Education

The 12 basic needs

The essence of education is helping a new worldcitizen to find and develop his/her own destination. Although self-education (autodidact) is in fact the basis because we have to do the learning ourselves, teaching can help us making progress much faster than by discovering the world step-by-step all by our own.

Especially the new pioneers in modern education discovered how the core-business of education is to be found in the creativeness of the human being itself. In the same way Joseph Beuys always told the whole world that “Everybody is an artist!”. When we give our children all the tools we can trust that they can create every other world they wish. Especially in this 21st century we now see that creativeness emerges around the world not only in all the networking, but also in product development, new organizations, and new ways to live and work together worldwide.

Alhough the quality of education became even better, also old and new problems have to be solved yet. Education for all (one of the UN Millennium Goals) is on its way in the developing countries. Sponsoring education can be correct thinking financially, but has to be in the form of free donations for real creativity. And governments must not regulate but facilitate. And of course parents have to give their children enough attention because there it all begins!

The most interesting development in the 21st century is Lifelong Learning! Introduced not only for making the businessworld more flexible and innovative, but also for the consumer/citizen to develop his/her own empowerment in co-creating the world of tomorrow! See for instance our website…

Read more:

EDUCATION (WIKIPEDIA)

MONTESSORI EDUCATION

WALDORF EDUCATION

04 202304 April 2023

Global Money Week: Plan Your Money – Plant Your Future!

We went one step further in our press release indicating that not only planning but also the dialogue with all our producers
every season or at least every year is so important to bring marketing into a mutual process. To give direction to the essence
of consumer governance: Follow Your Money – Create Your World. Because every time we spend money a euro yen or dollar
starts a new round around the world to fulfill its task in connecting production trade and consumption. Daily economic life!

Since 2012 the Global Money Week reached more than 50 million children and young people around the world! Lessons on
schools, visits of (central) banks and financial institutions, workshops, tv talkshows, money museums, etc. Lifelong Learning
begins in school and money is the mirror of our daily life. Whatever we choose to buy or to save. Or to plant for the future that
we want: science and education. For new product developments and new generations of producers!

Our Consumer360Academy is a source for further learning about consumer governance. About the twelve necessities of life
and the seven questions to ask. About the “why-how-what” for every decision to make.

Global Money Week

04 202108 August 2021

University for Home Economics and Global Citizenship Education

June 19 was the day of the new National Centre of Excellence for Home Economics in Sligo, Ireland. Now the largest university for home economics, sustainable and responsible lifestyles and global citizenship education. St Angela’s University College has a long history in the development of home economics and education on sustainability and responsibility. Working together with the University in Hamar Norway and the Partnership for Education and Research on Responsible Living PERL (including Consumer360Academy), the International Federation for Home Economics IFHE, The Earth Charter, and UNESCO. And a worldwide network of teachers, teacher trainers and researchers.

The IFHE announced that the next international conference after Atlanta USA (2022) will be organized in Sligo in 2024. The university with 1600 students will then meet 1200 teachers, teacher trainers and researchers from all over the world. To talk about consumer governance “from fork to farm”!

St Angela’s College for Home Economics (Sligo Ireland)

04 202106 June 2021

Life(s)Long Learning Starts in School – UN SDG4 World Congress in Berlin

UNESCO and Education International organised the first international congress about introduction of consumer education in school curricula. Because everyone of us is co-creator, citizen and consumer as well, learning starts already in early childhood with playing shop and shopping and thinking about to buy or not to buy, saving and investing. Education International is the organisation of all 32 million teachers worldwide and UN SDG4 is about quality education for all.

Interesting to remember is that President John F Kennedy was the one who pronounced the Consumer Rights in 1962 March 15 which is since then Consumer Rights Day. A year later in Berlin he gave the inspiring speech about the fight for freedom at the Berlin Wall with the empathic words “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) to trigger people to fight for freedom and responsibility. As consumers living in the 21st century we now have to learn to say “I am a consumer” and learn to manage our freedom and responsibility as an ongoing lifelong learning process, developing in accordance with all other developments in the world.

