Sustainable Education 4 All:Rio2BioVision

Sustainable Education 4 All:Rio2BioVision

1. The need for Ecological System engineering

2. The search for Sustainable solution

3. Education for Rural and urban System

4.RIO2BIO VISION OF THE EXPERT

5 . Conclusion

2. The search for sustainable rural and urban system

The question is : whether the scientific community with the help of visionaries like Gandhi and Kumarappa cares to not only intellectually predict calamitous trends but also build scenarios and life styles that are in keeping with the wisdom of sustainable development.

In what follows the the system engineering expert attempts to construct such a vision on the basis of contemporary wisdom and on the basis of visible trends.
In doing so, he has been assisted by the International Conference "A.T. Agenda for the Decisive Decade" which he organised in 1991 with the help of GTZ, Germany, and similarly the input he received from another international conference (1992): "Community scaling of Technologies and Community Vision of Tomorrow." Behind the scenario projected, there is a "value system" whose intent and structure have no separate existence other than the scenario itself. Thus we stop at a brief presentation of only the "vision

4.RIO2BIO VISION OF THE EXPERT

4. BIO-VISION

The word "bios" means life. Thus Bio-vision aims at visualising a development scenario which is more mature than the so called "human-centred development." What we aim at is acreation-centred development paradigm where the welfare of all "beings" are to be cared for. Inorder to appreciate its nuances we have to decondition our minds that have by now become usedto quite a lot of techno-centred development strategies.

(1). Initial Condition Equality:

Human beings are born within political boundaries like a panchayat, a state, a nation etc. Within the limits imposed by these boundaries the humans should have equal opportunities. "Initial Condition Equality" refers to a situation where every child within a political boundary is
assured of access to material, informational assets and opportunities in a spirit of equity.

(2). Mission of Science and Technology to Engineer

Equality:

(3).Creation-Centered Development:

Science provides organised information about nature and man made structures and technology uses this to modify environment to be in tune with human desire. The mission before "good" science and technology will be to mitigate the inequality inherent in nature's design to put
humans on the road to equality.

Development is that process of the bio-community (=humans + other beings) through which the
community is able to "unfold", its potential. Benign development process is that in which the community is able to unfold its potentials to the maximum while at the same time maximising the self-actualisation level of each member of the community.

(4). Minimum entropy life style

Habitat design economic processes, human relationships, rural-urban interface etc. are to be engineered in such a way that dissipative processes are minimised.

- City design minimising transport
- Buildings with passive acclimatisation
- Food system minimising cooking
- Fruit preservation avoiding chemicals
- Minimising wasteful advertising by well coordinated distribution
- Minimising packaging and transport by resorting to regional distribution

In other words, life styles should be evolved to cause minimum disruption in the "ordernature attained through long processes of evolution, further harnessing the natural cycles natural forces by aligning ourselves favourably to these "forces". If we take the example of water.within a "water-cycle', maximum benefit could be gained through appropriate re-use/multi-s
use etc.

(5). Inverse Laws in Resource Uitilisation and Pro

Industries:

A rare resource in nature should be used in the rarest possible contexts and vice versa. This is a golden-rule for sustainable life.

In a similar way if an item of consumption is very rarely used then the production center could also be sparsely located. For example, water points should be in every village, build materials may be produced within a cluster of villages or in a small region whereas a "p maker" need not be produced in all villages or even districts. Even one production centre
country should be sufficient.

(6). Neighbourhood communities and face to face

democracies:

The realisation is slowly dawning on the humans that the ultimate solution for sociefree from exploitation lies in the conception of small communities that could manage their affairs by functioning as a face-to-face, democracy. Infact, this is the vision behind the Gram Sabha.

More ambitiously, we are heading towards neighbourhood communities -- a set of about 50 families mutually cooperating to jointly shoulder the various responsibilities of this local community-- a situation where everyone has to play a leading role in some aspect of community life or the other. This is also a situation where intensive cooperation, joint decision and mutual
nurturing could be practiced.

Further, a few hamlet-communities might fall within a "resource-shed" (- a concept more general than watershed) and thus their harmonious co-existence depends on the possibility of the
concerned hamlets federating among themselves into a subregional "commune."

(7). Outwitting the ills of hierarchical structures:

Traditionally pyramidal structure represents a situation where the nodal point is in possession of both power as well as information. Thus all the decision making is done at the
"apex."

The same pyramidal structure becomes a meaningful one if we separate "information" from "power" (of decision control etc.) and consider the "apex" as endowed with information (for
coordination) and the "bottom" as having powers of decision.

Thus in future the Gram Sabhas will have all the powers of decision and control and the higher structures like the Block-Panchayat and District Panchayat will only do the coordination.
Note: A more general way of creating relation among entities is "networking" where hierarchy (-dominance or subordination) may not be cared about. Only interrelation matters.

