Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

predecessor “green,” or the prefix “eco-,” the adjective “sustainable” already tends tosell any product (intellectual, political, commercial) with a good 30% of extra valueadded, no matter what the real quality of the product. Sadly but comprehensibly, PeterTimmerman (1994, p. 72) classifies the entire category of “sustainable development”among those “mild ecological reforms” to which mainstream political parties havecommitted themselves. The profusion of the “free riders” of sustainability has furtherdiminished the credibility of the whole concept- the Italian general public has thusalready developed a pronounced distrust towards the very word “sustainable” beforeeven understanding what that is about.Definite and somewhat “revolutionary” value judgements have been made bySebastiano Monti (2000, p. 61): “It is a merit of ecology to have shown that no livingbeing can walk by itself and for itself; that trying to find compromising solutionsvia negotiations between individual attitudes is illusory (there is no diplomacy inecology); that “struggle” has no sense if against nature (…); that limiting socialdynamics to the individual and state is false (…); that it is not possible to ignoresocial positions, whatever they are (shamanism, magic, spiritism, etc) based on anintellectualistic judgement.” Monti’s uniquely radical position is weakened by thefact that throughout the book, the author continuously ventures into theologicalconsiderations that seem to be heavily influenced by Catholicism, without muchintercultural – comparative or inclusive – effort.Far from sharing Monti’s radicalism, the attitude of many Italian geographers onthis relatively novel issue is well summarised by the words of Attilio Celant, whoexplicitly links environmental degradation with the well-defined, little negotiableeconomic rules operating at present. He adds that although these rules are “certainlynot the best that the organisational and scientific culture of the most economicallyadvanced communities could have achieved,” they are the rules that “our Societieshave selected and shared.” Therefore, “it is necessary, at least in the short-time frame,to search for solutions from within the paradigmatic scenario that has become hegemonicfor about a decade (2001, pp. 119−120).” While the need for the gradualness andfeasibility of changes is certainly not objectionable, should we not actively promotea shift of direction? Otherwise, will there be a real difference between sustainabledevelopment and all the excellent but un-coordinated and insufficient instrumentsidentified by scholars and the legislation since the 1970s (in Italy “tutela, recupero,valorizzazione, protezione,” etc)?Using the words “holistic,” “organic,” “externality-exporting basins and externality-absorbingbasins” or “Permaculture” (from the fusion and contraction of“permanent agriculture and culture”) in front of an Italian geographic audiencewould send shivers down the spine of the listeners and cause more than a few smiles.Yet geography can count on its unique familiarity with spatial and environmentaldynamics as a privileged “door” to access and then introduce students and thegeneral public to even more complex and less obvious implications of sustainability(Bob Evans, Martha Chillida, International Conference on “Governing SustainableCities,” Fano, Italy, 4 th −5 th November 2004). Spatial, territorial and ecosystemicrelations are a unique starting point to teach complex ideas such as a development302