Stockholm Recommendation 96: Viable in the Dominican Republic

Summary The Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries face serious challenges to their natural resource base. In recent years the government of the Dominican Republic has taken major steps toward the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan for national natural resources management. This plan is called Plan Sierra. An important component of this plan is the outline of actions for carrying out an environmental education programme within the country. This demonstrates a commitment to fulfill Recommendation No. 96 of the Stockholm Conference in a way that could become a model for other Latin American nations. Clinton L. Shepard is Assistant Professor in the Division of Environmental Education, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State University. Dr Shepard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Kentucky and graduate degrees from The Ohio State University in Natural Resources/Environmental Education and Education-Foundations and Research. He has worked as an interpreter and Environmental Education Coordinator for the State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources, a research associate for ERIC—Science, Math, and Environmental Education Clearinghouse, and College instructor in interpretive methods, environmental education methodology, resident outdoor programming, and natural resources development. He is also involved in international research and development, especially in the Caribbean Basin. Robert E. Roth is Chairman/Professor in the Division of Environmental Education, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State University. Dr Roth received a Bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management, a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Science Education, a Master's degree in Conservation Education from The Ohio State University, and his Ph.D. in Environmental Education from The University of Wisconsin. he came to OSU in 1969 and since that time has designed and institutionalized the only academic unit in the US that offers both well developed undergraduate and graduate programmes in Environmental Communications, Education and Interpretation and has published over 40 works in the field. He has been instrumental in implementing a growing international environmental education research and development emphasis in the wider Caribbean, he continues as an Executive Editor of theJournal of Environmental Education.     

Environmental management: An experiment in orientation in India

Summary Environmental management is a most critical input for achieving ecologically sound and balanced economic growth. It is essential that policy-makers and administrators accept the significance, principles and practices of environmental management, otherwise implementation of projects will not include the environmental protection measures. Environmental management training programmes for decision-makers are, therefore, essential. In India, The Department of Environment has initiated workshop for top level managers for sensitizing them to environmental management concepts. The experience in organizing and conducting such programmes may be of value to organizations in other developing countries, and is summarised in this paper.     

Environmental education in Sweden

Summary Schools and higher education institutions in Sweden have developed a wide range of innovative and demanding curricula to meet the objectives of Sweden's environmental policy. Environmental education in compulsory schools is taught principally through biological sciences, although social studies are beginning to occupy a substantial component of the environmental curriculum. Upper secondary schools offer more opportunities to develop environmental awareness, understanding and practical skills than comparable sixth form and post-secondary colleges in England. In Sweden there is a strong emphasis on practical work developed through projects based on contemporary environmental issues and their resolution. The development of environmental education has been well supported by a substantial input of new resources, especially materials developed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Industry. Universities have also begun to adopt new organisational structures to help develop inter-disciplinary teaching and research teams. Several universities are experimenting with common core courses, parts of which comprise environmental elements.Dr P. Brown is currently Visiting Professor of Environmental Education, in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire. All five authors were until recetly members of Her Majesty's Education Service Inspectorate.     

Applying the concept of State of Good Repair to the management of ecological infrastructure

At any time, the condition of ecological infrastructure is related to the availability of funds to support operational management programmes. Environmental management outcomes are therefore often coupled to general economic conditions. When general economic conditions are favourable, investment in environmental management is often greater. This implies that environmental management frameworks need to be able to cope with the waxing and waning of economic conditions while still delivering acceptable environmental management and service delivery outcomes. At the onset of budget cuts, environmental managers therefore need effective ways of assessing the near and far future trade-offs of curtailing particular programmes in a defensible and internally consistent manner.

Operators of large civil infrastructure assets face the same problem. In response, the asset management community has developed the State of Good Repair approach. The objective of the preliminary consideration presented here was to determine whether this engineering management approach has any merit in environmental management.     

