08 Woolterton Marinova Islam

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Wooltorton, S. and Marinova, D. (Eds) Sharing wisdom for our future. Environmental education inaction: Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Association of Environmental Education

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Chapter 8Depicting Bangladesh Culture in Terms of Sustainability

Rumana Islam

Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University

1. Introduction

Yencken and Wilkinson (2000) consider culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability,ecological, social and economic sustainability being the other three pillars. In myview, culture is the overarching arch of the other pillars and Bangladesh is anexample of a culture acting as the driving force for achieving sustainability. The focusof the paper is to depict the role of culture for social, economic and environmentalsustainability of Bangladesh.

There are two interrelated aspects in understanding culture. The first is the socialproduction and transmission of identities, knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes andunderstanding; and the second is the way of life, including customs, codes andmanners, dress, cuisine, language, arts, technology, religion and rituals; norms andregulations of behaviour, traditions and institutions. Therefore, culture is both themedium and the message the inherent values, means and the results of socialexpression (Hawkes, 2001).

In this paper, Bangladesh culture is seen as: the culture of God fearing, sociallysyncretistic and nature abiding. Cultural manifestations include, among others,inclination to procreation, brotherhood, respecting people, happy with less and

naturalism. The paper argues that the countrys culture is the tool that keeps thesocial, economic and environmental sustainability of Bangladesh healthy.

Bangladesh culture is rural and agriculture1 based, for, in Bangladesh more than 80%of people live in the countrys 68,000 villages. Its geographical position2 and tropicalmonsoon climate are favourable for agriculture which attracted people from otherparts of Asia to settle in this land. These multinational people started their living withagriculture and their religions were also based on agriculture (Banarjee, 2005)3. Theyused to worship various Gods and Goddesses for good harvest, and Hinduism andBuddhism were native to this region. Later on people accepted other religions suchas, Islam and Christianity but the Bangladesh culture integrated all these religions

and made their own Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam4. They gave these religions anew shape according to their preference and local conditions (Sharif, 1994). For thisreason religious taboos have never been given priority. Instead, sociality and

1 Cultivation of field crops; homestead gardening; fish, poultry and cattle farming.2 Bangladesh is a low-lying, riverine country located in South East Asia. Formed by a deltaic plain atthe confluence of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna rivers and theirtributaries, Bangladeshs alluvial soil is very fertile.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Bangladesh

3See Banarjee, 2005: 73.

4This does not imply that all religions live in harmony and there are examples of religious unrest (e.g.

the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh the 1990s, following the demolition of the Babri mosque byHindu fanatics in India); however, the important aspect is the sharing of common values that promotesustainability.


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brotherhood have a great importance. The basic moral values which are common inall religions are accepted, such as to consume less, be good to all living beings, notto exploit nature all these are obeyed commonly by people in all religions. Peopleof different religions live together in harmony with respect, care and share. Theinterdependence of all professionals that is required in a sustainable society exists in

Bangladesh culture through the adherence of the same moral values.

With regards to economic sustainability, Bangladesh culture believes in self-sufficiency in basic necessities. People manage their own food from their agriculturalactivities. They meet any other needs with the money obtained from the sale ofexcess agricultural produces. Bangladeshis value the environment more thaneconomics (Hossain, 2001: 168) because people are aware that their livelihooddepends on nature through agriculture, not on money. They have profoundknowledge in managing food from nature without harming its integrity. Their religiousvalues and practices are also environmentally friendly. Muslims plant and care fortrees as their religious duties, Hindus and Buddhists also worship trees as part of

their religious activities. Their care and consciousness towards the environment helpthem sustain environmental health.

2. Social Sustainability

The social sustainability of any country relies on the state of its population growth.Negative growth is unsustainable. So is the case with imbalanced positive growth.Population increase can be sustainable to the extent that the land supports itspeople, which is easier when the consumption levels are low. Although Bangladeshhas relatively higher fertility rates than required to maintain its population stable andwithin the carrying capacity of the land, the countrys total fertility rate has been

falling steadily in the last 15 years1

. Bangladesh also has varieties of professions toprovide an essential balance in the society, such as fishers, handicraft workers,carpenters, smiths, weavers observed in villages alongside with the agriculturalpeasantry.

