Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living
Asia-Pacific Regional PERL Meeting
The Initial Organizing Meeting for a PERL Regional Network in the Asia-Pacific Region
For an opportunity for organisations and individuals to promote education and research about responsible
living with the support of the PERL Partnership
24 - 25 June, 2010
Jakarta, Indonesia
The initial organizing meeting for the formation of a Regional PERL Network in Asia-Pacific
was held from the 24th to 25th of June, 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The UNESCO Office,
Jakarta hosted this regional meeting which was organized by PERL in cooperation with the
United Nations Environmental Programme.
The Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL) is a Europeanbased initiative. The PERL Regional Network is an opportunity for organizations and
individuals who are eager to promote education and research about education for sustainable
consumption and responsible living in the Asia-Pacific region to come together and initiate
activities and projects with the support of the PERL partnership.
Summary of Meeting Outcomes:
Twelve people participated in this meeting representing six countries and three international
organizations. Over the two days, discussions took place on how best to support and strengthen
the implementation of education for sustainable consumption and the promotion of responsible
livelihoods throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The meeting was very productive and
established a clear plan for how the PERL regional network should progress forward over the
remainder of this year.
During the first day, the presentations and dialogues focussed on identifying the regional
context on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and the priorities for education for
sustainable consumption (ESC) throughout the region. The background of PERL and its
previous work, especially in Europe, was explained, and it was discussed how a unique AsiaPacific perspective may be input into the international proceedings on SCP and ESC. Several
key regional issues and needs in regards to SCP were investigated. Clean water availability,
energy consumption, and waste management were highlighted as three of the most pertinent
issues across the region.
Discussions during the second day of the meeting focussed on the preparation of the first
project brief for the regional network. An action plan and timeline were prepared for the next
six months. The output of this first project will be a research report that contains country cases
and analyses of ESC in formal education in the Asia-Pacific region.
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Asia-Pacific Regional PERL Meeting
Day 1: 24 June 2010; meeting venue: Crowne Plaza Hotel – Jakarta, Indonesia
Opening Session:
Session Chair: Dr. Mee Young Choi, UNESCO
On behalf of UNESCO, Mee Young Choi welcomed the participants to the meeting and
expressed her gratitude for everyone’s willingness and excitement to be involved. The
participants were given the opportunity to introduce themselves and to provide a brief
description of the working history/experience in the fields of environmental education,
education for sustainable development, sustainable consumption and production, education for
sustainable consumption, and responsible lifestyles.
Dr. Choi went on to explain the reason and desire for this meeting and the formation of a
regional PERL network in Asia-Pacific. This type of preliminary meeting to expand the PERL
network in Asia-Pacific requires discussions to identify how to build and take forward the work
on ESC and responsible lifestyles in this region. Education for sustainable consumption is still
an evolving concept, and more work needs to happen to develop this concept into solutions for
practical implementation. So even though, we the participants are all respective experts in
environmental education and education for sustainable development, we too are still beginners
in the field of ESC. Each of the participants though is very appropriate for this meeting and all
have important expertise to contribute to this meeting.
David Chittenden provided a presentation on the Partnership for Education and Research
about Responsible Living, its history, current work and objectives for the establishment of
regional networks. He started by acknowledging the fullness of the meeting agenda and
suggested that although the agenda highlights all the important points to cover, the most
important part of this meeting is productive discuss and thus there is not a obligation to strictly
follow its format. Mr. Chittenden explained that the PERL serves as a network of organisations
and a project to bring people together to collaborate on responsible living. PERL is linked with
more than one hundred institution in forty countries; is established as an academic network in
the EU with growing international connections. PERL is managed from Hedmark University
College in Norway, and it evolves from ten years of work on consumer citizenship including six
years of formal work from the Consumer Citizenship Network. PERL’s main funding comes
from the European Union, but it also receives funding and support from Norwegian and
Swedish governments and from UNEP.
PERL’s mission is:
• To educate individuals to recognise their power as citizens and to make more
responsible daily and lifestyle choices
• To influence governments, businesses and schools to make better lifestyle choices both
available and attractive, and to educate individuals.
• While the approach of PERL is parallel scientific investigation and an active social
learning process. PERL also works to build bridges and collaborate by recognising that
each individual needs to determine his or hers own lifestyle changes. Furthermore, the
approach should be based on based on good information, consultation and the principles
of sustainable human development.
