Check out this “Statement of Equity” by the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association.
Participants in Living Rural Communities and Environments Course held in rural Manitoba. Photo: Joey Goertz.
A strong statement indicating a commitment to confronting race, class, gender, ethnic, and other social inequalities in learning and education. Should be useful for anyone wanting to examine their educational practice and institutions through the lens of equity.
http://www.sustainableaged.org/saea-develops-new-statement…/
This is a really useful concise tool to think about pedagogical practice, power and equity and I plan to use this in my own work. It will also be a great resource in the classroom when teaching about the politics of knowledge and power-participation – for example in our summer school or workshops (e.g. this one) which cover many of these issues.
“The Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) affirms, above all, that food systems sustainability requires the realization of equity and justice. It works to support the principles of equality, dignity, and fairness rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. We share these values with the Inter-Institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability (INFAS) network, whose Statement on Equityin the Food System many of our members helped compose. The INFAS statement recognizes the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. It places an explicit focus on dismantling structural racism in food systems, and on challenging the multiple forms of oppression — class, race, gender, nationality, among others — that serve as interrelated barriers to equity.”
The statement encourages these principles and practices, which are more fully elaborated at this link: http://www.sustainableaged.org/blog/
- Actively confronting racism and patriarchy in teaching, research, and the design of educational programs and institutions.
- Impressing that “sustainability” is not new, as Indigenous peoples have long described and practiced sustainable ways of living and being with the Earth, with one another, and across cultural, spiritual, and biological realms.
- De-centering western science and whiteness in the teaching, learning, and practice of sustainable agriculture and food systems education.
- Encouraging dialogue and co-learning about values, ethics, and worldviews.
- Advancing equity in the structure, composition, and decision-making power of SAEA.
- Educating for radical equity.