Workshop Partner

Background

The workshop ‘Open and Distance Learning for Enabling Sustainable Development' was organized as part of the International Conference on ‘Education for A Sustainable Future' by CEE with support from the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver , Canada . Education for A Sustainable Future (ESF) marked the beginning of UNESCO's Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). The objective of the workshop was to chart a roadmap for utilizing Open and Distance Learning (ODL) as a key tool for enabling sustainable development (SD) processes across the world.

Scope

The scope of the workshop was defined as ‘realizing the goals of DESD, Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through ODL processes'. Some key questions discussed were:

1. How can ODL help in achieving universal primary education, which is basic for SD?
2. How can ODL strengthen programmes that aim at enabling SD (e.g. fishermen, farmers, slum dwellers, women, for communities which are socially and economically deprived, for children, especially in tackling the problem of child labour, unorganized sector, etc.) in a way that such efforts become more ‘demand driven'?
3. How can ODL increase people's access to/build capacities of people, especially those below the poverty line, to be able to create sustainable livelihood options?
4. How can ODL act as the key tool in reaching out to communities that live in ecologically fragile and vulnerable areas, especially in the area of disaster preparedness, mitigation and management?
5. How can ODL help in enabling application of relevant research findings— scientific, social, technological as well as ecological—in educational programmes, decision making processes and other SD related efforts?
6. What role can ODL play in making professionals better equipped to infuse/apply SD considerations into their existing professions and work areas?
7. How can ODL help in reaching out to youth and their specific requirements with regard to higher education, which is relevant and linked to their learning needs?
8. How can participation and involvement of learners in SD be strengthened and encouraged through the use of ODL technologies and methods?
9. How can ODL help in enabling interested professionals build/enhance their skills in specific identified areas like education & communication, environmental economics, etc

The above questions were addressed in the workshop through discussions within three working groups. The first group focused on ‘Formal/Non-Formal Education: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary', the second group focused on ‘Reaching Out to Communities for SD', and the third group focussed on ‘Professional Development for Sustainable Development'.

Key Recommendations

The following are the key general recommendations which emerged out of overall discussions during the workshop. These recommendations are specifically related to mainstreaming ODL for achieving the goals of DESD:

A. The Need for Partnerships

This was a key discussion throughout the workshop where many of the participants called for the development and strengthening of partnerships at various levels in order to improve and ensure the quality of ODL programmes. This was in keeping with the DIIS with regard to its strategy for partnerships and networks. The participants at the workshop agreed that given its interdisciplinary nature, ESD requires a broad pool of expertise and experience. As the DIIS points out, partnerships can serve to provide “multiple entry points for participation in the Decade”, whereby different perspectives, “far from competing, can collectively shape the common endeavour of ESD.” (DIIS October 2004:36) Key recommendations from workshop participants for partnerships and networking included:

• Contributions are needed from a number of different disciplines and specialists in different areas to ensure quality.
• ODL packages can be delivered through local partners such as NGOs. Such partners can also make a valuable contribution towards content.
• Sharing experiences will also contribute to the development of effective ODL for SD programmes and courses.
• The participants called for the formation of an international consortium of ODL institutions, support organizations and local institutions

  B. The Need for flexibility

It was emphasized that knowledge should be conceived of as dynamic rather than static.

This means that programmes and courses must respond quickly to advances in knowledge, technology and pedagogy. Likewise, programmes must also have the ability to adapt quickly to changes in the needs and demands of the target audience. How to build flexibility into a well-structured programme is a major challenge that was discussed.

It was agreed that the ability to add or subtract content, change the mode of delivery, or re-structure the programme/course needs to be built into the course/programme design.

The group felt that contributions from the target audience needed to be incorporated.

ODL is well-suited to facilitate such interactive processes in content generation.

C. New Perspectives on Education

Most participants had a background in ODL and were familiar with the benefits offered by the new educational approaches that have been taken up in this area. It was clear throughout the discussions that many of these approaches are complimentary to the paradigm of ESD.

D. Enhancing Participation

It was discussed that education greatly enhances the individual's capacity for civic participation. Further to this, ODL has the capacity to reach those who are typically excluded from opportunities for formal education and participation in society.

Partnerships are necessary to incorporate expertise in the areas of transparency and participation, etc. Using open-source technologies can themselves present a community building process. ICTs can strengthen participation by facilitating horizontal communication between villages, enhancing solidarity by enabling the development of common understandings at the grassroots level.