The predominant characteristic observed within villages is that of social cohesion.Social cohesion in Bangladesh culture reinforces social sustainability throughsharing, caring and responsibility. People are closely linked to each other in theirhappiness and miseries. For example, in marriage, elder members of society play animportant role by providing suggestions, decisions and economic help. In the case ofdeath, neighbours are the first comers who support and console the family of the

deceased person and arrange the burial. Social problems and crimes are solved andjudged by rural leaders.

Socio-religion integration in Bangladesh culture is another reason for a sustainablesociety. Although there are four main religions (i.e. Islam, Hinduism, Christianity andBuddhism), each religion overlaps in relation to behaviours and customs observed inclothing, food habits and daily life style. Dhoti and Sari were the dress of Hindu malesand females respectively, but now Sari has become common to females of allreligions and Dhoti is replaced by Pajama (trousers, which came from Muslims) and

1 Bangladeshs total fertility rate has dropped from 3.9 children per woman in 1991 to 3.1 in 2006(http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbsprd) and if the current trends continue unchanged is likely toreach replacement level (i.e. 2.3) within 50 years or so.


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Shirt-pants (which came from western world i.e. Christians) for male people of allreligions. Before, Hindus and Buddhist were vegetarian. Now most Bangladeshipeople have become non-vegetarian like Muslims. The Bengali language, whichoriginated from Sanskrit, used to be treated as Hindu language but is now thenational language of Bangladesh. People of one religion attend the festivals and

ceremonies of others. This cultural interchange and religious alliance and friendshipshow the sustainable socio-religious structure of Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh culture family is a sustainable unit. The family identity is morerecognised than the individual one. An adult is recognised by the family title. A junioris identified as a son/daughter of someone. An elder is known by his/her children.Joint families are still common in Bangladesh where up to three generations (head ofthe family, children and grand children) live together. Care, respect, love and sharingbind the family members together. Retired/old people are cared for by the youths ofthe family. Children grow up under the guidance of the elders. Childrens educationstarts from the family. Therefore, in the joint family one finds the best possible

security for a child. If a father dies, his children are treated by his brother(s) as theirown, and the full impact of their loss is softened. If a mother dies, there are aunts orgrand mothers to care for the children, with the same love and commitment as theirnatural mother (Wiser, 1971).

Reversely children are treated as sources of social and economic security. At oldage, people are cared by their grown up children. Children assist them in familyssocial and income related matters. As a result, people extend their family dependingon their professions. For example, farmers require more children than governmentofficials as agriculture is a labour intensive profession.

Therefore, it can be said that social sustainability of Bangladesh is a result of familyand social bondage in terms of dependency, responsibilities, belongings and religiousharmony.

3. Economic Sustainability

Bangladesh is known as a very poor country economically. At the same time it is thehappiest country on the globe1. Part of the reason for this is because the rural people(who represent 80% of the countrys population) do not need much money for theirsurvival. The four predominant religions in Bangladesh also play an important part inthis respect as none encourage over-consumption and hoarding.

Generally, a culture is a consumerist culture when people over-consume and this isnot the case in Bangladesh. Its people consume less due to religious beliefs andpractices. All religions show a common pathway to live a simple lifestyle byconsuming less. For example according to the Quran: Eat and drink, but waste notby indulging in excess; surely, God does not approve of the intemperate (The Quran7:31).

According to Bangladesh culture, the blue print of rural economic sustainability is:

1See http://www.despardes.com/Bangladesh/2006/20060113-BDesh_NewsBrief.html#happiest which

reports the 1999 survey by The London School of Economics.


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Gola bhora dhan (Grain-store full of paddy)Goal bhora goru (Cattle shed full of cattle, cows and bullocks)Pukur bhora mach (Ponds full of fishes)

The grain-store is full when people get good harvest, which indicates there will not be

scarcity of food. If people have cows and cattle, they will get milk which provides thenecessary nutrients for children. Bullocks are essentially used in ploughing lands inBangladesh. Plenty of fish indicates the availability of secondary food forconsumption. Also cattle, milk and fish have good commercial value. Bangladeshipeople are called Bangladeshi with rice and fish which indicates the availability ofthese two foods in the country. Rice is the principal crop and Bangladesh hasreached self-sufficiency in rice production within the last few years.1Being a riverinecountry, fish is available in its water bodies. The Bangladesh economy is not a fullydeveloped cash economy as families are mainly self-sufficient and only the excessyield reaches the market.

