LitCam Conference "Literacy and Sustainable Economic Growth"

Education is vital – that’s clear to everybody. It’s important for the personal future of every human being – so far so good. Education is a key for the sustainable economic growth of our planet earth – well, that’s a bit more complex to understand. This correlation is rather intangible and its effects only visible years later. But in times of global economic crises, climate change and natural catastrophes we should definitely ask ourselves how can these things happen and what to do to avoid them in the future. And here comes another question: Is there any correlation between education and literacy and a sustainable economic growth? A direct link may be difficult to prove but better education promises a better and autonomous life. And that’s true in every country. “Literacy” does not stop with the ability to read, write and arithmetics – it includes much more. And that is just the point – a comprehension of the world – which was discussed at this year’s LitCam conference.
What does literacy mean for a sustainable development? How do we reach sustainability? And which of all the different areas of a sustainable development is focused? These and more questions were discussed at the two-days LitCam conference at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof on the 10th and 11th of October. This year’s focus was “Literacy and sustainable economic growth”. LitCam had invited globally operating organisations, institutions and experts from the sustainable development and education sector. They presented their projects and shared their experiences with the participants. 
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the former president of Iceland, pointed out in her welcoming speech that the human kind is in the process of destroying itself. The best way to counter this is education – impart information leads to optimism and hope. She also mentioned language as one of the highest goods we can pass on to our children – and not only the mother tongue. We should build up a comprehension for people everywhere on earth – and this is to be achieved by understanding the language of the others.
A highlight of the conference was the keynote by Nnimmo Bassey. He is chair of Friends of the Earth International and won the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) in 2010. In his speech, Nnimmo Bassey stated that many people lost the comprehension of the true value of things and are only focusing on profit. But we should change our understanding of nature, avoiding catastrophes and stopping the environmental pollution. Because if nature is once destroyed, there will be nothing left to be built and exploited. Today, energy is the one good that counts. That shows that we are not as literate or educated as we want to believe. Education can play its role for climate protection.
It’s really worthwhile reading Nnimmo Basseys keynote as well as the interview with the Deutsche Welle journalist Johannes Beck.
Arne Carlsen, director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, highlighted the fact that education is a basic right. Education enables people to develop and take part in society in a sustainable way. This leads to a decline in poverty and opens the path towards a sustainable economic growth in developing and industrialised countries.
Often it is the poorest and those who contribute the least to climate change who suffer the most of its effects, stated Ramon Mapa, People’s Initiative for Learning and Community Development from the Philippines. They do not have any insurance and thus pay for the damages themselves. Therefore a general rethinking is needed. Taking as an example his project in the Philippines, Mapa explained the necessity to support poor people in remote areas. They are excluded and often do not have the possibility to participate in the social life of the country. Mapa’s vision is to enable all people to make use of their right to education and learning and offer access to relevant programmes for all groups. Education leads to a better comprehension of nature and the personal surrounding, which he sees as a precondition to foster a new thinking and build up a sustainable society. The people in remote regions of the Philippines have to understand first which importance education has for their own futures and which chances there are – “only via education will they be able to change something in their communities”, he is convinced.
Olivier Laboulle, head of the Secretariat of the UN Decade Education for Sustainable Development, illustrated in his presentation the influence of education on the environment. He shared the assumption that a higher education nowadays leads to an increasing energy wasting and to environmental destruction, in other words to a less considerate life. But you neither can say: “Stop to educate people and ecological destruction will decline.” Education as such has to change.
Global United FC is the first non-profit football club joined by worldwide known and successful players in order to campaign for a sustainable and social climate protection. Lutz Pfannenstiel, founder of the club and former football professional pleads for a more considerate and sensible exposure to the environment and its resources. He organises football matches at special places – e.g. the Antarctic – for to rise awareness about the effects of climate change and the importance of education.
The well-attended first day of the conference finished with a concluding panel discussion underlining importance of literacy and that every human being has to have access to education in order to achieve a sustainable change – of its personal life, the economic situation of its country and the environment. Education should lead to a better comprehension for each other and a respect for nature.
At the second day, various literacy and development aid projects presented their work. Ignatz Heintz, director of Avallain, presented a health encyclopaedia for Africa developed in cooperation with Google in his workshop „Developing and deploying a mobile health literacy system for Africa with Google SMS tips“. The information written by medical experts can be downloaded to a personal mobile phone. The problem in Africa is not necessarily the lack of medical institutions but the high cost of treatment. In most countries SMS Tips are free of charge – depending on the mobile phone provider. In a simple language and with lots of showcase comic strips the programme gives medical advice and information – including the recommendation to consult a doctor in severe cases – and thus have a share in improving the personal situation of the people.
In spite of the three million NGOs working in India the gap between the rich and the poor is growing. Clifton Grover, Magic Bus project, and Barbara Müller, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, promoted more and closer cooperation between western companies and local NGOs. They argue that often humanitarian organisations fail to implement basic corporate policy like efficiency and transparency. Partnerships between NGOs and companies benefit both sides, the presenters stated. NGOs can make use of the knowledge of the western business models and the companies receive insight into the culture and the people of a country who’s “language” they do not speak. As an example of a successful partnership, Müller and Grover presented the sports project “Magic Bus”.
Informative, instructive and inspiring: the two conference days offered besides numerous project presentations enough space for discussion in smaller groups and the opportunity to share ideas and opinions, talk about new strategies and make out new cooperation partners.
The next LitCam conference will take place on October 8th and 9th 2012 focusing on “Literacy and Democracy”.

All information on the participating organisations and persons are summarised in our conference handout.

Hatab Camara from the Community Based Forestry Management Programme in the Gambia unfortunately could not participate in the conference. He sent us his presentation on "Empowering communities through natural resource management" for to share with you.