  E. Ensuring Quality in ODL

In asserting the need for education for all, the importance of quality in education was emphasized. The DIIS asserts that any scheme which creates a two-tiered system of education in which only those with sufficient resources have access to high-quality education, will only serve to increase inequities. However, ensuring quality across the board for ODL proved to be a difficult issue to resolve. Some participants felt that it was important to have a regulatory mechanism such as accreditation and endorsement by professional or educational bodies. Accrediting institutions could be either NGOs, such as CEE, or professional accreditation boards, such as NCTE. Other participants felt that efforts should be focused on enabling rather than regulating learning opportunities.

Other measures that could be taken to ensure quality included:

• Partnership with experts
• Flexibility of content and structure
• Enhanced awareness of and attention to advances in pedagogic method and theory
• Programme design which makes use of Needs Assessments as a means to identify what content is most needed, and which mode of delivery is most appropriate to the target audience.

Report of the Working Groups

  Group 1: Formal/Non-Formal Education: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary

Working Group Co-ordinator: Dr. Chambi Puranik

Members: Dr. Devakant Rao, Dr. Uma Shukla, Dr. Ershadul Bari, Dr. Anant Joshi

The DIIS cautions against making ESD just another subject to be covered, and favours a “whole school approach”, in which ESD is seen as a context for delivering existing educational aims, and incorporated as a thread in the learner's passage through the educational system.

The DIIS sees non-formal learning as a means to bringing educational opportunities to a diverse range of learners, but particularly those groups that are the most marginalized from education. Advantages of non-formal learning include the ability to incorporate local specificity. Existing programmes in the non-formal education sector frequently already address sustainable development themes, although, as the DIIS states, there is the need to make sustainable development a more deliberate framework for such efforts, and a more consistent thread in adult learning.

The working group discussed the role of ODL to provide ESD in both the formal and non-formal sectors. These were the recommendations:

With regard to content ,

I. Key areas of relevance at the primary level include:

• Human rights
• Knowing about the self in society
• Climate change
• Gender inequality
• Peace
• Cultural diversity
• Human security
• Health and hygiene
• Natural resources

II. Content in adult education (at both secondary level and higher education levels) was identified as,

• Reproductive and sexual health education
• Food and nutrition
• Health
• HIV/AIDS
• Natural resources and conservation
• Gender equality
• Climatic change
• Good Governance
• Disaster mitigation
• Ecology and ecological processes
• Human rights and responsibilities

III. Higher education content specifically should include

• Ecology and ecological processes
• Human rights and responsibilities
• Corporate responsibility
• Poverty reduction
• Sustainable urbanization
• Research in cultural diversity, growth and development

Education for sustainable urban development was also identified as an area that needs particular consideration especially with respect to groups who live and work in unorganized sectors, which work as un-skilled labourers and one deprived of the benefits and advantages otherwise available to those working in the organized service sector.

Delivery Process

The contents as decided may be integrated at relevant places in the curriculum and syllabi as various courses at the primary and secondary levels, while for higher secondary level, there can be different certificate, diploma or degree programmes integrated along with ESD (not excluding extra-mural interactions).

As we always face a challenge in terms of numbers and inaccessible schools and colleges, it will be worthwhile to recognize the importance of ODL in transacting the components of SD to those who are out of school or formal education. The content so selected should help in life skill enhancement.

There should be openness and flexibility in course structure and delivery mode. The aim should be to keep the design and delivery process learner-centred and learner-friendly.

Flexibility in terms of evaluation should also be there. The evaluation may include assessment of observation, and situational exercises, etc.

SD content can be integrated in the curricula and teaching-learning material as well as through co-curricular and extracurricular activities, for proper and widespread dissemination.

Catering to those who are under-served or are excluded from mainstream education is an important need of the hour. The SD content for these groups can be transacted through multi media such as radio, TV, print material, through local government organizations, NGOs, Panchayats and Open learning institutions like National Institute of

Open Schooling , India , state open schools, Open universities, etc.

There should be proper networking of institutions (both ODL and non-ODL) in the design and transaction, using infrastructural and intellectual resources already available in a large pool of expertise.

Group 2

Reaching Out to Communities for SD

Working Group Coordinator: Samuel Haihuie

Participants: Dr. A N Joshi, S. S. Pande, Mr. Prashant Mahajan, Ms. Trupti Rawal

ESD is integral to the process of community-level sustainable development. It also relies on inputs from the community. The DIIS identifies two ways that local organizations, both community-based organizations and local governments, can participate in the DESD:

• By integrating ESD in regular learning and programme activities. This includes identifying and implementing locally relevant learning strategies in appropriate ways, and for a variety of groups.
• Through co-operating in local groupings and networks, set up on a formal basis or in an ad hoc manner to meet the particular needs, or respond to special opportunities. This may involve identifying local challenges in sustainable development, Integrating local knowledge and skills into ESD and exchanging experience. The local level is the primary place at which lessons for better practice in sustainable development can be learnt, shared and applied.

