The below blog posts were written as an assignment in the spring 2024 course Education and Sustainable Development: International and Comparative Perspectives (ITSF 5031) taught by Dr. Carine Verschueren in the International and Comparative Education Program at Teachers College.
“NO EXISTE UN MUNDO POSHURACAN”: NAVIGATING THE CLIMATE CRISIS IN PUERTO RICO
By Sylvia Montijo
“No existe un mundo poshuracán”—A post-hurricane world does not exist. I first came across this line by Puerto Rican poet Raquel Salas Rivera while at the Whitney Museum of Art exhibition by the same name. The exhibition, dedicated to showcasing the works of various Puerto Rican artists, centered the devastating impacts of Hurricane Maria years later. As a proud boricua, the island holds a special place in my heart. However, growing up on the United States mainland shielded me from the dangers and challenges my distant family continues to face living on a small island nation grappling with such climate adversity.
Vulnerability & Dependency: A Lose-Lose for Puerto Rico
According to research conducted by the Climate Impact Lab, Puerto Rico has suffered more comprehensively from environmental impacts over the past 60 years than any other comparable area in the world. Puerto Ricans are disproportionately impacted by sea level rise, rising temperatures, and extreme weather. Despite these unique vulnerabilities and inequities faced, Puerto Rico’s colonial status renders it powerless, both literally and figuratively. Without economic and political sovereignty, the island lacks the necessary resources to respond and adapt when disaster strikes. Consequently, Puerto Rico remains dependent on the US and is subject to its intervention during times of environmental crises. The US has taken a passive approach in providing aid to Puerto Rico, offering slow, inadequate, or misguided assistance following natural disasters. This neglect leaves the island in chaos, leaving its citizens left to mobilize and rebuild on their own. For Puerto Rico to recover and thrive, federal aid must match the magnitude of destruction the island faces, especially given Puerto Rico’s subordinate position within its jurisdiction. Without accountability, the task of rebuilding Puerto Rico’s infrastructure to mitigate future environmental harm seems increasingly distant, casting doubt on the island’s future and forcing many to consider leaving behind their homes in pursuit of the US mainland.
Bridging the Gap: The Importance of Climate Education
With 93% of Puerto Ricans worried about climate change and 84% fearing its impact on future generations, it is important to consider the role of environmental education in teaching children and communities about the realities of a changing climate. By instilling a collective commitment to sustainability and fostering respect for the environment at a young age, it is more likely these values will be passed down to future generations. Puerto Rico’s school system represents the sixth-largest in the US, so there is immense potential for many children and young adults to benefit from Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE). However, given the challenges faced by resource-poor schools across the island struggling for federal support and visibility, it is no wonder why universal ESE implementation remains on the backburner. As such, the role of external partners remains increasingly crucial in promoting environmental education beyond the classroom.
The Puerto Rico Sea Grant College Program recognizes the importance of teacher collaboration in safeguarding Puerto Rico’s ecosystems. Supported by the DOE in Puerto Rico, the Sea Grant team trained over 200 teachers and impacted more than 38,000 students in 2016 with an environmental curriculum centered on local ecosystems and place-based community engagement. The Strategic Plan for 2024-2027, concentrating on coastal resilience, has the potential to expand its reach far beyond the accomplishments of 2016.Non-profit organizations, such as Organización Pro Ambiente Sustentable (OPAS), are bridging the gap between ESE and the local community. Through participation in international programs such as Eco-Schools, OPAS has committed dozens of schools over the years to their commitment to environmental awareness and responsibility. These efforts demonstrate the crucial link between education and community action in tackling climate change.
Towards Adaptation & Accountability
The climate crisis in Puerto Rico is not just an environmental justice issue but a social justice issue. Collaborative efforts between local and federal governments, schools, non-governmental agencies, and neighboring Latin Americans countries like Colombia and the Dominican Republic are crucial for exchanging ideas and models for growth. While ESE does not replace the imminent need of enhanced infrastructure and stringent policies that favor environmental protection over political interest, investing in environmental education in and outside the classroom remains a necessary investment for Puerto Rico’s sustainability and the well-being of its citizens.
