International Symposium is one of the key activities of a project Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development of Local Communities that is funded by the European Social Fund and the Government of the Czech Republic in order to support implementation of initial education for sustainable development.

It was held in Prague from 24th to 26th March 2011.

Programme – Abstracts – Photographs

Feedbacks

„Nous sommes bien rentrés en France et à Ille sur Tet; merci pour ce symposium et pour votre présence et votre accompagnement lors de notre séjour. … Nous sommes partis nourris de toutes ces intéressantes interventions et des discussions que nous avons échangées.“

(Alain Sanchez et Marc Vilar, 29.3.2011)

„I would like to thank you all for the interesting new experiences I had an opportunity to share with you all in Prague and for nice days we’ve spent together. The organisation was perfect … and the lectures and presentations were excellent, showing how much has been done in the last years on the field in different countries.“

(Irena Lazar, 1.4.2011)

„I deeply share, with Irena, the same positive feeling of the Symposium in which we were all involved in Prague.“

(Donatella Murtas, 1.4.2011)

„Yes, indeed I think we all felt – after such a splendid meeting – that we had ideas that we can share together in future. Now we are all connected we should try to maintain those links, perhaps by thinking of some collaborative projects?“

(Peter Davis, 1.4.2011)

„The most important thing we got from the colloquium was seeing other people’s ideas in the practical application of their work. I am conscious in our own country that there is actually a great deal of this kind of thing going on, but often under a variety of different headings and intitiatives. I wonder whether a small research project drawing together a compendium of such activities, might be a start. It might need to be no more than a simple gazetteer with web addresses in the first instance. This would serve to get more ideas together, but perhaps also begin to build a wider network.“

(David Austin, 1.4.2011)

„Time with you in Prague was an interesting and new experience for me. … I was „enlighten“ with concept of ecomuseum and connection cultural heritage in sustainable development of local community – in practice, theory and trough presentations on symposium.“

(Jana Vilman Proje, 3. 4. 2011)

Volume of the papers delivered at the Symposium will be available in spring 2012.

Theoretical Backgrounds

According to the Czech National Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development (2008–2013) children and young people should be encouraged to adopt such patterns of thinking, decision-making and behaviour that enable them to promote sustainability in their personal, professional and civic lives.

Although the majority of us would probably agree with such a general statement, it may also provide a starting point for the International Symposium discussion.

Questions

Indeed, there are many interesting questions that deserve particular attention:

» What are the patterns of sustainable thinking, decision-making and behaviour in terms of cultural heritage of local communities?

» How should children and young people be encouraged to adopt these patterns?

» Are there any time-proven methods and examples of good practice in terms of education for sustainable development of local communities?

» What might be the role of cultural heritage in the education for sustainable development of local communities?

» How to evaluate the progress of learners?