“It’s not the end, it’s the beginning,” stated Dr. Richard Russo as he finished his presentation at this year’s Focus Frostburg event. Dr. Russo is in his first year teaching at Frostburg State University for the Department of Geography, but he also teaches a new class called Introduction to Sustainability Studies.
In his presentation, Education for the Local Future, Dr. Russo talked about the value place-based education holds from the perspective of a sustainable future.
At the beginning of the presentation, Dr. Russo pointed to a picture on the screen. The picture was of Piney Reservoir, which is located right up the road in Garret County. Although the reservoir is responsible for much of the local drinking water, Dr. Russo noted that most of the audience wasn’t familiar with the picture because of their lack of local education. “It’s not your fault,” claimed Dr. Russo, “Educators focus on the global education requirements because they think you already have the local covered. The universal laws are only part of the reality.” Dr. Russo argued that sustainability focuses on the local level because you can reach that local reality that the community offers.
Dr. Russo talked through the many goals for place based education for the sustainable future which included: generating energy from local renewable resources, sequestering carbon in plants & soil, add value to local products, purify wastewater without the presence of chemicals, and fostering cooperation in children. Dr. Russo noted just how hard it is to change how children think in the face of such a tough globalized economy. “Do we really know how to raise children to be cooperative versus competitive,” he stated.
“Academic fads come and go. Local awareness sadly has never been one of those fads,” stated Dr. Russo. He then described the many barriers facing local awareness in higher education. It starts with curricula, which is very limiting in the sense that students are focused in certain areas of study, and that each student must complete their general education requirements. Dr. Russo made a good point about the professor’s role in pushing local awareness aside. “What’s the likelihood that professors at the national universities are actually from that region? Their knowledge is most likely based from some other place of study,” explained Dr. Russo.
Many people in the audience voiced the problems on what Dr. Russo calls, “Re-localizing higher education.” However, Frostburg State University professor, Dr. Joanne Budzien, made a good point. “It’s hard to get the students to stay. Once they earn their degree many of the student’s leave the area,” she explained. Dr. Russo agreed, “Alleghany and Garret County are one of the poorest in Maryland. That doesn’t mean they don’t need a new vision or promise that the graduates could provide.”
Dr. Russo asked the audience what Maryland schools offered programs in sustainability for agriculture. “I’m not surprised about the silence in the room because there is no place in Maryland to learn more about sustainable agriculture.”
However, besides Frostburg State University, there are other universities that are implementing successful sustainability programs. Berea College, located in Kentucky, offers free tuition to students as long as they work locally in sustainability fields. Other college include: Warren Wilson College, Sterling College, and Evergreen College.
Dr. Russo opened the floor up to the audience to come up with ideas about integrating more place-based learning at Frostburg State University. Ideas included: more field trips, more time outside the classroom, and more focus about local awareness at freshman orientation. Although Dr. Russo acknowledged that time is a factor, he agreed that it is important to create more local atmosphere in the classroom. “I often feel that some subjects are disjointed or tacked on,” he explained, “We talk about bio-diversity in general, but does this have a concern here at the local level?”
Dr. Russo took the audiences’ advice in hopes to generate more ideas about creating a more localized education. As for now, he agrees that Frostburg State University has taken many positive steps into building community connections. “We’ve got a presence on Main Street, but there is a lot left to do to bridge the gap between campus and the local community,” smiles Dr. Russo.
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