Environmental Education PDF

Environmental Science & Education Unit 1: Understanding the Environment 1.1 Environment: concept, importance and components 1.2. Ecosystem: Concept, structure and function (food chain, food web, ecological pyramids and energy flow) 1.3. Ecosystem services: (Provisioning, regulating and cultural)...

Environmental Science & Education Unit 1: Understanding the Environment 1.1 Environment: concept, importance and components 1.2. Ecosystem: Concept, structure and function (food chain, food web, ecological pyramids and energy flow) 1.3. Ecosystem services: (Provisioning, regulating and cultural) 1.4. Biodiversity: levels, values and threats and conservation 1.5. Concept and objectives of environmental education, environmental ethics Environmental Education Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem-solving, and take action to improve the environment. As a result, individuals develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and have the skills to make informed and responsible decisions. Environmental education does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course of action. Rather, environmental education teaches individuals how to weigh various sides of an issue through critical thinking and it enhances their own problem-solving and decision-making skills. Environmental Education The components of environmental education are: Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges Knowledge and understanding of the environment and environmental challenges Attitudes of concern for the environment and motivation to improve or maintain environmental quality Skills to identify and help resolve environmental challenges Participation in activities that lead to the resolution of environmental challenges Objectives of Environmental Education The objectives of environmental education are broad in sense of nature. The general objectives of environmental education include the following:  To develop a sense of awareness among the students about the environment and its various problems.  To help the students in realizing the inter-relationship between man and environment.  To inform the students about the social norms that provide unity with environmental characteristics.  To create a positive attitude about the environment among the students.  To develop the proper skills required for the fulfillment of the aims of environmental education and educational evaluations.  To help the students in realizing the importance of taking proper steps to solve environmental problems. Objectives of Environmental Education The objectives of environmental education are broad in sense of nature. The general objectives of environmental education include the following:  To develop required curiosity among the students for the realization of environmental problems so that they would be inspired to work for the solution of such problems.  To create appropriate situations for the students to participate in the process of decision making about environment.  To develop the capability of using skills to fulfill the required aims, to realise and solve environmental problems through social, political, cultural and educational processes.  To enlighten the people on the physical components of the environment.  To inform them about their dependence on the environmental resources.  To enlighten them about the changes in the environment in the last decade and the consequences of their present actions. Objectives of Environmental Education The objectives of environmental education are broad in sense of nature. The general objectives of environmental education include the following:  To alert them about the consequences of human actions on the environment both on man himself and other forms of life.  To create concern for environmental quality and conservation and to foster understanding of man’s relationship and interactions with the ecosphere.  To develop personal, community and national sanitation and conservation ethics.  To awaken appreciation of the aesthetic quality of nature in order to encourage its uses for recreation. Environmental Education is More Than Information about the Environment Environmental Education Environmental Information Increases public awareness and Provides facts or opinions about knowledge of environmental issues environmental issues Does not necessarily teach Teach individuals critical-thinking individuals critical-thinking Does not necessarily enhance Enhance individuals' problem- individuals' problem-solving and solving and decision-making skills decision-making skills Does not advocate a particular May advocate a particular viewpoint viewpoint Levels of environmental education Reorienting education as a whole towards sustainability involves the various levels of formal, non-formal and informal education at all levels of society. A. Formal Environmental Education Environmental education is increasingly a prominent part of primary, secondary and tertiary education in the world. The formal education sector plays a vital role in environmental education and awareness by exposing the younger generation to the information, issues, analyses and interpretations on environment and development. Rather than establishing a new subject, most countries have opted to infuse environmental education objectives and strategies into the existing curricula, while some other countries practice both options. In addition, the focus on practical learning in the real world in environmental education schools helps to address important general educational objectives related to values and skills development. Levels of environmental education A. Formal Environmental Education-Primary