Workshop Partner

The focus of the workshop was limited to those livelihoods of the rural poor which are based on natural resources. However, the observations and recommendations that follow apply much more widely to the whole range and diversity of livelihoods of the poor people.

Sustainable livelihood is the capability of people to make a living and improve their quality of life without jeopardizing the livelihood options of others, either now or in the future. (UNDP)

A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets, activities and relationships required for a decent and dignified life. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with, and recover from, stresses and shocks, and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base.

Workshop Recommendations

  1. Potential and Scope for Education for Sustainable Livelihoods

Education needs to be recognized as a key element of the asset base of rural livelihoods.

A sustainable livelihoods perspective brings disciplines together on a common non-sectoral ground, and makes education more relevant to the holistic reality of the rural poor. Achieving food and livelihood security is a necessary condition for education to contribute to sustainable livelihoods.

The vision of education has to be values based and lead to appropriate action. It involves building information, awareness, knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour.

Education for sustainable livelihoods encompasses broad-based capacity development, including both formal and non-formal education systems at all levels, and refers to life-long learning. It links to diverse livelihood sectors – both existing and emerging.

2. Areas for Increased Thrust

Some of the key areas identified for increased thrust are:

• Skill-based education
• Entrepreneurship
• Equity concerns
• Gender equity
• Sensitization of the powerful and privileged (especially policy makers and planners)
• Strengthening the capacity of the disadvantaged

• Policies and regulations
• Population education and human resource development
• Responsible consumption and use of resources
• Stewardship
• Social accountability

• Natural resource conservation
• Organic agriculture and permaculture
• Indigenous knowledge
• Appropriate scientific knowledge systems

3. Good Practices

Key characteristics of good practice are:

• Content and methodology of education that are participatory, inclusive, simple and locally relevant.
• Active, experimental learning with hands-on activities, which leads to action.
• Use of existing methodologies with enhanced quality.
• Rejuvenating traditional knowledge systems.
• Building local networks of people
• Building skills for local natural resource-based enterprises
• Capacity building of para-professionals offering varied services to support livelihood activities.  

4. Strategies for Education for sustainable livelihoods

4.1 Stakeholders

Education for sustainable livelihoods is relevant to different stake holders (e.g. policy makers, donors, media, government bodies at all levels, private sector, NGOs, civil society, health professionals, women, youth, parents, teachers, households and communities).

4.2 Capacity development

Training and reorientation are needed for stakeholders in the context of education for sustainable livelihoods, including policy makers, local governments, teachers/ trainers, donors, NGOs, community-based organizations, universities (agriculture, forestry), private sector, individuals, groups, communities and other key stakeholders. Participatory methodologies and decentralized delivery are necessary along with a preparedness to unlearn before attempting a training/education plan. Training is to be viewed as a learning partnership.

Material development is an integral part of capacity building. Locally relevant materials need to be developed and made accessible through participatory, consultative processes. The opportunities that emerging and existing media provide need to be utilized.

4.3 Strategy

Educational interventions must feed into the larger context of development interventions. Several participatory planning tools are available to help analyze the existing reality and identify need for change

Multi-level interventions must focus on all levels from individuals to groups to communities to local, regional, national, global interventions; and multi-sphere interventions covering policy, institutions, practices (for example, influencing formal education systems with a sustainable livelihoods perspective, evolving non-formal systems to cater to capacity development needs in specific livelihood sectors).

Reflection and critical awareness about our knowledge, how and what we learn, and what we need to unlearn concerning the conditions, lives and livelihood strategies of poor people, should be integral to all education for sustainable development, putting their realities first.

Addressing power inequities and empowerment (e.g. the Reflect approach) is key to all educational interventions attempting to impact sustainable livelihoods. This will require decentralized structures and systems; and need-based education with participatory learning approaches and hands-on activities (in all contexts of learning) (e.g. Rural/Farmer Life Schools as an approach) and field immersions with poor people to help to listen to their views and to understand their realities.

Building and strengthening formal institutions (e.g. the Bamboo and Cane Development Institute) that can provide education support to specific livelihood activities (innovate, enhance capabilities, link markets, access to and dissemination of information, etc.) Identifying and strengthening existing informal institutions and movements that can impact the non-economic dimension of livelihoods (eg: Swadhyaya, Bhagat Pant, etc. in India )

Strategies on education for sustainable livelihoods should focus on and advocate for provision of economic and non-economic incentives for people involved in sustainable use of natural resources.

Recognition of and learning from past experiences in the application of education for sustainable livelihoods. This stresses the importance of documentation and sharing of past experiences (for example, through case studies and write-shops). Identification of strategies to enable adaptation and scaling-up is important.

Participatory impact assessment and evaluation is important both to understand what education has been able to achieve and ways in which it can be made better.

A network of farmers hosting traditional seeds in Karnataka

Trophy hunting of Markhor in Pakistan , butterfly farming in Kenya

RUDSETI, BAIF, Jankar system of the Gramin Vikas Trust in Gujarat , Velugu in Andhra Pradesh

The Livelihood Enhancement Action Plan (LEAP) is an example.

Click here to view the concept paper that formed the basis for the workshop discussions...