Subject indicators to present the nature and limit of environmental studies in US graduate schools

Summary The purpose of this paper is to examine subjects to show the nature and limit of interdisciplinary communication in existing environmental programmes in US graduate schools. Ultimately, this analysis may provide more effective communication with the general public. Following comparative historical reviews of both the sciences and the human activity for environmental protection, and a content analysis of empirical documents used by the public, a mushroom computer model has been produced. This model is based on organizational behaviour theory and contains the following 15 subjects which were originally introduced before the lack of communication resulting from curriculum failure in the 19th century: philosophy, politics, economics, architecture, sociology, biology, medicine, agriculture, ecology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology, statistics. The subjects should foster effective communication with the general public, leading to more effective environmental protection.Dr Hong S. Kim is at the Environmental Studies Program, California State University, Fullerton, USA. He received a PhD from the Administration and Management Program at Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. His numerous papers are focused on environmental pollution analysis, environmental impact assessment, environmental management, and environmental law. He has written a book entitledEnvironmentology which is forthcoming.Dr James P. Dixon is the Chairperson of Health Services at Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401, USA. He was recently Professor of the Department of Policy and Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He was also past President of Antioch College (1959–1975). His many publications are concentrated in the areas of organizational development, public health and preventive medicine, and administration of human service organizations.     

Public attitudes on environment,energy and the economy — Implications for policy

Summary During the last ten years environmental quality and energy have emerged as important national issues right along with the economy. The central proposition appears to be that environmental concerns are inversely related to concern about energy and the economy. The common assumptions about public perception of the trade-offs between environmental quality, economic growth, and energy production are shown to be invalid. In any event it is unlikely that public policy makers will find themselves strongly pulled by a highly polarized public.David J. Rosen is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Ecology, Cook College of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, Rutgers University (U.S.A.) where he teaches in the interdisciplinary International Environmental Studies and Human Ecology curricula. While formally trained as a political scientist (Ph D, Rutgers University, 1975) for the past six years his research on energy and environmental matters has become increasingly interdisciplinary. The subjects of his work have ranged from the international energy system to the provision of solar energy incentives by state government. He has also served as a consultant to government and private organizations on a number of energy and environmental projects.     

Environmental whole farm management plans: their character, diversity, and use as agri-environmental indicators in New Zealand

This paper reports on a nationwide survey of environmental farm plan programmes and plan characteristics, towards determining New Zealand's (NZ's) capability and eligibility for reporting on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) environmental whole farm management plan agri-environmental indicator. Considerations regarding the validity of the indicator are discussed. Environmental farm planning in NZ is widespread, fragmented, and diverse. Nine of NZ's 16 regional authorities have environmental farm plan programmes involving 20 different types of environmental farm plans. Potentially half of NZ's total area of farmland is included, but this is reduced by limited and selective use of environmental farm plans as policy instruments. Three authorities are capable of readily reporting the number and coverage of their environmental farm plans; six would need to manually compile the information. Compliance monitoring is mostly informal, but necessary for checking the implementation of plan works and actions. Eligibility of NZ environmental farm plans cannot be determined until the OECD define acceptance standards. A contemporary definition of environmental farm plans is proposed, along with additional criteria necessary to ensure such plans are credible indicators of issue ownership, adoption of best management practice, and landscape changes intended to improve environmental quality.     

Teaching for community environmental action: an alternative instructional model for environmental concepts and issues in schools

Summary Whether environmental education in the school curriculum is treated as a separate subject or as an interdisciplinary entity, the end product should be the same: to provide learners with the desire to preserve or develop optimum environments and to improve less desirable ones. In this endeavour, the learners must ultimately reach out to participate in community decisions and environmental management activities, for that is where the environmental problems abound. Moreover, young persons are generally more knowledgeable than many adults on environmental matters and are more aware of the effects of environmental degradation. When they participate in community environmental management, they may also develop unique and particularly dynamic qualities.Research worldwide suggests that very few teaching programmes encourage environmental participation. In Kenya teachers tend to use deductive teaching methods which do not encourage participation, although there may be ample opportunities in the local environment to facilitate such participation. A more refined, reconstructivist inquiry strategy, committed to the attainment of participative environmental education objectives is suggested. The approach, referred to as an operation-environment instructional model emphasizes action research, supported by a series of other vital stages, as fundamental to the agenda for environmental learning.William W. Toili possesses both Bachelor and Master's Degrees in Education from Nairobi as well as a Master's Degree from the University of Leeds, UK. He is currently a lecturer in Environmental Education at Maseno University College.     

A new look at the old problem of eutrophication management in southern Africa

Summary This paper contrasts the traditional engineering approach to eutrophication management with a proposed systems approach. Legislative, social, economic and technical aspects of eutrophication are identified. Through the use of some recent case studies, the importance of the socioeconomic factors relative to the legal-technical aspects of eutrophication management is highlighted. Whilst the latter retain their vital role in eutrophication control programmes, this paper suggests that the former cannot be ignored, and recommends adoption of a systems approach to the management of eutrophication.Dr Jeffrey A. Thornton and Guy Boddington are Senior Planning Professionals in the Environmental Planning Section of the Town Planning Branch, City Planner's Department, Cape Town, with practical interests in water quality management and integrated environmental management in the African urban environment. Dr Thornton is a registered professional ecologist and editor of the research journal,Journal of the Limnological Society of Southern Africa.     

