Sustainable Family Development

Most teachers are parents, or at least belong to "family" in some way or other. That's why I'm sharing this GreenHeart initiative — Sustainable Family Development — with you, even though it's not specifically about the greening of teaching. Making our homes and families more sustainable will make it easier to green our schools, by creating a sense of integrity and alignment in our work and personal lives.

All families love their children and grandchildren. It is because of this love that families want to be friendly to the Earth. We know we cannot love our children and grandchildren, our progeny and descendants, all the while leaving them a polluted, degraded, climate-constrained, uninhabitable Earth.

GreenHeart proposes that the lack of societal change toward sustainable development, at least in North America and perhaps in other parts of the world, might be due to aiming our environmental efforts at individuals, government, business and industry, or whole communities, instead of families.

The focus for sustainable development is not on the primary unit of change in human societies — the family.

Specifically, the solution of sustainable development has not been applied to the family unit.

A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.
— Buddha

GreenHeart is exploring the notion that because families are the social unit of change in our society, it is within families that change is supported or opposed, encouraged or undermined.

Is it surprising that in our age of globalization, this key family-centered approach to sustainability has been largely missed? Perhaps it reflects our Western individualism. Yet, environmental protection, like peace, begins at home:

Family social dysfunction is a barrier to families developing efficient economies.

Family social and economic dysfunction are barriers to families going green.

Family social and economic well-being and values can lead to respect for self and the rest of nature.

Is Sustainable Family Development a Possible Solution?

Families yearn for strength, security and sustainability. In helping families reach these goals, Sustainable Family Development will also help family members support each other in making vital environmentally friendly changes in the way they live and love together, earn and spend money together, and impact the Earth together.

Sustainable Family Development applies the three pillars of sustainable development (social equity, economic viability, and environmental conservation) to families, through a series of family-chosen, family-directed projects. Families may choose to take on the easiest first, as sustainable development experts advise taking small steps to reach the goal of living in a way that allows others (those less privileged plus future generations) to meet their needs.

In this model, we focus:

1st on family social development (if family members do not get along well together socially they are unlikely to be successful economically or environmentally),

2nd on family economic development (if family members do not succeed together economically they are less likely to be environmentally friendly), and finally

3rd on family environmental development (once families have the skills and the tools and the sense of security to do so).

In practice, the three will overlap and become integrated.

N.B. We propose that the basic unit of society is the family, and define it as a household, no matter who the members are, so long as they intend to live together.

Stage 1 SOCIAL FAMILY DEVELOPMENT - Examples of Skills and Resources

Family social ethics / virtues
Natural parenting
Rites of passage
Childhood home education
Media literacy
Family arts
Family health
Family democracy and family councils
Consultation and consensus
Family values and goals
Peaceful, respect-based communication skills
Nonviolent communication
Conflict resolution
Cooperative relationships and games
Family mythologies
Family rituals
Family spirituality
Sharing nature together / developing ecological self-esteem

Stage 2 ECONOMIC FAMILY DEVELOPMENT - Examples of Skills and Resources

Family self-sufficiency

Full-cost home accounting

Economic sustainability audits

Family home food growing and production

Family home construction, improvement, renovation and maintenance

Family asset renovation and maintenance

Family home business

Family ethical investing

Family savings plans and ethical education funds

Equitable distribution of family wealth and family labour

Family work / volunteer projects

Technological economic efficiency

Energy conservation - recycling - waste reduction

Smart consumerism or "conserverism"

Zero balance family budgeting

Debt avoidance

Family financing

Micro lending

Green banking

Cooperative housing and cohousing

Commercial co-ops

Stage 3 ENVIRONMENTAL FAMILY DEVELOPMENT - Examples of Skills and Resources

Voluntary simplicity

Environmental citizenship

Family eco-spirituality

Family bioregional learning and vacationing

Family ecological footprint

Energy conservation strategies in the home

Renewable non-polluting energy development

Consumer product reduction

Eating low on the food chain / Vegetarian meals

Organic foods

Reduced transportation and managed transport sharing

Family fitness through reduced car dependency

Family labour to displace energy consumption

Green home audits

As we find links to useful websites, we'll provide them here. Please contact GreenHeart Education here (or use the form below) to give us feedback about the Sustainable Family Development model, or to share family-related resources that you've used successfully.


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