The conference in Berlin was about consumer freedom, consumer rights and consumer reponsibility. About all aspects of consumer governance to be implemented in all school curricula. To help the next generation(s) becoming world leaders in responsible production and consumption! To get all the tools for working on the future they want.

UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development

04 202008 August 2020

Stakeholder Engagement and the 2030 SDG Agenda (Forword E-Learning Course MOOC)

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its core, reflect the aspirations of millions of people from all over the world, for the world they want. Civil society, major groups and other stakeholders, showing unprecedented commitment and dynamism, made concrete contributions to the intergovernmental process that resulted in the adoption of the 2030 Agenda by Heads of State and Government in September 2015. Therefore, the 2030 agenda is an Agenda “of the people, by the people and for the people” and it is expected to be implemented with the participation of “all countries, all stakeholders and all people”.

The 17 SDGs cut across several interlinked challenges. Tackling climate change and achieving sustainable production and consumption patterns, for instance, are central to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and can unlock vast potential for economic growth in all regions and for all people. Creating peaceful and just societies are cornerstones of the 2030 Agenda, with the interrelation between security, humanitarian action and development being the very basis for the achievement of all SDGs.

The success of our collective journey to 2030 will greatly depend on how effectively Governments, who are in the driving seat of implementation of this transformative and universal agenda, engage national parliaments, local authorities, indigenous peoples, civil society, the scientific and academic community and the private sector in follow-up and implementation efforts and bridge the gap between people’s needs and national policy setting.

The multi-stakeholder nature of the 2030 Agenda demands an enabling environment for participation by all, as well as new ways of working in partnerships to mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources at all levels. This publication, which adapts the content of an e-learning course (Massive Open Online Course / MOOC) developed by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), is designed for government officials and stakeholders interested in enhancing participation and inclusion in the implementation and followup of the 2030 Agenda at all levels.

It contains key information about participatory approaches in SDG implementation and provides concrete tools and methods in this regard. Ensuring concerted action is critical as we embark upon the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs. We hope this publication can be a supporting tool in this regard.

04 202003 March 2020

Economy – From Neanderthal to Life(s)Long Learning

Lifelong learning is a hot item in education, business and even in politics today! Especially learning children on financial literacy promoted in March every year during the Global Money Week, organized by OECD/INFE. To learn how to manage your necessities of life and how money reflects what you choose to buy or not to buy. To recognise all aspects of sustainability and responsibility, and so creating your life in harmony with the whole world around you.

When we were Neanderthalers in prehistoric times we already had to make those same choices on what we really needed and how we could divide all necessary labour to meet those needs. And although money did not yet exist by then, in our minds we were already perfect bookkeepers to recognise what should be reasonable or not. Today we should say: a reason-able income is a right, but in those times we had to do calculating in our mind to find the “true price” when exchanging labour against products.

Last year we introduced the MoneyManager360 as a toolkit for household bookkeeping and as an overview on all necessities of life. Especially useful for the individual consumer. This February we introduced it as a toolkit for classroom games on home economics, also meant as an eye-opener to understand local economies and world economy as well. By playing it in a group of twelve people to divide the work for making all necessary goods and services. Then we have the most direct way to learn and understand economy. Working in a group also gives a much deeper insight in all aspects of the twelve necessities of life, the seven aspects of trade and of all possible connections in between. And of course the overview where everything fits together in a most harmonic way! The game gives a lively picture of economy and finance, the moneymanager is the most simple and easy bookkeeping sheet or daily bankaccount when used in an app.

The classroom game can be played in a natural environment, in an open air museum or a museum for education, or in the classroom. First by talking about everybody’s needs and about reasons and reasonabilty (round 1). Then everybody can make an offer to make a specific product or service based on his/her own expertise and capacity (round 2). The next round all aspects of trade can be discussed such as quality, quantity and delivery (round 3). Then all products and services can be translated into amounts of money representing the worth of it (round 4). Finally can become visible how everyone’s income should be reason-able for the reasons to buy the necessary necessities of life (round 5). Lessons learned can be discussed in combination with possible options for product development, or efficiency.

