Teaching Ecological
Citizenship within the
Sustainability Curriculum
Nancy J. Manring, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Political Science
Hannah Simonetti
Undergraduate Research Scholar
Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs
Ohio University
Learning Outcomes
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The Role of Ecological Citizenship Courses
Within University Sustainability Initiatives
Pedagogical Challenges
The Ecological Footprint and Key Ecological
Citizenship Concepts
Exploring Ecological Citizenship in the Private
Sphere
Ecological Citizenship as a Means of
Nurturing Hope and Personal Efficacy
Introduction:
Learning Outcome 1
Why should an ecological citizenship
course be part of broader university
sustainability initiatives?
Vision For a Sustainable
Ohio University
Ohio University will be an active leader in campus
sustainability. Our leadership will be demonstrated
through our commitment to ecological citizenship,
stewardship and justice.
Goal: Ohio University will promote and enhance
ecological citizenship as expressed through
literacy, engagement and sense of place.
Ohio University Sustainability Plan
Adopted Summer 2011
Student Survey:
Do you think that increasing
ecological citizenship knowledge
has the potential to help fulfill
OU’s goal to become a more
sustainable institution?
Student Perspectives
“The university community cannot become
more sustainable until ecological citizenship
is achieved . . . students must leave this
institution having been changed into globally
minded ecological citizens.”
“After taking this course I feel equipped with
the information it takes to lead a more
sustainable lifestyle.”
Societal Challenge Mirrored
at the University Level:
What can individuals do
in the face of institutional
structures and systems of power?
Traditional Approaches
Recycling Initiatives, Reducing Food
Waste, Energy Awareness
Political Activism and Grassroots
Organizing
Beyond Coal at Ohio University
http://www.wp.oh-sec.org/?p=463
Student Perspective
“It is easy to feel disempowered by the
reality of how institutionalized many of
the environmentally unsound practices
of this nation are . . . I was very near a
complete burnout as an environmental
activist and organizer.”
Challenge for Sustainability
Educators
Can we provide a comprehensive and
inspiring model of sustainable living?
Can we provide a vision of individual
action that fosters personal efficacy
and empowerment?
Student Perspective
“[The Ecological Citizenship Course]
restored in me a feeling of efficacy as an
environmentalist, and renewed my resolve
to live as sustainably as possible.”
What is Ecological
Citizenship?
Handout
Citizenship and the
Environment
by Andrew Dobson. Oxford University Press, 2003.
It is my intention to explore the possibility that
at the edge of the 21st century, citizenship will
gain a new and fourth dimension. I am
referring here to the notion of ecological
citizenship as an addition.
Ecological Citizenship:
Key Concepts
1. Non-territoriality
Not limited to political boundaries or membership in a
nation/state
2. Non-Reciprocal Responsibility
We do not engage in ecological citizenship with the
expectation of direct benefits to ourselves
3. Expansion of Citizenship into the Private Realm
Based on the logic that consumer/lifestyle choices
have a public impact
Learning Outcomes 2 and 3
Pedagogical Challenges
Audience
Accessible Literatures
Audience
Ohio University Sustainability Plan
Promote and enhance ecological
citizenship
Improve sustainability literacy of students,
faculty and staff.
General Education
Requirement
Student Perspective
“I think it would be a great idea to make
[Ecological Citizenship] a mandatory
Gen ED requirement for underclassmen. Not only did I learn a lot
about environmental issues, but was
also required to think critically and be
analytical, which are excellent skills to
gain as an undergrad.”
Challenge: Identifying
Relevant and Accessible
Literature
Much of the literature on ecological
citizenship is derived from studies of
citizenship within political theory
Recent Books on Citizenship
Rimmerman, Craig A. 2010. The New
Citizenship: Unconventional Politics,
Activism, and Service. Westview Press;
(4th edition).
Index: Looking for the word “Environment”
What did I find?
Earth Liberation Front
And a section of one chapter on Earth First!
Recent Books on Citizenship
Dalton, Russell J. 2009. The Good
Citizen: How a Younger Generation is
Reshaping American Politics.
Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Index: Looking for the word Environment”
What did I find? Nothing . . .
The Good Citizen:
The Two Faces of Citizenship
Duty-Based Citizenship
Voting
Follow the law
Pay taxes
Contribute to national
need (military service)
Engaged Citizenship
Being active in civil
society groups
Understand others’
views
Moral and empathetic
Helping others (at home
and abroad)
Buying products for
political reasons
Challenging “elites”
Engaged Citizenship
Ecological
Citizenship
Learning Outcome 4
The Ecological Footprint
Concept as a Teaching Tool
Ecological Footprint
Definition
The land (and water) area required to
support a defined human population and
material standard indefinitely.
