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The change towards education for living sustainably within a sharing economy began in the University of Wales in the 1970s. Cross currriular degree cources in the science faculty were established to shift the emphasis away from imparting knowledge about endless economic growth towards living as part of Earth’s finite ecology. As a prime mover in this direction was the Welsh Natural Economy Research Unit (NERU) set up as a charitable trust by Professor Denis Bellamy (Head of the Zoology Department) to focus the concept of natural economy at the centre of education at all levels. It was instrumental in creating the International GCSE subject called natural economy, marketed by the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate. NERU also established (SCAN) to encourage students to have an input into the Local Agenda 21. SCAN has developed into an online network of UK schools monitoring local climate change. NERU is now an integral part of the Bellamy Fund charity, which promotes International Classrooms On Line (ICOL). ICOL showcases educational wikis about living sustainably.
The Bellamy Fund also sponsors projects that have the potential to provide educational exemplars in the fields of cultural ecology, microfinancing, mobile phone networking, community development and conservation management. The Fund operate on the basis an economic sharing economy has the potential to change the way we understand but also addresses the power structures and politics that maintain an unjust status quo.
The overall aim of the Bellamy Fund is to provide an educational framework for the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), which is centred on the theme of ‘the planet we share’, not only sharing its resources and services between people but also between humanity and other living things that are part of the human ecosystem.
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