(7.a). A New synergestic relation between villages and

urban centres:

The realisation is slowly dawning on the humans that the ultimate solution for societies free from exploitation lies in the conception of small communities that could manage their own The philosophy visualised in (7) could be applied to the case of villages and urban centers.
Assume that all the economic activities like production etc. are only in the villages and the urban centres serve as information points and meeting and interaction points among the villages. Even if
marketing takes place in the city it is controlled by the villages. This is an ideal structure where the villages are also strengthened (and facilitated) and the urban centres have also a healthy and meaningful role to play.

On the other hand if the production & marketing power is usurped by the town then the villages will be emaciated and the urban centres polluted and ruined.

(8) Liberation from exploitative structures:

Observation of classical societies reveals the circumstances under which exploitation of one group by another takes place. For example, if A has to depend on B and finds B unorganised or unaware, then if A is insensitive to human rights issues (-or insensitive to the rights of the other
being) then exploitation of B by A is bound to take place.

Historically B could stand for the "slaves" (who were traded on) or could be a scavenger
or a woman or an animal.

Classical societies survived on the existence of many exploitative chains. (For example,
the kings exploited the land lords, the land lords exploited the tenants, the tenants exploited the
slaves/women/animals).Thanks to science and technology - many of these exploitative chains
could be broken - now (if we care). For example the sanitary latrines have eliminated the night
soil carriers, the motor based ploughs have liberated the animals (!), the process industries have
liberated women from the forced labour of cooking etc.

The cybernetic society of tomorrow could indeed dream of a society free from exploitation.

(9) Societal Entrepreneurs:

The capitalist system tapped individual initiative and left the control of critical systems and infrastructure in their hand - the state playing only the role of guidance- and control. The socialists on the other hand kept all initiatives and control in the hands of the State (which acted as the representative of the community).
In the context of developing countries it is imperative to involve persons with entrepreneurial qualities (namely those with the qualities of struggling towards success) but with commitment to community welfare. Such persons are called "societal entrepreneurs" for two reasons:

(1) they may take up any development dimension for venturing (economic, social, environmental political, spiritual ,...) and
(2) just as the entrepreneur dealing with economic affairs works for "dollar' - reward the societal entrepreneur might work under a different value system (-adventure, self-esteem, social recognition self actualisation, sacrifice etc. etc.)

(10) Politics as "development engineering":

Politics is to be understood as the science of social reconstruction. The politician is a
manager of developmental forces (through social mobilisation and mobiliation of other resources)
to achieve the societal objective. In short, he is a "development engineer". When the society gets
enough of societal engineers, some of them with multi-disciplinary capabilities will emerge as
constructive politicians. This "tribe" could also be nurtured through training and orientation to get
started from grass-roots level responsibilities to success (say in a local administration system).

(11) Cyber-Communes:

Information technology will make the global village possible. Just as "neighbourhood
community" is defined and established on the basis of geographic considerations (of proximity)
there will be communities spanning the globe but nearer to each other ideologically. They are
indeed neighbourhood communities in the "ideological plane". Such "cyber-communes" will be
the stabilising forces when global communities come together. The new culture will be capable of
thinking globally and living locally.

(12) A holistic vision of technology:

Technology will be understood as the process of solving problems. For the sake of emphasis "appropriate technology" will be understood as the process of solving problems without creating new problems. Infact the problem solving process could involve "modification" of social structure or for that matter dealing with value structure or attempting to restructure. (Remember "problem" is a value-implied situation- thus bringing the "value "dimension into the picture).

The holistic technology (or appropriate technology) will be a process involving a judicious combination of physical engineering, social engineering and value system engineering to arrive at
the best solution.

(13)Tree-based culture:

From the point of view of sustainability it will be desirable that most of the needs of humans are obtained from trees (- food, shelter, clothes, medicine, and other habitat needs) thus minimising the need for non-renewable materials. Crops like rice needing more water will also be
avoidable when the need for carbohydrate etc., will be met from appropriate trees. By increasing use of versatile materials like bamboo (-for construction, for roads, for utilities...) need for metals will be substantially reduced. Infact when the new humans learn more and more of sustainable life style they will be homing on a harmonious "tribal life"
(- tribes geographically and in the ideological sphere).

(14) Vegetarianism:

Vegetarianism will be the directive principle of the creation-centered development paradigm. 'Infact, as long as humans "kill" other species consciously they will kill themselves too.
Till the last non-vegetarian exists on earth the prospect of war will persist.

(15) World - Citizenship:

The evolution of the humans from small tribes to states, then to nations, and further to
continental citizens seems an endless journey. The evolution of world citizenship will be a logical
corollary when political boundaries are out-witted by the "global handshake' in the cyber-space.
Many of the conflicts of today will be out of place then.

5. AGENDA FOR THE DECISIVE DECADE

It is the conviction of the author that humans could usher in a new world order and a
sustainable development process could set in provided the present positive momentum is kept up and a global partnership struck. If we fail in this, the exact opposite could also happen and the
world could end up into a chaotic conglomerate of warring ethnic groups. Quick decisions in
respect of appropriate physical and social technologies (including monetary issues) have to be
made soon enough. The year 2000 AD will have a magical effect. Many change process that could
normally take centuries could happen overnight.

