UH PRESS futures❵
become more than just a buzzword. It has to mean something to people in their everyday lives. The recent research that forms the basis for our new book looks at different local initiatives aimed at really engaging people so that they want to make better places in which to live and learn how to. In the Dearne Valley in South
Yorkshire, a study addressed the problem of the gradual loss of knowledge about rivers, which has resulted in a lack of understanding of our rivers as complex systems and a diminishing of the importance we attach to them. The study drew on the reflective use of the creative arts – in this instance writing – to support ‘participatory approaches’ to river management. Both the experts and the local people involved gained skills and confidence as they tackled local
aspects of global issues. Another study looked at how the voluntary environmental work done by young people could be enhanced and made more holistic, so that, instead of just, say, clearing some undergrowth or laying a path, they actually understood how their work fitted into the overall management of the countryside and were also helped to gain skills, knowledge and values. Such voluntary work can also provide an opportunity for young people to express their views on how their community should develop. Overall, it doesn’t just need to be a ‘green workout’, it can help to form young people’s identities. In a schools-based project,
children explored green issues and suggested actions they felt would have an impact on sustainability. The children discussed their ideas
with teachers, caretakers and administrators and addressed the issues that arose, such as the water used by the automatic flush in the school urinals. Assumptions turned out to be false: it was possible to teach effectively without technology; children would eat cold food. One school operated for a full day without electricity. Gaining hands-on experience of nature, some children grew vegetables in school gardens and then took their new enthusiasm home. This participative learning really helped the children to develop their own values and to apply them to their actions.
A key message of the book seems to be that people will take sustainability to heart if it impacts on their own lives and they can see and understand the difference it will make. f❵
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Sustainable Communities: skills and learning for place-making (ed. Rogerson et al), out now, priced £18.99.
Photography: Image of the Earthship at Stanmer Park in Brighton, UK, courtesy of Gazzat5, WikiDwelling
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