Especially interesting is that we are always playing four different roles in the worldeconomy. Most of us as consumer/citizen and producer/service provider, some of us as trader /transporter or banker/bookkeeper. And by playing this game we can understand worldeconomy much better! The twelve necessities of life and the seven aspects of trade are the basic eye-openers for home economics, business, politics and the big picture of worldeconomy! The game will be further promoted this year and beyond. Our website contains all ingredients for lifelong learning!

Consumer360Academy

04 201909 September 2019

Banks Promoting Consumer Financial Literacy

ING Bank (see picture) and most other banks in the Netherlands are now promoting sustainability and financial literacy. Through lessons, apps, toolkits and moneymanagers (household and budget booklets).
For expenses only, we developed the most basic MoneyManager360 (see our own website www.consumer360.org).

08 201908 August 2019

24 Hours Econothon – World Economy in the Classroom

All countries and all people in the world have common challenges. In accordance with the SDG’s (UN Sustainable Development Goals 2015 – 2030) the World Bank and civil society organisations worldwide work together to find the best possible solutions for a better world. Education, sustainability, levering trade to reduce poverty, and everything else that can help the world economy to be profitable for everyone. In a 24-hour marathon discussion live on the internet, the World Bank discussed all aspects of world development and explained what they are doing to help us make the futures we want.

World Bank Econothon / Replays

04 201904 April 2019

Global Money Week, Financial Literacy, MoneyManagers and More …

Since 2012 the Global Money Week helps children around the world to learn financial literacy. On what sorts of information you need and what arguments are relevant to take the best possible decisions to buy or not to buy. In almost all countries around the world children could visit stock exchanges, banks, and money museums. Or take classes on financial literacy: spending, saving and subsidising. Or learn all about income, taxes, insurances and all kinds of earnings and savings.

For all the (future) consumers of the world we ourselves launched the MoneyManager360. The most complete but also the most simple overview of all expenses for all necessities of life. The new extra domain-name www.moneymanager360.money redirects to the homepage of our website www.consumer360.org where you can find the moneymanager (one small excel sheet only, download for free). All the other pages of the website are in fact background information for taking decisions.

Global Money Week

04 201811 November 2018

21 Lessons for the 21st Century – 21 Challenges for Consumers!

Yuval Noah Harari is professor of history in Israel and wrote his third masterpiece! After his books about the history and the future of mankind this one is about here and now. About the world problems of today and the challenges there are. The big picture of what is happening in the world and what the options are to go forward towards the future we REALLY want!

Yuval Noah Harari about why he wrote his book (2 minutes)

04 201809 September 2018

IFHE Conference: What is Happening in Home Economics?
Workshop MoneyManager360 – Toolkit for LifeLongLearning

The IFHE conference last August in Osnabruck, Germany was about the latest developments in home economics, also in relation to world economy, sustainable development goals and rethinking economics and education. The International Federation for Home Economics was founded in 1908 so it is also celebrating its 110 years anniversary. The conferences in 2019 and 2020 will be in Trinidad and Atlanta, USA titled “creativity and innovation in home economics education for sustainable development”. The IFHE is partner of Consumers International and United Nations.

At the conference there were sessions about research, education, consumer issues, financial literacy and sustainability. We gave a presentation on the MoneyManager360. THE easiest toolkit for bookkeeping our daily expenses for our 12 necessities of life.

Home economics changed because humanity entered the 21st century. We now live in the age of wanting to know everything, searching for the most relevant arguments and taking responsibility for our decisions and expenses. For the future(s) we want.

MoneyManager360
Download for free on the homepage of our own website www.consumer360.org

IFHE/EAHE Conference 2018

04 201806 June 2018

Rethinking Education and Consumer Education

This year the State of the World published by the Worldwatch Institute has got the highly inspiring title “EarthEd – Rethinking Education on a Changing Planet”. About educating the next generation to take over the responsibility for nature and for the prosperity of all mankind. Of course the book is more comprehensive than the one-page Annual Report 2014 on our own website (See: About us). This was especially written for consumers and the twelve consumer organizations working towards an economy of question and answer together with producers, traders and bankers. And that means: life(s)long learning!

