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FIGURE 1 Unemployment in Croatia measured as a percentage of the total labour force (1991–2010) Percent of total labor force 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 zation proposals; the first one failed but the fear of widespread privatization of water resources remains. Some water resources are already being placed in private hands through concessionary contracts that are anything but transparent. Croatian biodiversity is unprotected, as can be seen for example, in the introduction of foreign species in local ecosystems. This situation is particularly pressing in Cres island where 30 wild boars introduced by hunters multiplied within 10 years to 1,000. The boars not only damage the habitat but attack sheep and lambs, destroying farmers’ livelihoods. 7 One of the main issues regarding the country’s biodiversity is the lack of reliable information. Croatia is one of the few countries in Europe lacking updated checklists of species or country-specific field guides. Existing species’ inventories (as well as knowledge regarding the local fauna and flora) are inadequate for many purposes, including environmental impact assessments. The nature of subterranean fauna is also very poorly known. This lack of proper inventories and knowledge inevitably limits the scope of any land use or ecosystem management planning that is needed for development projects. 7 P. Ettinger, “The birds are on the money in Croatia,” Wildlife Extra, . Unemployment rate 1999 2000 Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Another case of endangered biodiversity stems from monoculture production, both in agriculture and in forestry. Many endemic species have been lost as they are progressively replaced with foreign ones seen by agro-enterprises as more attractive in the short term. Environmental controls are not properly enforced The procedures by which environmental impact assessments are made for new constructions, as well as the requirements for securing permits for expanding or even continuing to operate existing facilities, are both supposed to be strictly regulated by law. Unfortunately all facilities easily avoid the state control system. Moreover since the facilities already in place do not conform to European pollution norms, their owners are granted extensions for adjustment that include transitional periods of up to 12 years. Such transitional periods are negotiated with the EU as part of the measures needed to grant Croatia’s membership; nevertheless some of the facilities’ are allowed to continue operating the end of their lifecycle. An additional problem stems from the use of substandard raw materials, especially in oil refineries, which causes substantial air pollution in Social Watch 97 Croatia 2008 2009 2010 Source: Trading Economics. the refineries’ surrounding areas. In 2004 the Ministry issued an order for oil refineries to use better quality raw materials. Although the order was backed by a Court decision, the refineries frequently disobey. Examples of good practice Since most of the time the public interest is not protected by the Government, civil society has assumed this task. Although its influence is not strong enough yet, examples of successful interventions should be mentioned. The Eko Kvarner organization, for example, strongly opposed the proposal to extend the Družba Adria pipeline, which is already the longest in the world and carries oil from Eastern Russia to Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, through Croatia and Hungary to reach the Adriatic Sea. 8 The projected transfer of oil would have threatened the northern part of the Adriatic Sea and the well-being of people living in this region. Eko Kvarner cast enough doubt on the validity of the environmental impact assessment 9 to ensure that the authorities rejected the proposal. The latest success concerns a proposed golf course in Istria. Two organizations, Green Action and Green Istria, sued the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction for extending permits to a build a golf course despite a problematic environmental impact assessment. As a result the Administrative Court annulled the permits. Conclusion Croatia urgently needs to adopt a sustainable development paradigm. More and better investment in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency policy could be a good start. Protection of the most vital resources (agricultural land, water and forests) is of the outmost interest to croatian sustainable development. It is important to build environmentally friendly tourism facilities since tourism plays an important role in Croatia’s economy and at the same time is not viable without a preserved and protected environment. The official policy is supposed to promote protection of the environment but in reality economic interests are favoured over environmental and sustainable ones. Local governments should be encouraged to develop their own projects in order to promote sustainability and environment protection within their jurisdiction. 10 n 8 Wikipedia, Druzhba pipeline, . 9 OneWorldSEE, Eko Kvaner Announces Public Debate of the ‘Družba Adria’ Project, (16 April 2004), . 10 Jelena Lon ar and Mladen Maradin, Environmental challenges for sustainable development in the Croatian north Adriatic littoral region, (Croatia: 2009), .
