EU
Transversal Study Visit
Guidance
for sustainable, ethical lifestyle and career choices
Monday March 17th to
Thursday March 20th 2014
Stamford, UK
Promoting
acquisition of key competences through the education and training
system - Education for active citizenship and sustainable development
Adult, youth, student and vocational educators are using
innovative approaches to personal, social, health and economic
education, as well as career and financial guidance. This enables
young people to be ethical consumers and caring citizens able to
respond locally to the global challenges of peak oil and climate
change. Adam Cade, Director of SustEd – Sustainability Education,
will draw on his extensive experience of work with UNESCO/UNEP, EU
Leonardo, Comenius and Youth in Action projects, as well as with
schools, colleges and universities in the UK and internationally.
Adult, youth, student
and vocational educators in the UK are responding to the demands by
young people (14 - 30) for guidance on how to lead a sustainable and
ethical lifestyle and career. The formal and informal curriculum,
especially personal, social, health and economic education in the UK,
is challenged to meet that demand from learners, employers and local
communities. Education centres, vocational colleges, the University
of East Anglia, businesses and community organisations in Norfolk
have developed some innovative approaches to education about
sustainable and ethical lifestyles. SustEd has researched and
developed with others a range of local and international projects,
activities and guides on sustainable and ethical lifestyles,
including personal financial management, travel and tourism,
consumption and entrepreneurship.
Participants learnt:
- How the culture and actions of an education institution can change personal behaviour to be more sustainable.
- How vocational institutions, universities, adult and youth education centres and schools can teach innovative approaches to lifestyle and career choices.
- How leaders and managers can develop the curriculum, especially personal, social, health and economic education, that explores sustainable and ethical lifestyle and career choices.
Participants:
- Visited an education centre, businesses, university and vocational college;
- Observed educators working with learners;
- Met a range of education staff and learners from a college and university, and staff from a local authority, non-governmental organisations and businesses.
Transversal Study
Visit Group Report
Guidance for
sustainable, ethical lifestyle and career choices
Group reporter: Bernt
Gebauer
The study was carefully
divided into visits to relevant institutions (see below) and working
sessions, which took place in our hotel in Stamford.
During our working
sessions we were given background information on the situation of ESD
in England (and Scotland) and definitions of responsible schools.
A lot of time was spent
discussing the introduction of the new national curriculum in England
in September 2014. Citizenship education in the new curriculum is
mainly about political and economic issues; unfortunately there is no
sign of education for sustainable development. Sustainable
development can be found across the other subjects but it’s not
mentioned explicitly. One related subject is PSHE (personal, social,
health and economic education). The former Labour government used to
support the idea of “sustainable schools” but the idea
disappeared again. In Scotland, global citizenship exists as a
subject including education for sustainability, international
education and citizenship education. Health and well-being counts as
an extra subject.
All participants from
all different nations agreed on the difficulty to locate “Guidance
for sustainable, ethical lifestyle and career choices” in the
respective curricula, but also agreed on the necessity to do so.
How inclusive and
responsible is the community?
Adam Cade took the
group on a creative and inspiring walking tour through the city of
Stamford called «The Responsibility Trail». The group walked
through Stamford , being enabled to see places of interest from the
point of view of social and cultural relevance, connectivity,
services, environmental and economical, as well as inclusivity. The
Egan Wheel offers a valuable grid for assessing how sustainable the
community of Stamford is.
On the recreation
ground , the log cabin and the shack are put to good use as they
enable young people (11 to 8 years old) to gather in relative comfort
to socialise, play music or for various events. It serves both a
social and cultural purpose and may facilitate community cohesion.
There are facilities for children and play space. A skate park was
built recently. These elements serve the needs of the young
generations, and build community cohesion.
On the downside, we
remarked that the car-parks in Stamford do not offer much space for
bicycles, which means cycling is not encouraged very much. The «Park
and Stride» scheme does not seem to be very developed. Neither is
car-pooling, or collaborative consumption.
The former Museum of
Stamford has unfortunately closed, which means that part the local
cultural and historical heritage is no longer available to the young
generations.
The library, which is a
strong factor of sustainability, culture, social cohesion, does not
offer specific parking for bikes.
