Developing an “ecology of learning” within a school sustainability co-design project with children in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper analyses the inter-relatedness of layers of involvement, as contributing to learning, within a school sustainability project (the eco-classroom project). This engaged students, staff and community members (including professional practitioners) in an architectural co-design project that resulted, after 4 years, in a built classroom. The paper utilises an "ecology of learning" diagram to indicate layers and show connections, which are evidenced by findings from the project, alongside relevant literature in geographies of architecture and childhood, pedagogies of sustainable learning and children's participatory and co-design examples. In conclusion, the ecology of learning approach is critiqued and encouragement of more sustainability co-design projects with children is recommended. It is proposed this could lead to improved processes for all participants while promoting authentic and relevant sustainability learning.Keywords: co-design; participation with children; education for sustainability; schoolbased learning; architecture IntroductionThis special edition addresses children, young people and sustainability globally, but under a local lens. The call for papers stated that while this demographic has capability for developing caring for, and engagement with, environmental issues, they are often not included or involved within policy-making regarding key sustainability issues, for example, climate change adaptation. Engagement with local, action-taking environmental projects, especially assuming an advocacy role or engaging politically within environmental projects, is believed to encourage active, critical learners (Jensen and Schnack 1997). It could be argued that such learners are better equipped to engage in sustainability issues and more likely to seek opportunities to do so. A political stance lends greater authenticity to a project, while a local focus gives greater relevance for children (Chawla and Cushing 2007). Children spend considerable time at school, and global documents such as the Tbilisi Declaration (UNESCO 1977) and the Earth Summit's programme of action, Agenda 21 (UNESCO 1992), established the primacy of environmental education (EE) in schools, latterly emphasising the multi-disciplinary nature of environmental sustainability and the importance of active participation for learning.This paper demonstrates the inter-dependency of local (i.e. school and immediate community) involvement and its effect on children's environmental learning due to participation # 2013 Taylor & Francis * Corresponding author. Email: swake@unitec.ac.nz Local Environment, 2013 Vol. 18, No. 3, 305 -322, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2012 Downloaded by [Unitec Institute of Technology] at 13:57 10 March 2015 in a school-based education for sustainability (EfS) 1 project in New Zealand. The ecoclassroom project emphasised EfS action as the issue, democracy as the mode, architectural design as the process and local community as the sphere of involvement.The eco-classroom project was ambitious in its man...

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