]]
Publications
Griffith University and the Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories, 1997
During this workshop participants will:
Participants are introduced to the inter-connectedness of social, economic and environmental themes through a group activity called 'Woolly Webs'. This activity concludes with a mini-lecture identifying the extent, effects and costs of the social, economic and environmental questions, issues and problems which the process of sustainable development seeks to address.
Participants work individually, and then in pairs, to analyse the impact in their community of one of the themes from Activity 2. The set of six types of Strategic Questions developed by Peavy (1992) are presented in a mini-lecture, and then used by participants to develop the critical thinking skills needed to understand social and environmental questions, issues and problems, and to act on this understanding.
This activity explores the range of considerations necessary for teaching about controversial issues in the classroom so that teachers can operate in a professional and ethically sound way. The focus is a set of ten principles which provide guidelines on ways of adopting a positive and optimistic approach to teaching about the values-laden issues.
The workshop concludes with a review of the activities of the UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme in supporting innovative ways of promoting environmental education.
Overhead Transparency Masters
OHT 1: Spaceship Earth
OHT 2: An Intergalactic Report
OHT 3: Ten Themes
Resources
Resource 1: Ten Social and Environmental Themes
Resource 2: Strategic Questioning: What is It?
Resource 3: Strategic Questions
Resource 4: Principles for Teaching about Environmental Issues
Resource 5: The UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP): A Global Enterprise
Activity 2: Ten coloured balls of wool
Ten coloured pens (same colours as wool)
Ten sheets of chart paper
Group name labels for each participant
Brown, L.R. et al. (1997) State of the World 1997, World Watch Institute, Washington, DC.
Corson, W. H. (1990) The Global Ecology Handbook, Beacon Press, Boston. Miller, G. Tyler (1996) Living in the Environment, 9th ed., Wadsworth Pub. Co., Belmont, CA.
Peavy, F. (1994) By Life's Grace: Musings on the Essence of Social Change, New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, pp 86-111.
Pennock, M. and Bardwell, L. (1994) Approaching Environmental Issues in the Classroom. Environmental Education Toolbox Workshop Resource Manual, National Centre for Environmental Education and Training, University of Michigan.
Stradling, R., Noctor, M. and Baines, B. (1984) Teaching Controversial Issues, Edward Arnold, London. World Resources Institute (1997) World Resources 1997-98, Oxford University Press, New York.
This activity introduces participants to the connections between many of the major social and environmental problems facing people in the world today. It also introduces many of the themes covered in this manual. The activity teaches that co-operation is essential if a comprehensive approach to environmental problem solving is to take place.The group should be split into ten smaller groups for this activity. Each one is allocated one of ten topic areas which relate to the themes in this manual. Each group shares its existing knowledge of its topic first. The activity then has participants working together to negotiate the links that exist between each topic area via an inter-group discussion process called 'Woolly Web' (adapted from Selby and Pike, 1987). These links are then discussed. The activity concludes with a mini-lecture that provides a brief overview of the extent, effects and costs of the various environmental questions, issues and problems that are the subject of this manual.
Preparation
Note: This activity is adapted from Selby, D. and Pike, G. (1987) Global Teacher, Global Learner, Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Introduction
Introduction
Many of the themes related to social and environmental themes reflect contrasting value positions and could place teachers in difficult situations due to the controversies involved.
This activity concludes the workshop by illustrating the ways that the UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP) supports the development and dissemination of innovative ways of educating for sustainable development.
Source: Ehrlich, A. and P. (1987) Earth, Thames, Methuen, London.
Imagine that just as you are about to board a jet aircraft, you see a man busily prying rivets out of its wings. As you rush in panic down the steps, he calls out, 'Don't worry, I've taken a lot of rivets out already and the wing hasn't fallen off.' Are you assured?
No sane person would want to travel on a plane whose airline did not have a 'progressive maintenance' programme ... and only a lunatic would want to ride on Spaceship Earth if the components of its ecosystem were being dismantled so fast that maintenance could not begin to keep up repairs ...