The Grasmere Farm Shop
sells local meat and produces. (sustainable food)
We noticed that there
are several charity shops in the town, among which «Penny Lane»,
where NCS students (especially those with special needs) can acquire
practical work experience, and the Oxfam Charity shop: recycling
clothes, books, household equipment, toys, promotes sustainability
and produces resources to help those in need. Social concern and
sustainability are unfortunately not shared by all businesses, but
more and more large chainstore companies make a selling point of
selling locally produced food and Fair Trade goods.
The local Thomas Cook
Travel agency regularly takes on students for work experience, which
is a way of investing in the future.
Our main learning
effect was that sustainability has to be embedded in an organisation
and must not be supported by a single individual or a small team if
you want it to be a permanent philosophy in the institution after the
departure of the initiators of the approach. You also have to allow
time for mentalities to change and better awareness of environmental
challenges to improve.
How can we add
responsibility to financial education?
Adam presented Ethica
-The Ethical Finance Game http://susted-ethica.blogspot.com an
educational board game, including the roles of families, bankers and
entrepreneurs, which explores the social and environmental impacts of
personal banking, investments and businesses. Ethica lets players
assume the role of an investment banker or venture capitalist and see
how well their green intentions stand up in the world of
international finance.
Ethica is an European
project, funded by EU Leonardo Transfer of Innovation. It builds on
basic financial literacy to explore the link between morals and
money. It links personal financial education to education for
sustainable development and sustainable consumption. It aims at
balancing together the 3 Ps: People, Profit, Planet.
Several participants
decided to take the game home with them to use it as an educational
tool. It is interesting because of its playful character.
Short overview of
visits
The programme then
covered several institutions/learning opportunities such as
businesses, schools, learning centers, churches and
universities/student unions:
1. Cummins Generator
Technologies
Stephen Connolly
(stephen.connoly@cummins.com)
Nic Bertrand
(nicolas.bertrand@cummins.com)
Responsible
employers/responsible business
2. St Gilbert`s Primary
School
Linda Glossop
(linda.glossop@st-gilbert-stamford.lincs.sch.uk)
Encouraging kids to
articulate their interests in school life.
Letting the kids take
care of their own garden.
3. Stibbington Centre,
Cambridgeshire Environmental Education Service
(mainly Primary
Schools)
Rosie Edwards
(rosie.edwards@cambridgeshire.gov.uk)
Letting children
experience aspects of ecology and sustainability first hand
4. New College Stamford
Teresa Arnone
(teresa.arnone@stamford.ac.uk)
Christine Toulson
(christine.toulson@stamford.ac.uk)
Andrew Patience
(andrew.patience@stamford.ac.uk)
Teaching responsible
tourism; also acting responsibly as school
5. De Montfort
University, Leicester
Karl Letten
(kletten@dmu.ac.uk)
Michaela Skodova
(michaelaskodova@changeagents.org.uk)
Jessica Pryor
(jessicapryor@changeagents.org.uk)
Encouraging sustainable
lifestyle through action weeks and student projects (GREEN IMPACT)
What are responsible
employers and businesses?
(Visit to Cummins
Generators plc)
Operation model
They have a CIT,
Community Involvement team, which coordinates all the projects with
the local community of Stamford and lately Peterborough.
Working with a limited,
small (8) number of partners
Looking for long term
relationship 2-10 years
Working on 3 levels:
first Engagement, second Collaboration and the third Sustainable
impact (engaging on the strategy level)
3 field of working:
education, environment and social justice (all are equally important
to them)
The means
They use fixed funds
(30.000 EUR/ per year, total sum + the paid voluntary wok) that can
be used for the projects
The main aim is to use
the knowledge and skills of their employees
They apply for grant of
the main firm
The firm does local
projects in schools, recruitment workshops in schools (to influence
the path of education in favour of engineers and project managers)
Is it a good
practice and why?
Cummins is good
representative of a responsible business, which takes care about
profit and social aspects and community involvement at the same time.
They try to follow the same practice in all their companies around
the world.
What makes it
successful and worth exploring?
Social responsibility
is an issue of the firm from the very beginnings (the founder)
The majority of the
employees is engaging in the activities (64% and growing)
The employees get their
personal satisfaction from participating in the projects (for example
working with disabled children)
It is working model of
lifelong learning for everybody that participates
What is
similar/different in participating countries?
