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42 lessons for adapting and mitigating the causes and effects of global environmental disasters, such as desertification and climate change. With an increased understanding of the Namib’s desert ecology and its practical application at NaDEET Centre, participants gain skills and the necessary attitude to live in a more sustainable manner in their own communities. NaDEET Centre’s approach is, therefore, to learn from the desert and to apply it to human needs. Living at NaDEET Centre for a week-long programme allows participants to temporarily forget the demands of their daily lives and immerse themselves in the beauty of the desert. Just as desert creatures do, participants learn to live with less water and to utilise the ample sunshine for all of their energy needs, for example, using solar cooking. NaDEET Centre’s facilities are designed to respect the natural resources available in the area and to utilise them in a sustainable manner. This can be an example for environmental education programmes to teach participants the necessary skills to deal with a changing climate. Learning to live more lightly: Children’s understanding, attitudes and behavior in arid regions Constantinos C. Manoli; University of Cyprus; manoli@ucy.ac.cy Bruce Johnson; University of Arizona; brucej@email.arizona.edu Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis; CYCERE 1 ; a.chadjihambi@cytanet.com.cy Demetra Hadjichambi; University of Cyprus; demhad@ucy.com.cy Υiannis Georgiou; Cyprus University of Technology; yiannis_epa@hotmail.com Hara Ioannou, CYCERE 1 ; hara_art@hotmail.com 1 Cyprus Centre for Environmental Research and Education Introduction: While educational programs provide the foundations of environmental awareness and concern about human impact in an effort to shape the development of environmental behavior (Bogner, 1998, 2004; Gigliotti, 1990), many of these programs focus primarily on environmental issues and problem-solving skills, failing to address the attitudinal and behavioral components (Johnson & Manoli, 2011; Waliczek, & Zajicek, 1997). Empirical studies provide evidence that addressing knowledge alone is not enough to lead to changes in behavior (Johnson & Manoli, 2008). In order for humans to make decisions and take action for a more sustainable life in arid regions (for example, reducing water consumption), they need to understand the natural systems of the world, grasping the big picture of how life works and learning how to live within them (Johnson, 2007). The present study investigated the impact of an earth education program, Earthkeepers, on students’ ecological understandings, environmental attitudes and ecological behavior in Cyprus, an island with very limited access to fresh water. The program helps children make personal choices on how to live more lightly on the planet, such as using less energy and fewer materials. Methods: Participants were 196 fourth – seventh grade students from six public schools in Cyprus. All students participated in Earthkeepers (Van Matre & Johnson, 1988), an earth education program that helps participants construct ecological understandings, develop positive feelings for the natural world and make choices about their personal environmental behaviors (Johnson, 2003). For the purpose of this study, students’ ecological understandings, environmental attitudes and ecological behavior were measured and compared both before and after the program. Finally, individual semi-structured interviews with 12 students and 9 teachers helped verify the quantitative results and provide further information about the impact of the program. Results: The analysis of the results showed gains both in students’ understandings as well as changes toward more pro-environmental attitudes (due to the limit of the abstract, statistical results/tables will be provided during the presentation). The student and teacher interviews supported the quantitative results and confirmed that the participants undertook more ecological actions after the program. Very similar results were found in arid regions in the US (Arizona) and other countries where the Earthkeepers program is used (Martin, 2003; Johnson & Manoli, 2010). Earth education programs can make a great contribution to learning about sustainability in the arid lands as they have the potentials to enhance students’ ecological understandings, attitudes and behavior for a more sustainable lifestyle.
