There is an increasing awareness that the landscape around cities can contribute significantly to the well-being of urban citizens. Various studies and experiences in the Netherlands and other countries show that the combination of agriculture with care and education has great potential. The number of care farms has increased from 75 in 1999 to 500 in 2005. In urban areas, a diversity of groups can benefit from care farms or other types of social services in the rural area. It concerns among others, people with mental problems, with (chronic) psychiatric demands, with addiction problems, elderly, children with behavior and/or psychological problems and long term unemployed. The city of Amsterdam recognizes the unique and valuable qualities of the rural area and its potential for the well-being of its citizens. In and around Amsterdam various organizations have initiated innovative projects that connect urban demands with agricultural entrepreneurs. A transition to a new kind of agriculture and landscape contributing to health and well-being of urban citizens is possible.
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This article reflects on formal education for sustainable development (ESD), demonstrating how critical course on culturally diverse ways of relating to nature can contribute both to an appreciation of alternative ways of relating to nature and to a more nuanced understanding of one's own cultural and ideological positioning. This article will focus on the analysis of student reactions to the film Schooling the World, shown to students as part of this critical course. The film stimulated the discussion of the effects of Western-style education on indigenous communities. In their evaluation, the students have demonstrated their critical ability to look beyond their own neoliberal education and cosmopolitan culture. The course described in this article can serve as a blueprint for educational initiatives that combine both ethnographic insights and critical scholarship addressing environmental education and ESD. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.10.002 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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With the emergence of education for sustainable development (ESD), robust literature on ethics and ESD has emerged; however, ecocentric perspective developed within environmental ethics is marginalized in current ESDebate. The questions discussed in this article are as follows: Why is the distinction between anthropocentric and ecocentric view of environment salient to ESD? How can this distinction be operationalized and measured? Until now, little has been done to address complement quantitative studies of environmental attitudes by qualitative studies, exploring the sociocultural context in which ecocentric or anthropocentric attitudes are being formed. Neither of existing scales engaged with the interface between environmental ethics and sustainable development. This article will discuss ESD in the context of environmental ethics and present the results of the case study conducted with the Dutch Bachelor-level students. Results of qualitative evaluation of the scale measuring ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes will be presented, and the new Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Attitudes toward the Sustainable Development (EAATSD) scale will be proposed.
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In this article, we elaborate on the role of dialogical learning in identity formation in the context of environmental education. First, we distinguish this kind of learning from conditioning and reproductive learning. We also show that identity learning is not self-evident and we point out the role of emotions. Using Dialogical Self Theory, we then suggest that individuals do not have an “identity hierarchy” but a dialogical self that attaches meaning to experiences in both conscious and unconscious ways. We describe the learning process that enables the dialogical self to develop itself, and we elaborate on the characteristics of a good dialogue. We conclude with some remarks expanding room for a dialogue that would foster identity learning. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources5010011 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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To effectively grasp and address sustainability challenges, this chapter argues that we need to expand our predominantly logocentric and linear ways of knowing with more presentational, embodied and sensory means. The chapter traces an exploration of this position through a dialogue between four academic, artistic practitioners. It proposes the integration of art in (learning) processes for sustainability as a means to hold ambiguity, embrace the unknown and move ahead despite uncertainty. Art is introduced as a process that inherently and purposefully accepts and deploys (rather than minimizes) the latter elements. The authors subsequently touch upon a range of features of artistic processes that foster the emergence of these elements: i.e. imagination, connection, embodiment and estrangement. Some of which might inspire educators, academics, decision-makers and activist to adopt a more aesthetic, connective mode of experiencing, thinking and doing. Thereby holding a space and generating the conditions for active, connective and imaginative making rather than routinely adopting the ready-made.
