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Live better with less or… are you a believer of consumerism and

economic growth?

Enthusiastic and motivated teachers, and students, believe in

education as a decisive factor for change. Many consider that thepolitical will for tackling the major challenges facing humanity can only be

created by educated public opinion. Inspired by these ideas, our group

has long tried to motivate pupils through contextual learning, analyzing

local, natural and ‘human’ environments. Some years ago, the idea of

Environmental Education (EA) evolved to what it is called Education for

Sustainable Development (ESD), and one of its appealing key concepts:

interplay and balance of environmental, social and economic interests.However, it has been demonstrated that this harmony is not possible in

the current endless growth economy.

Many analysts argue that the pursuit of affluent lifestyles and

limitless economic growth are the basic causes of the many alarming

global problems that we are suffering. These include: climate change,

rapid decline of many ecosystems, biodiversity loss, water shortage, thecollapse of fish stocks, agricultural soils that are treated like mines … We

are in a state of excess, we are using the Earth about 50% faster than it

can be regenerated.

But we are facing an even more urgent global problem in the

World today. We do not seem to realize that to keep the myth of

perpetual growth, our economy requires a cheap and abundant supply of

energy, so far provided by oil. However, many analysts argue that thereis not enough oil left in the planet to continue pumping out more barrels

and meet the world´s ever-growing demand. The world´s total oil

production reached a peak in 2005, then exhibited an undulating plateau,

and now is declining. On the other hand, the endless economic growth

has increased the demand, which has driven the price of oil up.

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The economic and social implications of a new age of expensive

and scarce oil are enormous, because fossil fuels are the means by

which we acquire all other resources. We have gone from an era when a

hundred percent of the caloric content of a plate of food was produced by

solar energy, to a point in which 90% comes from fossils fuels: fertilizers,

pesticides, irrigation, agricultural machinery, etc. Our dependence is

complete. Any building, even a high school, is a product of fossil fuels. In

fact, we can state that most of the everyday objects associated with

urban life are the result of fossil fuels. Some economists even argue that

the current global economic crisis is a product of expensive oil.

Can renewable energy sustain consumer societies then?. The

answer is no. Renewable energy sources will never be able to replace

(fully or affordably) the energy contained in fossil fuels, especially oil.

They are inadequate because only about 20% of our activities involve

electricity (which could come from a renewable source), the rest is fossil

fuels. Furthermore, renewable resources are also fossil fuel dependant

themselves, a point often and easily forgotten. It is worth noting that even

if there were no energy supply problems, the fact that the existing

economy already greatly exceeds the sustainable carrying capacity of

the planet means that significant overall economic contraction of some

form is required.

The real alternative for us is Education for Sustainability (EfS).

Among its core values we distinguish sufficiency and austerity, as well as

local consumption and efficiency, to develop a viable and sustainable

economy. Furthermore, to build a democratic, egalitarian and healthy

community, it is necessary to promote solidarity, democratic participation

and cooperation as well as health, equality, justice and respect. In the

future, happiness is more likely to be achieved if we cooperate in running

stable local communities geared toward meeting social needs from local

resources without any concern to get rich or raise the GDP. In the

coming years we will have to accept necessary fundamental changes in

lifestyle, with a level of economic activity compatible with the productive

capacity of the ecosystems upon which we are dependant.