{"id":6624,"date":"2016-03-24T08:56:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-24T08:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=6624"},"modified":"2016-03-24T08:56:55","modified_gmt":"2016-03-24T08:56:55","slug":"a-sustainable-west-midlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2016\/03\/24\/a-sustainable-west-midlands\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sustainable West Midlands?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to a well organised West Midlands Sustainable Schools network yesterday. \u00a0We met on the top floor of the CUBE<\/a> and its over-hanging, vertiginous heights reminded me of the mercifully brief\u00a0time I spent at Ocean City<\/a>; sadly, in Birmingham, there wasn't a boardwalk to be seen, and no Drifters music to sooth the giddy experience. \u00a0Here's the input I made to the meeting:<\/p>\n

Policy<\/p>\n

There is no scope for trying to persuade government to change the 2002 education act as it has other schools priorities. That goes for the national curriculum as well as this is becoming increasingly irrelevant given the increasing number of schools that are independent and hence out of its reach. DfE has slimmed down the national curriculum in order, it says, to enable schools to be more responsive to local contexts and needs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DfID<\/p>\n

DfID is still supporting global learning in schools in collaboration with Pearson and a range of charities and the like. The future possibilities of this is not something I have a view on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ESD<\/p>\n

ESD seems pretty much a failure, no matter what level you look at. \u00a0In the battle within UNESCO between it and Education for all, EFA won, and you only have to look at SDG 4 to see the evidence of this. \u00a0Being one of the many adjectival educations was always going to prove a handicap for ESD as those who matter in education knew that it could be safely ignored because it was not part of the mainstream.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The SDGs<\/p>\n

The goals would seem to be a useful framing of sustainable development as they make it more concrete. As one activist said to me: \u201cThese internationally-agreed goals give focus to the often sprawling nature of sustainable development<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0There is evidence that some groups recognise this capability:<\/p>\n