Learning on the job, in the context, and with other people

Learning for Sustainabilty (LforS) is an innovative approach for facilitating group learning processes concerned with issues relevant to sustainable development. It is applied in different contexts such as training programmes for development professionals, agricultural extension, and transdiciplinary research programmes. Its main characteristics are:

- Group learning
- Learning in the local context
- A multi-level and multi-stakeholder approach
- Active, process-oriented and situated learning

LforS fosters an in-depth understanding of the local context by linking information, knowledge, perspectives and experience from different sources, and by focusing on the dynamics of a given system. LforS is a process-oriented approach that encourages participants to share with each other, to discover common interests and goals, and to develop their own visions.

The concept of Autodidactic Learning for Sustainability was developed as part of a mandate from the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC). Since 1996, LforS training on different topics has been implemented in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Central Asia.

"Though I had worked for many years in watershed development and agriculture, I always used to see things in isolation. In the workshop I came to understand how these are interlinked and contribute to sustainable development." (Programme officer, India)