Women and children play important roles in achieving economic sustainability.Culturally Bangladeshi women are house oriented and their activities are centred onthe familys wellbeing. Although their principal duty is home management, they arealso involved in financial management and income generating activities such asfarming

2, harvest management and cottage industries

3. Of the 55% of Bangladeshi

households who own land up to three acres, women play a major role as unpaidfamily labour. They work in various agricultural operations involving rice and cashcrops, poultry and cattle raising and other gardening activities which providenecessary nutrition for their family (Ahmed, 1992). There is also substantialinvolvement in field based vegetable production. There children also contributeoutside schooling hours. Womens and childrens participation is prominent inweeding, watering, and specially harvesting of different vegetables and spices(Karim, 1995). By doing this they are providing economic support, which is part oftheir culture and at the same time they are maintaining ecological balance avoidingthe use of sophisticated and often harmful technology.

Bangladesh people manage economic sustainability by maintaining a joint familysystem where brothers share the same property, such as agricultural land,households etc., without dividing it into pieces. The consumption of food, fuel andother necessary things is less when all members live together and cook jointly. InBangladesh culture, the principal rule of the joint family system is that sons were not

allowed to have separate households or an independent family until: (a) all boys andgirls of a family were duly married, (b) their parents had died, and (c) they performedor celebrated funerary socio-religious rituals and ceremonies4 (Hossain, 2001: 47).Thus, joint family is culturally treated as the best place for economic security.

1 Food and agriculture in Bangladesh: A success story, by Gordon West. See http://usinfo.state.gov.journals/ites/0502/ijee/bangla.htm accessed on 26/10/2006.2 Farming includes vegetable farming, cattle farming, poultry and fish farming.3 Includes handicrafts of mud, canes, cloth, and embroidery.4

The principal funerary socio-religious ceremony was to organise a feast for the relatives of the family,villagers, respected figures including priests and village chiefs, and the beggars and the poor. ForHindus it is called sraddhya, for Muslims khairat.


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The cultural economic sustainability of Bangladesh is derived from its consumptionhabits, food security, non-cash economy and family structures.

4. Environmental Sustainability

According to Bangladesh culture people use nature for their livelihood withoutdestroying its originality. Though chemical fertilisers and insecticides are also in usein Bangladesh, most of the farmers apply traditional agriculture. They are taught fromtheir experiences about the adverse effects of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.1Traditional agriculture includes using organic fertilisers, traditional methods to controlpests and insects. The main ingredient of organic fertilisers is cow dung which isavailable from cattle farms. Compost fertiliser made from household waste is alsoused. In this way Bangladeshi people are managing their waste and at the same timeprotecting the soil from deterioration. Traditional knowledge and skill for controllingpests are extremely important. These methods include environmentally friendlysolutions, such as using scarecrows in the field, making of smoke, planting Nim trees

(Azadirachta indica), Babla (Acacia nilotica) and other trees which keep awayinsects. It is scientifically proven that, if one Nim tree is planted in every acre of field,Bangladesh does not need to import insecticides (Banarjee, 2005: 73).

Culturally farmers are not comfortable with crops produced by modern technology.Though hybrid and GM (genetically modified) crops yield more than traditional crops,farmers are unwilling to accept these new technology crops because of the risk ofloosing many traditional species. In November 2000, farmers from the district ofTangail protested against hybrid and GM crops and advocated for the use oftraditional seeds to preserve their traditional agro-biodiversity (Barua, 2005).

Peoples religious beliefs, prejudices and rituals towards the environment are alsoenvironmentally friendly. According to Muslims, trees have lives and they are createdby God in pairs. Hindus and Buddhist also worship trees. As a result of these beliefs,touching plants and trees is totally forbidden after evening because like humans,trees also sleep at night. Likewise, fruit bearing trees should not be cut down. As aritual, the first fruits of a tree are distributed to the neighbours and relatives so that itwill bring more fruit next time. These beliefs and values prove peoples respect fornature which results in their ecological sustainability.

Respect for nature is also reflected in the Bangladeshi patience in natural disasters.They are not frustrated because of frequently happening flood, river erosion, cyclone

and tornados. They accept that nature is more powerful than them. They believe that,nature is a blessing for them as it gives them food and shelter. So, whatever naturedoes will bring something good. This belief shows new hope which helps people inrebuilding activities. They acknowledge natures bounty when they observe positiveresults

2following natural phenomena. Therefore, through peoples dependency on

traditional knowledge and technology and care for the environment, they areattempting to achieve environmental sustainability.

