Wonder, Awe, and Eco-Literacy

In part of my work at an environmental education center, I train volunteer docents, who lead tours to suburban elementary school kids, about San Diego native plant identification. One of the main ideas I stress is the importance of encouraging the development of "ecoliteracy" in our visitors.

To be ecoliterate means to understand the principles of organization of ecological communities (i.e.ecosystems) and use those principles for creating sustainable human communities. So, we want to understand how nature works and use that knowledge to create our way of life. Many people have spent time thinking about this and have determined that there are four main characteristics of an eco-literate person:

1. Environmental Knowledge
• "What is this?"
2. Environmental Attitude and Sensitivity
• "What is happening?"
3. Problem solving, planning and collaborative/facilitative skills, action strategies
• "What can I do?"
4. The ability to take action to improve the environment
• "How can I do it?"

I'd add a fifth characteristic, or perhaps a prerequisite to the four, as a strong sense of wonder. Wonder is a sort of curiosity that fuels the drive for intellectual exploration. Knowledge is limitless and must continually evolve in order to remain relevant. I find it easy to stop wanting to learn things thinking that I already know all that matters. However,the true scientist is always observing, questioning, and guessing at what’sgoing on. This inquisitive wonder at the world is a crucial characteristic of the ecoliterate.

In my training session, I like to share a quote by a local member of the California Native Plant Society that I find especially lucid.

[N]ative plant enthusiasts are made, not born,through exposure to enthusiastic, knowledgeable teachers who turn the world from a gray-green blur into a beautiful landscape of familiar species.

The transformation described above perfectly describes the process of becoming ecoliterate.

There is a danger, however, of becoming too familiar with local plant and animal species.

It's nearly impossible for me to walk, bike, or drive anywhere without naming everything I see. I walk with a friend who stops to enjoy the smell of a Black Sage in Point Loma, and feel the urge to tell them about its culinary uses, and the variety of sages in the area. When a stranger stops to admire the alien color and shape of Dodder at Mission Trails, I want to share with them the name of this plant and its' parasitic nature. I see a field full of Ceanothus in bloom in Julian and notice that they are flowering earlier this year and consider the impacts this, fire ecology,and climate change. I drive past a hillside in La Jolla waving with the feathery plumes of Pampas Grass and lament the spread of this invasive species. Once I know their names, it is hard to see them as their former grey-green blur. Sometimes the blur is useful. The opportunity to enjoy the grand totality of nature as it exists without my names and judgements transposed upon it.

I've come to realize a need for not merely a sense of wonder, but also a sense of awe. The difference for me is that Awe feels more mysterious and contains elements of surprise, respect, and gratitude. There is a feeling of letting go to something larger than myself. Of no longer trying to control or plan, but to just be and enjoy.

The ecoliterate life becomes a true art when we strive to find the balance between sometimes using our knowledge to improve our world and other times accepting our world as it is.

One Catholic Priest explained it well when he wrote,

If you really heard a bird sing, if you really saw atree... you would know - beyond words and concepts.What was that you said? You have heard dozensof birds sing and seen hundreds of trees? Ah, was itthe tree you saw or the label? If you look at a treeand see a tree, you have really not seen the tree. Whenyou look at the tree and see a miracle—then, at last,you have seen a tree! Did your heart never fill withwordless wonder when you heard a bird in song?

Sustainability Education

Here's a review of a recent class I took at a community college designed to be an introduction to general topics of Sustainability. As usual, I felt like the content was pretty good, but the process of the course was lacking. I typed up a bit about the importance of participatory learning in higher education especially in the context of sustainable living.

Towards an Effective Sustainability Curriculum at Southwestern College

I’m a firm believer in the importance of a sustainability curriculum at any institution of higher education, especially a community college that functions largely as a trade school. Graduates from the trade oriented programs at SWC stick around and become important components of the local economy. “Sustainability” is a word that is used in many contexts, but largely refers to a contemporary driving force for changes in economics and culture that better protect and restore the environment, social and economic justice, self-sufficiency, and community resiliency. It is a useful concept to center a curriculum around because it is currently held in high regard both in local businesses and municipalities, as well as large scale corporations, and national and international agencies in both the public and private sectors. Opportunities exist. Sustainability tends to refer to ideas that inspire people to become leaders in their communities and improve the world from their place of influence. At the same time it can be ambiguous, uneasily defined, while easily co-opted and watered down. Thus, SWC has an important role and a great deal of leverage in affecting positive change in the community by teaching about Sustainability. Please do not give up hope or abandon this project lightly!

I think the Introductory Course is off to a great start, and can improve in a number of ways:

One of my greatest challenges this past semester was understanding what I was expected to learn in the class. The lectures, assignments, and tests seemed to contain useful information but lack a cohesive and clearly stated direction. I didn’t know why certain topics were covered while others were noticeably absent. If I were to take the class again, I would appreciate an introduction to the course that includes a clear list of learning objectives that I could refer to throughout the semester to contextualize the information presented to me. As an introductory class, many students will take this class to help them decide if the entire program is a good choice for them. I have experienced that when students are given an opportunity to help create the course format and curriculum, we take much more ownership in our education, retain more information, and have a higher likelihood of using that information in the future. By emphasizing cooperative learning and participatory techniques, while of course maintaining a certain level of academic integrity, students will gain a great deal from the class and will more likely decide to continue with the program.