Worldwatch Institute

04 201703 March 2017

Education Dialogue Change – Global Goal SDG 17

More than 7.000.000.000 consumers are taking their everyday decisions to buy or not to buy products or services for their daily living. Education about the world around us is now more important than ever because of the many problems in all areas of our cultural social and economical world order.

Towards a new economical and social world order dialogue on a regular basis between consumers and producers is the essential basis. Only by meeting each other live (and via internet) understanding of the real problems and possible solutions can be managed and innovations triggered for the future we want. By asking better questions we can hope for better answers and better solutions!

From a macrocosmic point of view and way of thinking, through all possible arguments about the WHY HOW and WHAT towards a final “Put your Money where your Mouth is”.

From Sustainable Development Global Goals via the worldwide agreed ideas about sustainability in ISO 26000 we can change the world around us in the best possible directions!

From the Story of Stuff through Change towards Solutions!

Education in the 21st Century – Consumer Freedom and Responsibility

The year 2016 was full of activities and conferences about education, THE most important Global Goal for making the future we want. Especially the education of the next generations in schools and universities for finding their ways to cope with all the worldwide problems now and in the future. But also of course for the adults of today, and for all organizations in business, government and non-governmental organizations.

On January 10 this year even President Obama gave us in his Farewell Speech the urgent wake-up call to become more and more active citizens to make democracy work! Freedom and responsibility are the two sides of the same coin!

United Nations Partnership Exchange

July 18 we visited the United Nations Partnership Exchange conference in New York for the first year evaluation of the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 and for looking forward for the year(s) to come. About three hundred participants representing partner organizations from around the world reported about their activities and about the plans for the future. Looking toward the little green park outside the building we saw the great bronze statue of the archangel Saint Michael on his horse with a long spear fighting the dragon of evil. This could give us an image of hope that the Global Goals will be reached even if everything looks to be too difficult sometimes.

International Conference on Consumer Research

September 26 we were in Bonn Germany at the International Conference on Consumer Research ICCR for the latest results of researchers from around the world. Bonn is also the residence of the International Federation for Home Economics IFHE the worldwide organization for teachers and researchers in home economics.since 1912, Especially interesting was the closing keynote speech of Frank Trentmann author of the book just launched one month earlier about the complete history of THE consumer. His book The Empire of Things is already a bestseller from day 1 and a masterpiece for reading not only for researchers but for every consumer as well!

International Conference on Financial Education

October 13 the International Conference on Financial Education was held in Auckland New Zealand organized by the OECD / INFE. Especially for research about financial literacy teached in schools. This time a little bit too expensive for us to go but we hope to join a conference in the future. It also triggered us to renew our contacts with editors for an upgraded reprint of our own financial agenda the Consumer360Manager.

TEDxAmsterdamED

At TedxAmsterdmED in March and TEDxNyenrodeUniversity in October we learned a lot about the latest developments in education worldwide not only related to schools and universities but also in lifelong learning and even in learning how to win the Olympic Games by accepting yourself and not only thinking about the top you want to reach!

Club of Rome

And last but not least we were invited for the two day seminar at Nyenrode University organized by the Club of Rome in the Netherlands. A highly inspiring seminar about how we can really change our habits necessary for real change towards a better world. Professor Dennis Meadows who ws co-founder of the Club of Rome and the co-author of the Limits to Growth in 1972 introduced his latest bestseller to be The Climate Change Playbook! He presented all 22 games how to learn to change our habits for real change!

The world in dialogue – the future of marketing

For the years to come education will be highest priority for all of us consumers young and old because WE are the change! And working towards an economy of question and answer we are the ones to ask better questions so that producers can give us better answers in delivering better products and better services. For that we need all kinds of platforms and activities to exchange needs and possibilities. Consumer organizations and inititiatives will be the game changers towards new business models of this new bottom-up marketing.

