YouthCAN Educating for Sustainability

BLS YouthCAN is committed to educating for sustainability in the fullest sense. We promote educational initiatives that will help further the transition to sustainable social and economic systems as well as the overall sustainability of the planet and the life it sustains by providing educators and students with the necessary information, skill sets, understandings, and habits of mind that will prepare them to live responsibly, equitably, and within the means of nature.
What is Education for Sustainability?

“……a new vision of education, a vision that helps people of all ages better understand the world in which they live, addressing the complexity and interconnectedness of problems such as poverty, wasteful consumption, environmental degradation, urban decay, population growth, health, conflict and the violation of human rights that threaten our future.  This vision of education emphasizes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to developing the knowledge and skills needed for a sustainable future as well as changes in values, behavior, and lifestyles.  This requires us to reorient education systems, policies and practices in order to empower everyone, young and old, to make decisions and act in culturally appropriate and locally relevant ways to redress the problems that threaten our common future.”
                Excerpt, Draft Framework for an International Implementation Scheme United Nations
                Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014)


"Education for Sustainability (EfS) is defined as a transformative learning process that equips students, teachers, and school systems with the new knowledge and ways of thinking we need to achieve economic prosperity and responsible citizenship while restoring the health of the living systems upon which our lives depend."
                Cloud Institute
                https://cloudinstitute.org/brief-history/


"Educating for Sustainability is “learning that links knowledge, inquiry, and action to help students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet.” EFS helps teachers bridge grade levels and subject areas, curriculum and school operations, parent and community partnerships. Through SSP, a school develops its own meaningful, coherent approach to improve curriculum, community partnerships and campus ecology. Teachers learn about the community’s vision and strategies for a sustainable future, then bring this larger dialogue into their curriculum with a focus that’s appropriate for their students. This fosters ongoing school-community partnerships that gain staying power from their ties to the curriculum and to each other. And these partnerships create learning opportunities for students in their community–whether in the schoolyard or at the food shelf. With each lesson learned, students develop their own understanding of the web of connections that make up their community and their role in it. Students’ personal appreciation and experience of interdependence give them the foundation for understanding and supporting global decision-making in their future."
                Sustainable Schools Project
                http://sustainableschoolsproject.org/education

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Our Mission:

BLS YouthCAN seeks to take effective action in our communities and beyond to address the problems associated with global climate change and to promote education for sustainability. Join us in being an agent of change."