First published in Research News September 2007 - www.amsrs.com.au/researchnews/
Sustainability is the buzzword of the year, yet we still don't really agree on what sustainability actually is. We do know that it can mean different things to different people, from sustaining economic success, to ‘green' practices, to work/life balance or social and community sustainability. This means that our responses on whether and how we should be ‘more sustainable' are often conflicted and contradictory.
One thing is certain though - social research can help better understand how different types of people relate to our current environmental, social and economic challenges. Developing a clearer understanding of the drivers and levers of change makes for more robust policy development, better-targeted education programs and evaluation techniques in change for sustainability.
Social research has been significantly undervalued and underused in the past. Policy makers, educators and practitioners involved in sustainability education can feel ill-equipped to undertake research, viewing it as something academics do. They can fail to see how research informs both the context and the process of change for sustainability, and are unsupported or under-resourced to do research.
Increasingly, people involved in sustainability education programs, including environmental education programs, have begun to recognise that research about people's values, attitudes and behaviour is a vital ingredient at different points in the program cycle. For instance, research at the start of a program tells you why and what is happening; research during the program helps reflect on whether it's achieving its aims; and research at the end evaluates the effectiveness of the program. Doing research informs change in outcomes, process and policy.
Sustainability educators are also realising that sustainability demands an interdisciplinary response and a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that can drive change for sustainability. An effective education program requires a systems based approach, along with a critical evaluation of the influences on people's understanding, values and behaviour. More than simply distributing free light bulbs, education for sustainability needs to fundamentally transform the way people view themselves and how they interact with each other and the rest of the world.
Practitioners are increasingly undertaking their own research and using existing social research to inform their education strategies. These strategies include a range of policy, legislative and education responses that are being supported, and in some cases led by, federal and state government initiatives.
At government level, research is now seen as a vital piece of the puzzle in informing sustainability education programs. The NSW Government's environmental education plan, Learning for Sustainability 2007-10, specifically advocates research as a way to build knowledge about change for sustainability.
The Victorian Government's draft strategy and action program, Learning to Live Sustainably, also aims to ‘encourage, coordinate and directly support research to guide continuous improvement in planning, delivery and evaluation of education and behaviour change for environmental sustainability'.
In addition, the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES), funded by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Climate Change as part of the Natural Heritage Trust, uses action based approaches to conduct research across a variety of sectors to inform the process of how to make change and increase the success of education programs.
Some successful examples of social research include:
- Littering research focusing on cigarette butts that studied who litters, where and when has informed local council littering programs. Victoria's Mornington Peninsula Shire is planning a summer program to reduce cigarette butt littering using a range of different techniques. Lake Macquarie City Council in NSW used this research to complement a NSW media campaign and develop locally specific strategies.
- The Who Cares About the Environment? survey (conducted by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change every three years since 1994) tracks changes and trends in people's attitudes to, knowledge of and skills and behaviour regarding the environment in NSW. The 2006 survey more closely examined the motivations, triggers and barriers people have to adopting environmentally friendly behaviour and provides important input into government policy and education programs.
- Wesley Mission's recent report Living with Mental Illness: Attitudes, Experiences and Challenges resulted from a six month study of more than 600 participants and researched the awareness of and exposure to mental illness in Australia and community attitudes to people with a mental illness. The aim of the research is to change policy and workplace practices for people with a mental illness and better inform community education programs about living and working with people with mental health problems.
- Research as part of the Water for Life education program. This program is an integrated component of the NSW Government's metropolitan water plan and involves research to better understand how to target different sectors of the community and develop a range of education strategies to drive changed water consumption habits. It has a capacity building program for water educators, specific media campaigns and web site information and targeted on-the-ground education projects in innovative partnerships to engage different sectors of the community, such as non-English speaking communities, teachers and schools, the property sector and 18-35 year old householders.
- In the corporate sector, Westpac conducted a survey of 100 women business owners about the priorities for their business. This resulted in Westpac more specifically tailoring their Australia-wide Learn, Lead and Succeed seminars around sustainability and climate change issues.
Supported from the top and with a growing bank of social research in various areas of sustainability, sustainability educators and practitioners are getting more switched on to the value of social research.
However, understanding the value of social research does not mean educators and practitioners feel equipped to do it. To meet this disconnect Urbis has been commissioned by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, partnering with the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment to develop a guide to social research for educators and practitioners in this field, the first of its kind in the world. Due for publication early in 2008, it aims to underscore the value of research and be a clear, practical resource to guide people through the research process. It includes clear guidelines on how to build research into their education programs, how to define the objectives and scope of the research and how to identify the purpose for research. This is equally relevant whether they conduct the research themselves or contract out the research to an external consultancy, as is often the case.
In the interim there are various formal and informal forums in which to share research, mentor and build peer groups to learn from the experiences of others, such as the Victorian Association for Environmental Education's The Guide Beside professional development project which aims to use ongoing professional development to create a strong group of educators and facilitators.
Sustainability education programs are being transformed by building the capacity of educators and practitioners to understand the importance of research. As a result, education programs become more targeted and relevant, more effective at driving behaviour change, and more efficient, interdisciplinary and holistic.
There is one final piece in the puzzle of linking social research to sustainability education. This is the role of funding bodies and budgetary pressures. In addition to building the capacity of educators and practitioners, we also need demonstrate the invaluable role social research plays as part of sustainability education programs in order to drive monetary support to deliver more targeted, more effective change for the future.
By SallyAnn Hunting, Director Sustainability
For more info:
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/whocares/whocares2006.htm
