Step 1: Building knowledge
Develop your understanding of the four sustainability concepts. Click on the drop-down boxes for more information and knowledge-building activities.
Systems
Systems are the interdependent (everything depends on everything else) and dynamic (always changing) networks of beings, places, and things that support all life on Earth and our collective wellbeing.
We usually divide these networks into four groups, or spheres, although these spheres interact as well!
- Lithosphere. This is the solid parts of the Earth. It includes:
- Ocean floors
- Rocks
- Sand
- Continents
- Volcanoes
- Soil
- Biosphere. This is the living parts of the Earth. It includes:
- Fungi
- Animals
- Plants
- Bones
- Faeces
- Forests
- Wetlands
- Hydrosphere. This is the water parts of the Earth. It includes:
- Oceans
- Lakes
- Rivers
- Rain
- Ice
- Snow
- Clouds
- Atmosphere. This is the gas parts of the Earth. It includes:
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Carbon dioxide
- Your breath
- Burps
- Farts
To understand how these systems interact and affect each other, you could:
- Draw and label a picture including all four spheres
- Create a Drama Machine with each person representing a different sphere.
Futures
Futures are possibilities of what is to come. These possibilities can be:
- Probable (likely to happen)
- Plausible (could happen)
- Possible (might happen)
- Preposterous (unlikely to happen)
It is important to develop our capacities for thinking and acting in ways to create futures that are equitable, sustainable, and inclusive. Reflect on some or all of the following questions to build your capacities and understanding:
- Equitable
- What does it mean to treat everyone fairly? Can you think of a time when you or someone you know was treated unfairly?
- Can you think of a situation where treating everyone the same might not be fair? How could it be made more equitable?
- How can you, your classmates, your school, and/or your community work towards more equitable futures?
- Sustainable
- What does it mean to take care of the Earth? Why does this matter?
- What roles do individuals, governments, and businesses play in creating sustainable futures?
- How do your daily choices impact the environment? What changes could make these choices more sustainable?
- Inclusive
- Can you think of a time when someone was left out? What could have been done to make the situation more inclusive?
- Why is it important to listen to everyone’s ideas, even if they are different from yours?
- How do schools, workplaces, and society benefit from being more inclusive? What challenges might we face when working towards inclusive futures?
Discuss your answers with your classmates. Are their perspectives similar or different?
Design
Design is how we plan for preferred futures. Our planning should be innovative (new, original, different) and creative (imaginative). It is important that we take into account how our designs impact and affect systems.
Our designs could include products, environments, and services. Below are listed some existing innovative and creative designs that are helping to create equitable, sustainable, and inclusive futures:
- Products
- Biodegradable furniture
- Recycled cultery
- Edible coffee cups
- Bamboo toothbrushes
- Insect hotels
- Mushroom helmets
- Cultured meat
- Upcycled clothes and shoes
- Environments
- Passive architecture
- Wildlife corridors
- Parks
- Green roofs
- Free public transport
- Five-minute neighbourhoods
- Biosphere reserves
- Services
- Recycling
- Composting
- Reusing
- Crop rotation
- Renewable energy
- Cool burning
Which ones have you heard of before? Which ones do you want to know more about? What other innovative and creative designs can you think of? Choose one design to find out more about and share your new knowledge with your classmates.
World views
World views are individual and community ideas about how the world works, and our role in the world. World views include attitudes, values, and beliefs.
- Attitudes are how we think or feel about something. When you think about the future, how do you feel? Why?
- Accepting
- Anxious
- Calm
- Committed
- Detached
- Hopeful
- Miserable
- Passionate
- Something else?
- Values are what we view as important. Values can be principles that guide our behaviour. Below are some common social values. Which ones do you view as important? What other values do you hold? Why do you think that is?
- Respect
- Freedom
- Justice
- Cooperation
- Courage
- Community
- Kindness
- Trust
- Equality
- Beliefs are things that we accept as true. Beliefs can be personal, spiritual, political, or philosophical. Here are some common beliefs. Do you accept these beliefs as true, or want to challenge them?
