Environmental Education

"This chapter discusses how models, combined with modern data sources and statistical methods, can be used to test different hypotheses about the causes of migration. Mathematical formalisms for migration are presented. The ecological mechanisms that could spontaneously have given rise to migration-like patterns of space use from the interaction within and between groups of animals and their environment are discussed, showing that migration is best seen as to lie on a continuum from sedentary to nomadic movement patterns and not as a clearly distinct movement behaviour. Given the multitude of potential processes leading to migration, and the constraints imposed by data collection methods, it may be difficult to observe and identify the original cause. With this caveat in mind, the use of inferential methods to detect, quantify and identify the underlying mechanisms of migration is discussed and the links between models, data and inference are illustrated using three case studies.
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Updates:
The book already sold out! A corrected reprint is available since Dec 2011."

Abstract This study discusses the perception of “the living” in nature, in the context of cross-curricular gardening, kitchen and food-and-health-science teaching at the Waldorf School. It focuses entirely on the phenomenological and epistemological question: Can the sensitive perception of nature – in its relation with me as a person and with regard to the interconnected nature of the web of life - be developed in such a way that it can motivate ethical behavior in terms of an education for sustainability?
Contemporary appeals for a culture of partnership with nature, as voiced by the UNESCO "Education for Sustainability" program, call for the promotion of environmentally compliant motives of action, but they often fall short of showing ways to achieve this. A paradigmatically selected phenomenological study of the dynamic, stepwise unfolding of dawn - its interweaving of sound and color, of cosmic and earthly events, and especially of external and internal processes (the degree of alertness, the embodiment and the individualization as subject in relation to the surrounding) - shows that a deepened nature experience can contribute to healing the subject-object-divide – or at least make it transparent how it came about in the first place; namely by gradually dwelling into one’s own body, while at the same time stepping out of the slowly dissipating half-wake feeling of universal connectedness. This process is being interpreted in terms of structural phenomenology as an expression of a fundamental anthropological fact: the pendulum swing between individualization and universalization in the act of cognition. It is placed within the discourse of a renewed philosophy of nature: Whereas the concepts of ecology, environment and “Gaia” in different ways all tend to leave the experiencing subject out of the pictured reality, the "New Philosophy of Nature" by Gernot Böhme suggests a kind of phenomenology that is able to describe nature qualities within the modern framework of man-made alteration to the environment and to “the nature within” i.e. our own felt body. The possibilities of such an integrative phenomenology of nature, body and consciousness are being tested in an “empathic food test” and finally discussed in terms of their educational potential.
Keywords: phenomenology; structural phenomenology; embodiment; critical theory of nature; „Empathic Food Testing“; nutrition; Education for Sustainability; Garden based Learning; anthroposophy; Waldorf education.