Ecological Footprint and Key
Ecological Citizenship Concepts
Non-territoriality: For ecological citizenship
the relevant political community is that
created by the ecological footprint
(“citizenship beyond the state”)
Non‐reciprocal obligations: Created by the
asymmetry of ecological footprints
Ecological Citizenship in the Private Sphere:
All actions in the home have a public impact
in the specific sense of the creation of an
ecological footprint.
Student Perspectives
“When our Ecological Footprint affects others, it is time to start
taking responsibility for our actions and try to give back what we
owe…This is not a sacrifice, and non-reciprocal obligations
should not be seen with a negative light.”
“My understanding of Ecological Citizenship was enhanced by
this assignment . . . the act of filling out the quizzes forced me to
examine my habits and those of my family. It made the concept
of the Ecological Footprint a lot more tangible and relative to my
life.”
Learning Outcome 5:
Ecological Citizenship in the Private Sphere
Becoming a Locavore
Kingsolver, Barbara. 2007. Animal,
Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.
New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Hewitt, Ben. 2010. The Town that Food
Saved: How One Community Found
Vitality in Local Food. New York: Rodale,
Inc.
Becoming a Locavore Assignment
Evaluating Your Usual Diet
Record everything you eat for 3 days (including snacks
and beverages). Estimate how many food miles/day
there are in your usual diet
Becoming a Locavore
Using the criteria adopted by the Kingsolver family
described in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, plan 3 days’
worth of locavore meals
Analysis
How do the food miles/day of your usual diet compare
with the food miles/day of your locavore diet? What is the
significance of the difference in the context of
sustainability and ecological citizenship?
Student Perspectives
“Being a complete locavore would put anyone well on
their way to being a great ecological citizen; within
the food realm, one’s ecological footprint would
shrink into more acceptable sizes.”
“By changing my diet from a non-local diet to a local
one I was able to reduce my food miles per day by
approximately 7,640 miles . . . Committing to eat
locally and organic could be one of the most
influential acts of ecological citizenship yet.”
Personal Consumption:
Resource Extraction, Manufacturing
and Waste
Goleman, Daniel. 2009. Ecological Intelligence:
How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We
Buy Can Change Everything. New York: Broadway
Books.
Leonard, Annie. 2010. The Story of Stuff: How our
Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, our
Communities, and our Health. New York: Free
Press.
Life Cycle Assessment
of a Laptop
Resource: The Story of Stuff
Journal 8
Finding Meaning without Consuming
Step 1: List the ways in which you consume to satisfy your
basic material needs such as hunger, thirst, shelter, clothing,
warmth, and exercise
Step 2: List ways in which you try to satisfy non-material
needs through consuming or possessing.
Step 3: Now think of times you have felt a sense of purpose,
meaningfulness, beauty, love, joy or similar emotion that feels
satisfying or nourishing. To what extent does this feeling
depend on consuming or possessing something? To what
extent does the feeling depend on feeling connected or part of
something bigger?
Step 4: What did you learn about yourself and your
consumption habits from this exercise? How does what you
learned relate to Ecological Citizenship?
Student Perspectives
“This exercise forced me to be honest about some of
my less honorable consumption habits . . . It has
inspired me to be more conscious of my spending,
and beyond that, to seek out ways to fulfill these nonmaterial needs that are healthy [and] stem from my
deeper self.”
“I’ve realized that it’s creating that makes one happy.
Although consuming things is pleasing, it is a fleeting
feeling that only lasts as long as you are actively
consuming that product. Ecological citizenship also
gives me a feeling of great satisfaction when I
participate.”
Learning Outcome 6
Nurturing Hope and Personal
Efficacy
We have SO MANY serious
environmental problems.
The effects of small, individual
actions in the aggregate . . .
. . . make a difference.
Reusable
beverage bottles
Chris Jordan
Running the Numbers
http://www.google.com/search?q=chris+jordan+running+the+number
s&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&startIndex=&startPage=1&rlz=
(Also available in hardcover from Amazon.com)
Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles,
the number used in the US every five minutes.
Factoring in the amount of petroleum used in the
manufacture and transport of each beverage
bottle. . . Imagine each bottle ¼ full of oil.
Choosing Hope
Choosing Hope
“This is the great paradox of true hope:
Because nothing is absolutely
determined, there is not only reason
to fear but also reason to hope.”
Jerome Groopman,
M.D.
Student Perspectives:
“As a young environmentalist, it is easy to get
discouraged by the seemingly bleak future of
the earth and its inhabitants . . . this course
has re-ignited in me a passionate and
undying hope for a clean, community-based,
revolutionary future.”
“I think it is important to stay positive and
believe that our small individual choices in the
aggregate really will make a difference . . . I
think this is the most important lesson I have
learned in this course.”
As David Orr would say . . .
“Hope is an
imperative.”
In order to fully
implement sustainability
Ecological Citizenship is
an imperative.