A Regional Approach to Eco-Schools in the Western Indian Ocean

Abstract

The urgent action needed to prepare communities for climate change impacts on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is well documented within international policy. Several high-level strategies devote special priority to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in SIDS, and contemporary literature on ESD has shed light on the most effective approaches for addressing the types of complex sustainability problems facing islands. As a response, the Indian Ocean Commission ISLANDS project introduced an holistic and student-led Eco-Schools programme as a regional framework to support the development and capacity for ESD in Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Zanzibar, whilst achieving SIDS to SIDS knowledge exchange and cooperation. After a successful pilot programme, Eco-Schools is now being mainstreamed through national education systems, under the oversight of cross-disciplinary committees representing government ministries and non-government organisations. Given the seriousness of the ESD agenda in SIDS, it is vital that the Eco-Schools Indian Ocean programme can perform at a level where the potential positive impacts of ESD on schools and communities can be realised. This chapter sets out to identify how the kinds of transformative learning processes which emphasise community collaboration, sustainable citizenship, and critical reflection and action relate to kinds of transformative change required by the international strategies and the contemporary ESD field and illustrates how this transformative change is recognisable on the ground.