
ecosystems
 Enquire into the kind of learning for change
 Learning from well articulated community based
responses
Key actions:

23.  Low carbon pathway means at one level a
technological revolution
 At another level it also means a lifestyle change
What is the way forward in a lifestyle change?
Some examples:
 Self: Carbon footprint
 Institution: Energy audit
 Community: Building resilience
Relevant Actin for Low
Carbon Pathway

24. The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to
directly and indirectly support human activities, usually
expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Carbon Footprint

25. Energy Audit

26.  understand and analyze its energy utilization
 Identify areas where energy use can be reduced,
 Decide on how to budget energy use
 Plan & practice feasible energy conservation methods
 Curtail energy wastage
 Reduce energy costs
 Increases awareness of energy issues among personnel
The Role of Energy Audit
An institution can:

27. Building community resilience (e.g., in a forest
ecosystem):
Coping with natural disasters: hazard mapping,
disaster preparedness and management
Change in cropping pattern: paddy to millets,
pulses, etc.
Sustainable harvesting of forest produce
Sustainable use of energy: woodstoves, solar, nano-
hydels, hydrams, water filters, etc.
Building Community
Resilience

28. Hydram
Fuel Efficient
Wood Stove
Nano-Hydel
Solar
lantern
Bio sand filter
Decentralized Renewable Energy Access
Hydram

29. Coping with ‘erratic
rainfall’
‘Vegetative’ fencing
Growing mixed crops on slope lands
Banana intercropped with
pineapple and turmeric
From commercial to traditional crops
Collection of traditional seeds

30. System of Rice
Intensification (SRI)

31. Redefining Education

32.  What is Climate Change?: the science, the impacts
 What has caused – is causing - Climate Change?: the
political and economic compulsions/choices
 What are the ethical implications of Climate Change?:
affects all, without exception, here and now and the
future
 What do we need to do about it?: self, institution,
community, etc
 In the above context: the need to redefine education as
‘life-long learning’ in a Climate Changing World: critical
thinking, analysis for behavioral change.
Redefining Education in a
Climate Changing World

33.  Learning to know
 Learning to do
 Leaning to be (human)
 Learning to live (sustainably)
-Delors, et al. 1996. Learning: The Treasure Within.
Paris, UNESCO
Principles of Learning
Four Pillars of Learning: