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EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

by Professor José Moya
INSTITUTION: "FORJA" of Venezuela
forja@reaccium.ve

To speak properly about Sustainable Environmental Development as challenges for the XXI century, we must remember the historic Earth Summit (Rio 92), where all nations of the world met. This Summit was the result of work done by the United Nations through 4 Preparatory Committees (PRECOMP), the last of which drafted in New York 2 Conventions (Climate Change and Biological Diversity), the Forest Principles, The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the Agenda XXI, which has been the most important document produced in the last half of the XX century. Agenda XXI has 40 programs that assume and confront the most delicate environmental problems that affect life and risk the well-being of the planet. All but 2 countries reached an agreement on these documents; additionally, 36 alternative treaties were produced by the 92 Global Forum, by Non Governmental Organizations.

At the Earth Summit, Environmental NGOs gave a big fight against the money-oriented tendency imposed by the term "sustainable development" since the beginning of the decade. Term which had been masterly defined by Harlem Brundtland, Norway's Prime Minister and head of the UN Commission at the time, and which I summarize here as: "Attending to the basic needs of the present generations without compromising the needs of future generations".

This concept has circulated all over the world and has been highly questioned in almost every country, specially by many environmental NGOs, that do not admit that criteria as theoretical and poetic. Many signal it as a new form of manipulation and blackmail on countries with progressive poverty and, therefore, reject speaking of development.

The word DEVELOPMENT has penetrated every culture and language in the world, making it impossible to eradicate. However, its profound economic orientation can be minimized or neutralized. Therefore, in Rio we began to oppose the DEVELOPMENT that generates a huge ETERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL DEBT that affects us deeply and assume Sustainable Environmental Development. The latter is a simple, concrete and easily assimilated and self explanatory CONCEPT, considering that the development model depends on the level of Ecological Culture of the citizenry and which basically depends on the process of organized citizen participation.

Today, at the end of the XX century, again we are faced with historical changes, this time, GLOBALIZATION is presented to us as a new paradigm, as the only option for development, we are facing a new ideological operation, terms are changed and appear as novelties. This demands we redefine our language. WE NEED TO REVOLUTIONIZE LANGUAGE, many words look normal and are used daily, however, they form an intricate web of concepts that sustain the IDEOLOGY OF DOMINATION.

Developing, undeveloped, development, traditional society, advance society, modernity, new technologies, progress and, now: globalization, neo-liberalism, periferic countries, emergent countries unlimited growth, corporative agendas, technology expansion, etc.