Deutsche Zusammenfassung
Diese Studie thematisiert die Wahrnehmung des Lebendigen in der Natur, vor dem Hintergrund des fächerübergreifenden Unterrichts in Gartenbau, Nahrungszubereitung und Ernährungslehre an der Waldorfschule, jedoch ganz auf die phänomenologische und erkenntnistheoretische Grundfrage konzentriert: Kann die innere Verbindung der Natur – mit mir als Mensch und in sich selbst als gegliederte Erscheinungsformen des Lebendigen – so vertieft sensitiv erfahren werden, dass daraus der Antrieb zu ethischem Handeln im Sinne einer Partnerschaft mit der Natur erwächst?
Der Ruf nach umweltkonformen Handlungsmotiven durchzieht zeitgenössische Appelle für eine Kultur der Nachhaltigkeit, auch die Desiderate einer von der UNESCO geforderten »Education for Sustainability«. Eine paradigmatisch ausgewählte Phänomenstudie an den Stufen der Morgendämmerung – in ihrer Durchdringung von Klang- und Farbmetamorphosen, von kosmischem und irdischem Geschehen, und vor allem von äußerer und innerer Dynamik (Grade der Wachheit, der Leibverbindung und der Individualisierung als Subjekt gegenüber dem Umkreis) – zeigt, dass vertieftes Naturerleben die Entfremdung zwischen Mensch und Lebenswelt wenn nicht direkt heilen, so doch in ihrer Genese erfahrbar machen kann: als prozessuale Einwohnung in den eigenen Leib, verbunden mit dem Heraustreten aus der im Halbwachen noch empfundenen Allverbundenheit. Dieser Prozess wird strukturphänomenologisch interpretiert als Ausdruck einer fundamental-anthropologischen Konstante: dem Pendelschlag von Individualisierung und Universalisierung im Erkenntnisprozess. Und er wird eingeordnet in den Diskurs der Naturphilosophie: Während die Begriffe Ökologie, Umwelt und Gaia in jeweils charakteristischer Weise das erlebende Subjekt außen vor lassen, erweist sich die »Neue Naturphilosophie« von Gernot Böhme als adäquates Werkzeug für eine Phänomenologie, die »die Natur vor uns« und »die Natur, die wir selber sind« (also den lebendig gespürten Leib) gleichermaßen ins Auge fasst. Die Möglichkeiten einer solchen integrativen Natur-, Leib- und Bewusstseinsphänomenologie werden ansatzweise in einer wirkungssensorischen Studie zu Qualitäten von Nahrungsmitteln gezeigt und auf ihre pädagogisches Potential hin untersucht.
Stichworte: Phänomenologie; Strukturphänomenologie; Leibphilosophie; Kritische Theorie der Natur; Wirkungssensorik; „Empathic Food Testing“ ; Anthroposophie; Waldorfpädagogik; Gartenbauunterricht; Ernährung.

This paper contributes to the debate about the absence of nonhuman animals in environmental and sustainable education (ESE) and the challenge of the anthropocentric characterisation of European education. Relating to the debate about a pluralistic approach in ESE as a ‘one-species only pluralism’, we draw on Val Plumwood’s ecofeministic dialogical interspecies ethics and Rosi Braidotti’s understanding of a posthuman/nomadic subjectivity. By regarding ‘difference’ as a constituting force, we present a ‘critical pluralistic’ approach to human-animal relationships in ESE. Instead of drawing new lines of moral consideration for nonhuman beings, an ethical and political appreciation of what nonhuman others can do in ESE is suggested. Recommendations for educational practice are to recognise nonhuman agency to reveal political and ethical dimensions, recognise the agency of non-living animals and stay in conflicts and ‘study up’ and develop an immanent critique, which could lead to alternative pedagogical approaches to human-animal relationships in different cross-curricula settings.

Greta Thunberg’s influential activism was a by-product of not only direct personal factors, but also indirect cultural factors. Urging to spark a catalyst for significant climate action, autistic 16-year-old Greta Thunberg has been protesting every Friday since August 2018. Her drive has since influenced millions of students to walk out of class and go on school climate strikes all over the world, demanding a more reliable home to be bequeathed to their generation. This essay will examine the direct and indirect causes for Greta Thunberg’s brave activism, along with their influential short-term and long-term effects.

This is not strictly an academic book, but an educational experiment full of dancing stories, metaphors, allegories, creative maps, and exercises that ask you to sit at the limits of our modern desires and imagination. Half-serious warning: don't read it if you are seeking clear-cut answers, easy solutions or self-validation. Two sample chapters are available here.
ISBN: 9781623176242

“Beyond a mere critique of modernity, this is a book written for us as people who struggle with the everyday manifestations of modern power. Clear, creative, and cogent, the work offers cutting-edge philosophy at the same time that it furnishes usable guidance for how to cope with the coming perils of colonialism and capitalism. It’s a book for the future, yet written to meet us where we are at right now as individuals living with trauma and facing ethical dilemmas about what it means to take meaningful actions under conditions of complexity.”
— KYLE WHYTE, PhD, George Willis Pack Professor of Environment
and Sustainability at the University of Michigan

