Synthesis Report - European Science Foundation

Good Practice Example: Barefoot College in Rajasthan, IndiaLocation: IndiaMain actors involved: A collective of urban educatedpersons and professionals registered asSocial Work and Research Centre, rural communitiesTime frame: Established in 1972Description: This is an example of new initiativeson South-South learning using different languages,including art and non-scientific jargonnow emerging in the field of sustainability. Inthe Barefoot College in Rajasthan, India, illiteratewomen learn about the use of solar technologyand then share their knowledge with otherilliterate women.The challenges of dealing with persistent problemsof unsustainability require a new, open knowledgesystem. This means, as discussed throughout thisreport, integrative research, integration of knowledge,increased public awareness and interest,collective problem framing, plurality of perspecontologicalbasis for modernity and positivist science(e.g., Castree, 2005). The questions are: whatkind of capacity is necessary to move beyond thisdualism? What kind of education is needed to play arole in building this capacity and changing the waythat problems are understood and addressed? Thepredominant approaches to the problems discussedabove often fall prey to this dualism, and this observationdrives us to look for the roots underlying suchapproaches. Bohm (1992) pursued such an inquiryand found incoherence in perceptions and the fragmentationof thought to be at the heart of such issues.There is clearly a need for a comprehensive andstrategic approach to capacity building to addresscomplex global change problems (e.g., Leemans etal., 2009). The key challenges for research identifiedthrough the ICSU visioning processes andBelmont forum will require an enhanced researchand education capacity to address them throughinterdisciplinary research (Reid et al., 2010; ICSU,2010b; IGFA, 2011; KLSC, 2011).University education systems have been themain channel for developing and disseminatingunderstanding of global environmental change. Yetthese systems are undergoing enormous changesin response to social, economic and technologicalchanges. For example, “[t]eacherless or virtualteacherlearning is described by enthusiasts as aIn the meantime, Barefoot College’s philosophyhas spread over a network that has grownorganically throughout India and even Africa.The women at Barefoot College learn how tosolve their everyday problems in a sustainableway and strive for a more balanced society. It isfunded through grants and donations receivedfrom the Government of India, internationalfunding agencies as well as private foundations,and through income generated through ownsources.More information: www.barefootcollege.org;vooruit.be/en/page/1491;thoughtsandtalks.so-on.berevolution in the making” (Giridharadas, 2009).The high levels of specialisation and the division oflabour promoted by the industrial revolution haveled to reductionist understandings and actions byindividuals and organisations. Different types ofreforms have been proposed and tested (see, e.g.,Corcoran and Wals, 2004). However, it has beenargued that:“sustainability does not simply require an ‘add-on’to existing structures and curricula, but impliesa change of fundamental epistemology in our cultureand hence also in our educational thinkingand practice. Seen in this light, sustainability is notjust another issue to be added to an overcrowdedcurriculum, but a gateway to a different view of curriculum,of pedagogy, or organizational change, ofpolicy and particularly of ethos.”(Sterling, 2004, p. 50).Necessary institutional change23Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth (RESCUE)