The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education最新文献

{"title":"Creating Environmental Awareness using an Eco-Feedback Application at a Higher Education Institution","authors":"A. Calitz, M. Cullen, Francois Odendaal","doi":"10.4314/sajee.v36i1.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v36i1.8","url":null,"abstract":"Providing environmental education and creating environmental awareness assists future generations to conserve, preserve and sustain the environment. Organisations are supporting environmental awareness education efforts and universities are increasingly being required to exercise sound environmental behaviour and educate all stakeholders on their responsibility of being aware of their environmental impact. Gamification and eco-feedback applications in previous studies have been used to provide feedback on an individual’s behaviour with the goal of creating environmental awareness. Students are generally not provided with environmental information regarding their use of electricity, water and waste management whilst on campus. In this exploratory study, an eco-feedback application was developed and used to create environmental awareness amongst postgraduate students at the Nelson Mandela University and the functionality of the eco-feedback application was evaluated. The results indicated that participants became more aware of their environmental impact after being exposed to an eco-feedback application. The functionality provided by the eco-feedback application, to assist in creating environmental awareness within an academic institution, proved to be useful.","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116064606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Use of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Crop and Livestock Production and Implication to Social Ecology: A Case Study of Chimanimani District of Zimbabwe","authors":"P. Sithole","doi":"10.4314/sajee.v36i1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v36i1.3","url":null,"abstract":"This study explored the indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in the Chimanimani District of Zimbabwe and how they are used in crop management and grain storage. Also examined were the effects of IKS use on community food security and integrity of the environment. A qualitative interpretative research design was employed through the use of detailed in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with traditional leaders and community elders. The choice for these groups of people was informed by the general belief that they are often regarded in the community as a reservoir of indigenous knowledge systems. Phenomenological underpinnings anchored the study because it was vital to bring to the fore the various related IKS phenomena and links to food security and environmental management in the community. A socio-ecological lens was used to establish links and interrelations of factors that contribute to food security and environmental management. Major findings include that ashes and leaves from some indigenous trees are used to enrich soil quality, preserve food, and treat livestock. In addition, ashes and leaves are applied as organic pesticides for a variety of crops grown in the district. The study established that these local knowledge systems and practices contribute to low farming costs, high crop yields and good environmental management. The indigenous trees used for this purpose are held in high regard and conserved through the practice and enforcement of socio-spiritual prohibitions like taboos. The study concluded that the body of local knowledge firmly rooted in the Chimanimani people’s culture and traditions is relevant to and consistent with the national and global agenda towards strengthening and sustaining community food security and environmental management. Furthermore, the local knowledge systems found in this study have policy implications for environmental management and climate change strategies as well as knowledge management from a socio-ecological perspective.Keywords: indigenous knowledge management systems, environmental management, food security","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116131349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Challenges of Teaching Akans (Ghana) Culturally-Specific Environmental Ethics in Senior High Schools: Voices of Akans and Biology Teachers","authors":"M. Opoku, A. James","doi":"10.4314/sajee.v36i1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v36i1.4","url":null,"abstract":"Indigenous cultural groups have lived sustainably with their natural resources (land, water bodies, forests, wildlife animals and plants) by employing particular culturallyspecific environmental ethics. These include spiritual perceptions about natural environmental resources, totemic beliefs and taboos. Consequently, many scholars in the country have recommended the integration of these culturally-specific environmental ethics in environmental policies and formal school curricula. The purpose of this research was to explore the views of Akan indigenous knowledge (IK) holders and senior high school Biology teachers on challenges they predicted could confront the teaching of Akan culturally-specific environmental ethics in the senior high school Biology curriculum. An interpretivist paradigm with an ethnographic, naturalistic research style, using in-depth conversational interviews was employed to explore the views of research participants. The perceived challenges included stigma attached to culturally-specific environmental ethics; requirement of proof and experimentation; the use of a foreign language in schools; formal education; loss of the fear for the gods and spirits in nature; centralised curriculum; democracy and political biases. The research concluded that being aware of the possible challenges to the teaching of the Akan culturally-specific environmental ethics can influence policies related to these ethics as well as guide Biology curriculum developers and stakeholders. \u0000Keywords: culturally-specific environmental ethics; Akan cultural group; Akan nature