Sustainable Development

Here follows my task answers for the Sustainable Development course.

Firstly, I was asked to come up with my own definition of sustainable development, without regarding any references or anything, so just off the top of my head.

I would say that sustainable development involves exploring means of consumption that give the best chance of maintaining current practices.

Then, after watching one video and reading some text, I could refine my definition:

Sustainable development encapsulates other factors than ecological, which is what my definition rather narrowly centred on. It also includes a social and economic side and involves the ways in which those areas overlap.

Finally, I answered the questions put to me in the blog:

a.    Please explain briefly your own interest in Sustainable Development.

I would say that my own interest in sustainable development is rather tenuous. If anything, my level of apathy towards these issues might be something I’m uncomfortable about.

At best, there might be something going on at a fairly subconscious level.

I suppose, when I think about it, I try to not use the car if I don’t have to (sometimes), I try to buy products that I believe are not directly responsible for messing up the planet and I recycle paper and cardboard. When I lived in Scotland, I voted for the Green party. I don’t vote in Finland. And I’m a vegetarian, though whatever sustainable benefits that has are accidental.

b.    If you are from another culture than Finnish give a brief overview of the socio- political landscape of the country, resources and their constraints. What are the values and the attitudes of the local people towards sustainable development? Are there any concerns related to sustainable development long term?

I am from another country, but it’s been many years since I lived there. In Scotland, I remember there being a real lag in implementing things like recycling options with different types of bins and options for bottle and can returns. I don’t know if those things have caught up now. I think there’s still lots to be done in this area in Scotland, but I am just not sure what advancements have been made in recent years.

c.    How should one direct, govern and teach sustainable development in schools?

The situation in school is critical, I would say. How should it happen? With gusto! With imagination, enthusiasm, support, with a long view to making a real difference to the way people think about these things, so that children are raised with a holistic view of sustainability, so that it influences the way they think about everything.

d.    How does sustainable development link to your area of work or study? (Think of the three spheres of sustainability: economic, social and environmental) Please give some ideas of how you could combine or apply a sustainability perspective to your subject.

The subject that I primarily teach is in film studies; chiefly documentary, scriptwriting and directing performance.

In terms of economic sustainability, I guess I could speak to students about awareness of the economics of the film industry, so that they are aware of the costs of things and so on. I don’t really know.

The social side is easier. I can influence the types of material the students work with in documentary, both those documentaries that are watched in the class and those subjects which they choose to tackle. Looking at issues of poverty, gender equality, racism, etc. would help the students themselves to understand these issues better.

Likewise the social aspect can be influenced by the types of material they students look at and the types of subjects they tackle.

e.    What was especially interesting or even surprising for you in this material?

The thing that most piqued my interest in this subject was the concept of economic sustainability. I’m pretty naïve on the subject of economics generally, so I found that this is a big hole in my knowledge.

The best definition I found for this term was:

“Economic sustainability is the word used to pinpoint numerous strategies that make it conceivable to use accessible resources to their best advantage. The idea is to uphold the use of those resources in a way that is both skillful and responsible, and likely to deliver long-term benefits.” which I found here.

I plan to investigate further this idea and see what effect it can have on myself as a teacher.