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Recently environmental education (EE) literature has been supportive of pluralistic rather than goal-oriented learning. Researchers argue that sustainability is not fixed but socially constructed and that sustainability issues should not be represented as indisputable targets. Countering this trend in environmental education research, this article argues that unsustainability should be treated as a concrete challenge that requires concrete solutions. The author will argue that there is a need for clear articulation of (1) what (un)sustainability is; (2) what are the key challenges of (un)sustainability; and (3) how the sustainability challenges can be meaningfully addressed. This article will outline a number of helpful frameworks that address obstacles to sustainability, ranging from population growth to unsustainable production and consumption practices. Solutions include investment in family planning to counter the effects of overpopulation, and alternative production frameworks, such as Cradle to Cradle that differs from the conventional frameworks. This article will conclude with the broader reflection that without goal-oriented critical learning explicitly providing sound models of sustainability, open learning may never permit transcendence from unsustainability. This article will develop a number of comprehensive frameworks targeted at solutions to sustainability issues both from ethical and practical perspectives. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in "Environment, Development and Sustainability". The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9584-z https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This article explores cooperation between a commercial supermarket chain and an environmental non-governmental organization linking it to consumer perception of the “The Super Animals” collectable cards promotion initiative. The case study focuses on one particular joint project involving Animal Cards that was initiated by the supermarket Albert Heijn and the World Wide Fund for Nature in The Netherlands. Based on this case, environmental non-governmental organizations’ strategic choices in the context of contesting discourses of sustainability and consumption, as well as implications for environmental education, are addressed. This article combines three strands of the literature – on sustainable consumption, on strategic cooperation between commercial companies and environmental non-governmental organizations and on environmental education. It is argued that the Animal Cards initiative presents an ambiguous case by both attempting to enhance environmental awareness and promoting consumption, opening up questions about the value of such cooperative ventures to the objectives of environmental education. It is concluded that cross-sector partnerships have the potential to lead to improvements in corporate social responsibility and environmental awareness among consumers but simultaneously pose the danger of undermining the critical stance toward consumption. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540514556170 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This chapter examines some of the challenges of unlearning anthropocentrism - i.e. the deep-seated cultural, psychological and enacted prejudices of human specialness - in nature-based early childhood education programs. We begin with a critical exploration of recent trends in environmental philosophy and the conservation sciences that seek to move beyond the so-called archaic notions of “wilderness” and “nature” towards more managerial models of human dominion over planetary “ecosystem services.” We suggest the trouble with these discursive moves is that they shirk from the courageous conversations required from environmental education in a time of ecological emergency. We conclude by drawing on research at nature-based schools in the Netherlands and Canada to illustrate the tenacity of anthropocentric “common-sense” and suggest the beginnings of pedagogy of childhoodnatures guided by notions of rewilding and ecological humility. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51949-4_40-1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This article will discuss the role of environmentalism in environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of ecopedagogy. Ecopedagogy calls for the remaking of capitalist practices and seeks to re-engage democracy to include multispecies interests in the face of our current global ecological crisis. In this article, the written reports by international business students on the documentary film If a Tree Falls about a radical environmental movement will be discussed. The aim of this article is to reflect upon the question of whether confrontational questions posed by radical environmentalism can move students to re-examine certain central assumptions within their own society and education. The analysis of students’ individual writing assignments after viewing the film is placed in the context of the discussion about the aims of education in relation to environmental advocacy. This case study seeks to provide an example of how environmental advocacy and the objective of pluralistic education can be combined as mutually supportive means of achieving both democratic learning and learning for environmental sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973408215569119 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This article describes how Circular Economy (CE) and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) can be used in university teaching to address these frameworks’ strengths and weaknesses in practice. The advantages of these frameworks for radical change are outlined, including their emphasis on upcycling rather than recycling (downcycling). This article discusses how students apply their understanding of transformative production frameworks to three case studies of products or materials. The student projects evaluating existing products in terms of their circularity value outline a number of practical as well as theoretical challenges. The case studies demonstrate that some products still have a long way to go to fully cycle materials within a closed system. Aside from illustrating the dangers of subversion of circular frameworks to the ‘business-as-usual’ scenarios, the assignments are instructive in showing how CE/C2C can be successfully taught. This article recommends pedagogical strategies involving both theory of sustainable production and sustainability and practical research into company’s operations in order to develop the students’ ability to meaningfully engage with CE/C2C models. https://doi.org/10.1080/1943815X.2018.1471724 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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