Locative Meaning-making: An Arts-based Approach to Learning for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Abstract:The term sustainable development is often criticized for having lost credibility due to a lack of clear-cut delineation. The same holds true for education designed to foster sustainable development often referred to as education for sustainable development (ESD). This contribution agrees that the term suffers from a want of meaning, but argues that the persistent hunt for a definition-i.e., a fixed generic description-produces rather than resolves this deficit. What sustainable development means is context and time dependent and is therefore necessarily ambiguous, open-ended and dynamic. Hence, the success of ESD depends on the paradoxical imperative of reducing vagueness while at the same time maintaining ambiguity. This paper explores how this can be established and proposes a process informed by the arts. Drawing from dialogic practices, site-specific theatre and a project conducted in a British village, this writing discusses elements that constitute a process of -context-based meaning finding‖. It concludes that ESD essentially starts with and revolves around re-embedding SD in life and the act of living, engaging people in place through processes in which communities yield their own, context and time specific interpretations of sustainable development.

The role of the arts in coping with place change at the coast

“…As appears from this quote, the arts can enhance the cognitive dimension of people's place attachment as they stimulate people to think about and reflect on their connections to their landscape, raise their awareness of potential place change at their coast and provide food for thought to assess this change. These findings correspond to earlier work from Eernstman and Wals (), Miles () and Stocker and Kennedy (), as mentioned above.…”

“…In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the value of the arts, beyond their aesthetic qualities (Eernstman & Wals, ). The American Planning Association, for instance, pointed out that “the arts and culture activities” can be used to “improve a community's overall understanding of history and heritage of place; foster tolerance and celebration of identity; and possibly provide opportunities for community residents to more actively participate in community visioning and planning processes” (, p. 2).…”

Strengthening Sensory Sustainability Science—Theoretical and Methodological Considerations

“…It is argued that sustainability science needs to become more sensory. Beyond pioneering works in sustainability science, which explore the potential of arts for sustainable development [7][8][9][10] or ideas of mindfulness [11], this article presents conceptual and methodological considerations for sensory sustainability science, which are based on insights from the sociology of senses and sensory studies [12], practice theory [13] and theories of atmosphere [14] and resonance [15], sensory ethnography [16] and arts-based research [17]. Thus, the article pursues the goal of building a bridge between sustainability science and theories and methodological perspectives from neighbouring social sciences and humanities.…”

Design Criteria for Visual Cues Used in Disruptive Learning Interventions Within Sustainability Education

“…Similarly, art has been increasingly used to raise public awareness (Kilaru et al, 2014), but little consideration has been given to the usefulness of public art or work from the public domain for teaching and learning in higher education classroom contexts. Eernstman and Wals (2013) highlight the lack of consideration of art in the context of ESD. There is also a limited consideration of pedagogy that promotes ìpractices of self and world care, as well as all the forms of otherness with which we share processes of co-evolution, being aware of our ontological biasî (Ferrante & Sartori, 2016, p. 184).…”

“…Moreover, the future of humanity relies on the reorientation of each individual (Zygmunt, 2016) through an exploration of oneís values and worldviews based on both self-knowledge and knowledge about others (Valk & Tosun, 2016). As traditional pedagogy is also based on the humanistic and anthropocentric tradition (Ferrante & Sartori, 2016), educators should become ëartistic rebel teachersí who challenge individualistic anthropocentrism (Blenkinsop & Morse, 2017), as ìESD [Education for Sustainable Development] essentially starts with and revolves around re-embedding SD [Sustainable Development] in life and the act of livingî (Eernstman & Wals, 2013, p. 1657. This requires teachers to become change agents for sustainability, then, educating students to become change agents.…”