cyprus Needed: sustainable schools CARDET Sotiris Themistokleous Michalinos Zemylas Charalambos Vrasidas In recent years the concept of sustainable development has generated debate in both scientific and public discourses around the world. 1 In this context, educational systems have been called upon to respond with educational frameworks and curricula that constructively engage the notion of sustainable development and its potential consequences. 2 Sustainable development in education is not limited to the creation of curricular units on the environment. It is, rather, an all-inclusive, multi-dimensional process for reconsidering and reversing ideologies and practices concerning our relationship with the environment. 3 It must be viewed as a discourse and practice that establishes a balance between sound economic development and social justice, equality and environmental protection. An educational philosophy grounded in this framework would develop in a different direction from one focused exclusively on economic development. 4 Education for sustainable development attempts to transmit knowledge, skills, and practices that will inspire students to become engaged citizens who actively promote a better quality of life for all people, and for the natural environment as well. 5 Sustainable schools A widely used term for educational institutions adopting this framework is “sustainable schools.” Their primary goal is to educate and guide students to work for a better quality of life, applying the principles of 1 Hopwood, B. and O’Brien, G., “Sustainable development: mapping different approaches” in Sustainable Development, (London: 2005), p. 38. 2 Tillbury, D. et al., Education and Sustainability: Responding to the Global Challenge, IUCN – The World Conservation Union (2002). 3 Network for Ecological Education and Practice, Sustainable is more than able: viewpoints on education for sustainability, (2002), . 4 Vrasidas, C. et al., ICT for Educational Development and Social Justice, (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2009). 5 Saul, D., “Expanding environmental education: Thinking critically, thinking culturally”, in Journal of Environmental Education 31, (London: 2000), pp. 5-8. Educational systems are key factors in sustainable development. Despite the country’s efforts in promoting “environmental education” in the last decade of the 20th century, the absence of adequate planning and implementation has relegated these ideas to the margins of the educational system. In fact, many advances achieved in this area over the last few years have been initiated by the country’s non-governmental organizations. If it wishes to engage fully in sustainable development, Cyprus must accelerate the expansion of “sustainable schools” and broaden civil society participation in the process. Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) BCI = 99 100 96 Births attended 0 Children reaching 5th grade 100 100 National reports 98 Social Watch Surviving under-5 sustainable development to improve the living conditions of all beings. 6 A critical factor in their success is the establishment of links to local communities that serve as partners in promoting the sustainable development framework. 7 Using this strategy, “sustainable schools” combine the educational achievements of their students with quality of life within the school and the wider community in accordance with the values of environmental awareness and critical citizenship. 8 Environmental education Cyprus introduced the first elements of sustainable development education with particular focus on “environmental education” in the 1990s. However, the absence of a structured educational plan related to environmental education and education for sustainable development has relegated these ideas to the margins of the educational system for almost a decade. During this time environmental education and sustainable development have had a more limited presence in formal and informal education than in many other countries. 9 Education stakeholders in Cyprus have only recently begun to integrate ideas of sustainable development into a more holistic framework linked to 6 Dimopoulou, M., and Mpampila, E., “The role of the principal in the operation of an eco-school – the challenge to the leadership of a sustainable school,” . 7 Department of Education and Skills, Sustainable schools for pupils, communities and the environment: Securing the future in delivering a UK sustainable development strategy, (London: 2005). 8 Ibid. 9 Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Revised National Strategy for Sustainable Development, (Nicosia: 2010), . Gender Equity Index (GEI) GEI = 68 99+ 99+ 95 Education 100 0 Empowerment Economic activity goals for a better society in a healthier environment. A major advance in this direction took place in 2005, with the ratification of the Strategy for Education and Sustainable Development in Europe. However, despite this ratification and the subsequent establishment of the National Action Plan for Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development in 2007, the country’s educational system pursues a narrow vision on the issue. Its “fragmentary” approach focuses mainly on the provision of knowledge and information about the environment, neglecting action-oriented perspectives based on social development. 10 A research study on “Transformative leaders for sustainable schools,” conducted between 2005 and 2007 (the time period when the two aforementioned plans were introduced), showed that 89% of primary school principals had never been informed on issues related to sustainable development. 11 One of the major weaknesses found in the study was that school principals were unable to define sustainable development in terms of a holistic framework that included the economy, society and the environment. 12 A majority of their definitions focused on “environmental protection.” Vigorous efforts to apply the 2007 National Action Plan began only in 2009, when 10 Mavroudi, E., “Insuficient Environmental Education, interview with Dr. Zachariou Aravella,” in Simerini, (Nicosia: 2009), . 11 Zachariou, A. and Kadji-Beltran, C., “Cypriot primary school principals’ understanding of education for sustainable development key terms and their opinions about factors affecting its implementation”, in Environmental Education Research, (Abingdon, UK: 2009), pp 315-334. 12 Ibid. 32 100 76 100
