The Ecology of Learning

5Social Learning andCommunity Action

This chapter explores a range of practices, activities and learning experiences involved in the building of sustainable communities. Topics discussed include environmental justice, social capital and ‘backcasting’, and specific examples of sustainable community development projects in the UK and Canada are examined. The chapter comprises sections on:

•  Learning for environment justice;

•  The Market and Coastal Towns Initiative;

•  Community learning;

•  Social learning in the Georgia Basin Futures Project;

•  Bioregionalism; and

•  Skills for Building Sustainable Communities.

LEARNING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Urban and rural deprivation have characterized and blighted many communities in the UK, US, France ...