Turning a green leaf towards sustainability Mary Margaret Otieno, Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, PO Box 12913 , Nairobi, Kenya; meg@wildlifeclubsofkenya.org 43 The proposed presentation covers the results of the implementation of the Lake Victoria Catchment Environmental Education Programme (LVCEEP), in the pilot areas, from September 2008 to September 2011. The aim of this presentation is to share the experiences, activities, values, lessons learnt and the benefits achieved in the implementation of the Lake Victoria Catchment Environmental Education Programme (LVCEEP) Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) projects in the selected areas, aimed towards the recovery of the ecological integrity and the restoration of the lake’s resources. Engineering for developing communities: A case study of education for sustainability in higher education Tali Tal - rtal@technion.ac.il and Keren Mintz; kerenk@technion.ac.il Department of Education in Technology and Science, Technion; Haifa, Israel Engineering for Developing Communities is an example of an undergraduate Education for Sustainability (EfS) course. The course is collaboratively taught by two professors--one from the Technion and one from the University of Colorado, Boulder--and also engages several other instructors. While studying other courses to identify EfS in higher education, we identified this course as exemplary in many aspects. Israeli and American students from different programs enrolled in this course that makes use of Service Learning, which is a practice that promotes students' learning by engaging them in service in the community. The course characteristics -- active learning, team work, working on real problems, communicating with stakeholders, and reflection process – suggest a comprehensive approach to EfS. In studying the course, we used a mixed-method approach and collected data in the forms of class observations, and semi-open questionnaires administered three times: pre, post, delayed post. The students indicated a range of learning experiences in the cognitive, social and affective domains. They appreciated the hands-on experiences, the professional skills they acquired and the interdisciplinary content that they learned. Six months after the course ended, there was almost no decline in students’ self-reported learning, with some aspects that even increased. Although the teaching and learning model of Engineering for Developing Communities course cannot be applied across undergraduate studies, we argue that enrolling in such a course, even once, can make a long-lasting impact on the students, our future engineers, who are the next generation of decision makers and informed citizens. The schoolyard as a tool for addressing sustainable development and environmental issues in arid countries Liza Ttooulia ; Frederick University Cyprus; marioslia@cytanet.com.cy; Aravella Zachariou ; Frederick University Cyprus; aravella@cytanet.com.cy; Constantinos C. Manoli ; University of Cyprus; manoli@ucy.ac.cy Introduction: When addressing environmental issues at school, the schoolyard provides a dynamic environment for intervention and action and serves as the intersection that integrates the local with the broader environment. In Cyprus, the role of the schoolyard, in the context of sustainable development and environmental issues, has been gaining in critical importance the last few years, since Environmental Education (EE)/Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been officially introduced for the first time in the Cyprus Primary School Curriculum recently, and national and regional issues, such as climate change, desertification, soil degradation, etc. are at the core of the curriculum. These interests, when approached from the perspective of sustainable development, require the transfer of the learning process in the field, such as the schoolyard, as the most directly relevant environment for students to acquire experience and stimuli that can be decisive in shaping sustainable patterns of behavior in relation to the above issues. Based on the aforementioned, this paper explores the use of the schoolyard in elementary
Page 1 and 2: Editors 1 Book of Abstracts The 4th
Page 3 and 4: Time/ Location Evens Auditorium 8:0
Page 5 and 6: 5 Wednesday, 14 November- Tentative
Page 7 and 8: 7 Table of Contents OPENING STATEME
Page 9 and 10: 9 Elimination of predators is a suf
Page 11 and 12: 11 The impact of detailed land-cove
Page 13 and 14: Opening Statement Israel, Desertifi
Page 15 and 16: 15 monitoring, which records “the
Page 17 and 18: 17 who depend on it, a threat to th
Page 19 and 20: 19 The focus of this project is to
Page 21 and 22: 21 which these funds are affecting
Page 23 and 24: 23 In addition to collection and tr
Page 25 and 26: 25 canopy were conducted at ground
Page 27 and 28: 27 Whereas the soil water mass bala
Page 29 and 30: Saline Aquaponics: Perspectives for
Page 31 and 32: 2 Crop Production Systems in the Tr
Page 33 and 34: 33 and its landscape. Finally, the
Page 35 and 36: Critical transitions due to interac
Page 37 and 38: 37 sustainable use of wildlife. The
Page 39 and 40: 39 below their respective national
Page 41: 41 The results derived from the exp
Page 45 and 46: 45 Man first appeared as an importa
Page 47 and 48: 47 Typically, four simultaneous pro
Page 49 and 50: 49 Water plan for the Rehabilitatio
Page 51 and 52: 51 occurs, as well as grazing of he
Page 53 and 54: 53 management conditions. In the hi
Page 55 and 56: of treated grey water for irrigatio
Page 57 and 58: 57 Geographical indications, employ
Page 59 and 60: 59 This study provides evidence for
Page 61 and 62: Nomadic People in Desert Regions: R
Page 63 and 64: 63 resources, among those who are p
Page 65 and 66: 65 in the same community, and in th
Page 67 and 68: Achieving ZNLD through people power
Page 69 and 70: national monitoring capacities - wh
Page 71 and 72: 71 Conclusion: Evidence indicates t
Page 73 and 74: 73 means of getting tangible result
Page 75 and 76: Assessment of afforestation managem
Page 77 and 78: 77 and Enhanced Thematic Mapper plu
Page 79 and 80: 79 the RMSE observed in the model o
Page 81 and 82: Using two complementary long-term r
Page 83 and 84: 83 primarily from the AVHRR and MOD
Page 85 and 86: 85 This presentation will discuss t
Page 87 and 88: it is degradation and not woody enc
Page 89 and 90: 89 great number of research works c
Page 91 and 92: 91 The aim of this paper is firstly
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emind us that in similar future sce
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Studies of Biological and Structura
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97 biome, but is characterized by a
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99 desalination, alternative conser
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101 West Africa faces rapid populat
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103 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Ent
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Out of 18 lakes of the first catego
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