<P><FONT color=#33711E><STRONG>Day 1 – Session 2B: <br>Community Cooperation and Educational Partnerships for ESD</STRONG></FONT></P>
Queen’s Park 4, 2nd Floor
16:30 - 16:50
2.B.1. Engaging the Community through Collaborative Teaching to Promote ESD
Shahed Khan, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Culture and technology are seen to be key factors underlying socio-economic development. Internationally, institutions and development agencies are investigating ways to best utilize technology and culture to enhance local economies. There is a growing recognition of the positive role that technology, culture and their various mixes can play in the pursuit of sustainable development. For wise management of resources, planners and policy-makers not only need to take into account environmental factors and prevailing land utilization patterns – but also need to understand the accompanying socio-cultural forces and cultural values. These professionals must be trained to deal with both technology and culture, and their various mixes, in an integrated manner. This paper makes a case for educational systems to adopt “collaborative” forms of teaching, which allow students exposure to real life problems through engagement with communities in real life settings – in addition to receiving theoretical instruction at school. “Collaborative” teaching provides a stimulating environment wherein innovation and creativity are encouraged. The paper also covers the major challenges and opportunities relating to reforming education to focus on sustainable development.
Download the paper (word, 107kb) and presentation (pdf, 170kb)
16:50 - 17:10
2.B.2. Action Research Centre for Human and Community Development
Makoto Suemoto, Koji Matsuoka, Atsushi Ito
Graduate School of Cultural Studies and Human Science, Kobe University, Japan
In April 2005, the Faculty of Human Development and the Graduate School of Cultural Studies and Human Science at Kobe University established the Action Research Centre (ARC) for Human and Community Development. ARC is composed of six sections namely: informal education; adult education; health; child and family; social inclusion; gender issues; and education. This academic and community collaborative effort is directed at enhancing human learning and providing policy makers with research evidence, in a range of domains by way of action research. To accomplish its mission, the ARC has established a one-year Masters Degree programme, offering a chance for the experienced practitioners in the relevant fields to build their knowledge. The staff perform practical research in cooperation with faculty researchers in the university and external stakeholders, including non-profit organizations, businesses, and informal groups. The Asia-Pacific region is being confronted with new forms of social, economic and political pressures. This new concept of school and community partnership is a model that we hope to share with the world and this is our vision of education for sustainable development in the 21st century.
Download the paper (word, 65kb) and presentation (pdf, 310kb)
17:10 - 17:30
2.B.3. Implications of School-Community Partnerships for Education for Sustainable Development
K. Pushpanadham and Deborah A Rath, Assumption University, Thailand
The school-community partnership is an important point for discussion, especially with regards to achieving the goals of Educational for Sustainable Development. It is increasingly evident that schools and communities should work closely with each other in order to meet their mutual goals and to accomplish high quality educational results. Indeed, for many schools to succeed with their educational missions, they must have the support of community resources such as family members, neighbourhood leaders, business groups, religious institutions, community-based organizations, and local government. However, it is challenging to establish appropriate and effective collaboration. This paper describes the intricacies involved in establishing partnerships, highlighting specific examples, and proposes multi-dimensional strategies for extending co-operation. The paper also discusses the implications of partnerships for teacher-education programmes and community education and empowerment programmes.
Download the paper (word, 70kb) and presentation (pdf, 80kb)
2.B.4. Proposal of UNESCO Chair in Okayama University and Education for Sustainable Development
Yoshiro ONO, Isao AOYAMA, Hideki YAMAMOTO, Shino MOHRI, Masahiro HABU
In Okayama, where more than 70% of its land is agricultural or natural, and where a lot of irrigation canals run across the city, activities for awareness-raising towards environmental conservation for communities by Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Society Organizations. Many of the activities have been designed and implemented in cooperation with municipal governments and educational institutions from primary to tertiary. In addition, activities for international understanding by NGOs conducting international cooperation have been done in cooperation with formal and non-formal educational sectors. Kominkan (Community Centers) has been playing the key role for coordinating such activities. These activities made the environment for United Nations University to designate Okayama as one of the Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE) in 2005. In Okayama University, many professors and students have been participating in these activities either in their personal capacity or on behalf of the university or their faculties. The Graduate School of Environmental Science, Okayama University, has been designing the programme to contribute its knowledge to building sustainable societies both in Okayama and in the international level, after being selected as one of “Initiatives for Attractive Education in Graduate Schools” by Ministry of Education in Japan, and some parts of the programme have already been implemented. Okayama University decided to introduce the programme to disseminate its knowledge both for local communities in Okayama and developing countries in Asia through inter-university cooperation, and submitted to UNESCO the proposal of UNESCO Chair in Education for Sustainable Development on April, 2006.
Download the paper (word, 570kb) and presentation (pdf, 1.3mb)