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The organizational structure of PERL was explained and how the potential relationship
between the regional network and the PERL headquarters was also highlighted. PERL is
operated by a steering group and a core working unit. PERL also has six working groups that
address:
1) Reflection and implementation
2) Social innovation
3) Enabling sustainable lifestyles
4) Education for responsible living
5) Communication and multimedia
6) International dialogue and consultation
These working groups receive support by the wider network of consultants that belong to or
interact with PERL, and under each working group there are several activities/projects
occurring. At the international level, PERL works to influence policy on ESC through several
platforms: the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development, the Marrakech Process
and development of a 10-year framework of programmes on SCP, the Commission on
Sustainable Development, the Rio+20 summit, and national efforts on green economy.
Mr. Chittenden went on to highlight several of the existing recommendations regarding ESC
promotion that have already been made. The main recommendations are presented in Here
and Now! – Education for Sustainable Consumption: Recommendations and Guidelines (UNEP,
2010) which includes a ten-point roadmap of recommendations and identification of a range of
themes to be part of an ESC curriculum. PERL has been working to promote the Here and Now
recommendations, to have them translated into multiple languages, and to collect case studies
that utilise this roadmap as its assessment framework.
Mahesh Pradhan made a presentation, via video link, to the participants on the work of UNEP
in the Asia-Pacific region and on what the organisation identifies as their regional priorities
including their efforts on education. Mr. Pradhan explained that climate change remains an
overarching theme for UNEP, and they are currently focussing on five main themes. First, they
are working with eco-systems and biodiversity which include trying to model the monetary
value of ecosystem services. Second, UNEP is working with green economy initiatives to
promote green jobs, renewable energy and business for the environment. UNEP is also
focussing on disasters and conflicts, third, and chemicals, fourth. Finally, they are working
with environmental governance, and Mr. Pradhan highlighted that the Rio+20 summit is likely
to highlight the role of civil society in this process.
Mr. Pradhan went on to explain the diversity of scale and population in the countries across the
Asia-Pacific region. To cope with this diversity, UNEP divides the region into five sub-regions
for management purposes: NE Asia, SE Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Australia/New
Zealand & the small island nations. The problems faced across these sub-regions are often
unique from one to the next; for example, South Asia is facing issues of glacial melting, while
Central Asia is challenged by desertification, and the small island states must face the
potential of sea level rise.
There are also several mega issues that are critical across much of the region. Urbanisation is a
major factor with ten of the twelve mega cities in the world now existing in Asia-Pacific, and
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the trend continues throughout Asia-Pacific towards increased urbanisation. Food, water and
energy security are major issues facing the region, and all of these areas are likely to be
impacted negatively by climate change. Poverty also continues to be a major issue in AsiaPacific with the region having the overall largest number of people living in poverty. These are
all issues that must be addressed alongside discussion on SCP and ESC.
Mr. Pradhan concluded his presentation by highlighting the importance of education in the
priorities of UNEP. The UN has an interministerial group cooperating on ESD with UNESCO
the main promoter of DESD, UNEP contributing from the environmental side, UNU
contributing to the development of ESD in higher education, the RCAPs addressing local issues,
and ProSPER.net supporting higher education activities. UNEP also supports the development
of sub-regional action plans on environmental education with the ASEAN EE action plan being
the most developed.
Session 1
Session Chair: Mr. Sasmita Nugroho, Department of Environmental Education and
Communication, Ministry of the Environment, Indonesia
David Chittenden continued the explanation of PERL’s activities. He began this session by
highlighting the applied active research that PERL partners are involved in. PERL partners
have worked with the Global Survey on Sustainable Lifestyles, and the collected data is
available for use of all partners. The project Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability
has investigated how social design and infrastructures can support solving local social and
environmental problems. The Consumer Citizenship Network has developed the series
“Promoting New Responses”. While PERL will hold both Think Tanks and international
conferences (March 2011 in Istanbul and March 2012 in Berlin). Several important materials
are also available for usage and adaptation: ‘Social Innovation – Looking for Likely
Alternatives’, ‘Youth Xchange’ handbook, and several active learning methodologies.
Mr. Chittenden finished his presentation by explain the main objectives for this meeting. The
first purpose is to develop a framework of what we want to do in the Asia-Pacific region on ESC
and responsible lifestyle. The representatives of developing countries should identify the needs
in their countries as a priority area of focus. Second, a report needs to be prepared for on PERL
steering group regarding the desired intentions of the regional network. Third, a strategy and
implementation plan should be developed that highlights:
 Issues/needs of region,
 Focus and role of Regional Network,
 Governance, structure, membership,
 Priority activities for region,
 Funding,
 Communication and promotion,
 Meetings and tasks.