Environmental education in the South Pacific: Towards sustainable development

Summary This paper suggests that for environmental education to have any meaning in the South Pacific, the variety of physical and cultural environments must be taken into account. It is not possible, however, for each country to develop its own programme, and thus, a kind of dependent development which is sustainable should be undertaken. Environmental education is much wider than utilising formal educational curricula; it should include the use of the media, the employment of environmental economists, and a continuous sharing of information between those who carry out environmental research and those who design and implement policy.Dr Jenny Bryant is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of the South Pacific and Chairperson of the South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment (SPACHEE). This paper was first presented to the 16th Pacific Science Congress in Seoul, Korea in August, 1987. It has been published elsewhere as part of a UNEP Regional Report (Dahl, 1988).     

Environmental education research notes (USA)

Conclusion Selections reported above were chosen as representative and reflective of the varieties of environmental education research currently reported in the literature. They were picked for this paper somewhat arbitrarily, from among more than 70 surviving an initial screening. No selection bias was intended, other than for the purpose of providing a representative variety. In most cases, abstracts printed in theCurrent Index to Journals in Education, Resources in Education, orDissertation Abstracts International were used in preparing these notes.These notes have been compiled by John F. Disinger, Professor of Environmental Education, School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA; he is also Associate Director, Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC) Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education (SMEAC). This contribution by Professor Disinger is in response to the editorial, Invitation to Promote Research Cooperation (The Environmentalist, 1 (3) 177–178.     

Problems encountered when linking environmental management to development aid

Summary Environmental management is defined as a mechanism for alleviating the worst of environmental damage and reducing the most unacceptable aspects of social inequalities but without really altering the patterns of political and economic power. It is now increasingly regarded as accepted practice in development partly because it is economically and socially counterproductive to ignore it. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate the difficulties involved in incorporating environmental management into economic growth with special reference to development assistance. Much environmental damage in the Third World is a product of the forces of development rather than the fault of the people, and in the past development assistance projects have often inadvertently led to environmental destruction and social distress. Case examples are given. The paper argues that among the many impediments to the full incorporation of environmental management into development are the following: the administrative structure of the agencies involved, suspicions in the past of receiving nation governments and the risky nature, and expensive labour intensity of programmes aimed at integrated rural development and appropriate technology. Some recommendations are advanced involving administrative reorganisation, new training skills and diplomacy, although no major breakthroughs are expected to come quickly.Geography graduate from the University of Edinburgh, Harkness Fellowship and Carnegie Scholarship to study at Cambridge (UK) and Cornell (USA). University appointments in Canada and UK. Authority in the field of Resource Management. Author of Progress in Resource Management and Environmental Planning.     

Environmental auditing roundtable establishes formal standards for environmental,health, and safety audits

The Environmental Auditing Roundtable recently promulgated the Standards for the Performance of Environmental, Health, and Safety Audits that are featured in this article. With many global initiatives converging in the development of environmental auditing and management standards, this document represents a vital building block, unique from many others in that it was built by a broad-based consensus effort of actual practitioners. Over 95 percent of the Roundtable members who voted on the standard endorsed it.     

Tourist Support for Marine Protection in Nha Trang,Viet Nam

Environmental planners often propose tourism as a means of financing programmes to protect significant environmental areas. Surveys of tourists can provide useful information about the significance of environmental problems, trade-offs among policy objectives, willingness to pay (WTP) for protection programmes and preferences for different payment mechanisms. In Khanh Hoa Province, the provincial People's Committee, the Ministry of Fisheries and the World Conservation Union are working to implement Viet Nam's first marine protected area (MPA) in Nha Trang Bay. This paper reports the results of a survey of local and other Vietnamese and foreign tourists to islands that will be included in the MPA. The majority of respondents thought rubbish on the beaches, water pollution and vendors on beaches were problems and that the MPA was a good idea. Foreign tourists were significantly more likely to perceive environmental problems than were Vietnamese tourists, and persons who agreed there were environmental problems were significantly more likely to support the concept of an MPA, despite the potential for possible economic effects with distributive consequences. WTP for protection was modest and positively correlated with education and income. Although foreign tourists were on average willing to pay more, a larger proportion of Vietnamese tourists were willing to pay some amount to support the MPA. Analyses indicate that changes in income and education expected with economic development will increase both awareness of problems and WTP for protection. The results of this analysis are both encouraging and cautionary. The need for an MPA is clearly recognized by most tourists, and most tourists are willing to pay small fees to support the MPA. Given that education has significant impacts on both perceptions of problems and WTP, educational programmes may be an effective strategy for managing the competing objectives of protection and use.     