“Asking the question ‘What if racism, colonialism, and all other forms of toxic and contagious divisions are preventable social diseases?’, Hospicing Modernity invites its reader to dare and educate themselves by undergoing a process of self-unmaking. Drawing on and moving beyond traditions of radical pedagogy, such as those inspired by Paulo Freire, the author has created a powerful tool for uncovering, undoing, and recovering from the deadly ways in which modernity also lives and dies as humans experience it subjectively.”
— DENISE FERREIRA DA SILVA, PhD, professor at the University of British Columbia Social Justice Institute and author of Toward a Global Idea of Race and Unpayable Debt

The book points out that rural regions need proper attention at the global level concerning solid waste management sector where bad practices and public health threats could be avoided through traditional and integrated waste management
routes. Solid waste management in rural areas is a key issue in developing and transitioning countries due to the lack of proper waste management facilities and services. The book further examines, on the one hand, the main challenges in the development of reliable waste management practices across rural regions and, on the other hand, the concrete solutions and the new opportunities across the world in dealing with municipal and agricultural wastes. The book provides useful information for academics, various professionals, the members of civil society, and national and local authorities.

Introduction

"We as leaders of countries will begin to witness what we call climate refugees moving – you think migration is a challenge in Europe today because of extremism, wait until you see what happens when there’s an absence of water, an absence of food, or one tribe fighting against another for mere survival."
John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, August 2015.

John Kerry’s statement was made at a conference on global leadership in the Arctic and focused, in part, on the dire effects of climate change in that region. In this part of his address, Kerry refers to the challenges posed by recent refugee movements from the Middle East into Europe, ostensibly as a consequence of ‘extremism’, and suggests that climate change and environmental degradation will lead to even greater instability, violent conflict, and movements of people across the globe in the near future. In this chapter, I explore some of these complex links between environmental degradation and migration, and consider the implications for English language education to promote environmental awareness and intercultural understanding, and to work towards stability and sustainability in a fragile world.

Revisitando o artigo escrito em 2004 para o livro “Identidades da Educação Ambiental”, organizado por Philipe Layrargues, nos propomos neste capítulo retomar o debate sobre a polissemia em torno do conceito de Educação Ambiental no Brasil. Como no artigo citado, nossa intenção continua nos afastar de uma classificação ou de uma hierarquização das diferentes EAs em suas mais amplas variações tais como: educação ambiental formal, não-formal, ao ar livre, popular, crítica, política entre outras modalidades possíveis. Assumimos todas estas práticas educativas como legítimas dentro das suas propostas, contextos, metodologias e endereçamentos específicos. Desde a perspectiva filosófica hermenêutica, nos perguntamos, com Paul Ricouer sobre habitar um autor ou vários autores, e parafraseando-o perguntamos: todas as EAs podem ser  verdadeiras ao mesmo tempo? Na intenção de dar voz às multiplicidades de experiências e relativizar a necessidade de classificações, o artigo dará enfoque a ressignificações do atributo ambiental à educação que busca assumir uma ética socioambiental. Este parece ser um dos caminhos que desponta da convergência entre mudança social e ambiental. Encerraremos o capítulo com as contribuições do conceito de multiplicidade de Deleuze e Guattari e como suas reflexões sobre o esgotamento das árvores classificatórias e a valorização dos rizomas poderiam contribuir para a ressignificação dos fundamentos da EA.