Consumer360Academy and catalyzing change

In 1980 November 11 our chairman started his research project about new consumer initiatives and consumer organizations and the role of the single consumer and the management information needed to be able to find relevant arguments to take best possible decisions, Working at the newly founded Triodos Bank for sustainable and ethical business finance he had the opportunity to meet many new initiatives in all kinds of projects in agriculture and food, healthcare, education, housing, transport, communication etc etc. After seven years of research and many newsletters he published in 1998 his sixty page book Consumer freedom and responsibility – towards the 21st century. Founding the Free Consumers Association in 2001 was the next step and the website Consumer360Academy in 2004 the final step to inform consumers and organizations worldwide. By ongoing research, following all the news in the world, helping many projects by lobbying and moderating, with brainstorms or a simple email about an interesting article or link, helping where possible in catalyzing change.

04 201611 November 2016

OECD Global Symposium on Financial Education in Auckland New Zealand

More than 150 high-level delegates from 40 countries attended the two-day event in Auckland, New Zealand, including officials and experts from the OECD/International Network on Financial Education (OECD/INFE), ministries of finance and education, central banks, regulatory and supervisory authorities, governmental officials, as well as international organisations, the academic community, the private sector and NGOs.

This high-level global symposium addressed the following topics:

How we convince a generation who “want it now” to save
How we compete with the instant gratification of “buy now, pay later
How we shift thinking so that today’s demands and financial needs are balanced with achieving sustainable behaviour change to improve financial well-being tomorrow
The specific needs of women and how they can be addressed
Identifying needs and gaps through the results of the first OECD/INFE Survey on Financial Literacy and Financial Inclusion

UNESCO Chair – Partnership for Education and Research About Responsible Living PERL

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 build on the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seek to address their unfinished business. “The interlinkages and integrated nature of the Sustainable Development Goals are of crucial importance in ensuring that the purpose of the new Agenda is realised. If we achieve our ambitions across the full extent of the Agenda, the lives of all will be profoundly improved and our world will be transformed for the better.” (From the preamble of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development)Awareness of the impacts human activity have on the environment and on society is not new, but integrating up-to-date, evidence-based insights on the topic into higher education curricula and practice is only slowly becoming noticeable.

Following the first global wake-up calls in the early 1970’s, the topic of minimizing the effects on nature caused by the way people live was reiterated and became the core mandate for Agenda 21 initiatives. Focus was put on the role of industry and government in improving infrastructures, enacting regulations and modifying products in order to reduce carbon emissions. Life-cycle analysis of products and dematerialization/decoupling production processes have been the main approaches, concentrating on improving energy efficiency.

Eventually economists and social scientists provided additional perspectives dealing with the social consequences of unsustainable production and consumption. The role of the individual and his/her lifestyle choices has become a significant part of the discussion on how to mitigate climate change and promote the transition to a more just, sustainable future. The Marrakech Process on Sustainable Consumption and Production (2000-2010) supported projects and worked to bring to the attention of educators, policy-makers and the public at large the pressing need to reflect on how we organize our daily life, socialize, share, learn and educate. In other words, rethinking our ways of living, how we buy and what we consume.

The UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) integrated education for sustainable consumption into its agenda as an essential element of ESD in 2008. By then recognition of the interrelatedness of systems and processes was growing and the discussion about sustainable lifestyles expanded to examine how unsustainable ways of living are connected to non-communicable diseases, to poverty, and to the unequal usage and distribution of resources. The concepts of social responsibility began to incorporate consideration also for future generations and their opportunities.

At the World Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in 2012, leaders of the world agreed that awareness-raising and education about sustainable lifestyles needed to increase both in scope and quality. A 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10-YFP) was adopted and preparations are being made to launch the program on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education in order to up-scale positive initiatives already in existence and to support new, innovative ones.”We recognize that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production, and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development.” The Future We Want, Rio+20, 2012 Parallel to the establishing of a 10-YFP UNESCO has prepared a Global Action Program as a follow-up to the UN DESD. This Program also emphasizes the urgent need for holistic, values-based, practical education which stimulates systems thinking and social learning.

