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2020/2021

Education, Sustainability and Consumption

Code: 101639 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500260 Social Education OT 3 2
2500260 Social Education OT 4 0
2500261 Education Studies OT 4 0
2500797 Early Childhood Education OT 4 0
2500798 Primary Education OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Mariona Espinet Blanch
Email:
Mariona.Espinet@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

External teachers

Júlia Hosta

Prerequisites

There are no previous requirements.

Objectives and Contextualisation

Life can no longer be sustained in the planet the way we live today. Our way of life is suffering from a generalized crisis as a consequence of human activities which can be approached through different dimensions: ecological, climate, economic, social, political, health ... The hegemonic and capitalist economic paradigm is so powerful that prevents human beings from imagining alternative realities where market society is not the only way to organize social relationships.

To overcome this narrow way of seeing we need to acquire and educational approach that promotes critical awareness so that an Eco citizenship can be developed. This implies to educate people to act in a committed and responsible way, and to be capable of making individual and collective decisions from a social and environmental justice perspective. Education is seen as a holistic activity that goes through the whole life span and involves a diversity of dimensions. This process is called Eco social Education or Education for Sustainability open to the political, economic and environmental interconnected dimensions of human life. Education is seen as a process of Eco literacy that facilitates the understanding of socioecological systems and its derived inequalities and conflicts from the ecological and feminist economical perspective.

Education for sustainability is a key process within the construction of new imaginaries and alternative models based on the following: social and economic justice, food souvereignity, responsible consumption, ecological integrity, solidarity economy, ways of sustainable life, respect towards all forms of life, solid values that facilitate social cohesion, democracy and collective action, critical thinking, historical perspective etc. A dialogue with other cosmovisions of the relationship between nature, society and economy will be also considered.

The subject will focus on the role of educators and the diversity of professional profiles that establish links between education, sustainability and consumption. Through the semester, students will have the opportunity to know educational initiatives that act as lighthouses within education for sustainability and which include a diversity of contexts such as community food gardens, cooperatives, and community initiatives among others. The work will be based on local contexts such as university food gardens or the simulation of a work cooperative, to facilitate the necessary understanding of what is happening and can be done at a local scale that might have an impact at a global scale.

Objectives:

  • Coming to know the conceptual and methodological approaches to Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education
  • Analyzing critically socio-environmental problems using frameworks associated to  ecological, feminist, social and solidarity based economy
  • Recognizing the importance and the need to initiate education for sustainability and Consumer Education processes within different educational contexts (formal, non-formal and informal)
  • Knowing the implications of Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education in relation to professional competences
  • Discovering different local initiatives and projects aiming at responsible and transformative consumption within social environment
  • Approaching the design, realization and evaluation of educational projects and materials related to Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education.

Competences

    Social Education
  • Contextualize educational action based on the different theoretical paradigms that have developed in science and education in accordance with the socio-historical context of individuals, groups and institutions.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude to the environment (natural, social and cultural) to promote values, behaviour and sustainable practices that address gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
    Education Studies
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
  • Identify educational approaches and problems, inquire about them: obtain, record, process and interpret relevant information to issue supported judgments that enhance education and training.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude for the environment (natural, social and cultural) to promote values, behaviours and practices that address gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
    Early Childhood Education
  • "Critically analyse and incorporate the most relevant issues of contemporary society that affect family and school education: social and educational impact of audiovisual languages and of screens. changes in gender relations and intergenerational changes; multiculturalism and interculturalism; discrimination and social inclusion and sustainable development."
  • Develop educational proposals in relation to the interaction between science, technology, society and sustainable development.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude for the environment (natural, social and cultural) to promote values, behaviours and practices that address gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
  • Promote interest and respect for the natural, social and cultural environment through appropriate educational projects.
    Primary Education
  • Appreciate individual and collective responsibility in the achievement of a sustainable future.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and in professional activity.
  • Maintain a respectful attitude to the natural, social and cultural environment to foster values, behaviours and practices that attend to gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply systemic thinking to analysis of environmental problems and issues.
  2. Being able to establish links between environmental knowledge and actions and sustainable consumption.
  3. Practising a dialogic vision in the face of antagonistic behaviour related to environmental problems.
  4. Recognising the different sustainability models in educational proposals.

Content

Socio-environmental problems: Analysis of conflicts and inequalities from the framework of ecological and feminist economy.

New imaginaries: degrowth, social economy, solidarity based economy, responsible consumption, food souvereignity

Cooperativism and work cooperatives: an organization at the service of people.

From Environmental Education to Education for Sustainability: Historical perspective, evolution, and cartography of approaches.

Education for Sustainability: Aims, objectives, key components and methodological approaches

Critical thinking in Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education.

Context of Education for Sustainability: Social and community food gardens.

Strategies of Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education: Acting in formal, non-formal and informal contexts

Professional competences in Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education

The design of educational projects and materials for Education for Sustainability and Consumer Education

Methodology

The students is considered the protagonist of the teaching and learning processes and this principle has oriented the educational methodology of this subject. We will depart from students’ knowledge, attitudes and dispositions to act, and different types of activities will be used to guarantee the attention to diversity and the acquisition of students’ competences. Students will work in small groups as well as whole classroom organization to promote reflection and analysis through strategies and methodologies coming from popular education. Work outside the classroom to discover the local environment will be prioritized. Students will have the opportunity to Visits social and community food gardens, as well as other initiatives promoting social and solidarity economy. All activities will be articulated around the creation of a cooperative.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Explanation by teacher staff of the content and key issues of the module program. It is done with the whole group class and allows exposure of the main content through an open and active participation by students. 38.5 1.54 1, 3, 4, 2
Type: Supervised      
Workspace in small groups supervised by teachers for analysis or processing activities and / or curriculum materials, study and / or resolution of cases, field activities and / or laboratory in order to go deep into the themes proposed. 70 2.8 1, 3, 4, 2
Type: Autonomous      
Analysis of readings, educational innovation proposals, design of activities, preparing reports, analysis and resolution of cases, field work 32.5 1.3 1, 3, 4, 2

Assessment

The evaluation will be continuous along the semester and will include both individual and group work. The specific evaluation activities and the deadlines are the following:

Cooperative group activities (45%)

  • Group work paper 1 (TC1) -20%: deadline18/11/2020 & date of presentation 20/11/2020
  • Group work paper 2 (TC2)-25%: deadline 15/01/2021 & date of presentation 22/01/2021.

