Union commitment to a sustainable future

By Kirsty Henderson

The gap between our developed and developing nations is widening.

Millions of people are facing extreme poverty.

And slum dwellers, women and children are bearing the brunt of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent report by the United Nations (UN) has found.

According to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020, released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, worldwide, school closures have kept 1.57 billion kids out of school with over 370 million children missing out on the meals they rely upon daily.

Remote learning was out of reach for many students due to a lack of IT access, along with major disruptions to childhood vaccination services during the height of the crisis.

Children from disadvantaged communities are now at greater risk of child labour, marriage and trafficking.

“In fact, the global gains made in reducing child labour are likely to be reversed for the first time in 20 years,” the report found.

But just as our humanity is suffering, so is our planet.

According to the report, climate change is accelerating at a much faster rate than anticipated.

Warmer weather, ocean acidification, land degradation, animal extinction and unsustainable consumption and production are pervasive.

The report provides essential data which can be used by governments to guide efforts towards a sustainable recovery along with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda, adopted by all UN member states in 2015, provides a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

“At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

“They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests,” states the UN Department of Economic and Socials Affairs.

See the SDGs on page 24.

The United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) is the peak body for promoting the United Nations in Australia.

Outgoing UNAA WA School Programs Director Rees Barrett said: “The 17 UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (commonly termed Global Goals) describe what we mean by thinking globally – balancing the needs of the planet, people and prosperity.”

“In 2015, all 193 UN members signed up to the Goals – a commonly accepted ‘road map’ for the first time in human history and particularly relevant in 2020, as we build back better in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he continued.

It’s now more important than ever that we look to focus education on supporting our common goals in working towards the preservation of humanity and our planet.

Each year teachers and schools from around WA are recognised for their commitment to global citizenship through the UNAA World Teachers’ Day Awards. “The awards promote school global citizenship education programs – thinking globally and acting locally,” Mr Barrett said.

The SSTUWA is proud to promote these awards and the work of our public school teachers and school leaders in educating our students and the community on the benefits and necessity of reaching the Global Development Goals.

SSTUWA Vice President Samantha Schofield said: “Awareness of the Global Development Goals is even more relevant as people around the globe experience the pandemic.”

“Inequities that were present prior to the pandemic have been exacerbated during this crisis – and it’s not over yet,” she said.

“Access to high quality, free public education is the key to changing the world for individuals, communities and the globe.”

The 2020 recipients of the UNAA World Teachers’ Day Awards were Rachael Roberts (pictured above) from Hillcrest

Primary School and Geoff Holt (pictured below right) from Busselton Senior High School.

Sustainability teacher Rachael has worked in delivering adult sustainability education for the past 20 years – both in a voluntary capacity and by means of running her own business.

Through volunteering as chair of the sustainability committee in her children’s primary school, Rachael became interested in the mechanisms for incorporating sustainability education into the curriculum and the best projects to set up in school grounds.

“In 2012 we conducted an energy and water audit and saved the school over $10,000 a year. That is money to benefit student education year after year,” she said.

It was with this incentive and drive that led her to pursue a career in teaching.

Rachael graduated in 2016 and began trialling her ideas at Hillcrest PS.

She said sustainability education was long term and it was important to invest in paid teacher time to get the projects off the ground, growing and to continue to apply for grants.

Rachael added there were endless opportunities for using school grounds to offer a wide range of fun, meaningful, engaging and long-term educational projects.

“Our school enrolment figures have provided evidence that sustainability education is valued in our community,” she said.

Rachael believes school grounds are often underutilised as a free resource for both formal and informal learning experiences – from aerating compost, collecting eggs, making native beehives to biomimetics, following Noongar seasons and farming micro-organisms.

“Our Earth is the ultimate science teacher, but you can only value that complexity if you take the time to understand it and care about it,” she said.

“The opportunities in this area of education are only limited by your imagination.” Through efficiency, grants and in-kind support, Hillcrest’s sustainability project continues to realise significant savings for the school and is now self-funded.

“In the future, I am interested in whether student engagement in a variety of ongoing on-site school experiences translates into improved educational outcomes; or inspires students to further study or vocational pathways; or benefits mental health and well-being; or is just a reason to come to school,” Rachael said.

Rachael has now set her sights on a bigger and brighter project.

Along with her team at Environment House, a one stop sustainability centre in Perth, discussions between the Department of Education (DoE) and Department of Finance are taking place about the roll out of an LED transition program for schools in 2021.

“The arguments for this simple energy efficient technology change are very compelling…my initial best guess calculation to the DoE were that it could [provide savings of]…

(continued on page 24)

(continued from page 23) up to $5 million a year, but we don’t know how many LED lights are in schools already,” Rachael said.

“The older schools that have not had upgrades or renovations stand to save the most on their electricity bills. A school of 400 students could save around $5,000 – $6,000 a year by a simple change from fluoro to LED tubes.”

Although making an exact calculation is difficult due to schools having different electricity providers with different tariffs, the savings could be significant, she said.

Like Rachael, Geoff Holt from Busselton Senior High School was also recognised for his excellence in global education.

Geoff has worked in public education all his life; he’s been a union rep for the entirety of his career and he’s a passionate advocate for quality public education and fair needs-based funding.

He’s worked with minority communities from inner city Manchester in the UK to Aboriginal students and families in Swan View, in Perth’s eastern suburbs.

Geoff is committed to educating students about global citizenship and internationalism at Busselton SHS.

In September this year, he led over 150 students from his school on their sixth annual Walk for Tenderfeet, from Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse to Sugarloaf Rock, in the South West.

The Tenderfeet school in the Kibera slum was once a corrugated tin shack, taking in orphaned and vulnerable children from the area.

“Life expectancy in Kibera is as low as 39 years old with among the highest infant mortality rates in the world,” Geoff said.

Over the years a host of local businesses and community groups rallied to support the cause and the student council has raised in excess of $26,000.

The funds helped see a small block of land purchased just outside of the slum, and classrooms and toilets have been built together with a hydroponic vegetable garden.

Busselton SHS students have exchanged letters and short videos with their fellow students in Africa.

Geoff has integrated global citizenship lessons about economic inequality, measures of human well-being, health, hygiene and nutrition, and the importance of gender equality and educational opportunity, which are among the UNAA’s sustainable development goals.

Mr Barrett said Geoff’s program was an outstanding example of thinking globally and acting locally. “Also impressive is the way students have been empowered to develop leadership skills, a sense of community solidarity and interact with their peers in Kenya,” he said.

Geoff was driven to educate his students about the disparity and to dispel many of the negative, stereotypical myths about Africa.

“From my own experience in Tanzania, no matter how poor a person I met may have been, they were always willing to share their last meal and make visitors feel very welcome,” he said.

“It’s a sad reality that refugees and migrants are not afforded such a welcome in so many places around the world, instead being demonised, detained in centres and denied basic human rights and dignity. “By striving for quality public education and teaching so many inspiring young people who want to see a more just and caring world, we can only hope that the leaders of tomorrow will lead us down a more sustainable path.”

Primary and secondary school communities are invited to nominate teachers making outstanding contributions to global citizenship education for the 2021 World Teacher’s Day Awards. Visit bit.ly/2Gww5yU for more information.