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Mee Young Choi made a presentation on the unique context of the Asia-Pacific region, and
then went on to explain the historical development of ESC within the broader changes
happening in educational policy. Dr. Choi explained the relationship among ESC, Education for
All, the Millennium Development Goals, and DESD. She also highlighted the work UNESCO is
contributing in this area.
Robert Didham made a presentation on the research being done at the Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies on ESC and “effective strategies to promote responsible consumer
behaviour”. Addressing how to influence consumer behaviour, Dr. Didham highlighted the
challenge of addressing both the personal attitudes and external factors to promote sustainable
consumption. He explained the five primary mechanisms identified from IGES’s research for
the effective promotion of sustainable consumption: 1) promote responsible behaviour, 2)
develop environmental citizenship, 3) influence patterns of consumption, 4) develop a
supportive infrastructure for sustainable consumption and production, and 5) catalyzing the
practice of sustainable consumption.
Dr. Didham went on to present the full assessment framework they applied in their
investigation of ESC case studies. Several examples of research analysis were presented, and
the main findings provided recommendations regarding both the structure and content of
effective ESC initiatives.
Primary Recommendations for General Policy Structure
1. The Five Primary Components of ESC –
Proved to be significant structural components in formulating effective ESC policy.
2. Motivational Factors of Personal and Individual Practice – Though underrepresented in
national policy frameworks, are essential to encourage voluntary participation/
empowerment as personal changes in consumption practices appear rooted in practical
experience.
3. Supportive Social and Political Systems –
Provides the practical facilitation for sustainable consumption becoming the normal option
and choice. To develop a supportive infrastructure, the preconditioning factors that drive
consumption practices must be addressed
4. Well-balanced Contents of ESC Policy –
Integrating the three main targets of the identified ESC components “Personal and
Individual Practice”, “Social and Political Systems” and “Strategic Procedure” can result in
a synergy effect for effective implementation of ESC policy.
5. Social and Cultural Contents of ESC Policy –
Specific national and local ESC policy applications that reflect indigenous contexts
regarding consumption patterns are necessary. ESC policies linking socio-cultural and
psychological motivations with traditional habits help to address personal understandings
of happiness and quality of life in order to develop a new value of material possessions. This
in turn provides the stimulus for socio-cultural shifts towards a normalised vision of
sustainable consumption.
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Session 2
Session Chair: Professor Annette Gough, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Professor Annette Gough welcomed everyone back from lunch and introduced the purpose of
the afternoon session. She explained that the first objective is to identify the issues and needs
regarding ESC in the Asia-Pacific region. Prof. Gough also conveyed the second objective to
select the priority areas on which the regional network would like to focus. The ESC themes in
Here and Now were highlighted as a list of subjects worth considering. The participants were
split into two groups to develop separate lists on issues and needs.
Following the group discussions, the developed lists were compared for commonalities and
differences.
Issues
Needs
• Energy
• Energy Consumption
• Poverty, Social Justice and
• Public Transport
Economics
• Education
• Education
– Professional expertise
• Government Policy and Support
– ESD, ESC, and EFA
• Consumption Dynamics and
– Leadership
Patterns
– Illiteracy
• Media’s Role in SC
• Production Cycles and Waste
• Standards and Definitions of SC, SD,
Management
etc
• Climate Change:
• Development Patterns and
– Natural Disasters,
Objectives
Adaptation and Resilence
• Security and Basic Needs
– MDGs, food, water, energy
Professor Gough led a discussion regarding these two lists and what the PERL regional
network can contribute to these areas. It was recognised that although energy consumption in
factories and industry is often much higher than households, there is a strong opportunity to
directly link to the consumer/homeowner regarding their overall consumption practices by
beginning the discussion with household energy consumption (including energy saving and
efficient usage). Poverty was identified as a critical priority of the Asia-Pacific region, but it
was also decided that this would be a very difficult area for the network to impact on. However,
it was noted that we must keep in mind the differing regional needs in regards to sustainable
consumption, ie. for developed countries there needs to be less consumption, but for numerous
poor people in developing countries there is still a need for more consumption to meet basic
needs. In fact, this issue on what sustainable consumption means in relation to poverty
alleviation and achieving sustainable livelihoods has not been well addressed in the region.
