Education for sustainability: do we have a choice? Conference paper

In 2007, UKCLE was engaged in a project looking at Developing global citizens through legal education. This session at the Learning in Law Annual Conference 2007, led by Hugh Brayne (consultant) and Tracey Varnava (UKCLE), was an opportunity to consider the role of legal education in education for sustainable development.

Following the session a consultation paper was drafted and a survey circulated to key contacts and other stakeholders.

“ As law teachers, we transmit and develop enduring values through which a sustainable, democratic, fair and just society can be regulated, maintained and improved. We do it in part because it’s a job, but in large measure because this is worthwhile, indeed vital, for the kind of society we believe in and wish to bequeath to future generations.”

If you sign up to that paragraph, do you worry about whether our society, other parts of the world, or future generations, will be able to enjoy the fruits of these efforts? Are we already seeing our values and achievements undermined by economic, political and environmental pressures? What happens to human rights and the rule of law when competition for resources leads to wars and human rights abuses? When our economic interests rely on distant sweatshops? When security concerns lead to the dismantling of liberties?

That’s just the present. Future generations may suffer widescale economic disruption, environmental degradation, social collapse and worse as the life support systems of the planet are sacrificed to the hydrocarbon economy.

Can (should) law teachers do anything about this? Does the responsibility of lawyers now require education for global citizenship as well as technical skills and liberal values? If so, what can we do beyond the hand-wringing to actually change the aims, methods and outcomes of law programmes?

‘Education for sustainable development’ (ESD) may not seem like a catchy phrase to save the planet. But it is no longer up to a band of self-selected eco-warriors. The funding councils have a clear commitment to bring sustainable development into both the management of higher education and the curriculum. UKCLE and other Academy subject centres are charged with the task of generating action within their disciplines.

The discussion forum was intended to:

• explain what UKCLE is beginning to do to develop ESD in law
• share understanding of the issues and current views
• generate ideas for taking the ESD project forward so that it is meaningful and helpful to law teachers
• start to develop a vocabulary around ‘sustainability literacy’ that makes sense to practitioners, academics and students
• raise awareness of the potential of this agenda for making the study of law vibrant, relevant and exciting for students

Hugh kicked off the session by providing the wider context of the project and some facts and figures on climate change and its likely impact on the economy, society and the environment. Tracey then sketched out the policy drivers and strategies being developed in the higher education sector, which are intended to contribute to the government’s overall response to the challenges posed by climate change. Delegates were asked to discuss in groups issues such as the definition of ‘sustainable development’ (SD), the values (if any) which underpin any espousal of SD matters within the curriculum; how one might integrate SD within the law curriculum.

Ideas/comments arising from discussion included:

• the possibility of developing sustainability ‘dilemma’ exercises, to explore ethical/value issues with students
• the need to be aware of the possibility of conflict between local/personal and global interests
• it was generally felt inappropriate to impose values on students – but can model them and create good practice examples
• it was generally agreed that higher education ought to raise awareness of sustainability issues and provide students with the tools to deal with these issues
• there was a role in sensitising people at all levels to SD issues
  In terms of ways forward for the project, suggestions included:

• exploring the potential of e-learning to combat some issues raised by SD, specifically in relation to curriculum delivery
• inserting SD examples/case studies in textbooks
• suggesting ways SD could be addressed as part of curriculum review and providing models of implementation
• organising ESD roadshows to raise awareness

Last Modified: 9 July 2010