Individual activities (55%):

  • Participation 20%: attendance and daily work
  • Paper on personal reflections 20%: deadline 29/01/2021.
  • Individual Exam 5%: 15/01/2021

Attendance is compulsory and a minimum of 80% is required in order to be eligible for evaluation. To get a pass grade a minimum of 5/10 is necessary.in all assessment activities. To be eligible for a making-up test, an average of a 3,5 mark for the subject will be necessary. The make-up test can be either an individual test or a group test offered during the UAB week exams.  To pass this subject matter students need to show the acquisition of communicative competences (oral and written) and a good command of the languages specified in the Teaching Guide of the subject. Students are expected to show a high level of reading comprehension of academic texts, to express themselves orally in a fluid and correct way, and to write texts that are linguistically and formally correct. An activity can be rejected it does not follow the above-mentioned criteria.

According to the Facultat de Ciències de l’Educació (UAB) regulations (Acord Comissió Ordenació Acadèmica, 4 juny 2014), students will fail the exams if they engage into either copying or plagiarism behavior. Any paper or exam will be categorized as copied when it reproduces parts or the whole of another student’s material. A paperor an exam is considered plagiarism when it is presented as one’s own without mentioning the original sources.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Cooperative group work 50% 4 0.16 1, 3, 4, 2
Individual face exam 15% 2 0.08 1, 3, 4, 2
Individual work and participation 35% 3 0.12 1, 3, 4, 2

Bibliography

Bibliography elaborated with perspective of gender: 

França, J (2020). Retrats de la Barcelona comunitària. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona.

García Díaz, J. E., Fernández-Arroyo, J., Rodríguez-Marín, F. y Puig Gutiérrez, M. (2019). Más allá de la sostenibilidad: por una educación ambiental que incremente la resiliencia de la población ante el decrecimiento/colapso. Revista de Educación Ambiental y Sostenibilidad, 1(1), 1101.

Garcia Jané, J. (2016). La economía del futuro debe ser social y solidaria. Oikonomics: Revista de economia, empresa y Sociedad, 6, 56-63..

Herrero, Y. (2012) Propuestas ecofeministas para un sistema cargado de deudas. Revista de Economía Crítica., 13, 30-54.

Herrero, Y., Cembranos, F. y Pascual, M. (2011). Cambiar las gafas para mirar el mundo. Madrid: Libros en acción

Llarena, G.; Espinet, M. (dir) (2015). Agroecología Escolar, Fundamentación teórica y estudio de casos sobre el desarrollo de los huertos escolares con el referente de la agroecología. Tesis, UAB.

Llarena, G.; Espinet, M (2017). Agroecologia Escolar.Barcelona: Pol·len edicions.

Martínez-Alier, J. (2002) The environmentalism of the poor: a study of ecological conflicts and valuation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Martínez-Alier, J. (2008). La crisis económica, vista desde la economía ecológica. Ecología política, cuadernos de debate internacional (36), 23-.33.

Mayer, M i Mogensen, F (2007) Marc d'educació crítica, a M. Mayer& S. Breiting; F. Mogensen; & A. Varga (Eds). Educació per al desenvolupament sostenible. (pp X-Y). Barcelona: Graó.

O'Neill, Fanning, AL, Lamb, WF et al. (2018) A good life for all within planetary boundaries. Nature Sustainability, 88 (95).

Pérez Orozco, A (2015). Prólogo: palabras vivas ante un sistema biocida, a G. Kallis; , F. Demaria & G. D’Alisa (Eds.) Decrecimiento. Vocabulario para una nueva era. Barcelona: Icaria Editorial

Sauvé, L (2014). Educación ambiental y ecociudadania. Dimensiones claves de un proyecto político-pedagógico. Revista Científica ISSN 01242253, 18, Bogotá.

Sauvé, L (1999, 2005). Uma cartografia das corrientes em educaçao ambiental. (p. 17-46). A Sato, M.et Carvalho, I. (Dir.). Educação ambiental -Pesquisa e desafios. Porto Alegre: Artmed.

Scheidel A, Del Bene D, Liu J, Navas G, Mingorría S, Demaria F, Avila S, Roy B, Ertör I, Temper L,  Martinez-Alier J. (2020). Environmental Conflicts and Defenders: a global overview. Global Environmental Change 63 (2020).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102104

Tempe, L, del Bene, D i Martinez-Alier, J (2015). Mapping the frontiers and front lines of global environmental justice: the EJAtlas. Journal of Political Ecology 22, 255-278.http://jpe.library.arizona.edu/volume_22/Temper.pdf

The Worldwatch Institute (2017). Educación ecosocial. Cómo educar frente a la crisis ecológica. Barcelona: FUHEM Ecosocial, Icaria.

NOTA: al llarg del curs es podrà recomanar altra bibliografia que es cregui adequada.