  1. Content

• Irrespective of the status of the community, whether it is rural or urban, a general content should be related to the use of natural resources like air, water, energy, land/soil, biodiversity/ecosystem
• Content should include linkages between environmental status and the lifestyle/occupation of the learners (communities)
• Such programmes should bank upon the indigenous knowledge of the different communities who have taken sustainable Initiatives. The strategy is to network and collaborate for sharing the knowledge with other communities
• Attitudinal change should be a strong component of such programmes in order to disseminate SD education e.g. using success stories such as in the cases of village cleanliness
• Such programmes should be as flexible as possible to accommodate all interest of the diverse communities

2. Design and Delivery issues

• Should be offered using existing technologies like print, poster, fairs, radio and television The programmes should be made relevant to the situations and language that community groups will relate to. This will take care of ownership issue, community's perception and acceptance of ESD.
• For non-literate groups, demonstration and visits will be most effective
• There are new approaches like the radio, TV, digital ham radio which can be specifically beneficial for reaching out to isolated areas
• Individuals who have a passionate interest in SD should be sourced and invited to help in delivery of ESD.
• Designing ODL programmes in Management Education with a focus on SD can help in reaching out to industry representatives, multi-national corporations and policy makers.

3. Implementation Strategy

The Group recommended that advocacy and policy level interventions would be required to realize the goals of community-based ODL programmes. Such efforts should be complimented with partnerships and collaborations of institutions. Also, any ESD programme targeting communities should be piloted and tested before going for full-scale implementation.

Establishment of a Consortium of institutions/organizations in the area of SD was strongly recommended. This will help sharing of resources by different organizations to avoid duplications and synergize information flow.

Group 3

Professional Development for Sustainable Development

Working group co-ordinator: Dr. Som Naidu

Participants: Ms. Veera Gupta, Mr. Mohammed Miyan, Dr. Kavita Sanawke, Dr.

Padmalal, Ms. Georgia Ohm

ESD for professional development is mentioned briefly in the DIIS. It is mainly treated in the context of exchange and cooperation between institutions. However, we feel that as

ESD can make a valuable contribution when integrated into learning for professional development. Moreover, given that professionals can rarely take time out from work to attend classes in a face-to-face mode, we feel that ODL presents a useful tool for facilitating their life-long learning process and delivering to them information and education that will enable/capacity-build their profession to adopt practices and philosophies of SD.

Also, because mid-career professionals already have experience and in-depth knowledge of their field, they are well equipped to be active participants in the development and design of courses that address the SD issues specific to their field, their learning needs, and the social and cultural milieu in which they work.

Situated-learning is thus a very relevant strategy for this group.

For this reason, we offer the following recommendations towards the development and design of ODL courses/programmes in SD for professionals:

For the purposes of the working group, a professional group was defined as salaried, and having a professional association and membership body and a regulatory body.

Some key professional groups that might benefit from ODL for SD programmes include:

• Construction industry professionals

• Lawyers

• Seed growers

• Public administrators

• Teachers

• Management professionals

• Entertainers

• Agricultural extension workers

With regard to content,

• Either an infused approach, or ESD as a specific subject can be taken, based on the needs and recommendations made by professionals within the targeted field.
• One way to develop a programme that is structured yet allows for flexibility would be to have a set of core SD courses, to be coupled with an additional set of courses that are field-specific.
• Another possible approach is the integration of SD into existing professional development courses to allow for a more applied treatment of SD.

With regard to design and development,

• Professional organization and regulatory bodies need to be approached to provide incentives and motivation such as promotion and certification. Legislation and policy are other possible ways to encourage professional development in SD
• Needs assessment should be carried out. This could be done in partnership with an EE/ESD organization such as CEE and the professional body.
• All stakeholders need to be identified and taken into consideration in this process.
• Choice of technology and delivery systems should be made based on this process.
• Professional groups should be clearly taught about SD and they should then make a key contribution to the design of content that meets their field-specific needs.

With regard to bringing structure while ensuring flexibility,

• Flexibility needs to be built into implementation, and content of such programmes
• Monitoring and evaluation will help continued evolution of programmes.
• There is a need to develop partnerships between nations, and institutions for the sharing of knowledge.

Strategy of implementation:

1. CEE needs to develop a preliminary introduction to SD for professional bodies to look at. Based on this document, the organization can better contribute to the development and design of an appropriate course/programme.
2. Needs assessment should be carried out to develop appropriate content, materials, and delivery modes.
3. Design and Development should be done jointly with partners.

The group felt that needs assessment is an important tool in the design and development of ODL for SD courses. Needs assessment needs to be carried out with respect to specific professional fields. There are characteristics and needs that can be said to be general to all professional groups. These should be identified and incorporated into design and development of such courses.

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