Energy: Past, Present, and Future

Sustainability, Educators for Sustainability

Sustainability can be defined as a “process of continually and actively moving in the direction that promotes ecological health, social equity, quality of life, cooperation and compassion.”⁵

The UN Sustainability framework outlines a set of goals which are meant to be a “blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.”⁶ Signatories to the UN sustainability goals list – which were unanimously adopted by member nations – have all agreed that affordable, sustainable clean energy for all and climate action are among the top 17 goals.

Sustainability is generally conceived as encompassing three equally important pillars:  social, environmental and economic.  These are often in tension, and determining whether a business or practice is sustainable is often not clear.  A farm that grows delicious food and pays its workers well, but pollutes the drinking water downstream of its fields, could not be considered sustainable.  A food processor with strong circular economy standards, little waste, using renewable energy and compostable packaging, earning a good profit who fails to pay workers a living wage would also fail this sustainability test.  These goals can be hard to meet, and there are many tradeoffs along the way to reaching these goals. 

As an educator, I am committed to the collective practice of educating for a sustainable future, as defined by The Cloud Institute’s Education for Sustainability (EfS).  “EfS is an approach to  teaching and learning 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.”⁷  Along with three other teachers at the U School, we spent almost two years participating in a cohort of secondary and post-secondary institutions and individuals building on work of a wider network to establish best practices, and initiatives to implement a set of sustainability content standards.  This is relevant, as educating for sustainability asks educators and students to consider themselves responsible for the world while offering a framework for evaluating and navigating choices.  These content standards differ from Common Core, and the Career and Technical Education skills and task lists that also frame teaching. EfS standards provide a set of valuable tools to assist in creating a process towards goals which are as valuable as any specific content.  Four of the nine sustainability standards that directly speak to this unit on energy and agriculture are:

Healthy Commons Healthy Commons are that upon which we all depend and for which we are all responsible (i.e., air, trust, biodiversity, climate regulation, our collective future, water, libraries, public health, heritage sites, topsoil, etc.). Students will be able to recognize and value the vital importance of the Commons in our lives and for our future. They will assume the rights, responsibilities, and actions to care for the Commons. Natural Laws & Ecological Principles Students will see themselves as interdependent with each other, all living things, and natural systems. They will be able to put their knowledge and understanding to use in the service of their lives, their communities, and the places in which they live. Inventing & Affecting the Future The vital role of vision, imagination, and intention in creating the desired future. Students will design, implement, and assess actions in the service of their individual and collective visions.  Multiple Perspectives The perspectives, life experiences, and cultures of others, as well as our own. Students will know, understand, value, and draw from multiple perspectives to co-create with diverse stakeholders shared and evolving visions and actions in the service of a healthy and sustainable future locally and globally.⁸

Implementing sustainability standards are an essential objective and serve as guideposts in determining expectations of student learning, student activities and student action as we explore specific content.  In the unit that will precede this unit on energy, students will have learned to define sustainability, assess sustainability practices, and begun to build sustainable leadership skills.  We will have just explored how to audit a process, business or practice using the three pillars of sustainability:  People (Social), Planet (Environmental), and Profit (Economic).  We will bring this lens to our study of sustainable energy.