In Ourika, a region of Morocco, floods, aggravated by climate change, carry many wastes that pollute the water of the wadi. Women, victims of this problem, must seek adaptation measures to prevent contaminated water from... [ view full abstract ]
In Ourika, a region of Morocco, floods, aggravated by climate change, carry many wastes that pollute the water of the wadi. Women, victims of this problem, must seek adaptation measures to prevent contaminated water from making their children sick (through consumption or bathing). A design thinking approach and Facebook were chosen to accompany, for three years, 12 Moroccan women little educated in the resolution of the problem of water and waste. Design thinking, which promotes user needs analysis, abduction and rapid prototyping, facilitates the formulation of effective and innovative solutions to human or environmental problems. For women who are less empowered in Arab rural areas, access to ICTs can improve their social status, their leadership and their participation in community and economic development. As for Facebook, this social media has the potential to facilitate the collaborative definition of a problem, the discussion and the development of solutions when the resolvers are at a distance. The purpose of the research was to evaluate the potential of design thinking and Facebook as approaches to education for sustainable development. Using videos, photos and comments, the participants, initiated with tablets and the Internet, shared in a Facebook group their experience of floods and then tried together to improve the problem of the poor quality of the water. Design thinking and Facebook have allowed women to explore several dimensions of the problem: the quality of the water itself and the abundant presence of waste found in the wadi. At workshops and in Facebook exchanges, women were invited to prototype and experiment with hand-held filters for water cleaning and waste reuse techniques, including making compost and jewelry (with plastic bottles). In final interviews, participants were invited to draw and comment on their experiences and impressions of themselves before, during and after the project. A bi-monthly table of women's Facebook publications was also prepared by a researcher and completed by two other researchers. The purpose was to enter participants' actions and inactivity and to qualify and quantify their publications: their presence on the group, the images and videos inserted, the types of comments, the emoticons and the "likes". A theoretical framework based on the objectives of environmental education (awareness, knowledge, state of mind, skills, participation) allowed two researchers to analyze women's Facebook exchanges throughout the project, as well as their remarks during individual interviews closing the project. According to them, the participants improved their «awareness» of the impacts of floods and waste. Their technological, environmental and geographic «knowledge» has grown as well as their problem-solving «skills». Their «state of mind» evolved from a shy and unconfident attitude towards a feeling of self-efficacy and hope to get out of their financial difficulties, if they worked hard. Women have achieved the goal of «participation» in climate change adaptation by getting involved in effective adaptation measures: operating an electronic flood warning system, making hand-held water filters, making prototypes of compost and recycled jewelry and start their own waste reuse cooperative.
2b. Educating for sustainability