The free services that earth provides to civilisation - the air we breathe, the climates in which we live, fresh water, waste disposal, recycling of nutrients, control of potential pests and disease carriers, provision of food - are rapidly being eroded by humanity's destructive impact on the complex biological network of the planet. Humanity is living on its capital, while rapidly destroying the natural systems that are its principal source of income.
Source: Huckle, J. (1988) Society and Nature, What We Conserve Book 1, WWF-UK, Godalming.
The earth's environment is suffering from the effects of economic production:
1. Climate Change
Natural levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases in the atmosphere make life possible on Earth. Without them, the Earth would be a frozen desert. They act like glass in a greenhouse, letting the sun's rays through but trapping some of the heat that would otherwise be radiated back into space. Human activities have upset the natural balance. As more heat-absorbing gases accumulate in the atmosphere, more solar radiation is trapped and the atmosphere heats up.
About four-fifths of the CO2, which accounts for over half of the warming effect, is released by the burning of fossil fuels (eg petrol, gas, coal); the rest results from the destruction of vegetation, mainly cutting down forests. Trees when alive take in CO2 but release it when cut down, burned or left to decay. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in fridges and air conditioners, spray cans, fire extinguishers and in solvents for cleaning components of computers, account for another quarter of this warming effect; the two other main gases are methane and nitrous oxide, both given off by fossil fuels and burning of vegetation. Methane is also emitted by bacterial action, eg in the gut of ruminants and in the mud of rice paddies, and nitrous oxide from the decomposition of nitrogenous fertilisers.
Source: UNEP
2. Fresh Water
Water is essential to all life on Earth and in theory there is more than enough fresh water to meet all our needs. But it is unevenly distributed. Although 70% of the globe's surface is covered by water, less than 3% of it is fresh water. Of this, 79% is icecaps, 20% is not easily accessible ground water and only 1% is easily available from lakes, rivers and wells.
Water pollution renders water supplies unfit for various human uses. Dirty water is known to cause the deaths of at least 25,000 people daily.
Industrial wastes, sewage and agricultural run-off poison rivers and lakes with chemicals. Often one country's wastes run into another's drinking water, and its public water projects cut off another's supplies. Cutting down forests upstream may cause floods or shortages down stream. Of over 200 river systems shared by two or more countries, many have caused international conflict.
Source: UNEP
3. Oceans and Coastal Areas
Earth from space shows its real colour - blue. We live on a blue planet. Water covers over 70% of the Earth's surface.
The oceans are always in movement - waves, currents, upwellings, evaporation into clouds, rain and wind, tornadoes and cyclones, whirlpools.
Oceans are vital for life on Earth: they determine climate, provide major contribution of food for man, contain untold mineral wealth and attract tourists to their shores. In their natural state, they clean and regulate themselves. But most of the world's wastes are discharged into the seas and remain trapped in coastal waters, poisoning marine life.
Many species of fish depend on mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs at critical stages in their life cycles but these important fish nurseries, coastal barriers and pollution filters are being degraded and destroyed at unprecedented rates by pollution, over-exploitation and over-development for the tourist industry.
Source: UNEP
4. Biological Diversity
The Earth's total biological diversity is currently estimated at between 5 and 100 million species. It comprises all forms of life and the ecosystems of which they are a part. The diversity of living things is crucial to humanity. Farming was first made possible by domesticating wild species; selective breeding made them more productive. Genetic resources taken from the wild are still vital as sources of medicines, food and raw materials for industry.
Yet pollution, over-exploitation and habitat destruction are causing up to 100 species to become extinct per day - many times the natural rate. Thousands will vanish before their potential is known since only about 1.4 million species have been described so far. About 5,000 of the estimated total of plant species have been cultivated for food, and the health of these is dependent on genetic resources from the wild.
Deforestation and desertification are particular problems. Forests and woodlands cover about a third of the world's land surface. They regulate climate, protect water resources, provide forest products worth billions of dollars, and are home to millions of plant and animal species. But forests are disappearing all over the world at the rate of over 20 million hectares per year. Half of the world's population depends on them for fuel, but some 100 million people in 22 countries no longer have enough trees to meet their minimal fuel needs. As forests are cut down, climatic balances are also disrupted and fertile soil is washed away.