Food and health were identified as other important consumption issues that relate to access to
basic needs. Food security must also take into account locally resilient economies vs. market
driven economies which in turn can help build respect for local indigenous knowledge systems.
It was acknowledged, to better understand these areas there is a need to further investigate
and document regional consumption patterns and dynamics.
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The importance of both education and government policy were also discussed. In terms of
education, it was suggested that PERL can help to strengthen leadership training, curriculum
improvement and teaching materials development. It was also addressed how the government
can provide policy support through informal education (such as on 3Rs and waste reduction)
and formal education (such as curriculum development).
In the closing hour of the first day’s meeting, the participants began to consider the action
plan/project brief we intended to prepare as an output of this meeting. It was suggested that
the focus cold start with background studies on patterns of consumption. Dr. Tian proposed five
steps for the participants to follow:
1) Clarify relevant issues;
2) Conduct research and collect data of these issues;
3) Develop curriculum materials about these issues;
4) Evaluate effectiveness of current education programs;
5) Promote action.
The potential goals for the network were also discussed and elaborated:
1) Clarify meaning of responsible living and sustainable consumption in an Asia-Pacific
context;
2) Research relevant issues (eg. Water availability, energy consumption, waste production)
to obtain baseline data for education programs;
3) Promote leadership in responsible leadership;
a. Governments, especially education ministries
b. Communities, especially local government and community leaders
c. School leaders
4) Evaluate the effectiveness of current education programs in these areas and to develop
and disseminate education programs to address the issues identified;
5) Develop curriculum materials for formal and informal education about these issues, and;
6) Promote action for responsible living and sustainable consumption.
Mr. Chittenden explained the organisational structure of PERL and the process of membership.
Institutions need to sign a formal letter of intent from PERL to agree for a particular person to
be involved and contribute working time to PERL efforts. For PERL’s accounting process, they
must calculate the value of in-kind support. Dr. Choi explained the logistics for the meeting on
the following day and this evening’s meal and reception. Prof. Gough concluded the afternoon
session and thanked everyone for their participation.
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Asia-Pacific Regional PERL Meeting
Day 2: 25 June 2010; meeting venue: UNESCO Office – Jakarta, Indonesia
Session 3
Session Chair: Dr. Mee Young Choi, UNESCO
*Note: the output from this session was the initial draft of the first project brief for Asia-Pacific
Regional PERL Network, please see this document for full details.
Dr. Choi welcomed the participants to the UNESCO office and to the second day of the PERL
regional meeting. She then suggested that the participants consider the agenda for the day’s
meeting and to identify what they would like to achieve by the end of the day. The meeting
agenda was agreed:
1) Finding Priorities
a. Target group
b. Areas – core groups – initiatives (how we can link with PERL for future
opportunities)
2) Information on Potential Budget
3) Making a work plan for July-Dec 2010
a. Including Communication and promotion
4) About each role to work together for the plan
a. Including Consideration of other initiatives/activities in region that we could link
with
Prof. Gough provided a summary and recap of what was discussed during the first day.
Based on the stated goals discussed yesterday, participants began to discuss the priorities for
upcoming activities by the regional network. It was agreed that “researching relevant issues
(e.g. clean water availability, energy consumption, waste management) to obtain baseline data
for education programs” and “evaluating the effectiveness of current education programs in
these areas and to develop and disseminate education programs to address the issues identified”
should be the main focus with the object of “clarifying the meanings of responsible living and
sustainable consumption in Asian/Pacific contexts”. It was also agreed that the three
“promotion” goals should be the focus of latter stages of work.
Participants then discussed the priorities for conducting research in light of these priorities. It
was first acknowledged that a framework of assessment is required to ensure consistency
between country cases. It was agreed that David Chittenden and Robert Didham would follow
up with the development of an assessment framework utilising the criteria present in the Here
and Now recommendations and the IGES report Education for Sustainable Consumption in
Northeast Asia.
Debate took place regarding whether the focus should be on higher education or basic education.
It was acknowledged that it is much more difficult to influence university-level curriculum
since it is not usually controlled at a national level and that also the percentage of population
participating in higher education is much lower. Thus, it was agreed that focusing on primary
and secondary education has the potential for a much higher impact and that there is more
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opportunity to work with government ministries of education and environment regarding
primary and secondary education.
It was decided that the first project for the regional network would be the development of a
research report based on country case studies that evaluate the current situation of ESC
practice.
*Note: the output from this session was the initial draft of the first project brief for Asia-Pacific
Regional PERL Network, please see this document for full details.