The following is a set of urgently needed initiatives:

• i) Technology should be moved out of the centre of development - related discussion. Development should be - creation-centered rather than 'human' centered.
• (ii) A non-exploitative delivery structure for technology should be the concern of technology transfer. (iii) An agenda for the decisive decade should include identifying and encouraging benign

technologies and organisations and a programme of getting rid of harmful technologies.

• (iv) Major initiative has to come form the industrialised countries who are responsible for the

threat to earth's environment. Similarly the urban sector has to bear greater responsibility
rather than the rural.

• (v) There is urgency to evolve a new education pattern
  

This could include the human education needed to eco-sensitivity and also awaken the creativity needed to adapt to a life-style characterised by sustainability and global co-existence.

Conclusion

It is hoped that the "bio-vision" presented in the present paper could provoke a multi-disciplinary dialogue and debate so that the right value could be articulated which in turn could enable the needed agenda to be chalked out.

Conclusion

It is hoped that the "bio-vision" presented in the present paper could provoke a multi-disciplinary dialogue and debate so that the right value could be articulated which in turn could enable the needed agenda to be chalked out.

3.Expert on Education for Rural and urban System

3.Expert on Education for Rural and urban System

Sustainable globalization, a neighbourhood community
would be effective, Prof T Karunakaran, Vice Chancellor, Gandhigram Rural University, India ,one of the leading expert , ex VC said.This neighborhood community is the lowest element with just 50-100 houses and has all the elements of development like water, education, infrastructure and health.It is a model social, economic and political unit and can perform its tasks much effectively,Dr.T.Karunakaran feel.

Dr T. Karunakaran is the Ex Vice Chancellor of Gandhigram Rural University , India now Director of Gandhi Rural Industrial Institutes India. He carries the rich experience of having served two terms as the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Rural Development University, Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh,India - the latter being the only other rural university in the country. After his basic degree in Electrical Engineering, Dr.T.Karunakaran had the rare distinction of serving in four IITs of the country for nearly 19 years in various capacities.

After 13 years in IIT Delhi, Kanpur, and Mumbai, he took up his assignment in IIT Madras in 1982 with the mission of creating rural employment though appropriate technology. He served as the planning officer of the famous RICHES (Rural Industries Community Housing and Essential Services) project initially conceived by Professor P.V. Indiresan. This concept has been reshaped and enriched as PURA (Provision of Urban-amenities in Rural Areas) by His Excellency Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.


In 1987, Dr.T.Karunakaran, joined the Gandhigram Rural Institute as Director of Rural Technology Centre and successfully developed a Technology Resource Center Model and Rural Growth Networking Processes aspects of which have been recently implemented in 20 blocks of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar under the auspices of UNDP in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Dr.T.Karunakaran, has served in a large number of international fora and national committees. He served as the advisor to Flensburg University Germany and a number of national missions and task forces - the latest being the National Literacy Mission. He has won a number of recognitions the latest being the award by the Educators of the World USA for his contributions to fast-literacy process through `morphological-sequence approach'. His experiments in leading an unlettered to a stage of involvement in high-tech products have resulted in certain `technocracy packages' His experiments by living in a tribal hut in Valayapatty village for ten years have been documented in a Penguin book by the well-known author Rajni Bakshi. His innovations are well documented in Scandinavian countries like Denmark. He has visited and lectured in over ten countries. But he hopes to create a process of ``instruction through construction'' where societal entrepreneurs capable of providing true leadership will emerge.

1.The need for the Ecological System engineering

A simplistic analysis of the history of science, technology and human civilization indicates that its evolution has passed through four stages when we focus on the science and technology dimension.

The Human-Tech Era: where the primitive human reorganised his environment by virtue of his organismic capabilities, but not on the basis of accumulated or inherited/ documented knowledge.

The Science-Tech Era: wherein humans had the advantage of accumulated wisdom and documented knowledge and techniques. The focus was to unravel the mysteries of nature and to rip open the various black boxes (- the geosphere, the astroshere, the physiosphere ...) and as a by-product a number of technologies emerged which the humans were able to use to alleviate the miseries of fellow humans. But science was still not a tool of economics.

The Econo-Tech Era: wherein science and technology became subservient to economics. This led to industrialization, colonisation and eventually to a world of science-led warfare.

The Eco-Tech Era: the industrialism, consumerism and urbanisation led to resource depletion, environmental degradation and social degradations and the Club of Rome Report in the seventies brought man to the realization that "mother earth has enough for everyone's need but not to everyone's greed". Kumarappa's concept of river economy and bucket economy began to make sense and movements like intermediate technology, slogans like "small is beautiful" and considerations like 'sustainable development' ('economy of permanence') became the concern of all sensible development workers. Thus started the ECO-
TECH era where the concern is for environmentally sensitive technologies, developments and life styles. The Rio-Summit is also a product of the force unleashed by the ECO-TECH era