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SOCIAL WATCH R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 SU
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SOCIAL WATCH REPORT 2012 The right
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Social Watch in the world SW Nation
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• GUATEMALA: CONGCOOP - Coordinac
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Española de la Educación; Movimie
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Social Watch: promoting accountabil
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Global Assembly The Global Assembly
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Table of contents The right to a fu
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The right to a future An overview o
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has similarly led to population dis
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In the current international trade
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Rio+20 and beyond: no future withou
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ated into many other international
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• Emphasizing progressive taxatio
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A compensation scheme to pay off cl
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Rio+20: implementation is the key A
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Sustainable development and a renew
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policies that have only exacerbated
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neoliberal model, it gained even mo
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Thus, the advances of the sustainab
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Networking cities that use new indi
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Green and equal: financing for sust
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fROM AID EffECTIvENESS TO TAx jUSTI
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casions, often reaching agreement.
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The indignados are asking the right
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Green jobs but no justice From the
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Human right to adequate housing and
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have its most negative impacts and
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BASIC CAPABILITIES INDEx 2011 The b
Page 62 and 63: TeChnICal noTes 1 The following are
Page 64 and 65: surviving under-5 Birth atended Chi
Page 66 and 67: education malawi 89 57 32 59 malays
Page 68 and 69: Achievement Possibility Frontiers (
Page 70 and 71: promoTIng eConomIC and soCIal rIghT
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Page 80 and 81: FIGURE 1 GDP - Real growth rate (%)
Page 82 and 83: diversified manner and underscored
Page 84 and 85: was re-opened shortly afterwards wi
Page 86 and 87: waste water is often polluted by hu
Page 88 and 89: “Europe is alone with its unilate
Page 90 and 91: into the atmosphere, with emissions
Page 92 and 93: The Kyoto Protocol includes an anti
Page 94 and 95: However, the Government has not tak
Page 96 and 97: One egregious example is the offici
Page 98 and 99: The grim face of militarized develo
Page 100 and 101: Cooperation Agency study stated dur
Page 102 and 103: Unemployment According to a 2009 st
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Page 108 and 109: However, discussions about reform d
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Page 114 and 115: the Ministry of Education and Cultu
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Page 122 and 123: Taking a broad view, even though in
Page 124 and 125: a government which does not hesitat
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Page 128 and 129: WORLD LEVEL COMMITMENTS The world h
Page 130 and 131: A study by Diakonie, the Protestant
Page 132 and 133: TABLE 1 Trends in Forest Cover in G
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Page 136 and 137: underlying factors that generate la
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Page 144 and 145: In terms of development cooperation
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THE COORDINADORA CIVIL TAxATION PRO
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Beach of the Atlantic Ocean. 10 Riv
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direction, implement a system for t
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lacked access to continuous water s
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According to ANAM’s Environment I
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• To promote the active participa
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is almost twice that of Latin Ameri
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The conflict in Mindanao is instruc
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postcolonialism, he writes, “The
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them. Initially this was a wide-bas
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and environmental hotspot clean-up
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the employer is not obliged to pay
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try. Research has shown that this m
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eflected in Parliament by the progr
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ASIA’S LONGEST CIVIL WAR The Sri
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TABLE 1 Summary of general educatio
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Agriculture and food security Chall
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damage and destruction to the fishi
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FIGURE 1 Increase in after-tax inco
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which unemployment decreased, since
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emissions. It is important that emi
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3%, is due not only to its small si
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The national biomass (above and bel
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