The participants also discussed who should be included in the membership of the regional
PERL network (the discussed list follows):
Regional Network Membership
Who?
Institutional and/or individual?
Formal letter of intent from PERL to institution to agree to a particular person being involved.
Present
IGES
BNU
Consumers Korea
NIES Japan
University of Indonesia
Tongji University
Chulalongkorn University
Ministry of Environment, Indonesia
RMIT University
Potential
Bogor Agricultural Institute
Tokyo Gakugei University (Prof Kuzawa)
Rikkyo University (Prof Abe)
Hong Kong Institute of Education (Eric
Tsang, Rupert Maclean)
National Taiwan Normal University (Prof.
Chang Tzichau, Prof Ju Chou)
Chiang Mai University
Singapore
Malaysia (USM)
Brunei (Irene Cheong)
Cambodia
Laos
Vietnam (MOET and RMIT)
Philippines
Myanmar
Timor L’Este
For initial network activities, keep to Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia (with Australia as
critical friend/associate – RMIT has 2 campuses in Vietnam).
It was also discussed to host a second meeting in early November, with the potential venue
being at Beijing Normal University, and the meeting would be held in parallel with a meeting
being arranged by IGES.
Dr. Choi thanked all of the participants for significant efforts over the two days to make this
meeting a success and voiced her hope for the continued success of this regional network.
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List of Participants
Indonesia
UNESCO
Mee Young CHOI
my.choi@unesco.org
Norway
PERL
Institute of Leadership and Common-Win
Culture, Korea Consumers
David Chittenden
david.chittenden@hihm.no
Myung Hee KO
mhkoh65@hanmail.net
Student @ Yonsei University
National Institute for Environmental
Studies
Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies
Environmental Education Center, Beijing
Normal University
UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for
Sustainable Development, Tongji
University
R&D Centre on Education for Sustainable
Development, Chulalangkorn University
Department of Environmental Education
and Communication, Ministry of
Environment
Center for Applied Geography Research,
University of Indonesia
School of Education, Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology University
Yeon Kyung Cho
starshake@hanmail.net
Midori Aoyagi-Usui
aoyagi@nies.go.jp
Robert Didham
didham@iges.or.jp
Tian Qing
green@bnu.edu.cn
Dahe Jiang
Athapol
Anunthavorasakul
jiangdh@tongji.edu.cn
Sasmita Nugroho
sasmita.nugroho@gmail.com
Triarko Nurlambang
triarko@gmail.com
Annette Gough
annette.gough@rmit.edu.au
Korea 1
Korea 2
Japan 1
Japan 2
China 1
China 2
Thailand
Indonesia 1
Indonesia 2
Australia
anun_atha@yahoo.com
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Objective
Project
Comment
Inputs
Research target
group
Outputs
To clarify meanings
of responsible living
and sustainable
consumption in
Asian/Pacific
contexts for
education
a) Evaluate current
formal education
programs by
focusing on water
availability, energy
consumption, waste
management and
climate change
adaptation
Need to find
evaluation
tool/framework for
Asian context
Analyse existing
education
programs using a
framework
Curriculum and
policy materials
Research report
Use Here and Now
and evaluate it a
framework?
Target
audiences for
outputs
Ministry of
Education and
Ministry of
Environment
curriculum
developers
Also look at IGES
framework?
Remember to focus on
rich-poor divide
b)
how do youth in
the region
perceive
responsible living
and sustainable
consumption?
Existing UNEP
sustainable living
youth survey data
from a number of
countries in the region.
Existing data in a
number of Asian
countries
Young people
18-35 yo
existing survey
data
Youth
sustainable
living survey
reports in Asian
countries
Perhaps re-apply
survey as part of this
project?
c)
how do adults
(parents) in the
region perceive
sustainable
living?
To develop materials
on what teachers need
to know about SC/RL
Use UNEP youth
survey
Ministry of
Education and
Ministry of
Environment
curriculum
developers
Who will do what?
Develop research
project brief and
send around for
comment
PERL/IGES to
collaborate to
develop framework
for dissemination to
Network for
implementation
All Network
members to conduct
country analysis
Contact Fabienne
(DC)
Analyse existing
data for just Asian
countries
Contact universities
who conducted
surveys and ask if
they would help
with analyzing data
(DC)
Parents of
children in
schools
Adult
sustainable
living survey
reports in Asian
countries
Pre-service
teacher
educators and
Ministry of
Education
professional
development
providers
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