1A Country Paper of Bangladesh on Promoting Dialogue and Collaboration in Sustainable Agriculture

& Rural Development (SARD) Between NGOs/RPOs and Government.

www.fao.org/docrep/oo6/ad693e02.htm, accessed 15/10/2006.2 It is observed that the following year of each natural disaster, bumper production occurs.


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In order to preserve the simple lifestyle, traditional skills, care for the people andnature it is very important to maintain the Bangladeshis holistic sustainability througheducating the current and future generations.

5. Sustainability Education in Bangladesh Culture

Bangladesh people receive sustainability education in two ways: formal educationand non-formal education. Formal education is provided by schools, colleges,madrasas (Islamic community schools), universities and other institutions. Non-formaleducation is provided by government and non-governmental organisations,especially for girls and adults outside the normal institutional curriculum. Non-formaleducation organises educational activity outside the formal system of education. It issimple and flexible and can be delivered at any place convenient to the learners. It isgenerally designed to meet the basic learning needs of disadvantaged groups andcan be available at any age. Non-formal education is provided to those sections ofthe community who have no access to or have dropped out from formal education. A

recent study showed that NGOs' Non-Formal Education Programme covered about8% of the total enrolment in 1998 (Education Watch Report, 1999). They play acomplementary role alongside the mainstream primary schools of the country andabout 8% of primary schools are run by the NGOs (Education Watch Report, 1999).

However, another form of education available to Bangladesh people is informaleducation. Informal education is received through their surroundings, religious beliefsand practices, daily livelihood, nature, people and indigenous knowledge. Indigenousknowledge includes knowledge from personal experience and livelihood, proverbs,folk and baul songs

1, ballads

2, Jatra

3etc. which are transmitting generation after

generation.

As the majority of Bangladesh people cannot afford formal education, they pay a lotof attention to informal education. Accordingly, the family provides the more usefuleducation for them. They teach how to be a manush (humankind). A good familycan make good humankind. Formal education is of less importance to village peoplefor two reasons. Firstly, there is a lack of employment for the educated youths fromvillages,4 and secondly, becoming a good, honest, healthy, wise and wealthy personcan be done without formal education. Some Baul Fakirs even believe that non-formal education which is learning from nature and practical experiences is the bestform of education. They say that Prophet Mohammad, Moses, Jesus or Buddha didnot have formal education. They were educated by nature while grazing sheep, cows

in the fields. One of the greatest Bengali poet and the national poet of Bangladesh,Kazi Nazrul Islam had very limited access to formal education but his songs andpoetries were admired by scholar society in India and Bangladesh. Lalon Fakir

1Bauls are a group of mystic minstrels, associated with devotional songs known as Baul songs. Bauls

practice secret devotional rites, centering on the belief that the human body is the seat of all truths. Inthis there is a fusion of the Sahajiya and Sufi concepts of devotion with Sufism enjoying somepredominance. Bauls do not believe in organised religion and do not frequent mosques or temples.They are iconoclasts and humanists who believe that all human beings are equal, irrespective of casteand creed.http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/ht/B_0355.htm accessed 10/09/20062 Local songs representing peoples simple lifestyle, natural beauty, peoples sorrows and happiness.

3 Village drama4To get a job requires a big upfront bribe in cash, which is beyond the means of most of the village

people.


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(1776-1890), the greatest Baul Guru was unlettered (Hossain, 2001: 168). Howevertheir wisdom not only enlightened their own community but also influenced thepeople in their livelihood, cultural and behavioural characteristics as well as theirjourney towards civilisation en route to sustainable development.

Culturally the informal education is focused on social and environmental issues.Economic issues are not importance to people who generally believe in a non-cashagriculture based economy. The informal education uses various proverbs to show apathway to healthy lifestyle, sustainable society, economic security andenvironmental management. Below are some examples:

Proverbs indicating healthy lifestyle:

Jor vitay tule ghor Do not build house in damp areaJe ase tari jor Otherwise it will be full of diseases.

Alo haoa bedho na Sunlight and free airRoge bhuge morona are essential for health.

Nim Nisinda jotham Where there is Nim1 tree,Manush ki more totha people will not die.

In Bangladesh culture, it is believed that the Nim and holy basil trees should beplanted surrounding the house. In herbal science, it is mentioned that the housewhich contains holy Basil bush and Nim trees is free from diseases. This proved tobe true as the World Health Organisation declared the Nim tree as the tree of thetwenty-first century. This acknowledges the profound traditional knowledge and

consciousness in nature, environment and healthy lifestyle management (Banarjee,2005: 73). Evidence of Bangladesh peoples health knowledge is observed, forexample, in choosing house location. When they build a house they keep an openingin the south part because the wind from the south is healthy. They also keep pondson the east side of the house, a bamboo forest on the west side and a banana bushon the north. The house is built on a high to protect from damp, flood water andanimals.

