Before the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael last weekend, a pre-conference intensive was hosted by the Center for Ecoliteracy (it’s in Berkeley).

The intensive was “Smart by Nature – Schooling for Sustainability – Systems Change and Leadership.”  That’s a lot to take in for a title.  In essence, educators and environmental leaders gathered to listen to many approaches to and experiences of incorporating environmental awareness, climate change and the systems in Nature into the learning process.  The experience was, to say the least, inspirational.  Here are a few snippets…

Lucinda Lee Katz spoke in the morning session about Leadership and School Change.  Dr. Katz was the first Chinese bilingual, bicultural teacher in the San Francisco Public Schools.  This led to her work on the historic “Lau vs. Nichols” decision.  This legal precedent established bilingual education to schools in the U.S.   She shared Marin Country Day School’s educational approach to sustainability.  Their program encompasses at all levels Respect, Responsibility, Compassion. 

Fritjof Capra, co-founder and scholar in residence at the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, also was a featured morning speaker.  Capra has developed a new approach to education, Living Systems and Systems Thinking.  How this relates to sustainability in education is understanding that sustainability is a property of an entire web of relationships.

The context for systems thinking emerged from seeing Nature as a teacher.  Systems thinking includes relationships and patterns.  Our material world is a network of inseparable patterns and relationships.  The planet as a whole is a living, breathing, interacting entity.  Capra suggests the survival of humanity will rely on our ecological literacy – our ability to function within the context of Nature and educate all ages of ourselves in a way that reflects the very powerful natural systems that have sustained life and which we can support to continue.

How might this look in a classroom?  Some suggestions were to combine skills in decision making with a linear subject, such as Math.  For example, students could collect and work with authentic data in the context of real projects.  In a curriculum, 4th and 5th graders could collect survey data on the quality of life in their neighborhood and compile that.  They could then take that to their local elected officials to potentially impact positively quality of life in the community.  There was an example of a school group who did just this.

Another classroom example, in Social Studies, students could learn how social and economic systems function as a basis for informed decision making.  Skills of inquiry for posing questions, doing research, and interpreting patterns could be part of this process, as early as Kindergarten and 2nd grade.

In the afternoon workshops, one of many inspirational ones was The Sustainable Schools Project at Shelburne Farms in Vermont.  Shelburne Farms is a 1400 acre property, a working farm and historic landmark.  The school project within this property is:  Sustainability as the integrating theme, connecting curriculum, campus practices and community engagement.

An equally interesting component of this workshop was the diversity of people who participated.   This added an element of interaction and community to the workshop itself.  Here’s just a sampling of who people were and why they were there:

A developer from Charlotte, North Carolina, who restores historic buildings is embarking on an ecological development business  – kitchens with ecology centers at local schools.  He was moved to transform his approach to his own business after seeing “An Inconvenient Truth.”

A representative of Acre Gourmet, a nonprofit that transforms school lunch programs into organic school lunch programs.

A representative from Patchwork Farms in Santa Rosa, working to provide an eco-laboratory for students.

Two members of an environmental center, the Hilton Bialec Habitat organization in Carmel.

Teachers from Lawrence, Kansas, Alameda, University High School in Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Portland, Oregon, and Monterey County, all pioneering systems thinking approaches and ecoliteracy paths at their schools.

Here in Petaluma, there’s a sustainability and community event for volunters at City Hall this Saturday, October 24th, 8am-4pm - greening the landscaping and introducing gardening.  It promises to be a fulfilling and work-filled day (with lunch provided).  To sign up, contact Rebuilding Together Petaluma, 765-3944, or www.rebuildingtogetherpetaluma.org

Becoming one with Nature – tree hugging is ok.

Resource:  SMART by Nature, Schooling for Sustainability, Michael K. Stone/Center for Ecoliteracy, 2009, Distriubuted by University of California Press.