The Contribution of Urban Ecosystem Education to the Development of Sustainable Communities and Cities

The clear message for urban ecosystem education (and educators), from both the theory elucidated above and the examples presented, is that if it is to help people construct, transform, critique and emancipate their worlds (Wals 1996) towards sustainable communities and cities then it must start where they are. The ability to listen to local experiences and understandings, challenge them, and develop participatory research agendas and interest bases where the teacher is co-learner and the learner is co-researcher, will assist in developing a robust learning pedagogy for classroom teachers, researchers, and others involved in urban ecosystem education. Only in this way will urban ecosystem education fully contribute to the development of sustainable communities and cities.Williams and Agyeman (1999, p. 463) argue that “effective urban environmental education involves listening closely to the perceptions and priorities of urban residents, and creating programs that are relevant and sustainable over the longer term ⋯ it must be rooted in local communities in order to take up the challenge of making the urban environment a more livable and sustainable system.” There will be dilemmas, conflicting agendas, and ill-defined and often contradictory goals, but dealing with resonant issues first—such as security in the example of Pistons Middle School in Detroit, or health issues, as in the Bradford example—will more likely develop people’s transferable skills, understanding, knowledge, values, and confidence, such that they might be able to apply them in different situations. This will, ultimately, lead to a broader partnership toward achieving the kinds of environmental, social, and economic security that are characteristic of sustainable communities.