Taking in account the
different economical ,historical and political backgrounds of the
Eastern and western Europe we noted the following similar approaches:
Poland has a
responsible business projects with the universities and firms
cooperating
Germany has firms
(eg.Siemens) which have similar social responsible projects in the
community
France has similar
approach with social business but meets a lot of distrust whether it
is a genuine or only for the showing off
Slovenia also has
government supported social business practices
The challenges in other
EU countries are the same for a business as in UK. In small countries
you meet other problems as in big cities and the case of Cummins
shows that it is somehow easier to engage into community work in
small towns and that it takes different strategies in bigger cities.
Some companies in EU
have similar approach and new insights could be gained by exploring
their models.
What is the most
important lesson?
To see in practice how
a company really can engage in community service and to see on the
other hand how it often is vitally dependent or driven by a single
very enthusiastic person, which makes it fragile. The community
project of Cummins are a very useful inspiration.
How can young pupils
learn to live sustainable ethically and responsibly?
(Visit to St. Gilbert
Church Of England Primary School)
The most important
feature of this school is its Academy status, which is a new model
introduced 2 years ago, which gives the schools almost total autonomy
in decision making: on finances and on curriculum. The second
important feature is the close cooperation of the stuff, the
students, the parents, the church and the community in the decision
making process.
What makes it
successful and worth exploring?
The decision making
participating of the students (i.e. the student council), empowers
the responsibility of students
The ways in which the
school tries to integrate the sustainability issues into their
everyday life (f.e. turning the demolished backyard into the peace
garden)
The way how non
typically academic issues like solidarity, working with earth,
cooking, IT responsibility are incorporated in programme
The approach that the
adults and the students are learning from immediate experience rather
than from theory
What is
different/similar in other participating countries?
The level of autonomy
of academy is really unique
You can find similar
approaches engaging students and parents in community in other
countries
What are the
challenges?
Giving the parents and
community the responsibility for different aspects of life inside and
outside the school
It is highly dependent
on the people who are running the place in the means of
responsibility and the academy system is vulnerable in this issue
What are the
sustainable ethical lifestyle and career choices?
- Playing a game trying to define adjectives describing a sustainable ethical lifestyle (responsible came up the most times, and adjectives connected with sociability)
- Trying to identify core values for sustainable, ethical lifestyle (respect, sense of community, solidarity etc.). “Sustainable lifestyle is all about knowledge.”
How can these be
included in lifelong education?
- Learning by experience
- Through Forest school concept
- Improving knowledge and understanding ABOUT, IN, THROUGH and FOR environmental, social and economic issues
What sort of
guidance and support in schools?
(Visit to Stibbington
Centre, Cambridgeshire, Environmental Education Service)
Contact person: Rosie
Edwards, Head of Cambridgeshire Environmental Education Service
Stibbington Centre is
an environmental centre which can be visited by schools for
over-night visits (up to 3 days) or day visits. Topics and activities
can differ and will depend on the curriculum and the different
classes’ needs. As an introduction children usually do the
so-called “eco-trail” which consists of several stops where
children have to answer questions on environmental issues.
The centre’s main
focus are primary school children but there are also some activities
for older pupils. Apart from this the centre also includes a
classroom from the 1940s in which children can experience school life
at war time.
Programme
- General information
- Eco-Trail with children staying at the centre
- Background information and questions
What makes it
successful and worth exploring?
- well-organized institution
- intuitive approach to learning for the children (e. g. climate change tree, bathrooms with the water cycle, food diagrams, origin of food)
- financial independence of the institution
- creative ideas to motivate children (rubbish panels around fire place, rubbish art with bottle caps or wellington boot-dogs)
- creative in finding slots in the curriculum to employ sustainability education depending on the learners’ needs (e. g. environmental arts, health education, English and Maths outside the classroom etc.)
What is
similar/different in participating countries?
In Portugal and Germany
there are similar centres but only for day visits (non-residential).
A lot of the activities that are carried out in the centre are
sometimes also done in primary schools in other countries (e. g.
planting vegetables, recycling paper, composting organic waste etc.)
In Hungary there are
forest-school programmes that elementary school classes visit for one
week which have a similar structure. These forest schools are not
separate organization but they are included in the curriculum and
organized by the schools. In Hungary there are also NGOs that
organize programmes in which children can do peasant work (work with
animals, grow plants etc.); these programmes have to be paid for.
What are the
challenges in guiding learners about sustainable, ethical lifestyle
and career choices?
- making children understand the importance of sustainability in their every-day lives
- finding funding for projects now that the government doesn’t support the centre any more and parents have to pay for the visits
- staying innovative and up-to-date, coming up with new ideas every year
- measuring or estimating the impact of the visits on the children’s lives (is it successful or not?)