The United Nations defines desertification as 'land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting mainly from adverse human impact'. Today, these drylands represent 40-50% of the total land surface of the globe, affecting the lives and well-being of some 900 million people.
Source: UNEP
5. Environmental Effects of Industry
Industry is essential to the development of a country and the prosperity of its people. But industrial processes and the production, transformation and final use of energy cause major problems. Besides depleting natural resources, they generate airborne emissions, water effluents and solid wastes, leading to climate change, air and water pollution, acid rain, deforestation and land degradation.
Worldwide totals of hazardous wastes generated by industry are impossible to estimate since many countries differ over definitions and very little information is available. Industrial countries probably generate over 90% of the world's annual total of about 350 million tonnes of hazardous wastes. Safe disposal of these is an increasing problem and industrial accidents such as those of Bhopal (India), Chernobyl (Ukraine) and Basel (Switzerland) often have tragic environmental consequences.
Source: UNEP
6. Women and Poverty
Four-fifths of the billion people who live in poverty are in the rural areas of the developing world, mostly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa: women comprise a large percentage of them. The number of rural women living in absolute poverty has risen by 50% over the last two decades, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Although it is recognised that women are responsible for producing food, they have the least access to means of production, receive the lowest wages and know least about how to improve the productivity of land with modern inputs and technology. Migration by rural men to urban areas, or overseas, to escape poverty traps has increased the number of women who have to carry the full burden of earning income and managing households for their families; and there have been no strategies and facilities to enable women to do so.
The only permanent solution for female poverty is to create the environment in which women can stand on their own feet, where they can emerge from such dependency, and where they can get equitable access to economic and social opportunities by building up their own capacities. In other words, empowerment of women is the only realistic and long-term strategy for liberating them from the ravages of poverty.
Poverty elimination strategies should treat women as not just the worst victims of poverty - which they certainly are - but also as potential agents of change. There is as yet little recognition of the positive contribution of women to development and change, but it must be acknowledged if the world is to graduate from a welfare approach to an empowerment approach to poverty. Empowering women by building up their capacities and equalising access to market opportunities is the only reliable strategy for liberating societies from their continuing burden of poverty. Investment in education, health and credit is the core of women's empowerment. And such empowerment is the beginning of a more dynamic strategy for the elimination of poverty.
Source: Haq, Khadija (1995) Poverty Has a Woman's Face, Our Planet, 7(2), 15-17.
7. Quality of Life
The concept of quality of life refers to our health and happiness, both related to the quality of our environment. Standard of living refers to our consumption of goods and services, which may or may not make us happier or healthier. There is a difference between quality of life and standard of living.
Human health, population density, development and the environment are intimately related. In 1995, there were over 5.6 billion people on Earth and it is expected to exceed 8 billion by the year 2020.
Population growth is greatest in developing countries and this growth helps accelerate environmental degradation and human poverty. Half of all the people in developing countries still do not have safe water to drink; waterborne diseases kill 25,000 people daily; and about 14 million children under the age of five die each year from hunger and illness. In many cities of both developed and developing countries, crime, drug abuse, car accidents, stress, urban decay and pollution negatively affect people's lives. Sustainable development, which involves environmental protection, contributes to the improved health and well-being of individuals and communities.
Source: UNEP
8. Environmental Education
Environmental education encourages awareness of the problems caused by the degradation of our planet. It teaches people that conservation of natural resources must be an integral part of every life-style, because it is important to economic and social development.
Environmental education aims amongst other things at improving quality of life through bringing about an understanding of natural processes, care of the environment and the development of skill in rational utilisation of resources.
Environmental education is now included in school curricula at most levels in most countries but, as education budgets are declining, it is important that teachers and resources are used to best effect.
Source: UNEP
9. The Peace Dividend
Global military spending has been cut by almost a quarter from nearly $1 trillion in 1987 to $767 billion in 1994 (at constant 1991 prices). This works out at a cut of around 4% per annum, led by the United States and the former Soviet Union - with a somewhat lower rate of about 2% a year in the developing world. In all, this yielded an unprecedented saving of $935 billion.
