New Actors on the Global Stage Environmental Adult Education and Activism Emerging from within Myanmar (Burma)

Abstract

Having experienced environmental degradation, insecurity and injustice first hand, young adults in Myanmar (Burma) are educating themselves in an effort to strengthen their local communities and build an environmentally aware civil society. Their grass-roots environmental adult education (EAE) includes a critical analysis of prevailing structures, systems, institutions and policies and is aimed at identifying, developing and implementing alternative ecologically sound processes and practices. These are grounded in the ideologies of the new ecotopian social movements – localisation, eco-villages and permaculture – and conflict with mainstream economic, political and social development models proposed for Myanmar. This paper is based on fieldwork at a residential, educational facility established by a community based organisation on an eco-farm in Myanmar. The current political situation in Myanmar is creating a unique space for new actors but they are going to need support.