HIGHER EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

Thomas G. JohnsonUniversity of Missouri

Presented to the 7th World Conference of the Global Consortium of Higher

Education and Research for AgricultureBeauvais, France

June 28, 2011

This Presentation

Why sustainable rural development? Why colleges, schools and institutes of

agriculture? Focus on

What makes rural sustainability unique Education FOR rural sustainable development

Some pedagogical strategies Challenges

My Conclusions

Colleges, schools and institutes of agriculture should play a unique and critical role in education for sustainable development

International scope & collaboration essential

Our curriculum & pedagogy must evolve to meet new challenges

Must involve place-based regional strategies

Sustainability and Sustainable Development

Sustainability to some is no growth To others, development within bounds To some it is synonymous with

environmentalism

Yet others see it as a new world view

Sustainability as a new ‘World View’

World view: the fundamental basis of our perceiving, thinking, valuing and acting

Current world view is one of divisions Humans from nature Organic from inorganic Rural from urban North from South

The current world view threatened by rising economic, environmental, social and political unrest and injustice

A sustainability-based world view replaces The concept of environment with ecology Reductionism with systems thinking Nation states with a world of interelated

regions Humans viewed as a part of ecology The Gaia hypothesis

Interconnectedness Self regulating feedback loops

Why Sustainable Rural Development?

By 2050 less than one third of the world’s population will be rural

Urbanization makes rural sustainability more difficult but more important

Rural areas are source of most food, energy, water, natural resources , and environmental services

These, and climate change, are among our biggest challenges in the next century

Rural Sustainability requires Special Focus

Most sensitive biological systems are rural

Rural economic activities based on space and nature rather than proximity and scale

Rural areas have low population density and less infrastructure Different economic and social structures

Rural areas have declining political influence

Education for Sustainable Development

Education plays a critical role in achieving sustainability

Education ABOUT sustainable development Education FOR sustainable development

Education ABOUT Sustainable Development

Teaching the need for sustainability Teaching the consequences of

unsustainable behavior Teaching an awareness of sustainable

and unsustainable practices Encouraging an ‘ethics of sustainability’

Education FOR Sustainable Development

Providing students with the skills necessary to implement sustainable development and sustainable practices

Critical thinking and creativity to devise new solutions

Response of Higher Education

Much has already been achieved Systems perspective in programs of study Interdisciplinary curricula Interdisciplinary degrees International collaboration in research and

education Much more to do

Model sustainability on our campuses Teach sustainability in our courses Promote sustainability among our societies

For agricultural colleges this means

Improving understanding of biological, engineering, social and economic systems especially in rural areas

Educating the urban majority about their stake in rural development

Educating future scientists, managers, teachers, policy analysts and journalists to solve sustainability problems

Convincing traditional stakeholders and funders to support research and teaching in sustainable activities

Agriculture Colleges as Models Ag Colleges are ideally suited to lead higher

education toward systemic sustainability education Inherently multidisciplinary—physics, biology,

zoology, chemistry, engineering, and social sciences Many opportunities for interdisciplinary research

and education Focus on rural areas where our biggest threats to

sustainability will be faced Food security Renewable energy Water quantity and quality, and Climate change adaptation

Rural Development and Sustainability

The most egregious examples of unsustainable activities have occurred in rural areas Strip mining Desertification Soil erosion Wetland degradation Rural depopulation

Rural Development and Sustainability

Sustainability will be good for farms and rural residents, places and regions

Currently most rural regions are net consumers of petroleum and coal based products

In a distributed sustainable bioeconomy rural regions will be net producers of energy

Rural regions will become favored areas for energy consuming economic activity

What to Educate for Sustainable Rural Development

1. Competencies for solving environmental and rural development problems

2. Ecological basis of systems3. Systems thinking4. Ethics education5. Entrepreneurship6. Resiliency strategies

How to Educate for Sustainable Rural Development

1. Value diversity of ideas2. Multidisciplinary critiques of curricula3. Programs of study that support T-shaped

expertise4. Problem-based and experiential learning5. Participatory action research6. Incorporate local (place-based)

knowledge

Examples in Rural Economics

A new accounting system Because ‘we value what we measure’ GDP is a partial measure of flows Must incorporate depletion of stocks (including

environmental and social capital) Account for waste, pollution and externalities Measure outcomes rather than inputs

Examples in Rural Economics

Ecological economics Focus on system dynamics, interaction of

economics, social and environmental variables

Rural entrepreneurship Focus on innovative agriculture-based

activities Rural and Agri-tourism

International Comparative Rural Policy Studies

Annual summer institute involving 15 universities in North America and Europe

Multidisciplinary students and faculty Study institutional context for rural

sustainable development Experiential and participatory Network of over 150 alumni and about 50

faculty members over 8 years Numerous comparative research projects

Challenges for Sustainable Rural Development

Facilitating change while teaching conservation

Ensuring disciplinary rigor while increasing interdisciplinary knowledge

Satisfying stakeholders while questioning current practices

Expanding our educational scope during time of declining public support

Final Word

Sustainable rural development is our responsibility and our opportunity

Our challenge is to educate for sustainability and to serve as a model for our students, our university and society

THANK YOU