Even heavily reduced military spending is still a major burden on the world's economic and environmental resources. Globally, it now equals the yearly income of about half the world's people. Arms still pose the greatest threat to the global environment. And defence establishments all over the world are the main consumers of the best scientific talent, which could otherwise be employed on productive technology.
The 1994 Human Development Report estimates that a 12% cut in global military spending could provide safe drinking water and primary health care (including the immunisation of all children) for everyone on Earth, and ensure that severe malnutrition was eliminated and moderate malnutrition cut in half. An 8% cut could finance basic family planning for all willing couples and help stabilise world population by 2015. Even a 4% cut could release the resource to reduce adult illiteracy by half, provide universal primary education and educate women to the same level as men.
Source: Ul Haq, Mahbub (1995) Whatever Happened to the Peace Dividend?, Our Planet, 7(1), 8-10.
10. Environmental Impact Assessment
In 1987 the Brundtland Commission called for improved Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures at all levels of government. Agenda 21 of UNCED further emphasised the need for an effective EIA process and for integrating environment and development.
The principal objective should be promoting the practical and effective use of EIA for developing, formulating and implementing sound environmental management and sustainable development - and enhancing developing countries' capacities in this area. EIA should be used not just as a measure for minimising environmental degradation, but as a planning tool to achieve the optimum alternative. The principles of sustainability need to be translated into operational terms.
There is no single best practice applicable to all countries, and EIA must be tailored to national needs and capabilities. Expertise in its management is lacking in developing countries. Capacity-building for sustainable development should be based on local requirements and socio-economic conditions in developing countries and countries in transition. It should begin by undertaking a multifaceted and dynamic assessment of needs. Developing country practitioners must be involved in actual activities so as to enhance their skills in conducting, managing and monitoring EIA.
The environment must be integrated into sectoral planning and activities - and into national development plans, policies and budgets. EIA must be applied to trade policies, structural adjustment and country programmes as part of injecting environmental considerations into macroeconomic policies.
Source: Abaza, H. (1995) A New Role for Environ-mental Assessment, Our Planet , 7(1), 25-27.
Source: Adapted from Peavy, F. (1994) By Life's Grace: Musings on the Essence of Social Change, New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, pp. 86-111.
1. Currently, many individuals, groups, governments and companies are attempting to develop strategies based on the principles of ecologically sustainable and socially just development. This will involve lots of change for us. Change is often accompanied by a range of uncomfortable emotions including denial, fear and resistance. However, change also provides opportunities for new ideas to emerge.
2. Strategic Questioning is a form of questioning (or consulting) which assists the integration of new ideas and strategies into the development of communities in such a way that people can feel comfortable. Strategic Questioning has been developed by Fran Peavy, a social change worker from North America.
3. Six 'question families' are used in Strategic Questioning. These move from introductory documentation questions through to more dynamic and reflective questions. These question families are presented in Resource 3.
4. Strategic Questioning helps groups create their own solutions to their own problems. For example, Strategic Questioning has been used in India by communities as a means of identifying strategies for improving water quality in the Ganges River. Local people, in partnership with the government, are developing exciting new ways to clean up the river for themselves, and their children.
5. One of the assumptions behind the Strategic Questioning process is that questions have the potential to be significant. Some questions are more significant than others depending on the circumstances, or context, in which they are asked.
6. When participants work in pairs as 'speaker' and 'listener' to discuss a theme, it is very important to listen to the answers: identify what are the significant things for each person and group.
7. The best way to appreciate the power of Strategic Questioning is to try it. In this activity, participants work in pairs to interview each other about one of the themes in the 'Woolly Web' exercise. Resource 3 provides a copy of the six families of Strategic Questions and a range of 'prompt questions' for each one. These questions can be used to guide pairs as they interview each other about a selected theme.