Environmental planning at the local level: The example of local conservation strategies in Victoria,Australia

Summary While there is a burgeoning literature on national approaches to environmental policy and programmes, much less interest thus far has been shown in the role of local government. However, the State of Victoria in Australia, in the period 1988–1990, took a world lead in encouraging local municipalities to formulate Local Conservation Strategies (LCSs) with a high level of citizen input. The paper places this programme initiative in context and reports on the results of consultations and workshops with local Municipal Conservation Officers who have been in the front line in terms of developing and implementing LCSs in that State. In particular, the paper explores the process of LCS formulation and highlights some of the benefits and problems with the programme so far.Dr David Mercer is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University, Melbourne. His major research interest is Australian environmental policy. Dr Meg Keen's research interests are in environmental education and management.     

Two paradigms of professional development in environmental education

Summary In environmental education in this information age, it is particularly important to adopt the approach of enquiring critically into the environmental, educational and social values informing environmental, educational and social actions when and where required, rather than to simply adopt the approach of emphasising the acquisition and retention of information of an alleged universal type — information drawn from the stockpile of objective knowledge collected by others. This paper argues that to achieve this aim, environmental education in an information age requires aparadigm shift in the areas of professional development — a shift from a paradigm of information technology to a paradigm of information critique. A perspective on the form of this paradigm shift in the particular field of professional development in environmental education is the subject of this paper.Dr Ian Robottom is Senior Lecturer in the Curriculum Studies Centre of the School of Education, at Deakin University, Australia. His main interests lie in teacher education, educational enquiry, and environmental education. He conducts an off-campus environmental education course (B.Ed level) for practising teachers studying at a distance, is a member of the Council of the Australian Association for Environmental Education., and Editor of theAustralian Journal of Environmental Education.     

关于日本《环境教育等促进法》修改的研究

日本于2012年10月1日正式颁布了《环境教育等促进法》,此法由2003年颁布的《有关增进环保意愿以及推进环保教育的法律》修改而来,是一部充分调动各个社会主体协同合作,用环境教育开展环境保护工作的法律。通过分析该法多角度分层次的教育措施及特点,借鉴日本多年来环境教育推广经验,对我国加快环境教育立法进程,实现全民环境教育,增强全民节约意识、生态意识、环保意识,全力建设美丽中国有着重大意义。     

Environmental technological education in a developing country—Libya

Summary The environmental education needs of a currently wealthy developing country, Libya, are outlined. Because of specific local requirements, the data presented clearly shows how such educational requirements differ in many respects from the various Western-style environmental sciences curricula. The aim is to produce graduates capable of comprehending environmental problems as they arise in the different regions of Libya. This involves not only dealing with the effects of new developments but also with peoples who must adapt to new life-styles.Since most of what has to be learned is communicated originally in English to Arabic-speaking students via lectures, visits and books, special emphasis is laid upon the added importance oflocally produced bilingual audio-visual teaching aids supported by spoken commentaries, printed texts and glossaries of technical terms used in both languages. A technique for producing such aids has been evolved at the Higher Institute of Technology, Brack, Libya.     

The contribution of environmental assessment by government,industry and others to the UK conservation strategy

Summary The author argues that sound, profitable and sustainable development should be pursued by all sections of the community: that there exist economic benefits to Governments in promoting sound ecological principles in development policies. He suggests that the environmental movement should be talking about development and environmental concerns as complementary issues, and believes that business enterprises should regard the limitation of environmental damage as simply one more facet of good business practice for good business reasons.Sir Arthur G. Norman, KBE, DFC, is the Chairman of The UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) and an interview with him was recently presented inThe Environmentalist 5 (3) 163–6. This paper was given as a closing address to a Conference entitledThe EEC Environmental Assessment Directive: Towards Implementation held at the Royal Society of Arts, London on 30th–31st January 1986. The Conference was organized by the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning, University of Aberdeen, assisted by the Department of the Environment (UK), the Confederation of British Industry, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Landscape Institute and with the participation of the Commission of the European Communities.