- Everyone has the capacity to change
- We are all insignificant
- I have the power to change my circumstances
- Life is unpredictable
- Lying is bad
- Giving is better than receiving
- If you see someone or something in need, you should help
Now that you understand a bit more about world views, consider the following:
- How are world views formed?
- Which world views recognise how the Earth’s systems are interdependent?
- Which world views value equitable, sustainable, and inclusive futures?
- How are world views linked to designs and actions for sustainability?
Create a poster promoting world views that are linked to sustainability.
Step 2: Brainstorming
Second, brainstorm sustainability topics. Topics can include places, needs, and resources.
Human-affected places and human needs and resources are important, but so are places with little to no human impact, environmental needs, and natural resources. We want to think about the more-than-human.
Below are listed some ideas for each topic. Before you click on the drop-down boxes, see how many you can come up with on your own. The ideas here are general – you should try to be as specific as possible.
Human-affected places
- Urban areas
- Farmlands
- Country managed by First Nations groups
- Landfills
Places with little to no human impact
- Tundra
- Forests
- Deserts
- Grasslands
Human needs
- Food
- Water
- Clothing
- Shelter
- Sleep
- Health
- Employment
- Relationships
- Respect
- Purpose
Environmental needs
- Healthy ecosystems
- Biodiversity
- Wildlife conservation
- Stable climate
Human-created resources
- Technologies
- Infrastructure
- Energy
- Manufactured goods
- Agriculture
- Healthcare
- Education
- Communication
- Culture
- Art
Natural resources
- Water
- Air
- Minerals
- Plants
- Animals
Step 3: Connecting
Now, come up with ideas that connect a sustainability concept (Step 1) with a sustainability topic (Step 2). Use the activities below to help. Do a few activities quickly, then focus on the ones you find the most interesting, enjoyable, or powerful.
An example is given for each activity based on the sustainability topic ‘wetlands’.
Wetlands are areas that are covered by or saturated by water either seasonally or permanently. The water can be salt, fresh, or somewhere in between.
Wetlands can be human-affected or places with little to no human impact. Can you think of a wetlands near you?
First Nations knowledges and practices
Reflect on what you learnt while on Country about First Nations knowledges and responsibilities. How do First Nations peoples (in Australia and/or globally) connect with, care for, know about, and/or contribute to your sustainability topic? Do further research as necessary.
Wetlands are materially and culturally important to First Nations peoples. Wetlands can be ceremonial sites, hunting and gathering grounds, and boundary markers.
In Australia, 11 of the most important wetlands are managed or jointly managed by First Nations peoples. For example, the Gippsland Lakes on Tatungalung Country are jointly managed by the Gunaikurnai Peoples and Parks Victoria. Read more about the importance of these wetlands and how they are managed here.
Mapping systems
Using stickynotes or scraps of paper, individually brainstorm for one minute everything you can think of that is influenced by or influences your sustainability topic. As a group, examine these influences and organise them into a ‘map’. Draw relationships between the different areas of the map.
The researchers’ wetlands brainstorm, inspired by the Wonthaggi Wetlands Reserve on Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Country:
ducks, lakes, rain, dogs, rubbish, moorhens, wattle, owls, paperbarks, gravel paths, humans, ferns, kangaroos, echidnas, soil
Click on the thumbnail to view our map:
Preposterous futures
Go around the circle and share an imagining of a probable change humans might make to live more sustainably in relation to your topic. Now share a plausible change. Then a possible change. Finally, share a preposterous change. Who can imagine the most preposterous sustainable future?
Probable changes:
- Restoring and rehabilitating degraded wetlands to their natural functions
- Engaging and educating communities about the importance of wetlands and conservation efforts
Plausible changes:
- Cities integrating wetlands into urban planning
- Farmers adopting more sustainable practices like reducing chemical use to prevent runoff
Possible changes:
- Using wetlands as carbon sinks
- Large-scale rewilding
Preposterous changes:
- Developing cities that float on and harmoniously interact with wetland ecosystems
- Genetically modifying humans to thrive in wetlands
Modelling designs
Using found objects, create an artefact representing a human creation that will improve sustainability in relation to your topic. Explain to your teacher or another group how your creation works and what it will achieve.