What is the most
important/useful lesson from the visit?
- Actual practical hands-on involvement is more efficient than theoretical instructions.
- It is very important to delegate work so that if the head leaves the organization things don’t fall apart.
What can students
learn about responsible tourism?
(Visit to New College
Stamford)
We visited New College
Stamford (www.stamford.ac.uk). It is a general further education
college providing full-time (students aged 16-18) and part-time
academic and vocational courses (HNCs, HNDs and Foundation Degrees).
Students wishing to go on to a full degree can do so through NCS's
partnerships with universities.
The students whom we
saw at New College Stamford are studying tourism. They showed us what
students can learn about responsible tourism. Rather than an
abstract lecture, they were given a lively introduction to
sustainable tourism, the concepts being illustrated with concrete
examples. Each student did a presentation to virtual customers (us!)
of a complete proposal for an ecofriendly holiday. They had been
requested to plan a holiday keeping in mind sustainable values,
thinking as responsible travelers, and considering their impact on
the Planet (environment); People (social aspects), Profit (local
economy). They impressed all the participants by how seriously they
had prepared their assignment, and by their awareness of the bad
consequences of tourism: accordingly, they had chosen for their
«customers» the more eco-friendly transports, selected restaurants
that serve locally sourced food and hotels that were built with a
respect for the environment. Obviously, they had been well prepared
by the team of teachers responsible for the module. (Teresa Arnone,
from NCS, and Adam Cade, from SustEd). We thought it was a good
example of collaboration of a College and a NGO to provide guidance
for a sustainable lifestyle and ethical career.
How can vocational
colleges educate their students to be responsible for people and the
Planet?
Clearly, the culture
and actions of NCS encourage sustainable behaviour on the part of
both their staff and students (and their future customers). The «four
Cs» are covered: curriculum, community links, campus, culture.
The Planet
Christine Toulson,
Assistant Principal, christine.toulson@stamford.ac.uk, and Mr Andrew
Patience, Principal, andrew.patience@stamford.ac.uk explained that
the College has an Environmental and Sustainability Policy
(environmental and sustainability awareness is built into every job
description and promoted in student inductions). NCS is a member of
the Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC).
The students are
involved in the NCS Environmental Working Group (cross-college
representation through managers, departments and students). The
students also take part in events such as the Annual Green Week (Fair
Trade, sustainable tourism, irrigation systems and natural beauty
displays, Student challenge, cutting down on food waste, fashion made
using recycled materials, a visit to Ecobuild).
In every aspect of the
College, sustainability is consistently implemented at all levels :
Management of waste:
General waste is recycled 100%. Hazardous waste is disposed of
through specialist firms. Paper, card, glass, plastic, metal, printer
toner, cooking and motor vehicle oil, light bulbs, batteries are all
recycled.
The carbon footprint of
the college core server has decreased by almost one quarter after the
new IT infrastructure was set up.
Food used within
College is locally sourced and cooking is managed for maximum
efficiency. The new sports center is built to the highest possible
ecological standards.
Filtered drinking water
dispensers are all mains fed.
The Travel Plan
encourages sustainable travel behaviour, through increased use of
walking, cycling and public transport. (bike borrow’ and ‘cycle
to work’ schemes).
Social responsibility
The College has
obtained several Awards, such as the EAUC Association’s Green Gown
Award within the Social Responsibility category. Social
responsibility and community involvement play an integral role.
(close links with the local Transition Towns and Fairtrade groups).
The students take part
in the Community Engagement of NCS, including participation in
Stamford’s Georgian Festival, Christmas Festival and Apple Day
celebrations, ‘Dine with a Difference’, and the Big Tidy Up with
the local primary schools.
NCS is really open to
the community, as it offers a wide range of evening classes (among
which vegetable growing and bicycle maintenance). Work experience on
the grounds of the College mean that the students have regular
interaction with the public, as services are offered in hair and
beauty, car maintenance, catering..
If you look at the
diagram of «the 8 doorways to sustainability», most are covered by
the culture of NCS.
