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 the
political 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, the
collapse 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 there
is not enough oil left in the planet to continue pumping out more barrels
and meet the worlds ever-growing demand. The worlds 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.

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.