Sustainability & Education

"Sustainability and Education"

"The challenge of sustainability may be viewed as a major threat/opportunity to existing cultural systems." Stephen Sterling

Education is a major part of our existing cultural system. The success of future generations is defined by what is taught to the children by parents, schools, and the media.

Schools like Kua O Ka La and the presentation, Huaka'i Aina Ho'oilina is the first step in a much needed paradigm shift. We need more focus to provide what the public needs to know about sustainability from food to civil defense. WE should take a play from the playbook of members in the community who already have businesses that support and exercise the fundamentals of sustainability. They will have to be the leaders who teach the other community members that sustainability can be profitable and rewarding in the long term. Learning centers like Dragon's Eye can provide educational experiences with hands on cooperative and sustainable farming and economic awareness.

The Big Island is a place with a unique opportunity. With one of the most diverse environments and people, there is a real possibility that this island could set the precedent and high standards of sustainability. Being so isolated from the rest of the world, Hawaii has already been sustainable and independent at one point in history and could be again. Through acknowledging traditional cultures in the islands and educating the next generations of leader, sustainability is obtainable. This is great because sustainability is inevitable for the future of human survival.