Second Baltic Conference on ESD
Focus on ESD
workshops
12th December 2014, 16-17.30
"Educational action research for sustainable development"
Ilga Salite and Dzintra Ilisko, Institute of Sustainable Education, Daugavpils University, Latvia
The aim of learning: Recognition of features of action research by evaluating participants lived experiences. The participants will be offered an opportunity to choose and to reflect on their own experience when they take part in solving a social question with a sustainability aim in mind.
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This workshop will provide the participants with the opportunity to reflect on a theory of action research as a complex theory. For a better perception of an action research we will offer metaphors reflecting the essence of action research. This workshop will provide the participants with the opportunity to evaluate the complex nature of action research by the use of metaphors. Metaphors will be offered on the diverse perspectives of conducting action research. Thus, workshop participants will be offered an opportunity to find particular features of action research.
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The second part of the workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to select and to evaluate a case from one’s own life that could serve as an action research grounded in one’s life experience lived with a common goal, common interest and a voluntarily participation in action that was important for reaching a common goal. Participants will be invited to work in pairs and to share their experience.
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The participant who tells about one’s case at the end of one’s story tries to argue why his/her chosen story reflects an action research.
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The participant, who listens to his/her colleague’s case and argumentation, tries to evaluate this story as reflecting sustainability or unsustainability.
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The third part of the workshop allows space for the summary and conclusions about one’ s readiness to identify features of action research in one’s lived experience by identifying its’ sustainability or unsustainability as viewed through one’s frames of reference.
"Echoes from Nagoya"
Frans Lenglet, Swedish international Centre of Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD), Uppsala University, Sweden
We will explore the implications of the UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development - Learning Today for a Sustainable Future, which is scheduled for 10-12 November 2014 in Nagoya, Japan. In particular we will determine how we and our organizations can respond to and make use of two global programmes that will be launched at the Conference:
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UNESCO’s Global Action Programme on ESD. It will guide world-wide ESD work in the coming five years.
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The “Sustainable Lifestyles and Education” Programme. It is one of the five 5 programmes that make up the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP).
Both programmes invite practitioners, researchers and policy makers to take systematic action in order to embrace and promote ESD, its content and methods, and to apply it in daily practice. At the end of the workshop we should have identified a small number of initiatives of joint ESD action, across sectoral and geographic boundaries, in terms of practice, policy and research.
"ESD as a method for learning for all?"
Sofia Savelava, “Earth Charter Initiative" affiliate and
"Education for Sustainable Development"
Association expert, Belarus
The workshop will cover essential questions related to understanding ESD as a learning method. For example: What is the difference between ESD and other educational practices? How can ESD practice be characterized? What are the specifics of ESD as a method of learning and of organization of educational process? What is need for this practice to actually take place? And who is it relevant to?
"Self reflection: importance in ESD"
Charles Roberts.
To respond to the challenge of global environmental and social problems we need to ensure that the coming generations have the tools to confront them
Reflective practice is one such tool.
In a world of industrialised education, thinking skills and critical thought often take a backseat in favour of preparing young people to make their contribution to an economic growth paradigm that is destroying the planet.
Reflective practice provides a counterbalance to this.
Originally adapted for use with International students at Universities of applied science in Finland, this tool has since been shared with a number of NGOs to deepen the experience of their volunteers.
After an introduction of the concept and adapted tool, there will be a short video then the participants will split into small groups and use the tool to deconstruct the film and report their findings.
"Content, methods and competences for a rapidly changing world"
Wolfgang Brunner, Swedish international Centre of Education for Sustainable
Development (SWEDESD), Uppsala University, Sweden
SWEDESD is involved in a multiyear collaborative partnership with universities and teacher education institutions in the SADC region of southern Africa. This partnership on ESD has led to a number of general findings that could be of use in a wider context and within other networks.
In this workshop we will present an EDS Navigator that demonstrates the interconnected and mutually dependent dimensions of ESD, representing relevant content, effective methods and desired competences. The workshop participants will have the opportunity to use this navigator and discuss:
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Key concepts that represent relevant content for ESD,
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Methods that help to create effective pedagogy, and
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Competences resulting from a pedagogical process combining content and methods.
We will also present examples on how we used this navigator in designing workshop programmes, workbooks and online courses for teacher educators.
"Designing a sustainable environment: Game Technologies in theory and practice"
Solovyeva Elena - asoc. Prof. SPSUACE, PhD, and Luliia Lobanova - asoc. professor SPSUACE, PhD, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
The process of designing a sustainable environment requires the efforts of many professionals. Separate aspect of the understanding and development of the theory of sustainable development is the education and training professionals who are professionally engaged in designing artificial human habitat: architects, town planners, engineers and builders. Currently, the system of training of these professionals is largely based on the creative (for architects and urban planners) or technical (engineers and builders) educational models of the last century.
How to implement new ideas in outdated pedagogical practices? How to raise a post industrial society required skills? Our workshop is dedicated the game technology used by in our pedagogical practice. We will tell and show educational games, projects, creative activities which are used to develop the idea of sustainability. We invite all who wants along with us to design the perfect urban environment and in a playful way to protect your project together with the other participants.