LIVING FROM WHAT WE THROW AWAY
By Samarthya Priyahita
Last Sunday was crazy cold and sunny for me and 3 friends to go out for brunch. In this Australian-based cafe (that felt a little bit like Bali to me), our conversation turned from laughing at each other’s romantic lives to world culture and LGBT. We observed how different cultures, like the US and developing countries, have varied views on the LGBT community. The dichotomy between acceptance and discrimination became central to our discussion. The conversation got more interesting when one friend said: “I wonder what would happen if the world culture was flipped, when being gay is accepted as a social norm and heterosexuality the minority.” That thought stuck to me for the rest of the day. If that is a possibility, it would undoubtedly turn the world upside down.
Back in my hometown in Indonesia, whenever a big outdoor event is happening (ie. a public demonstration or a music festival), my mind goes to the often-overlooked matter: litter. It has always been the case where people litter wherever they want on the street after having fun. At the same time, I don’t see many trash cans being provided and there’s a dedicated cleaning team from the local government that is responsible for making the streets clean and convenient. Seeing how this system operates can potentially backfire to the public perception and awareness of the environment: 1) Public is being spoiled by the existence of the government's cleaning agency hence it’s culturally acceptable to throw away litter on the street because it’s going to be cleaned up anyway, 2) When the street is unclean and causes damages on the street, the government is all to blame and public feels they do nothing wrong, This segregation of responsibilities pictures a clear lack of awareness both of the public and the government on the responsibility to take collaborative care of the environment.
So, what is the intersection of the stories on LGBT culture and littering awareness? I stand on the same logic from the LGBT discussion and imagine if anything is possible: what would happen if nature told us we must live from what we throw away and that everything that is “brand new” is deemed useless? The idea is not to imagine the negative feelings, but to think that what we throw away has other effects for our living in the future, for us and for our community. I find myself wondering about this alternate reality as I grow more aware of the severity of public denial of environmental action.
To turn around the denial into hope, I do think education plays a big role that would need critical thinking to solve the systemic issue. In addition, involving local people in the area is also important to being a collective solution, as Stevenson et al. (2017) points out “...urban governing structures should model and reflect multiple perspectives and provide avenues for residents to become engaged in local problems” (p. 54). Given this perspective, I think of Paulo Freire’s approach of critical dialogue and praxis in solving critical social problems on the environment (Mayo, 2010). This approach aims to combine personal reflection and community learning to drive systemic change or solve problems that need collective action.
To be able to implement this, the local government could engage with local residents in the city of Jakarta to discuss what’s happening regarding public awareness of littering. These residents could be a combination of teens and adults and come from different backgrounds. The important aspect of the discussion will then be translated into a form of pictures, metaphors, or other generative arts, which will be the subject of critical reflection that aims to create what Freire says “critical distance”. Praxis is the process of gaining this critical distance (Mayo, 2010) and from there, the hope is to form action plans collaboratively between the government and the residents. Depending on the result of praxis, desired initiatives can be driven by the government, such as local policy establishment/revision. Action plans can also be initiated by the residents (ie. media campaigns, community-level movement) to drive public awareness and government action (Rietig, 2011, from Senit, 2020).
I do hope this informal learning practice could enhance the habit of nurturing cities, because sustaining the city is the responsibility of all citizens within it, be it government and the residents. To that note, the notion of “nature vs nurture” could be replaced with “nurture becoming nature” – with consistent collective actions, it becomes a new nature for the citizen to sustain a livable environment.
SPIRITS OF THE SOAN: POLLUTION, POSSESSIONS, AND OTHER PECULIARITIES
By Kainaat Jah
On the long and broken road to school, the landscape undergoes a dramatic transformation, shifting from picturesque fields of flowers to the stark presence of the Petrol Depot, interspersed with humble homes and fields dedicated to subsistence farming. As the journey progresses, the scenery transitions abruptly to encompass towering nuclear research laboratories before reverting to expansive fields. Despite the serene beauty of the surroundings, the once-clear Soan River, which runs parallel to the road, now bears the burden of massive waste disposal. Despite its polluted state, my students have not shied away from hosting impromptu 'swimming parties' in its contaminated waters.
