Climate Change: The Challenges and Opportunities for Development Education Practitioners

Abstract

This article outlines the challenge of climate change for society, the role of development education (DE) in meeting that challenge, and the opportunities available to DE practitioners in addressing this issue. It outlines potential lessons and examples for DE practice that have arisen from experience of DE programmes taking place in an Ecovillage project in Co Tipperary, and suggests some elements for DE practice when tackling the topic of climate change. The article argues that the development education sector is well placed to create educational and learning spaces that can deal with the radical approaches and attitudinal shifts that are needed to face the challenges of climate change.

Keywords

• Development Education
• Climate Change
• Ecovillage
• Place-based Learning
• Sustainable Living
• Community Resilience