conservation; Ghana Biology curriculum","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125076697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Practice of Environmental Training: A case of ISO 14001 Certified Businesses in Durban, South Africa","authors":"Dianne. Sennoga, F. Ahmed","doi":"10.4314/sajee.v36i1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v36i1.5","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental management has moved from a policy concept to a proactive strategy defining business responsiveness to stakeholder and market-related pressures towards improved environmentally sustainable business practices. There is increasing business responsiveness through corporate sustainability and environmental management practices. A growing number of environmental regulations make the adoption of environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 more common and this necessitates training. While environmental training is receiving international attention, it is seemingly less prominently investigated in the South African context. In this article, results from an empirical study into the environmental training practices of Durban businesses are presented. By applying the ISO 14001 certification criterion, 24 businesses were identified as research participants. The practice of environmental training was investigated considering three themes i.e. environmental attitudes and culture, training resources and commitment, and impediments to environmental training. In exploring these themes, the main questions of the extent of environmental training and its effectiveness are determined. It was found that environmental training is widely practised across all businesses sampled, with impact-focused training topics supported by positive environmental attitudes. However, other areas emerge as problematic, including limited organisational prioritisation of environmental training as well as insufficient further training topics which can limit the efficacy of training activities.Keywords: environmental training; environmental education; ISO 14001; Environmental Management Systems; corporate sustainability","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"359 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115427572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Territory and ontology in the educational practices of an indigenous Zapotecan community in Mexico","authors":"R. A. Cid","doi":"10.4314/SAJEE.V0I0.186411","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V0I0.186411","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is inscribed within the study of social educational practices in rural indigenous communities of Mesoamerica, practices through which the store of knowledge that guides relationships with the environment are recreated. Ethnographical research conducted in a Zapotec community in the state of Oaxaca, southern Mexico, shows that communitarian educational practices form an everyday cognitive–axiological framework through which the norms of coexistence and social organisation are assimilated. The  underlying purpose of these practices is to promote the historical and cultural continuity of the collective based on a reciprocal relationship with the environment, which is their home and the source of their well-being and biocultural identity. The resilience of this population lies in their use of socio-historical learning to renew their organisational structures, with the purpose of facing the challenges posed by civilisation. This paper describes aspects of these historical learnings and current social educational practices, as well as their ontological principles.","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115011263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Students’ attitudes to paper consumption in relation to carbon emissions and the impact of electronic course documents","authors":"Mubanga Kapuka, O. Shumba, W. Munthali","doi":"10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.7","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study was to assess the impact, in relation to carbon emissions, of electronic course document use and attitudes to paper consumption levels among third- and fifth-year environmental engineering students ( N = 78) enrolled in two courses during the 2015/2016 academic year at the Copperbelt University in Kitwe, Zambia. Data were collected through an online survey, to which 40 students provided complete responses, as well as through semi-structured interviews and observations. Overall, 80% of the students in the sample reported that they read electronic course materials. They also indicated that they ‘know a lot’ about sustainable development, climate change, greenhouse gases and global warming, and agreed that efficient paper use is an important aspect of achieving sustainability. Importantly, the study found that the lecturer’s mode of delivery of course materials influenced the students to develop responsible environmental behaviours such as reading and sharing e-course documents and reusing paper. Keywords: Climate change, paper consumption, education for sustainable development, higher education","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"141 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134006194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An analysis of the policy coverage and examination of environmental-impact topics","authors":"S. B. Msezane","doi":"10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.4","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental education and education for sustainability are educational responses to negative environmental impacts both locally and globally. In South Africa, the schooling sector has experienced several shifts in the curriculum since 1994, with implications for the coverage, teaching and examination of environmental-impact topics in subjects such as Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Life Orientation, Agricultural Sciences, and Geography. The aim of the research reported here was to investigate the coverage and examination of environmental-impact