This artefact was created out of cardboard, wool, net, and other found objects by a student as part of the 2024 Artefacts of the Future program:
The student explains:
I’ve created a completely controlled biome with artificial conditions and smaller hybrids of plants and animals.
It has automatic recording on biome health to keep it at a constant state of growth to gain nutrients and materials. Conditions controlled are temperature, UV rating, and weather conditions.
It was created to sustain smaller versions of environments to prevent natural biomes from becoming extinct with the growing demand for the Earth’s nutrients. For people, it’s very important to have our natural world around us, but it’s even more important to get what they want when they want. This problem leads us to a conflict: have higher living standards or preserve our natural world before it’s too late. That’s why the mini controlled biome was created before it was too late. I don’t envision humanity stopping and reversing the destruction that’s been forced upon our world, so I made this to preserve what’s left before it’s all gone.
Political resistance
Develop a creative strategy for disrupting, resisting, or challenging society to improve sustainability in relation to your topic, such as a strike, political performance, slogan, protest song, petition, or artwork.
The research team created some slogans intended to improve sustainability in relation to wetlands. Which ones would you use on a protest?
“Wetlands aren’t Wastelands – Protect, Restore, Respect!”
“No Wetlands, No Water – Your Future Dries Up!”
“Drain the Greed, Not the Wetlands!”
“Don’t Pave Paradise – Potoroos, Not Parking Lots!”
Political action
Develop a creative strategy for working within existing societal systems to improve sustainability in relation to your topic, such as changing or creating new policies, laws, voting systems, political parties, or agendas.
The research team proposes a new law: the National Wetland Protection and Restoration Act.
Key provisions include:
- Designating and protecting all existing wetlands.
- Recognising and incorporating First Nations knowledge and management of said wetlands.
- Requiring comprehensive environmental impact assessments for any proposed projects near existing wetlands.
- Mandating the restoration of degraded wetlands.
Listening to Cassandra
Cassandra was a Trojan priestess fated to have the true gift of prophecy but never be believed. Create an artistic warning (artwork or performance) of what may happen to your topic if humans do not learn to live more sustainably. Share your warning with another group or the whole class. Reflect as a class on what you would be sad to lose, and what you will remember or learn from the warning.
This drawing was created by a student as part of the 2024 Artefacts of the Future program:
They warn: If we don’t act now, the only way we will be able to see animals is through a drawing.
Empathy timescales
Individually or as a group, imagine you are the topic. Spend 5 minutes describing, drawing, and/or embodying what you are like now. Then spend 5 minutes describing/drawing/embodying what you used to be like 25 years ago. Finally, spend 5 minutes describing/drawing/embodying what you will be like 25 years in the future (just before the Anthropocene Museum opens).
This empathy timescales poem was created by one of the research team, inspired by the Wonthaggi Wetlands Reserve on Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Country:
I am the wetlands.
I see kids riding bikes along gravel paths, herons and ducks nesting, grey skies, and rough paperbarks stretching out of the scrub.
I hear the ever-rustling winds, soft birdsong, crunching footsteps, the bark of a dog.
I smell salty air, fresh soil after rain, an abandoned chips packet from Coles.
I taste water mingling with sand and rushes, the distant exhaust fumes from the highway, fresh blood from a hunting fox.
I feel the scars of the mines, slowly settling into healing earth.
25 years ago, I saw the miners leave.
I heard the councils argue about what was to become of me.
I smelt the bbqs of the working bees.
I tasted the first seedlings as they were gently nestled in my fragile soil.
I felt their roots spread and the water return.
25 years from now, I will see the kids now grown, return with their own children to see the nesting birds.
I will hear the endangered species returning to full birdsong.
I will smell the rich soil, filled with organic carbon.
I will taste freedom from foxes and wild cats.
I will feel the cycle of life growing ever stronger.