Landscapes for peace: A case study of active learning about urban environments and the future

The relationships between peace and futures education and our urban landscapes are potentially very rich. They invite wide-ranging discussion on issues such as the futures of urban design, public transport, environmental justice, and active citizenship and nonviolent movements of social change. Developing a peace, environmental and futures education perspective, involves a number of pedagogic shifts.The authors decided to take a group of postgraduate students from a wide range of countries and various disciplinary backgrounds on an urban walk in Sydney. This diverse group of students was enrolled in a cross-disciplinary course called Peace and the Environment. As one of several current curriculum offerings, this course is taught through the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia.As a learning activity, the urban walk component was designed to facilitate reflection on what might constitute peaceful environments, including alternative readings of the Australian landscape. With such experiential learning activities, the evidence suggests that students are more likely to be open to alternative readings or mappings of their everyday environments, as well as to hospitable rather than hostile, imagined future landscapes.

► The urban landscape is opened to various interpretations. Closed conventional interpretations are questioned.
► Natural assumptions about structural and ecological violence are unsettled.
► Experiential learning engages with non-violence and alternative urban futures.
► Empathy is encouraged by investigating Indigenous counter narratives.