Knowledge and Practice in Sustainable Development Education: A Graduate Education Case Study

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Wednesday IV)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Knowledge, power and practice: global social justice and sustainable development education

Proposal

n the latter years of the era delineated by the millennium development goals (MDGs), a graduate degree program emerged from a recognition of a training gap in the so-called development education ecosystem. The masters of development practice (MDP) degree was designed to “produce highly skilled ‘generalist’ practitioners prepared to confront complex sustainable development challenges” (ICESDP, 2008: 24). The vision for the degree program and its associated professional development opportunities was shaped by four, guiding principles for the training of sustainable development practitioners. They included the integration of knowledge among health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and management; the fostering of lifelong learning attitudes and opportunities; practical training to enhance traditional curricular experiences and establishment of partnerships across boundaries (geographic, cultural, etc.). As the world transitioned from the MDG era to another framed by goals for sustainable development (SDGs), the focus for development training and development itself rightly shifted from the global south to the global system, one characterized by heterogeneous conditions, priorities and approaches. The MDP degree program likewise evolved, yet, it remains juxtaposed between the position of educating international cohorts of young professionals about sustainable development and training these same learners in the practice of development”. The teaching of “sustainable development” and “sustainable development practice” are related but quite different things, with the latter greatly informed by conceptions of the former. How we think about development influences how we teach about development, and thus how we teach development practice.
This panel contribution will focus first on the MDP degree program, providing insight into the genesis of the degree program, its principles and its essential components. Where it came from and what it is are important factors affecting what it can achieve. But just as ideas evolve so to do programs, often in direct response to emerging paradigms and experiences. The MDP today has undergone changes resulting from the transition from the MDG to SDG era and from the independent and shared experience of a now 30-plus program network. These changes frame an interesting story about sustainable development as we conceive it today. Finally, we will explore how the University of Minnesota MDP program applies this collective experience and its individual program attributes to the specific case of Manoomin, or wild rice. The Manoomin case features the complicated interplay between an ancient and sacred indigenous life way and a modern, but historic, livelihood: ore mining. The case addresses the interconnected political economies and ecologies of food, water, tourism and industry. It starts in Minnesota but quickly links to global systems including a fraught global economy for conflict minerals. Our use of the Manoomin case as a vehicle to a) characterize sustainable development and b) train future practitioners reveals much about our appreciation of complicated interplay between knowledge and practice, and between what (and how) we know and what we do. At minimum, examining the Minnesota MDP’s approach to the case will frame an interesting discussion about the sustainable development education and the role of education in sustainable development.

Author

• David Wilsey, University of Minnesota