Among the issues which PERL has brought to the discourse on sustainable development has been that of the need to promote empathy, social learning, moderation and sharing. To do so, a more world-embracing vision is needed from institutions of higher education — a vision which encourages all students to be global citizens and to show in their daily lives how they contribute to a more just and sustainable world community. This is more easily said than done. PERL has encouraged the processes of social innovation and co-creating based on a cycle of social learning which involves reflection on values and practices, frank and open consultation amongst all relevant stakeholders, action, reflection on the actions taken, making adaptions, followed by a renewed cycle of consultation-action-reflection-adaption. PERL has also assisted in creating multi-stakeholder alliances and fora where new research and experience on these issues can be shared (SOURCE: PERL / UNITWIN WEBSITE)

UNESCO Chair (Hamar University Norway)

04 201508 August 2015

Education International puts free education high on summit agenda UN

When the governments of Ethiopia, Norway and the Republic of Korea joined UNESCO to discuss the Investment Case for Education at the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa on 14 July, one important issue was absent from the conversation: free education. A side event was organised around the conclusions of both the World Education Forum in Incheon, Republic of Korea in May as well as this month’s Summit on Education for Development in Oslo Norway.

“Education is the most transformative source of any society. We need to assert education as the core of the new sustainable development goals, whether it is gender equality or skills.” Also on the panel was the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) stressing that more needs to be done to adequately finance education, including greater partnerships in advocacy because education needs its moment now. We have to step up our investment, adding that training is crucial; otherwise you end up with kids not learning if the teachers aren’t trained! Access to quality education is a basic human right. The conference created a realistic roadmap on how to finance the Sustainable Development Goals.

Commercialisation and privatisation in and of education will be at the heart of Education International’s agenda for the next four years as the organisation concluded a successful Seventh World Congress in Ottawa, Canada. It is a “threat that poses great harm to the greatest enterprise of our society: quality public education”, said EI’s President, Susan Hopgood in her closing remarks at the end of five days of debate, networking, and sharing of ideas and best practice. “We leave here united, ready to fight against the scourge of private enterprise in our classrooms.”If the new global Sustainable Development Goals are to succeed, EI must use its standing to ensure quality education for all finally becomes reality for every child, she said. Hopgood also praised the work of Education Support Personnel and called for investment in young educators.

Concluding her remarks, she said: “This congress was about values in the world. It was about union values, educator values, and societal values. We are here to make a better world.”

Education International

04 201506 June 2015

Economy360 – An Introduction to Consumer Governance

“As consumers we take all the decisions of the world! Who is going to work for us as farmer physician teacher architect or otherwise? So we don’t have to think about empowerment in the first place because we already decide in which direction a euro yen or dollar is starting a new round. Directly or indirectly via taxes savings or subsidies. So consumer education is all about conciousness. About learning how to make the best possible choices. And the best way to see the big picture and all the details of the complex world of economy is by looking through the windows of our twelve daily necessities of life. The easiest way to streamline all information for “consumer governance” (Our first text on the expertblog of the European website for schoolteachers).

ConsumerClassroom

04 201503 March 2015

Unesco 70 years and the Unitwin chair for sustainable lifestyles

At the final conference of the Unesco Decade for Education for Sustainable Development in Nagoya Japan last November professor Victoria Thoresen was chair of a discussion panel. This month at the headquarters in Paris she received the UNESCO/UNITWIN chair for Sustainable Lifestyles for Hedmark University in Hamar Norway and launched the book Responsible Living – Concepts, Education and Future Perspectives.

At the conference of the International Federation of Home Economics later this month in Malta she gave a very inspiring presentation of what consumer education can be! Not only about responsible living as an individual but also as part of the whole world family we are all together as consumers and citizens as well! The essence of a holistic view to see what is everyone’s role on the stage called planet earth as focus point in the universe!