and Secondary Levels At primary level, the attempt is made to sensitize the child about environs. Emphasis should be mostly on building up awareness (75%), followed by real life situation (20%) and conservation (5%). Teaching strategy includes audio-visual and field visits. At the secondary level objectives must be real-life experience, awareness and problem identification. Teaching, practicals and field visits are to be done. The emphasis must be on conservation, assimilation of knowledge, problem identification and action skills. Contents may be science-based and action oriented work. The diversity of approaches in primary and secondary education seen across the globe is based on each country’s major and threatened resources, and issues of concern. For example, in the Maldives, environmental education and awareness programs highlight issues of the marine environment. Levels of environmental education A. Formal Environmental Education- (ii) Tertiary Level At college level, maximum emphasis should be on knowledge regarding sustainable development and conservation. The content must be college based on Science and Technology. Teaching practical’s and action-oriented field work is to be done. At post graduate level, four major areas are recognised environmental engineering, conservation and management, environmental health, social ecology. Levels of environmental education B. Non-formal Education-Non-formal environmental educational activities exist alongside the formal educational systems, at curricular and extra curricular levels, in occupational training, and through wide public awareness activities through non-formal channels such as mass media, and voluntary organizations. Different communities, institutions and individuals choose methods and practices that best suit their local needs and capacities. Following are the main constituents of this education. Adult Education: Adults may influence society to protect the precious environs by generating posters, slides, audio-visual and information pictures. Tribals and Forest Dwellers: They are an important media to protect the forest wealth. Children Activities: The conduction of spot painting, modeling and poster design about environment for children. Eco-development Camps: Currently a set of guidelines has been prepared to create awareness in youth and to acquaint them with the practice of sustainable development. Non-government Organizations: There are more than 200 NGOs engaged in environmental protection. Levels of environmental education B. Non-formal Education Training Executives: Regular courses should be arranged for environ activities among administrators. Research and Development Programs Foundation Courses: The courses for the probationers selected for the IAS, IFS, IPS and cadets of three wings of Armed Forces need to be supplemented with foundation courses on environment relevant to their area of specialisation. Development of Educational Material and Teaching Aids: Materials for media (TV, radio, films, newspapers etc.), audio, mobile exhibitions, audio-visual materials must be operated by competent manpower. World Environmental Day: All Govts. in the states, UTs, universities, schools, colleges, academic institutions and voluntary organisations organise suitable activities on World Environmental Day, i.e., 5th June of each year. Constraints to Implementing Environmental Education Rigid Specialization. Complexity of inter-disciplinary value of Environmental education. High pupil – teacher ratio for organising pupil participation programs. Paucity of qualified trained environmental educator. Lack of proper resources in terms of equipment, supplementary materials and reference materials. Tendency to resist changes Environmental Ethics Ethics, seeks to define what is right and what is wrong on a universal basis. For example stealing, lying, cheating, killing and indifference to the well-being of others are considered to be unethical. Preserving human life, concerns for others, honesty and truthfulness are considered to be ethical. Moral values reflect the dominant belief of a particular culture about what is right and what is wrong. For example killing a person is wrong but during the wartime, killing an enemy soldier is not considered as an immoral act. It is difficult to define what is wrong and what is right because of the differences in cultural and religious beliefs. Some individuals consider it unethical, immoral to unnecessarily waste resources while others argue that maximizing consumption is a moral act because it promotes the economic growth, that is a source of jobs and funds for helping the poor and protecting the environment. Environmental Ethics Our responsibility to other humans, other species, and the land is determined by how we assign value to these items. Something is considered to have instrumental value if it its value comes from its usefulness to humans. For example, paper money has instrumental value because it can be exchanged for goods and services, but the paper itself is essentially worthless. On the other hand, something that possesses intrinsic value is valuable in and of itself, regardless of how useful it is. For example, most people consider other humans to have intrinsic value because they possess that value whether or not they are “useful” to others. Environmental Ethics Environmental ethics is the study of ethical questions raised by human relationships with the nonhuman environment. Why do we need a new set of ethics for the environment? The answer includes three factors. 1. New effects on nature: As our modern technological civilization affects nature greatly, we must examine the ethical consequences of these new technological actions. 