How can universities
guide their students to be responsible in their lifestyle choices
(Visit to DeMontfort
University, Leicester)
The project «Green
Impact» was extensively presented during the visit and intensively
discussed. Main learning effects were that students need to have fun
when saving energy or waste. There is no use telling students off
when do not show sustainable lifestyles. Participants were surprised
at the technical proficiency needed to support energy saving projects
such as «Switch Off» or smart spaces in particular. Specific
interest was given to the workplace experience aspect of Green Impact
by some guests, who asked how to start a cooperation. «Sustainabilty
for the real world» seems to work here, that was our main insight.
We were also given a
very stimulating presentation by Jo Kemp, from NUS.
jo.kemp@nus.org.uk
The National Union of
Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) is a confederation of student
unions in the UK. Around 600 students’ unions are in membership,
(95 per cent of all students' unions in the UK). NUS sees itself as
an enabler for student unions and education institutions wanting to
‘green’ their curriculum and equip their students, the future
generation of workers and leaders, with the skills to both adapt to
and lead a changing economy. Jo described the action of the National
Union of Students in ESD. ESD (Education for Sustainable
Development) is education that aims to give students the knowledge
and skills to live and work sustainably.
www.nus.org.uk/en/lifestyle/ethical-living
«Our behaviour
change work already looks at creating a social norm of sustainability
on campus and within the community. A greener curriculum will see
sustainability issues being discussed in lecture theatres, as well as
on campus, in student housing and within the community»
Typical examples are
campaigns such as «Snap it Off», to get unnecessary lights switched
off, or the Close the Door campaign, helping retailers in towns and
cities across the UK to save energy by closing their doors when using
heating or air-conditioning. NUS also uses social networks to
disseminate messages encouraging cutting on energy and resource waste
and expand its action. Jo gave ideas to make young people think
about sustainability in fun and effective ways, through games,
drawing, creative activities. NUS also came up with fun ideas to
reward sustainable behaviour in students.
Challenges faced by
participating countries (including host) in their efforts to
implement policies related to the theme
The main discussion
evolved around the question how independent schools can act from the
administrative authorities.
Secondly, the question
of how centres like Stibbington can be funded is problematic in many
countries.
Innovative solutions
that participating countries (both host and participants) apply to
address the challenges
There are no easy,
innovative solutions that can be identified at that stage. We agreed
that single “champions” need to put sustainability education at
the centre with innovative concepts so that school administration and
possible “investors” can be convinced more easily.
Examples of good
practice presented that could be applied and transferred to other
countries
The responsibility
trail is one way of creating an awareness of LOCAL social, economic
and ecological responsibility that can be applied in all countries
very easily due to its geographically flexible but thematically
focused character
Ideas for future
cooperation
France- England:
Possible cooperation between DeMontfort University and French
partners with regard to sending/receiving students to gain work
experience
Germany-Poland:
Possible cooperation on university level on questions of religious
and political education in citizenship education.
Great interest by
Lithuanian University in further cooperation with DeMontfort
University.
What is the most
interesting/useful information that the group believes should be
communicated to others?
Looking back the
participants commented on the challenges in guiding learners about
sustainable, ethical lifestyles and career choices. It was remarked
that young people sometimes want to travel and consume and experience
as much as they can . The best way to encourage them to adopt a more
sustainable lifestyle is to educate them, improve their awareness of
the challenges of peak oil and climate change. It is possible to help
them adopt more thrifty habits. Some need to understand that
happiness is not necessarily linked to how much you consume. People
will usually act in their own interest, and react well to positive
reinforcement.
We saw at New College
Stamford and St. Gilberts primary school, that they had good
structured aims of sustainability, holistic school approach and clear
values encourage raising consciousness of pupils and students
concerning of sustainable, ethical lifestyle.
The main learning
effect for most participants resulted from the authentic, creative
and credible way, Adam and Mary put across the aspect of
responsibility for sustainable behaviour and actions in all areas of
life. Not to give in to fatalistic scenarios, but to encourage and
enable learners to lead a more sustainable and ethical lifestyle.
Quotes from the
evaluation sheet
The study visit was
very well organised.
I really enjoyed the
study visit and especially the diversity in our programme.
I am very impressed
by how much you, Adam and Mary, live and act out what you say. That
in itself was a big inspiration to me. Thank you.
I would like to do
research in the this field comparing English and Lithuanian
sustainable education in universities in choosing a career or
wellbeing. Would you help me or can I contact anyone at De Montfort
University?
The study visit was
very well prepared. Congratulations to Adam!
Thanks for the
perfect organisation of the study visit!
Very inspiring,
surely sustainable learning experience.