DESD 2005 – 2014 Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (final conference)

In Nagoya Japan the UNESCO World Conference looked back to the decade for educating the next generation towards more knowledge about sustainable development. Coming to an end in looking back of what was achieved it was also a looking forward to the next decade to come! As we know the Millenium Development Goals will also be followed next year by the new UN Sustainable Development Goals 2015 – 2025.

Global Wellbeing – World Congress of Home Economics Teachers

In Melbourne 750 teachers and teacher trainers gathered to discuss home economics, consumer-education, sustainabilty and responsible lifestyles beyond Rio+20. The International Federation of Home Economics IFHE is the oldest organization working for more than hundred years already on awareness and research in home economics on schools worldwide.

First Graduates in Consumer Affairs

Interesting developments of all kinds this quarter of the year! The 80 regions around the world where business governments and education are working together in pilot areas for sustainability celebrated their first five years of expertise built. The first students finished the new EU masters for future managers of consumer organizations marketing or government. And a new series of travel guides for sustainability worldwide is expanding rapidly.

Worldwide introduction of consumer-education

Consumer-education in sustainable consumption has been introduced by the United Nations at the CSD-18 conference May 3-14 in New York. The Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living PERL led by the Hedmark University in Norway was represented by the project manager prof. Victoria Thoresen. PERL is the international group of teacher trainers that prepared the Guidelines for consumer education for primary and secundary schools and higher education.

In 2008 the United Nations already published a report about how journalists and the media can help to make sustainability more and more transparent for the public, for business and for politicians ……… and for educators and students.

Life(s) long learning…

Consumer education is now introduced by Consumers International to governments worldwide for implementing in school curriculums, the place where all our knowledge of economy starts! And although this website about twelve necessities of life gives a good overview, in reality every situation is of course a complex of many issues and many many people involved. That’s the reason why the artist Joseph Beuys gives it the name “Soziale Kunst” (social art), why Schiller is writing about “Spieltrieb” (playground) and about the ethical education of mankind, and why Shakespeare says: “The whole world’s a stage and every human being a merely player”.

Where we as human beings are looking to the world of organizations around us in a threefold way (with head, heart and hands): to the world of culture (religion/art/science/education/ communication), the world of human relations (human rights/consumer rights/justice/politics and international relations), and the world of the economy (all activities where we create all our wealth together with all the other people of the world), it is in the economical aspects where things become most concrete until and including the financial bookkeeping of it all.

And to keep in touch with the big picture while acting in every single daily situation (“think globally-act locally”), it is easy to recognize that we all play our “roles” in that polarity created to gain more efficiency as consumer and/or producer (or trader or banker in between to connect those two). And that the main issue is quality of products/services as the basis for the quality of our life.

And according to Shakespeare we can have a feeling of friendship towards each other in recognizing each others role rather than thinking about the struggle for life and looking for lowest prices only! Dialogue and subscription are the best tools for bridging this gap plus a meeting or an annual report each year to evaluate the relation.

For our own lifelong learning process it can be very handy to registrate (only) our most interesting information, meetings and monthly payments on an A4 sheet with twelve columns or on the rear side of a matchbox. That’s what managers do, that’s the most simple basis for lifelong learning in consumer governance!

04 200903 March 2009

United Nations Decade for Consumer Education 2005 – 2014

More than 700 educators and scientists gathered in Bonn Germany March 31 – April 2 for a look backward and forward in the UN Decade for Education in Sustainable Development DESD 2005-2014. On the website of Consumers International we could already read the article “Here and Now” of professor Victoria Thoresen, coordinator of the Consumer Citizen Network CCN indicating that all teacher training guides are now ready to introduce consumer education in all primary and secondary schools worldwide. One hour a week to be integrated in lessons about social society and/or home economics.

Together with almost 200 teacher-trainers, scientists and consumer organizations of the Consumer Citizen Network CCN we had a conference at the Technical University in Berlin a week earlier for the “finishing touch” of six yeats of research and preparation of those teacher-training guidelines and all other aspects of consumer education. In the next three years all CCN partners will continue as consultants for implementing and further development of training programs, video’s etc etc under the new name PERL / Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living 2009 – 2012.