Course Content

As an introductory course, I believe it is essential to review various key concepts in order to provide a foundation upon which to understand the many sustainable practices to be covered down the road. Specifically, economics for non-economists (supply and demand, opportunity cost and comparative advantage, externalities and the “tragedy of the commons”) should be briefly covered. Ecology is another important conceptual base (ecosystem function, biodiversity, habitat, cycles [nitrogen, carbon, water, etc.]). The review of these foundations should be brief and general, so as not to devote too much class time. However, after reviewing them, students will be better prepared to analyze sustainable practices and gain a more concrete understanding of our purpose for taking the course.

It is imperative to spend adequate time defining often-used words, most importantly “sustainability”. Definition of this term should include an ecological and economic emphasis, the perspective of the United Nations and other top-down organizations as well as grassroots movements and community level conceptualizations. The students in the class should spend some time brainstorming and coming up with our own working definition for the semester (“When we say sustainable in this class, here’s what we mean…”).

It would be beneficial to spend some time explaining the big environmental challenges currently faced locally (water scarcity, pollution, topsoil loss, loss of bio diversity, etc.) and globally (peak oil and climate change). We should be able to understand that these environmental dilemmas create the need for sustainability and give reason to select appropriate sustainable alternatives to conventional destructive practices.

Topics

Sustainability is necessarily inter-disciplinary and the course works well to be team taught by experts in multiple fields. The topics covered in the 2011 class: Energy, Building, Water, and Landscape are important. These were covered in various degrees of depth and clarity, with success for the most part. I think the class would benefit, however, from doubling the amount of topics and giving them equal time during the semester. Examples of topics that have applicability in regards to a sustainability education include: Food, Transportation, Waste, Economy, Community, Wildlife/Natural Resources, and many more. There is no end to the applicability of sustainable principles to existing fields and expanding the scope of the class would benefit students in gaining an understanding of the many directions our education may take.

Each topic would be greatly enriched by emphasizing local examples, both of solutions and challenges (What are we doing well? What do we need to do better?). Guest speakers from San Diego County working in the corresponding fields would be very helpful, giving us access to primary source information. I think The City of Chula Vista would be a great partner in this respect and be very willing to assist. Additionally, a list of local resources (organizations, paid and unpaid positions and opportunities) would give students a head start into utilizing our knowledge and experience earned through the degree.

Process

Much effort can be placed on incorporating a variety of techniques into the classroom that will give us the ability to internalize sustainability as a concept in our unique physical and social location. A primary tool for this is to integrate participation and discussion into the format of the class. By this I do not mean debate, where students defend and attack rigid opinions. I also do refer to a free for all where the loudest folks get class time to rant (whether they are students or teachers). I think this is one of the most important areas in which the class can improve. This past semester I felt as though dialogue was actively (if not advertently) squelched rather than fostered. As a student, I need a structured and facilitated space that encourages me to draw out my own conclusions with the help of my classmates. These sorts of discussions require a significant amount of planning and a somewhat nontraditional skill set from the teacher and/or facilitator (not necessarily the same person). The lectures are important and should continue but could be reduced in length. Discussion, project based learning, and other participatory techniques could be incorporated in order to better facilitate student leadership.

Lastly, sustainability as a movement in this most recent sense is attractive to many people because it possesses a spirit and hopeful vision combined with the practical solutions. It brings meaning to many people’s lives. To fail to introduce some element of this into the class limits our experience of the power and potential in this new field. Admittedly, much is unknown about the quantity and type of job opportunities, locally, in the near future. It is imperative that we as students understand that if we want to be involved in this “Sustainability Movement” we must actively take on a leadership role and help identify the local opportunities. It very much requires a step into the unknown. For most, this step is taken with strength gained from inspiration, passion, and hope.

The introductory course of the Sustainability Program at Southwestern College should encourage students to continue participating in the sustainability curriculum. But the only reason the students should continue to participate is because the program meets our needs as we enter an emerging field. There is a lot of research and planning that must to go into such an endeavor, but the efforts are extremely worthwhile and will have a direct impact on local politics, economics, and culture for many years to come. This is the true potential of an institution of higher education.

Let’s get to work!

Rocket Stove

A great photo album detailing how to build a rocket stove

On Empowerment

"Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence. The means used are not important; to alienate human beings from their own decision-making is to change them into objects."

-Paulo Freire (1970)

One day at work, over a year ago, I was discussing a project I wanted to complete and my boss said "Good idea. I empower you to do it." then walked away to work on something else. I stood there feeling aggravated. What he meant was, "I give you permission." and "Go do it." He had simply given me more work without acknowledging the obstacles needing to be overcome in order to make it happen. To this day, I haven't completed the project.

I commonly hear "empowering others" as a goal within progressive circles and projects for social and economic justice.
The way I use and think of the concept, however, nobody can "empower" another. It must manifest from within. All another person can do is support the effort by asking "how can I be of assistance" and listening, even if the answer is "you can't". My favorite definition of the word empowerment is "the ability to control the resources that affect your life." An ally can show solidarity by working alongside and under guidance to assist in removing the barriers to liberation and well-being.


This is approach is fundamentally different from "workplace empowerment" (AKA delegation) or the self-help industry that focuses largely on inspiration/motivation and productivity. The empowerment I refer to is toward people's control over their own lives and must be realized in action.

The organic farmer knows that it is more advantageous to grow healthy soil than to grow individual plants. Healthy plants will be the outcome of a natural system. So too, must those desiring to "help" others focus not on solving their problems, but on transforming social systems in a way that more naturally allows people to live at their highest potential.


So, when you hear someone say they want to empower people what do they mean? What is the desired outcome? What are the barriers keeping people from it? What are the conditions that must be created to have empowered people as a by-product of a system?