Abstract
The ESD Rice Project was born out of the realization that there is a need to strengthen the ESD initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region due to its dynamic economic development, widening social gap, natural environment and resources concerns, biological and cultural diversity, frequent natural disasters and persisting EFA challenges. In order to address the challenges of engaging the youth in the process of sustainable development, reorienting curriculum and teacher education programmes and evaluating outcomes of ESD learning, UNESCO initiated this programme in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) titled ‘the Regional Initiative for Cooperation for ESD Promotion through Rice (ESD Rice)’. UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet) is expected to play an important role in this context by enabling participating schools as well as communities to share contexts and ESD practices through collaborative learning.
The ESD Rice Project has identified the theme of rice as the entry point to ESD, since rice is a common staple food in much of the Asia-Pacific region and can be used as a tool to learn about the community and the world in the context of sustainability. For example, cultivation of rice has been affected by and has consequences from globalization of the economy, climate change and loss of biodiversity. Rice serves as the theme to learn and understand these challenges, think of solutions and take actions for positive change to create a sustainable community and a sustainable world.
The project is being managed by the ACCU as one of the components of the UNESCO project of ‘Asia-Pacific ESD Programme Linking Field Initiatives to Global Partnership’, supported by Japanese Funds-In-Trust. The project was initiated with a pilot phase with four countries in Asia in 2011, and a workshop was organized in Okayama in 2012 as part of this. The second phase starts from 2013 and will continue till 2015.
The objective of the project is to promote school and community based ESD practices in Asia and the Pacific by building an international collaborative network of the ASPnet. Six countries—India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Republic of Korea and Thailand—participate in the second phase.
The ESD Rice Workshop 2013 was held in Ayutthaya, Thailand, in December. The participants were representatives from the coordinating institutions of the participating countries and from participating schools. The objective of the workshop was to enhance participants’ experiences and knowledge on ESD and HOPE (Holistic, Ownership-based, Participatory/in Partnership and Empowering), an ESD framework developed for Asia-Pacific, through sharing ideas and feedback.
The presentation on the Baltic Sea Project (BSP), a flagship project of the UNESCO and ASPnet which continued well beyond its funding period, by Ms. Birthe Zimmermann, set the tone for the workshop. Dr Nagata Yoshiyuki from the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, discussed the lessons from BSP and the challenges of implementing a sustainable regional programme in Asia.
A visit to the Jirasartwitthaya School, Ayutthaya, enabled the participants to observe classrooms; interact with students, teachers and management; view the exhibition on rice and the second-hand goods market set up by the students with the help of community members; and visit the rice fields of the school. The participants also got an opportunity to taste some of the rice dishes of Thailand and understand the principles of ‘Sufficiency Economy’ initiated by the King of Thailand. The visit prompted participants to think deeper on ESD principles and how to incorporate them in their projects.
The plans prepared by the schools and coordinating institutions for the ESD Rice Project were shared among the participants which gave them opportunities to network with schools based on common or interesting issues. The workshop concluded with the participants reflecting on the learnings from it and strengthening their collaborations.
Participants had many opportunities to share their learnings and experiences through planned activities. Each day’s learning was also shared with the group through graphic representations.
The HOPE framework was an overarching theme throughout the workshop with all learnings and experiences being sieved through this framework. The workshop activities were ably supported by the teams from UNESCO, ACCU, Thai National Commission for UNESCO and the Jirasartwitthaya School.