1. Observation Questions
For example:
2. Feelings/Affective Questions
For example:
3. Visioning Questions
For example:
4. Change Questions
For example:
5. Personal Inventory and Support Questions
For example:
6. Personal Action Questions
For example:
Source: Adapted from Pennock, M. and Bardwell, L. (1994) Approaching Environmental Issues in the Classroom, National Centre for Environmental Education and Training, University of Michigan; and Fien, J. (1988) Education for the Australian Environment, Curriculum Development Centre, Canberra.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Be honest in your presentation of views. Be aware of your own feelings and opinions about an issue. Be clear about whether concerns are your students' or your own. If you decide to express your opinions on an issue, make it clear to students that this is your personal view and that it is okay if other people, including them, disagree. |
|
|
|
|
Teach about the complexity of many issues. Do not try to protect students from it, but recognise the difficulty of such complexity, even for adults, and that the way we teach needs to be developmentally appropriate. |
|
|
|
|
Create a learning environment in which students feel a sense of investment, ownership and empowerment. Consider how you can give authority and responsibility to students. Be enthusiastic yourself about the learning process, the project the students are doing, and life in general. |
|
|
|
|
Encourage all students to participate and share their views - but no-one has to share if he/she would rather not. |
|
|
|
|
Encourage an atmosphere of openness, acceptance and respect by being sensitive to students' needs. Listen to their concerns with your complete attention. Respect their feelings and, particularly with young people, err on the side of caution regarding their emotions. |
|
|
|
|
Have well articulated goals and rationales. Encourage parents and others to voice their questions and concerns. Have a support system of people such as an administrator, colleagues, interested parents and community members. |
|
|
|
|
Teach multiple perspectives on all topics but be aware that 'balanced' teaching is not possible given the competing and dominant influences and messages that students are constantly exposed to outside of the classroom. Instead ensure that 'balanced learning' can take place by ensuring that the quality of evidence from all viewpoints is as objective as possible, and that its presentation reflects the aspiration of balanced learning. |
|
|
|
|
Consider your students' developmental needs, including age, gender, family contexts, reading skills, thinking styles and so on. |
|
|
|
|
Encourage students to accept that changing their mind after evaluating an issue during a discussion is a sign of maturity. |
|
|
|
|
Allow disagreements between students to be constructive rather than destructive. Let disagreement further the learning process. |
|
|
|
Source: Adapted from Environmental Education Unit, UNESCO
The UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme is co-operating with the appropriate bodies of the United Nations system, governments, non-governmental organisations and others to establish a programme to integrate the decisions of the United Nations Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED) into the existing United Nations framework adapted to the needs of educators at different levels and circumstances.
The goals of environmental education are mainly:
As guiding principles, environmental education: ·
The main focus of the International Environmental Education Programme thus rests on:
Who are the Target Audiences of Environmental Education? They include as a priority, the formal and non-formal education target groups: students and teachers in pre-primary, primary, secondary, industrial and agricultural schools, general university education, educational decision makers, and the general public.
The audiences also include
IEEPs Contributions, 1975-1993
Exchange Information
Research and Experimentation
Curriculum and Materials Development
Training of Personnel
IEEP's Impacts
Evaluation and IEEP
An important aspect of IEEP's work is the continuous, built-in evaluation of its activities, with the purpose of enhancing their relevance to Member States' needs. This assessment is accomplished through various mechanisms:
Future Perspectives
IEEP will focus on reorientating education towards sustainable development and public awareness and will be guided by the:
How to Keep in Touch with IEEP
IEEP built a worldwide, computerised system whose databases contain information on 1500 institutions, as found in the International Directory of Institutions Active in the Field of Environmental Education.
To receive Connect and documents in the EE Series, or to obtain further information and assistance in developing or strengthening EE in your country, you may contact IEEP as follows:
Chief, Environmental Education Unit
UNESCO-EPD
7, place de Fontenoy
75352Paris,
07 SP, France
Fax +(33 1) 40 65 94 05
Chief, Environmental Education and Training Unit
UNEP
PO Box 30552
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax +254 623917
IEEP documents and Connect are available to ministries, educational institutions, youth and ecological centres, etc, free of charge.
TSW Home
Module 1 | Module 2 | Module 3 | Module 4 | Module 5
Module 6 | Module 7 | Module 8 | Module 9 | Module 10
Module 11 | Module 12 | Module 13 | Module 14 | Module 15
Module 16 | Module 17 | Module 18 | Module 19 | Module 20
Module 21 | Module 22 | Module 23 | Module 24 | Module 25 | Module 26