Below are proverbs (called Khonas peoverbs2), which are representative of social,

economic and environmental knowledge:

O bhai thom thom Whatever you have,Ulo bone ja ase dont think it is littletai ba kise kom

Jodi thake dhan kum No need to do any other job,Te na koiro ar kum if you produce paddy.

Dhan dhon boro dhon Paddy and cows

1A tree which is treated as medicine tree as the leaves, buckle, root everything are used as herbal

medicine. The air blows through the tree is treated as healthy air.

2 Khnonas proverb is a Bengali literature composed with the innumerable proverbs which deal withhuman wellbeing, poverty, stress, joy, sorrow, agriculture, horticulture, human etiquette ethics, andbehaviours, dos and do donts to the environment.


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Ar dhon gai are more preciousSona rupa kichu kichu than Gold

Ar sob chhai and Silver.

Khona dakia kon Paddy grows in the sun,

Rode dhan chhayay pan betel leaf grows in the shade.

Choite lahale ada Good yield if plant ginger in choitro (late spring)Boishakhe lagaile adha and half yield if plant in Boishakh (Beginning of summer).

Their indigenous knowledge in social, economic and environmental aspects madethem successful to survive in their natural environment. Recently in developedcountries, the practices of organic farming and integrated pest management arebeing popularised. These practices are characterised by traditional agriculture ofBangladesh and have been practised by Bangladeshs agriculture since ancientperiod. Moreover, people are willing to accept modern technologies which are in

harmony with their indigenous practices. In accordance with this, Bangladeshifarmers are now adopting successfully a combination of modern technology with theirtraditional technology. By doing this, Bangladesh is becoming a major developmentsuccess story in South Asia in its agricultural sector. As mentioned earlier,Bangladesh gained self sufficiency in rice, its main crop. Rice production increasedfrom 11.7 million metric tons in 1974 to 23.1 million tons in 2000, an average annualincrease of 3.6 percent.1 Wheat production climbed from 0.11 million metric tons in1974 to 1.8 million metric tons in 2000. Cereal prices are low and stable, andproduction continues to increase. The economy is showing rapid diversification,particularly in the livestock and poultry sectors. Hence, Bangladeshi have somethingto contribute to the western world but showing that it is possible to have harmony ofmodern technology with Indigenous practices.

Learning from nature made the people of Bangladesh adapted to natural disasters.Peoples congruousness towards situations (even in extreme adverse events such ashuman or mankind disasters) is unique. It was praised in a number of write-ups duringthe recent cyclonic event in USA. One of those write-ups is given below:

Daniel Brett writes a striking post "What America can learn from Bangladesh":Saturday, September 3, 2005

"Last year Bangladesh faced a natural disaster which was an altogetherlarger disaster than Hurricane Katrina and the casualty figures wereprobably lower than the casualties sustained in the New Orleans disaster.But the disaster was contained due to the survival instincts of theBangladeshi people, their ingenuity in the face of adversity and their cultureof hard work. Rather than shoot and loot, Bangladesh immediately used itsmodest resources to limit the impact of the floods before international aidarrived.

1Food and Agriculture in Bangladesh: A Success Story http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0502/ijee/

bangla.htm, accessed 15/10/2006.


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The fact that the economy was able to recover from the floods so soon is atestament to the ability of Bangladeshis to pick themselves up and go aboutrebuilding.

The Americans have never really faced such adversity...Bangladeshis placegreat importance to social and family ties and these have brought themthrough a multitude of natural and man-made disasters. Bangladesh'sexperiences show us that, in the face of disaster, money does not makesociety more cohesive or better organized."1

Many similar articles are available on the web substantiating Bangladeshiscongruence towards nature and natural disasters.

If biodiversity and livelihood is considered, it presents a different dimension ofadaptability of the people of rural Bangladesh. More than 60% of the rural poor ofBangladesh depend on biodiversity to collect food from natural sources. Common

property resource bases are providing resources to the rural poor. They gained theiradaptability from sustainability education.

