retrofitting education for an eco-neighbourhood
Education can be seen as an idea incubator. Community building, skill and training development, social networking, individual and community self-confidence, developing community values and local grass-roots initiatives are all results of effective neighbourhood education. Besides being a necessary element to living within an eco-neighbourhood, education is a social event.
What are the pros and cons?
Education creates a positive feedback
loop and reduces negativity and opposition to the change required by the
introduction of an eco-neighbourhood. Individual and community empowerment
are a result of the knowledge and tools provided - the learning process
can only be positive.
How has the community function been modified?
A sense of community has been put back
into "community function" with the development of education in an eco-neighbourhood.
The resulting social network is an emulation of an interdependent ecological
process - members rely on others' knowledge, skills, and social capacity
in order to participate fully in the eco-neighbourhood.
What are the interesting connections to be exploited in the future?
Can educational principles and approaches themselves be retrofitted to recognize the changing and diverse nature of eco-neighbourhoods? How can we design representative tactics in our approach to information dissemination?
Can we educate the mass population about eco-neghbourhood principles in a representative, effective way? What is the fastest and most efficient way to reach and affect the largest number of people?
