Spending much of my childhood playing in the woods, lakes and mountains of Northern Idaho my appreciation for nature is deeply rooted. Now living in one of the largest and most polluted cities in the world, Shanghai my perspective on development is multifaceted but to be truthful I would trade the shopping-brunch lifestyle for a PB and J with my feet dangling off the dock on lake Pend D’ Orelle any day.
Obviously there must be a balance between the two and the little N. Idaho town of Sandpoint near where I grew up is doing just that. In a recent article in the New York Times Sandpoint’s initiative to join the Transition Culture movement is explained. In an effort to build a sustainable community the town has embarked on a low energy low impact movement.
In Shanghai on Washan Lu about 20 kilometers from the city center a transition is happening too. Only this one is stark contrast with frenetic development of a transportation (high speed railway, car over passes and subway lines) corridor.
Both cities are moving forward with plans toward a better life in the future but this time the west is taking steps in the opposite direction. In Shanghai to make way for the new transportation corridor the low energy- low impact village style way of life has literally be leveled down and carried away. Homes, businesses and the walking-biking way of life that existed some two years ago are all but distant memories that are drowned out by the cranes and concrete.
As an educator this leaves me thinking how should transition culture be learned from in K-12 education. History and literature set the context but current changes do not seem in most educational models to be worthy of content time until they are long past….but why?
The local charter school in Sandpoint is making great connections with the small town community, engaging students in real time happenings. Here is Shanghai at one of the largest and most well funded private international schools in the world there is very little connection to changes happening around us. It’s almost as if the process of development must happen and only from hind site will constituents be reflective enough to realize whole community involvement is warranted.