In informal education, people are taught to be happy with little. They are warned aboutthe future of industrialisation and money-based culture. They are advised to live simplyin nature without over-exploiting it. In folk cultural institutes, such as shrines, teacherswarn people about the eventual consequences of jumping towards the introduction ofa large-scale industrial and a money based economy at the cost of human labour.They assert that the wisdom behind their warnings is the same wisdom which laybehind the prohibition of "interest" in Islam. According to Baul Fakir Hiru Shah (92) ofLalon Fakir's Mazar, "money-seeking modernists and bureaucrats fail to realise the

vicious effect of money-is-all culture. They will soon realise that Bangladesh is thewrong place for large-scale industries." Failures of large-scale jute, textile and sugarindustries in Bangladesh testify to the truth of the Baul prophecy (Hossain, 2001).

As mentioned earlier, Bangladesh has been ranked as the top country in thehappiness index a number of times despite prevailing poverty in rural areas. A criticalreview would reveal that peoples learning from nature and their adaptability tochanged situations are probably two major factors for this.

Understanding the importance of sustainability education, Bangladesh Governmenthas taken some necessary steps. One of these steps is including environmentaleducation in institutional education. In the 1992 Bangladesh GovernmentEnvironmental Policy the extension of environmental education through the formaland non-formal system was given importance and its implementation wasrecommended. One of the proposals for the implementation of a nationalenvironmental policy was, to include environment related educational curriculum in allsectors of educational and training programmes (Das, 2005). Environment relatedcurriculum2 has been added to all levels of formal, non-formal and madrasa3educational (Ahammed, 2005). There are also some non-government approaches

1Katrina & Bangladesh. See http://rezwanul.blogspot.com/2005/09/katrina-bangladesh-rising-water-has.html

accessed 20/10/20062

Introduction to Environment, Social Science, Environmental Science depending on the age and level.3Islamic community institutions.


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which provide education for sustainable livelihood. Some of these non-governmentorganisations are BRAC, Grameen Bank and PROSHIKA. The paper appreciatesthe government and non-government approaches towards sustainability education.

6. Conclusion

Bangladesh is known as one of the poorest countries in the world which suffers fromfrequent floods, cyclones and draughts. Still it is the happiest in the midst of itspoverty and unfavourable circumstances. The paper revealed that happiness ofBangladesh is linked to countrys non-cash based culture and cultural practiceswhich drive them to sustainability.

Bangladeshi peoples values and spirituality are deeply rooted in their culture. Theseare reflected in peoples religiosity, materialism or through the respect for nature.Their spirituality towards nature, brotherhood in their sociality, consumptionbehaviour in their lifestyle and wisdom in their education have been working together

as driving force to sustainability.

Peoples values and spirituality are also generated from sustainability education,which is mostly informally available to Bangladeshi people. Informal educationsuggests people for simple lifestyle which is generally sustainable. Their Indigenousknowledge helps them survive in their natural world, and their congruence to nature,adaptability in unfavourable conditions and success story in agriculture by indigenouspractices can be example to other developing and also developed countries in theirsustainability drive. The paper emphasises education through learning from nature,religion and practical life in achieving sustainability.

The Bangladesh culture reinforces the sustainability of the country. The non-cashbased culture consists of people, environment, their traditional norms andsustainability education. There is a message for the western world that spiritualculture can complement the techno-economic based sustainability drive in order toacquire a long term holistic sustainability what is observed in Bangladesh.

Acknowledgement

The author wants to acknowledge the helpful comments from two anonymousreferees.

References

Ahammed, K.U. (2005). Sadhinota, Shikhkha O Poribesh (Independence, educationand environment). In Poribesh Kothokota (Citizens dialogues on environmentalissues in Bangladesh) (p.59). Dhaka: Gonosakhkhorota Obhijan (Campaign forPopular Education).

Ahmed, K.U. (1992). NGOs: Promoting vegetable production in Bangladesh. In:Vegetable production and marketing (pp. 235-44). Taiwan: AVRDC.

Banarjee, O.K.(2005). Amader Oitijjo O Poribesh (Our tradition and environment). In

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Hawkes, J. (2001). The fourth pillar of sustainability (p.3). Victoria: CulturalDevelopment Network.

Hossain, A. (2001). Renewing self-reliance In rural Bangladesh through renewableenergy. Unpublished PhD thesis: Murdoch University, Western Australia

Karim, N.A. (1995). Role of women in vegetable agribusiness. In S.Shamugasundaram, A. Quasem (Eds) Vegetable crops agribusiness (p.178).Dhaka : Workshop held at BARC.

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