LINDSAY HUMBER, 03 FEB 2010

Ever since Greg wrote his blog post on environmental citizenship, I have been thinking about how we become "environmental citizens". What is it that makes one person more invested in their surroundings than the next person? What kind of citizens do we, as a culture or civilization, want to create? What sorts of actions do we want to encourage? How do we want to educate???

I believe that the foremost challenge that we face in resolving current environmental issues is a crucial redefinition of values, perceptions, and mindsets. We need more people who are capable of creatively, collaboratively, and actively approaching these issues in order to create long-lasting, pragmatic, and effective solutions. To accomplish this, I see an immediate need for academic institutions (at all levels) to become aware of their role in shaping conscious and engaged ecological citizens, instead of continuing to produce individuals (like myself) who are credentialed for the work force but uneducated about the world.

We have been given the incredible responsibility (and ability) to steward our world for future generations. If we don't fully assume this responsibility, then who will? Taking on this role is a complicated and heavy task for a generation that is highly educated with very specific professional specializations, departmentalized credentials, and little understanding of how the world works as a cohesive system. As a graduate student (and soon-to-be graduate) I feel that I can say the following with some authority: we are not learning how to connect, or how to conceptualize, complicated concepts that span disciplines. Not learning these skills is irresponsible as this is not the way life operates. The world is complex. It is messy. Nothing is discrete or simple but everything is connected to everything else. Seemingly small human actions can have enormous impacts on the way our world functions. It follows that the only way we can 'fix' our current ecological crisis is by changing what we learn and the way we educate. We need to actively educate individuals, ecological citizens, who can think critically, creatively and collaboratively about real world problems instead of focusing on grades and fragmented specializations.

As pointed out by David Orr (2004, p.27), "we are still educating the young as if there were no planetary emergency". But there is an emergency: we are facing the collapse of our climate. Our education systems need to challenge technological fundamentalism and encourage a broader conception of the sciences that moves beyond a traditionally Cartesian scope to include human subjectivity while actively encouraging the passion-the emotional investment in the landscape-that drives people to fight for the preservation of their environment. Such a curriculum would imbue the individual (currently conceptualized as a socially, politically, economically and scientifically quantifiable entity with personal rights that supersede those of the community) with an awareness of what it means to be a citizen in a biotic community and the inherent responsibilities that this citizenship entails.

David Orr suggests that the most important role of education is to draw out "our affinity for life" (2004, p.212) in such a way that it cultivates a sense of compassion for the natural world. But what is being taught in the classrooms is simply the information necessary to get the credentials, and find a place in the workforce as soon as possible. Overloaded with experts and information, the university focus is on knowing how when, in a complex and volatile world, it should be on knowing why. Universities should be sites of interdisciplinary innovation. Students should be encouraged to ask difficult questions that cannot be neatly answered, and require critical, in-depth thought. By facilitating an arena for interdisciplinary dialogue, universities have the unique potential to recreate and redefine what aspects of education are most important, as well as what academic products are most useful in the professional realm.

In our current political and ecological climate, it is becoming increasingly dangerous to view the bio-physical world and its management as academically and professionally separate from issues of 'more' social and human significance. I believe that our current global environmental problems are not only technological and ecological but fundamentally moral and educational. Here at Alberta Acts, Greg is fond of saying that "educate" means "to lead out of ignorance"; where most formal education that I have experienced only enhances ignorance by creating an environment that is overly self-important and relies on carefully entrenched knowledge/ power hierarchies (teacher versus student) and separation of disciplines/ information (science versus arts) to function.

By influencing the environmental ethics of future generations, and re-inhabiting academic systems with a sense of deep connection to the natural world, I believe that redesigning education systems is inextricably tied to the creative management of current and future socio-ecological resources. People are fundamentally connected to the places they inhabit; therefore by reintegrating ecological principles and values into academia, we can encourage people to actively and emotionally involve themselves in their surroundings. Imagine if children were taught to conceptualize the environment as sacred from a very young age; incorporating the environment into university curricula would follow as a matter of course. By working with students at all ages to redefine and rediscover their sense of wonder with the natural world, it would in turn foster a direct sense of belonging and responsibility to a place, thereby encouraging responsible ecological citizenship.

By encouraging students to view themselves as intimately connected to the impulses and processes of the natural world, there is a role for educators to cultivate a desperately needed environmental ethic-an ecological conscience-in future generations. In a world increasingly concerned with the impact of our actions upon the natural landscape, who is in a better position than educators to encourage individuals to creatively and actively engage with their surroundings from an ecologically conscious perspective?

I'll leave you with this quote:

"How are minds to be made safe for a planet with a biosphere?... part of the truth cannot be told; it must be felt. It is within us...We are of the earth; our flesh is grass. We live in the cycle of birth and death, growth and decay. Our bodies respond to daily rhythms of light and darkness, to the tug of the moon, and to the change of seasons. The salt content of our blood, our genetic similarity to other life forms, and our behavior at every turn give us away. We are shot through with wildness. Call it biophilia or the ecological unconscious, the earth is inscribed in us, we are of the earth. We have an affinity for nature. What do we do about that simple but overwhelming fact?"Orr (2004, p.212)

More thoughts to come...