Fifth CCN International Conference on Consumer Education / Olympia Hotel, Tallinn Estonia

We were in Tallinn / Estonia 5-6 May for the fifth yearly conference of the Consumer Citizen Network CCN about consumer education to be implemented on schools worldwide in the coming years. The CCN is working together with the EU program for Lifelong Learning and the UN Decade for Education in Sustainable Development.

The Consumer Citizenship Network is an interdiciplinary network of educators, researchers and civil-society organisations, (including UNESCO, UNEP and Consumers International) who recognize the pressing need for constructive action by individuals in order to achieve sustainable consumption and global solidarity.

The Consumer Citizenship Network has, since 2003, developed interdiciplinary approaches to central issues dealing with the balance between material and non-material well-being and with how one can translate ethical values into everyday practice through concientious participation in the market. CCN2 also brings toghether expertise in the fields of citizenship-, enviromental- and consumer education to further develop research and good practice for teaching and assessing consumer citizenship education. The CCN is a Socrates Erasmus 3. Network consists of 133 institutions in 37 countries. www.hihm.no/concit.

04 200712 December 2007

Annual Report Consumer360Academy

The year 2007 was full of activities and new developments. A new website, again hundreds of small catalist-actions such as comments, articles, networking, lobbying, joining discussions at many seminars and congress workshops, and last but not least following the world news to serve our members looking 360 degrees around the horizon to all twelve working fields in the world!

Strategically we worked more and more on priorities as quality of life, new ways in science, innovative initiatives and helping in the search for solutions in different problem-situations. And we started seminars and masterclasses in different cities in Holland and abroad! In Sofia Bulgaria we gave our first workshop in the Consumer Citizen Network CCN where teachers are preparing programmes for consumereducation on schools and universities worldwide, in connection with the UN Decade for Education on Sustainable Development (DESD 2004-2015). In our workshop we worked on the issue “Consumer, Arguments and Producers”.

In the world around us a lot of positive developments are going fast forward! Al Gore showed us the way in handling the Climate. Cradle2Cradle (see Google) is the new way for 100% sustainability. And Professor Pralahad wrote his famous marketing bestseller The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid about producing for the two billion poorest consumers as the new emerging markets! Globalising is going on!

Our plans for 2008 are to complete the english pages on our website and to globalise also! Our new (extra) name is consumer360.org to be remembered more easily, but especially to show the essence of the consumer-management-information-system. The image of the twelve daily needs produced around the horizon of our world!

PS For the bees who cannot speak for themselves we want to cry out for them that the global problem of CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) is a problem for us all! The bees are dying of too much efficiency in bee-keeping, in the US and also in Europe up to 70% have died instead of the normal rate of 20% in winter times. And so we are loosing our girlfriends AND the basis of our agriculture!

So: buy more biological honey! (See also the breathtaking bestseller Phanomen Honigbiene – not yet in english – written by professor Jurgen Tautz and with 180 color photos isbn 978-3-8274-1845-6 and go to www.beegroup.de and watch the trailer video of BeeMovie!) Or Google to CCD Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD BEES in english or your own language. Save the bees!

The new subtitle of our association is: “forum for active consumers and innovative initiatives”!

Peter Daub
chairman
consumer360.org

04 200703 March / april 2007

New Name: Consumer360Academy

We launched our new international name www.Consumer360.org as a picture of what is meant by all-round “consumer governance”. We hope you will agree with us that it is a good description of how we as consumers want to know everything, to talk about everything and to be able to make the best possible choises.

The existing names freeconsumers.org and vrijeconsumenten.nl will be deleted.

Interesting to know is that the .com domain existed already as a name for the yearly congress for producers in packaging. One of the most important communication-carrying lines between producers and consumers! Another interesting newsitem this month is that the Dutch government will take initiatives to make sustainable production know-how an export issue of great importance!. The old VOC (Dutch East India Company) in the other direction! Bringing back the science and experience made possible by the delivery of all the products in the 17th century! Hopefully with lots of profit for all people worldwide!