topics in the Further Education and Training (FET) Phase of the South African school curriculum. Data sources were the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) documents and examination papers. In analysing the coverage and examination of environmental-impact topics, thematic content analysis was used. The findings indicate that there is unequal coverage of environmental-impact topics in the curriculum, despite the CAPS indicating that environmental content should feature in all subjects. The present paper shows that Life Sciences has the widest coverage and that Geography examination papers sometimes exceed the policy allocation. Agricultural Sciences has the least coverage. The study also found that there is general, but not complete, alignment between policy and examination papers. The study concluded that there is too little focus in the FET curriculum on environmental education and warns that this will constrain the development of a pro-environmental culture among learners. This has relevance for curriculum and policy developers in responding to societal and environmental issues. Keywords: Environmental education, education for sustainable development, environmental-impact topics, curriculum","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115208322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing wetland health using a newly developed land cover citizen science tool for use by local people who are not wetland specialists","authors":"Nondumiso Dumakude, M. Graham","doi":"10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.6","url":null,"abstract":"More than half of the wetlands in South Africa have been degraded or lost due to economic activities, urban developments and poor wetland management. Reversing the trend would require the participation of a wide range of actors in addition to scientists. A case has been made for a citizen science approach in order to empower the public with skills and knowledge that would enable them to understand environmental issues without depending on specialists. However, the wetland health assessment tools used in South Africa are highly technical, rendering them largely inaccessible to non-specialists. Recently, Kotze (2015) developed a tool which seeks to address this gap by involving the wider community in monitoring the health of wetlands in South Africa. The aim of the present study was to test the extent to which the new wetland health tool can be used by local people to better understand their surrounding wetlands. The study’s findings indicated that the tool enabled non-specialists to generate information about wetlands that was not significantly different from that produced by specialists. Keywords: Environmental education, citizen science, public engagement, environmental management, wetland assessment tools","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"115 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131926774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The nature of learning and work transitioning in boundaryless work: the case of the environmental engineer","authors":"P. Ramsarup, H. Lotz-Sisitka","doi":"10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.8","url":null,"abstract":"Transition is a common characteristic of our lives, particularly in a rapidly changing world. In this context, how careers are enacted has become increasingly varied, requiring new conceptual tools to study the transitions of learners and workers. This paper uses theoretical constructs from the literature on boundaryless career discourse as well as learning and on work transitioning in order to explore the learning pathways of environmental engineers. It thus contributes to empirical work that articulates ongoing transitions (beyond the first job) within ‘occupational and organisational life’, as well as to the understanding of learning pathways as educational and occupational progression. The career stories help us to understand how non-linear transitions emerge, the complexity of these transitions, and the need to attend to broader institutional arrangements within and across education and training, the labour market and the workplace. Through its focus on the environmental engineer, it helps us to understand the processes and outcomes of transitions in an important occupation in contemporary professional work in South Africa. Finally, in a field dominated by research on entry into a first job, the paper also provides much-needed insights into occupational transitions into specialised work.","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132795492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Local ecological knowledge and community-based management of wildlife resources : a study of the Mumbwa and Lupande Game Management areas of Zambia","authors":"I. Milupi, M. Somers, J. W. Ferguson","doi":"10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.3","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study was to investigate the scope of local ecological knowledge (LEK) in the Lupande and Mumbwa Game Management Areas (GMAs) of Zambia and to assess the extent to which such knowledge has been used in the management of wildlife resources in the two areas. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through interviews and surveys in the two case-study areas. It was found that LEK in the study areas included taboos associated with the sustainable use of natural resources, traditional teachings that guided the local people as to the correct time to harvest their natural resources and provided knowledge of the natural distribution of plants in the two areas. Finally, it is recommended that, in order to complement modern scientific knowledge in the realisation of sustainable wildlife resource management, greater attention be paid to the LEK possessed by communities. Keywords: Local ecological knowledge, sustainable utilisation, wildlife resources, Zambia","PeriodicalId":272843,"journal":{"name":"The Southern African Journal of Environmental Education","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125003059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}