Sustainability, social learning and the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve.

Abstract

Long Point, Ontario Canada, was designated a biosphere reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1986. The not-for-profit and charitable Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation administers the designation and recently decided to address sustainable development as a complement to their conservation activities. The Foundation hosted four community sustainability workshops to gather ideas on how to proceed on the sustainability front. Four sector-specific workshops were held with representatives from business and industry, service groups, conservation and agriculture. The workshops laid the foundations for community social learning and contributed to participants successfully addressing the complex and contentious issue of sustainability in the Long Point area. Workshop results yielded information on trends affecting the Long Point area and ideas for addressing sustainability through communication, education, ecotourism, agricultural viability and urban issues.

Long Point, Ontario, Canada, a ete designee en 1986 reserve de la biosphere par l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'education, la science et la culture (UNESCO). La Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation, organisme de bienfaisance a but non lucratif administre cette designation et a recemment decide d'integrer le developpement durable a ses activites de conservation. La fon-dation a tenu quatre ateliers sur la durabilite communautaire afin de rassembler des idees sur la maniere d'oeuvrer dans le domaine de la durabilite. Quatre ateliers propres a divers secteurs ont eu lieu avec des represen-tants des entreprises et des secteurs industriels, des groupes de prestataires de services, ainsi que des groupes lies a la conservation et a l'agriculture. Les ateliers ont permis de jeter les fondements d'un apprentissage social communautaire et ont fait en sorte que les participants aient pu traiter avec succes de la question complexe et litigieuse de la durabilite dans la region de Long Point. Les ateliers ont permis de reunir des renseignements sur les tendances qui touchent la region de Long Point, ainsi que d'elaborer des idees sur la maniere de realiser la durabilite par le biais des enjeux lies aux communications, a la sensibilisation, a l'ecotourisme, a la viabilite agricole et a l'urbanisme.

Key Words

Social learning, sustainability, World Biosphere Reserves

Introduction

Biosphere reserves are designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in recognition of areas working toward sustainability. Biosphere reserves are intended to fulfill three complementary and mutually reinforcing functions: contributing to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation; fostering sustainable economic and human development; and providing logistics support for research, monitoring, education and information exchange (UNESCO 2006).

The Long Point World Biosphere Reserve was designated by UNESCO in 1986. Long Point is a 32 km sand spit located on the north shore of Lake Erie, in Norfolk County, Ontario and is an example of the Great Lakes coastal ecosystem. The Long Point complex is an important staging area for migrating waterfowl, is renowned for superb bass fishing and birding, and is home to the largest number of endangered, threatened and species of concern in Canada (Craig, et al. 2003). The biosphere reserve is administered by the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation (LPWBRF), a charitable, not-for-profit, volunteer organization.

The LPWBRF recently decided to expand their activities from a primarily environmental focus (Craig et al. 2003; Francis and Whitelaw 2001) to one that encompasses a broader notion of sustainability. There are many interpretations of sustainability (Gibson, et al. 2005; Mebratu 1998; Pezzoli 1997). For the purposes of the Long Point sustainability workshops, the World Commission on Environment and Development's (WCED 1987:8) definition of sustainable development was used. The WCED defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This definition was used as the LPWBRF felt it was the most well known and accepted in the community. This broadening of the Foundation's scope from conservation-focused to addressing broader sus-tainability is consistent with all three functions of biosphere reserves.

The Foundation initiated a series of sustainability workshops designed to engage the local biosphere reserve community in identifying potential sustainable development projects that the Foundation might facilitate to improve planning and management in the Long Point area. This paper documents the workshop process, presents the results, and discusses the contributions of the workshops to social learning and the logistics activities of the Foundation.

Social Learning

The following review of the social learning literature was carried out in order to develop a definition and a framework for social learning in the Long Point environmental planning context. This review briefly tracks the history and streams of the social learning literature, leading to the application of the concept in the Long Point biosphere reserve environmental planning context.

Webler et al. (1995) provide an excellent overview of the origins of the concept of social learning and document the tension within the literature between psychological and sociological perspectives. The psychological or pedagogical perspective on social learning, as represented by Bandura (1971, 1986, 1991), is based on the work of social-psychologist, Kurt Lewin and revolves around the individual learning process being dependent on social interactions. The sociological perspective moves beyond individuals learning in a social context to see learning occurring on the scale of social structures such as organizations and institutions (Argyris 1993). Such a view of social learning sees it as an expression of coordinated cognitive and normative adjustments resulting in social change (Wynne 1992). Webler et al. (1995) provide a useful starting point for a discussion of the nature and definition of social learning. They note that, "social learning means more than merely individuals learning in a social situation ... (they) envision a community of people with diverse personal interests, but also common interests, who must come together to reach agreement on collective action to solve a mutual problem" (Webler et al. 1995: 445). The authors go on to define the concept of social learning as, "the process by which changes in the social condition occur--particularly changes in popular awareness and changes in how individuals see their private interests linked with the shared interests of their fellow citizens" (Webler et al. 1995: 445). This definition provides a useful starting point but does not speak directly to the requirements or nature of the processes which underlie social learning.

"Social learning ... is intended to help improve the quality and wisdom of the decisions we take when faced with complexity, uncertainty, conflict and paradox" (Roling and Wagemakers 1998: 54). As such, the notion has begun to be applied in a variety of complex decision-making contexts including planning and management (Tippett et al. 2005; Simon 2004; Pahl-Wostl and Hare 2004; Bouwen and Taillieu 2004; Sinclair and Diduck 2001). Planning, management, and policy issues are often described as complex and highly uncertain (Kay et al. 1999; Funtowicz and Ravetz 1993; Ravetz 1999). From this perspective, management cannot be seen as the search for an ideal or even optimal solution to a single problem but rather as an ongoing process of adaptation, learning and negotiation (e.g. Kay et al. 1999 and Mitchell 2002). Fostering ongoing social learning could help overcome the limitations of existing institutions and consider multi-scale, collaborative forms of governance for groups involved in environmental planning and policy-making (Tippet et al. 2005).

Mezirow's transformative theory of adult learning provides a set of criteria for fostering social learning processes. Despite beginning on the psychological branch of the social learning literature, Mezirow's work has been used to describe a more sociological view of social learning in the context of environmental assessment and decision-making processes (esp. Sinclair and Diduck 2002). Mezirow (1994: 222-223), defines learning as, "the social process of construing and appropriating a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of one's experience as a guide to action." Mezirow (1994) describes six ideal conditions for learning, these include:

1. Accurate and complete information

2. Freedom from coercion

3. Openness to alternative perspectives

4. Ability to reflect critically upon presuppositions

5. Equal opportunity to participate

6. Ability to assess arguments in a systematic manner and accept a rational consensus as valid

These conditions provide a useful basis for developing public forums that will foster learning and critical reflection. Mezirow's (1994, 1998) work highlights the need for alternative perspectives, the need for critical reflection as well as the importance of acknowledging power relations within the learning process.