ÖZET
Çevre eğitimi, insanın doğaya egemen olma çabasının neticesinde ortaya çıkan çevre bozulmasını gidermeyi amaçlayan yeni bir eğitim alanıdır. Çevre eğitimi bireylerde biliş, duyuş ve davranış değişikliği kazandırma konusunda önem taşımaktadır. Sürdürülebilirlik için toplumların en önemli sorumluluklarından biri, çocuklara çevrelerinin korunmasına yönelik tutum, değer, bilgi ve gerekli olan becerileri kazandırmaktır. Tıpkı diğer tutum ve davranışların öğrenildiği gibi çocukların toplum yanlısı çevreci davranışları da hem evde hem de okuldaki gözlem, deneyimler ve eğitim aracılığıyla etkilenmiş olmalıdır. Çevre eğitimine okul öncesi dönemde başlanmalı ve çocuklara çevre eğitimi verecek olan kişilerin bu konuda donanımlı olması gerekmektedir. Bu bilgiler doğrultusunda araştırmanın amacı okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin okul öncesi dönemde çevre eğitimine ilişkin görüşleri hakkında derinlemesine bilgi elde etmek, okul öncesi dönemde çevre eğitimindeki yetersizlikleri belirlemek ve okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin çevre eğitimine yönelik farkındalıklarını arttırmaktır. Araştırmanın örneklemini Kırklareli ilinin Babaeski ilçesindeki tüm anaokullarındaki ve anasınıflarındaki okul öncesi öğretmenlerinden, araştırmaya katılmayı kabul eden 14 okul öncesi öğretmeni oluşturmaktadır. Bu araştırmada veriler nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme tekniği aracılığıyla elde edilmiştir. Öğretmenlerin görüşleri ses kayıt cihazı ile kaydedilmiştir. Araştırmanın bulgularına göre katılımcı okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin çevre eğitimi hakkındaki bilgilerinin yetersiz olduğu ve çevre eğitimi uygulamalarını kısıtlayan pek çok olumsuz etkenin olduğu tespit edilmiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Çevre Eğitimi, Çevre Eğitimi Ortamları, Çevre Eğitimi Etkinlikleri, Çevre Bilgisi, Okul Öncesi Dönem.

ABSTRACT
Environmental education is a new field of education that emerges as a result of the perception that environmental degradation caused by human efforts to dominate nature can be compensated by itself. Environmental education is the main way of creating the necessary cognitive, affective and behavioral changes in the person. One of the most important tasks of every community for sustainable living is to equip children with attitudes, values, knowledge and skills necessary to protect their environment. Just as other attitudes and behaviors are learned, the prosocial proenvironmental attitudes of children should be influenced by observation, experiences, and teaching, both at home and at school. Environmental education should be started in the pre-school period and those who will give environmental education to young children should be equipped about environmental education.The aim of this study is to get in-depth knowledge regarding knowledge of views of prospective pre-school teachers’ about environmental education in pre-school period, to identify the inadequacies of environmental education in the pre-school period and to raise awareness of preschool teachers about environmental education. The sample of the research composed of 14 pre-school teachers who accept to participate in the research from all kindergartens in Babaeski district of Kırklareli province. In this study, data were obtained from qualitative research methods through semi-structured interview technique. Teachers' views were recorded with voice recorder. According to the findings of the research, it was determined that the information about the environmental education of participant pre-school teachers is inadequate and there are many negative factors that restrict the environmental education practices.
Key Words: Environmental Education, Environmental Education Activities, Environmental Information, Preschool Period.

The importance of urban universities in civic ecology education and the transformation of urban spaces and mindsets has been little explored. With as many as 1475 colleges, universities, and communities colleges in large cities around the United States, many of which possess significant land holdings, it is conceivable that these institutions could make a significant contribution to the "greening" of cities. This paper posits that urban universities, especially those with environmental science and studies or sustainability-related programs, can be a locus for civic ecology education and can contribute, not only to the transformation of urban landscapes but also to the training of future environmental leaders, and ultimately to the transformation of urban young people. The paper describes an urban gardening project undertaken at University of St. Thomas in Houston as an example of this kind of social-ecological transformation and as a potential model for other urban univers...

SPECIAL REPORT: By David Robie, who sailed on the original Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap atoll and is author of the book Eyes of Fire. Thirty five years ago today the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour by French secret agents in a blatant act of state terrorism, killing a photojournalist. People’s campaigns have moved on since then from nuclear tests and refugees to climate justice – and future Pacific refugees. The environmental campaign flagship was bombed on 10 July 1985 just weeks after it had been in the Marshall Islands carrying out four humanitarian voyages to rescue more than 320 Rongelap atoll villagers from the ravages of US nuclear tests and take them to a new home, Mejato island on Kwajalein atoll.

