The Promotion of Ecological Social Justice in Mauritius as a Means of Communicating Sustainability through Education
Higher education in Mauritius has an important role to play in educating future generations, who will eventually become leaders in various sectors. Our students will benefit from a better understanding of the 17 Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs)s as well as the Education for Justice (E4J) initiative which promotes holistic education. This paper presents work that has been done in the context of the International Association of Universities (IAU) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) competition and grant for Young Scholars, and discusses the strategic placement of the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE), in the local landscape, to extend understanding of the SDGs and their ethical dimension in terms of what we refer to as ecological social justice. Through ecological social justice we move beyond an anthropocentric conception of peace, justice and sustainable ‘development’ towards recognition of the intrinsic and inextricable connection between society, in terms of communities and cultures, and the environment. The paper uses three case studies: (1) ecolinguistics-related research projects focused on the promotion of ecological social justice, critical thinking and interdisciplinarity (ecolinguistics studies the role of language in sustaining relations between humans and nature) (Stibbe, 2015); (2) curriculum development activities for primary school level that address sociocultural and ecological issues; and (3) teacher education practices that incorporate module content and activities encouraging peaceful living and advocating a broader vision of holistic education and inclusivity that is sensitive to local realities. Through these three case studies, an emphasis is put on how the MIE is in a unique position to shape and nurture generations of primary and seconday teachers who will, in turn, influence society at large through how and what they teach children in schools. This is particularly important because Mauritius is one of the most ecologically devastated countries on earth, directly due to human activities (Florens, 2013), and because the MIE has a strategic impact on policies relating to education for sustainable development.