Sustainability and the Third Space

How the Indigenous concept of Country may contribute to the theory and practice of Education for Sustainability.

The Indigenous concept of Country is the holistic engagement of a person and their social context with a specific physical location that is both symbolic and real.

ARIES was funded by the Macquarie University 2010 Sustainability in Learning and Teaching Grants Scheme to investigate how the Indigenous concept of Country could contribute to the theory and practice of Education for Sustainability.

As part of this project ARIES designed an experiential workshop where the participants could explore holistic thinking and practice at two levels:

• their personal experience of holistic thinking and practice
   
• how this may be universalised for a wider context.

Participants

Participants were drawn from Macquarie University, other universities in Sydney, and other public and private organisations. They represented a broad cross-section of adult learners who included:

• students, both postgraduate and undergraduate
   
• lecturers and other teaching staff
   
• practitioners.

The research informing this project has identified opportunities to progress the development of sustainability thinking and practice.