2. New knowledge about nature: Modern science demonstrates how we have changed and are in the process of changing our environment in ways not previously understood, thus raising new ethical issues. For example, until the past decade, few people believed that human’s activities could be changing the global environment. Now, scientists however, believe that burning fossil fuels and clearing forests have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and that this causes changes in our climate. Hence the emphasis is on a global perspective. 3. Expanding moral concerns: Some people argue that animals, trees, and even rocks have normal and legal rights. These expanded concerns lead to a need for a new ethic. For most of human history, ethics has concentrated on “human rights”, the rights of individuals, of families and ethnic groups. However ethics now include the rights of animals, plants and the environment beyond the human rights to rule and use them. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-THREE VIEWS ABOUT NATURE There are essentially three views of nature: 1. The Western (European and North American), 2. The Sineatic (Chinese, Korean and Japanese) and 3. The Indian (a combination of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain philosophies). In the past the western view considered that nature was alien and hostile to human beings; it had to be conquered, and subsumed under human control. The Sineatic concept of nature is that it is beautiful and perfect, but it has to be transformed to be loved. Nature creates an aesthetic awe. “Rather than being hostile, humans are part of nature, in the Sineatic view, human being have their place in nature”. The Indian spiritual tradition combines perspectives on nature from Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In this case, nature is a mother. She cannot be tamed by her children. She is a Goddess. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATURE The way we treat the environment reveals much about our beliefs regarding ourselves and the world around us? Some people regard human beings as merely one of the many species of animals; others view human being’s role as caretaker or stewards of nature. These differing points of view often lead to contradictory environmental polices. Some of the popular points of view towards environment. Anthropocentrism: The people having an anthropocentric or human-centred attitude towards nature assign significantly greater value to human beings than any other nonhuman organisms or things. According to anthropocentric attitude, protection or promotion of human interests or well-being at the expense of nonhuman things turns out to be nearly always justified. However, not all anthropocentric proponents believe in unlimited resource use. Some argue that since the environment is crucial to human survival, we still have to protect the environment to support current and future generations of humans. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATURE Stewardship Many tribal or indigenous people, both hunter-gatherers and those in traditional agricultural societies, have a strong sense of stewardship or responsibility for a particular part of nature. As custodian of resources, they see their proper role as working together with human and non-human forces to sustain life. Humanity and reverence are essential in this worldview, where humans are seen as partners in the natural process rather than masters-not outside of nature but part of it. Stewardship requires a person to consider the entire universe as her or his extended family, and all living organisms are members of the household. In this humane view, stewardship need not reject science or technology. If we are part of nature, then our intelligence and discoveries are parts of nature too. As stewards of our environment, we have to use the power of science and technology to improve rather than destroy or degrade the world. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATURE Ecofeminism Many feminists argue that neither anthropocentrism nor stewardship is sufficient to solve environmental problems or to tell us how we ought to behave as moral agents. They argue that all these philosophies have come out of a patriarchal system based on domination and duality. This worldview assigns prestige and importance to some things but not others. It claims that men are superior to women, minds are better than bodies, and culture is higher than nature. Feminists see an important connection between patriarchal domination, exploitation, and ill-treatment of woman, children, minorities and nature. Ecofeminism is radically a new vision. It is rooted in women’s biological, procreative and maternal role. Ecofeminism finds instant rapport with Eastern concepts of ‘Mother Nature’. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATURE Ecofeminism It envisions a work of subsistence lifestyle, in harmony with nature and pervaded by the ‘feminist principle’. For the greater good of both man and woman, ecofeminism seeks to forge a ‘new sexual and reproductive ecology’. Ecofeminism is concerned not so much with rights, obligations, ownership and responsibilities as with care, appropriate reciprocity and kinship. This philosophy suggests that humans could reconsider their relationship to nature in nondominant ways and this is proposed as an alternative to patriarchal systems of domination. However, Ecofeminism has been subjected to severe criticism for its impracticability and its peculiar biases and distortions. It is argued all development is not patriarchal and anti-women. Five core feminist values; Challenging & Redistributing Power, Care, Wellbeing & Non-Violence, Respect for the Earth, Deep Democracy and Intersectionality. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATURE Biocentrism and Ecocentrism Many modern environmentalists criticize stewardship as being too anthropocentric. They instead favor the biocentric (life-centered) attitude thinking that all living organisms have values and rights regardless of whether they are useful or not. Some philosophers assert that the environment as a whole possesses intrinsic value and have a right to exist in their natural state without human interference. This attitude is described as ecocentric (environment-centered) because it claims moral values and rights for both organisms and ecological systems. We must therefore consider how our actions will impact all parts of the ecosystem, including animals, plants, and even the water and the soil. This view considers humans to be a part of nature, not somehow separate or more valuable than other components of the environment. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Environmental justice activists argue that environmental benefits and harms should be shared equally by all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, or income. True equality can only be achieved if poor people, people of color, and others with less political power have equal access to the decision-making processes that create environmental policies. The environmental justice movement was sparked by protests against hazardous waste sites that were disproportionately located in minority neighborhoods. In 1987, Benjamin Chavis of the United Church of Christ coined the term “environmental racism” to describe this practice, and multiple studies since then have demonstrated that people of color are more likely to be exposed to air and water pollution than white people. Some social scientists have argued that this environmental inequality is simply because racial minorities are more likely to be poor and live in areas where land is inexpensive. These areas will therefore tend to house more hazardous waste sites and polluting factories. However, careful research has shown that environmental disparities are only partially explained by income. Low-income neighborhoods with a high proportion of people of color are still more likely to be polluted than low-income white neighborhoods. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-The Tragedy of the Commons The tragedy of the commons refers to a situation in which individuals with access to a public resource (also called a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource. This economic theory was first conceptualized in 1833 by British writer William Forster Lloyd. In 1968, in the essay, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” ecologist Garrett Hardin looked at what happens when humans do not limit their actions by including the land as part of their ethic. The tragedy of the commons develops in the following way: imagine a small town containing a cow pasture that is open to all families to freely use as they choose. This pasture is known as an open-access resource because it is owned by no one and can be used by anyone. It is to be expected that each family will try to keep as many cattle as possible on the commons. As rational beings, each family seeks to maximize their gain. Adding more cattle increases their profit, and they do not suffer any immediate negative consequences because the commons are shared by all. It is reasonable to conclude that the only sensible course is to add another animal to the herd, and then another, and so forth. However, this same conclusion is reached by each family sharing the commons. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-The Tragedy of the Commons Therein lies the tragedy: each family is locked into a system that compels them to increase their herd, without limit, in a limited world. Eventually, this leads to environmental and economic collapse due to overgrazing of the pasture. In a society that believes in the freedom of the commons, freedom brings ruin to all because each person acts selfishly. Hardin went on to apply the situation to modern examples of open-access resources: overgrazing of public lands, overuse of public forests and parks, depletion of fish populations in the ocean, use of rivers as a common dumping ground for sewage, and fouling the air with pollution. Hardin’s concern for the environment led him to advocate for coercive population control and an end to economic aid for developing countries. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS-The Tragedy of the Commons However, these views are not supported by most environmental ethicists today, as human rights and human well-being are seen as integral components of environmental sustainability. The problems brought on by the Tragedy of the Commons have led many environmental thinkers to conclude that environmental degradation can only be halted if resources are owned by either private citizens or governments, and that all open-access resources will ultimately be destroyed. However, this view has been challenged in recent years by a Nobel Prize-winning economist named Elinor Ostrom. Her studies of communities around the world have shown that people are often capable of managing their open-access resources as long as the people using the resources are responsible for the decisions about how to use them. For example, villagers are unlikely to deplete all the fish in a lake they depend on for food. But a large corporation is more likely to over-fish the lake if it can simply move on to another lake when the fish are gone.