Dificilmente alguém sabe ou imagina que os cemitérios possam causar grandes impactos ambientais e danos à saúde pública. A decomposição da matéria orgânica gera um líquido viscoso, de cor acinzentada-acastanhada e com odor acre e fétido, o necrochorume. Portanto, os cemitérios são depósitos de cadáveres humanos que necessitam de uma destinação correta, pois a degradação dos mesmos pode constituir inúmeros focos de contaminação. Através de uma revisão bibliográfica objetivou-se levantar dados sobre os impactos ambientais ocasionados pela construção de cemitérios, bem como avaliar as inter-relações deste assunto com os riscos à saúde pública à luz da educação ambiental. Analisando a literatura especializada, constata-se que o processo de decomposição dos corpos pode comprometer a qualidade do solo e águas subterrâneas causando alterações físicas, químicas e biológicas, além de tornar o ambiente propício a disseminação de doenças infecto-contagiosas. Será que não se pode lidar com a mo...

Intergenerational programming, which brings children, youth, and older adults
together for mutually beneficial interaction, represents a relatively new strategy for
broadening the public’s awareness and participation in environmental activities. To
explore the potential benefits of involving older adults and young people in joint
environmental education experiences, a study was conducted of an
intergenerational outdoor education program in an environmental center in
Central Pennsylvania. Senior adult volunteers were found to influence children to
adopt an enriched sense of awareness and appreciation of the natural
environment. Senior-student relations were influenced by staff facilitation styles,
the roles taken by the seniors, and the intergenerational engagement format.

This paper examined amusement park and economic development of youths in Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State, Nigeria: Implication for environmental adult education. To achieve the purpose of this study, one null hypothesis was formulated to direct the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The sample of the study consisted of five hundred and forty-four (544) respondents drawn from the area of the study. The instruments for data collection were Tourism Activities Questionnaire (TAQ) and Economic Development Questionnaire (EDQ) developed by the researchers which were validated by three (3) experts in Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability was established through test-retest reliability. Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis was adopted to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the analysis revealed that there is a significant relationship between amusement park activities and economic development in the area. Based on the result of the findings, it was recommended that amusement parks such as ranch resort, Tinapa, Marina resort among others should be established, managed and maintained to encourage tourism activities in this regard.

This chapter examines the implications of doing “anthropology at home” – that is an anthropological research conducted in the researcher’s own country or society – in particular for what concerns the engagement and the public dimension of the discipline. The starting point is my doctoral research on a group of rural commons in Emilia, in Northeast Italy. These commons, called partecipanze, were established during the Middle Ages and are still active in the low plains of Bologna, Modena and Ferrara. What started as a research on the social and environmental functions of the commons soon became an occasion to discuss the potentialities and the limits of an “anthropology at home” that can also have a relevant public dimension. During my fieldwork my testimonies have expressed several times their worries about the local economic, social and environmental issues and they have often discussed with me the role of their history and collective memory. At the same time one of the commons involved me in a project of historical and environmental education for the children of a local lower secondary school. In this paper I consider my “positionality” in relation to the field and I focus on my engagement with the communities during my research. I argue that an “anthropology at home” can set the ground for engaging in advocacy and public relevant issues, and I claim the necessity to adopt a clear and simple language that can help the communities to create a shared identity and memory attached to their territory.

Recently, a novel approach to a highly sensitive and quantitative detection of rare earth element (REE) ions including La3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+, by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, has been reported. The detection of REE ions is based on the catalytic nature of REE ions targeting the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), thus monitoring of the ions can be achieved by reading the level of intact DNA by PCR. Despite of its high sensitivity (at ppb to ppt levels), the conventional PCR-based REE detection protocol requires certain length of time (1-2 hours). In the present study, we modified the PCR-based REE detection protocols by employing the high-speed PCR, and performed the automated and rapid detection of La3+ in small-sized aqueous samples within 5min.