The Real Spirits
Nestled within this diverse landscape lies Sihala, a community in Pakistan predominantly inhabited by daily wage earners. Here, the convergence of domestic and industrial activities exposes residents to the perils of environmental degradation. Tragically, it was in this very community that 13-year-old Amna Bibi met her untimely demise. Returning from a swim with her friends, she paused to drink from the groundwater tank in her family's field. Little did she know that sip would be her last. In Sihala, such incidents are not uncommon, with tales of spirits haunting those who dare venture near the Soan after sunset, resulting in severe illness or even death. Amna Bibi's passing was just one of the 100,000 lives lost annually to waterborne illnesses in Pakistan, a staggering statistic that accounts for 40% of nationwide deaths (Latif, 2018).
Amna's tragic fate unveils the intricate web of factors contributing to water pollution and its dire consequences. Her demise can be traced back to two pivotal events: first, her likely ingestion of polluted river water, contaminated with toxic chemicals discharged by nearby industries. Agarwal et al. (2023) found a high variation in pollution monitoring levels before and after sunset in a Chinese factory, supporting the argument for the intentional increase in emissions under the disguise of the night. After sunset, the probability of inspection is lower, which allows factories to shut emission-cutting equipment down. The Soan spirits were made up of incredibly toxic chemicals. Second, her consumption of groundwater tainted with pesticides, a common occurrence in agricultural areas like Sihala. Acute pesticide poisonings result in an additional 300,000 deaths each year, 99% of whose cases are in low and low middle income countries. (Konradsen, 2007) A study of cotton farms in Punjab province, where Sihala is located, found groundwater contamination by pesticides, where 33% of the samples exceeded residue limits. (Azizullah et al., 2011) It was also found to be majorly contaminated by microbiologic factors and arsenic. (Qamar et al., 2022) In many ways, the spirit lore may be understood as a coping mechanism adopted by rural communities to shield themselves from the overwhelming threat posed by water pollution, a consequence largely out of their control and perpetuated by industries.
Community Confusion
When Fatima returned from a three-day absence and came to me at the beginning of class to say; “Sorry for not coming to school Ma’am. My cousin got possessed and died”, I wasn’t sure how to react. “H-how?” I asked. “She went out to the river after sunset. She shouldn’t have.” Fatima’s eyes welled up. Later that day in the staffroom, I asked Ma’am Zubaida about these post-sunset spirits by the Soan. “Yup. Happened to one of my cousins - she went to wash clothes. They say the spirits especially like possessing women whose hair is open. But it happened to a distant uncle of mine too. So, I don’t know.” It wasn’t until I asked the school gardener (also Fatima’s uncle) that I learned about the case of water contamination. Unsurprisingly, the lack of awareness and environmental education poses a multitude of problems.
Call To Action
Amna’s case highlights several societal and infrastructural deficiencies that have resulted in the water-related deaths that are recorded today. Despite being a vital lifeline for thousands of communities along its 160 miles, the Soan River suffers from high nutrient levels and diminished oxygen content due to sewage, agricultural runoff, and industrial effluents (Zakaullah et al., 2022). The urgent need for awareness among local communities cannot be overstated. Yet, the community response is indicative of their lack of agency as well as lack of knowledge. Even institutions responsible for the dissemination of knowledge i.e., schools, do not have sustainable practices. Thus, the need for awareness among local communities in adjacent vicinities of the Soan River to indicate the water contamination issues and their harmful effects, is an urgent one. In the face of escalating environmental challenges, it is imperative that we unite in our efforts, local body governments and civil society organizations alike, to protect vital water sources and vulnerable communities like Sihala from the consequences of pollution and urbanization by implementing stricter accountability measures.
About the Authors:
Sylvia Montijo is a first-generation college graduate driven by values of equity and community. She is a member of the Academic Affairs team at the Columbia Climate School where she supports student success and expands climate curriculum at the undergraduate level. Ms. Montijo holds a BA in Child Development and American Studies from Tufts University. She is a current MA candidate in the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Kainaat Jah is a first-year M.A. student in the Anthropology and Education program at Teachers College. She received her BSc in Political Science from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. Currently, Kainaat works as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Education and Training division at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness - Columbia Climate School, where she assists with cross-team coordination, grant proposals and Climate School special projects. She is passionate about leveraging the interaction of climate education and urban planning to create climate resilient communities, particularly in South Asia.
Samarthya Priyahita is a final-year MA student in the Adult Learning & Leadership program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her interests focus on adult education, where she explores the connection of transformative learning and sustainable living, in hope to improve social and environmental justice.