May 12, 2006--I attended a workshop on Friday led by Jamie Cloud of The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education. Walking in I thought I already knew the basics and what I still needed to learn; I walked away with a wealth of information about applying systems theory to sustainability.  I also met a group of 10th graders, invited to attend the conference from the  High School for Public Service in NYC, who made an indelible impression on me. The students were invited because The Cloud Institute's mission is "to ensure the viability of sustainable communities by leveraging changes in K-12 school systems to prepare young people for the shift toward a sustainable future."  Other attendees included a host of architects from the US and abroad, teachers, education researchers, professionals from construction companies and real estate developers.

Ms. Cloud facilitated the workshop using a mix of interactivity, the Socratic method and a couple of games both adults and children would find engaging.  Attendees sat at round tables of eight which encouraged community building and interactivity.  One of the games was called Fish and Chips and was played by each table as an individual group of fishermen/women. The object of the game was to have as many fish as possible after 10 rounds per game of fishing for swordfish in an ocean with a "carrying capacity" of 20 fish.  Each time a round of fishing was completed the capacity of the ocean was replenished by 25%, but not to exceed the 20 fish cap. Other restrictions included how many fish you could catch in various rounds; some rounds allowed a maximum of three fish per person and some were restricted to a maximum of one fish per person.

Since my group finished the game sooner than others and without any leftover fish we were offered the chance to complete another round with more than the 20 fish cap.  When we asked where we would get the additional fish we were told it was up to us.....so we stole them from a neighboring group.   The idea was to simulate chaos in a world with declining resources.  The group we stole the fish from, however, was one calm step ahead of us.  They told us the fish we took were contaminated.   

It was interesting to see how each person at our table responded to a cache of food with and without restrictions.  When we were each allowed to fish without restriction the fish only lasted for five rounds.  When we were restricted to one fish per round the fish lasted for up to eight rounds.  As a vegetarian who fasts one day a week I played each round as I live my life.  I took one fish in some rounds and no fish in other rounds as my fellow players often took the maximum.  In the rounds where we were playing with "contaminated" fish I gambled a bit.  In other words, I took the same amount of fish knowing some were contaminated.  I ended up with one contaminated fish.  My actions surprised me because ordinarily I would stay away from anything that involved drugs or other synthetic substances.  With the threat of starvation upon me, I was willing to take the risk.

What I found most intriguing about the game were the high school students.  They arrived late and so they missed the game. The one student who was sitting at my table, a young man named Julian, said after we had finished playing that had he played the game he would fast on some days to help conserve the fish.  He also mentioned that if he were to get married he could share fish, thereby conserving more.  I am a bit older than he is and it has taken me a while to learn what he figured out in a few minutes.  His suggestion of marriage (using me ...just as an example) was also responding to a concern about population growth during a period of declining resources. 

During a period of discussion with Jamie one of the other students in the group wondered if humans die how can we be sustainable?  The definition of sustainable living included on this site's home page mentions the same issue.  I came to this conclusion by doing a lot of reading, learning and talking to others and I am a bit past high school.

It is clear that the students are being taught to think about a sustainable future and they are learning to apply that knowledge in an astounding manner.  As I mentioned above I learned a lot about systems theory and ecological footprints, etc. during this workshop, but I have to say that I am both in awe of these students and a bit envious that my education was not able to make this shift.  How lucky future generations will be.