Transcript Environmental Education

Environmental Education
S.Shanmuga Priya
Dept of Chemical Engg
MIT-Manipal
It is prescribed in the syllabus and carries 3 credits.MIT has
introduced the subject at 1 year level as a core subject, in
compliance with UGC directive (2005).
Supreme court is its judgment has made learning of the subject
mandatory at under graduate level (1991) University grants
commission has directed all affiliated institutions to
compulsorily teach the subject , for all the branches of
engineering (2004).
MIT has introduced the subject at 1 year level as a core subject,
in compliance with UGC directive (2005).
 Destruction of habitats, over-use of energy resource and environmental
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pollution have been found to be responsible for the loss of a large member of
life-forms. It is feared that a large proportion of life on earth may get wiped out
in the near future.
In spite of the deteriorating status of the environment, study of the environment
has so far not received adequate attention in our academic programs.
Recognizing this, the Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the UGC to introduce a
basic course on environment at every level in college education.
Accordingly, the matter was considered by UGC and it was decided that a six
months compulsory core module course in environmental studies may be
prepared and compulsorily implemented in all the university colleges of India.
The experts committee appointed by the UGC has looked into all the
pertinent questions, issues and other relevant matters.
This was followed by framing of the core module syllabus for environmental
studies for undergraduate courses of all branches of higher education.
We are deeply conscious that there are bound to be gaps between the ideal and
real. Genuine endeavor is required to minimize the gaps by intellectual and
material inputs.
The success of this course will depend on the initiative and drive of the teachers
and the receptive students.
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You are going to be modern day professionals.
Being modern day professionals, you will be
required to encounter environment related
problem at all levels—most importantly as technical
managers directly facing the society at large.
What do you mean by this? In what way we are
responsible?
Environmental education
 Environment is the physical and biotic habitat that surrounds us.
 Environmental issues affect, and are affected by all our activities to
varying degrees.
 All educated citizens need to have a working understanding of the
fundamental principles involved for environmentally responsible
decision making.
 Major goals of environmental education programs are to raise
consciousness about environmental conditions and to teach
environmentally appropriate behaviour.
 Environmental education also aims to create an environmental ethic
that fosters awareness about the ecological inter-dependence of
economic, social and political factors in a human community and the
environment.
 Environmental education envisions a new paradigm of thinking that
can meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
 Environmental education is evolving to be the education for
sustainable and ethical development, both at the local and global level.
 Environmental education will prepare the next generation to plan
appropriate strategies for addressing issues.
 It is aimed at increasing the public awareness and knowledge about
environmental issues and facts, opinions or skills to make informed
decisions and take environmentally responsible actions.
Present environmental issues of global concern.
 The main environmental issues today are wide ranging and all
encompassing, deforestation .Soil erosion, climate change, pesticide
build-up, industrial and municipal pollution.
 Main cause:
 Anthropogenic interventions in the natural and self sustaining cycles.
All these problems can be categorized into three main issues.
1) Population explosion
2) Land degradation
3) Environmental pollution: Industrialization, agriculture, fertilizer,
pesticide, greenhouse gases air pollution, acid rain, ozone depletion,
greenhouse effect, water pollution, deforestation.
ENVIRONMENT PROBLEMS IN INDIA
 Environment problems in India can be put into three
classes
a) Problems arising from conditions of poverty and under
development.
b) Problems arising as negative effects of the very process of
development.
c) Problems arising from improper implementation
protection of the directives and laws of environmental
protection.
Guiding Principles and Features
The following are some of the guiding principles and features
suggested for effective environmental education.
 Environmental education considers the environment in its totality.
i.e. ecological, political, natural, technological, sociological,
aesthetic and built environments.
 It develops awareness of the importance, beauty and wonders that
is and can be found in these aspects of the environment.
 It explores not only the physical qualities of the human
relationship with the environment but also the spiritual aspect of
this relationship.
 Environmental education is a response to the challenge of moving
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towards an ecologically and socially sustainable world.
It is concerned with the interaction between the quality of the
biophysical environment and the socio economic environment.
It transcends the division of knowledge, skills and attitudes by seeking
commitment to action in an informed manner to realistic
sustainability.
Environmental education recognises the value of local knowledge,
practices and perceptions in enhancing sustainability.
It supports relevant education by focusing learning on local
environments.
 Environmental education considers the global as well as the local
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environment.
It focuses on current and future perspectives on environmental
conditions.
It is interdisciplinary and can be taught and used to enhance all
subjects in curriculum.
It emphasises participation in preventing and solving environmental
problems and revokes the passive accumulation of information about
the environment.
It should foster and arouse sense of personal responsibility, greater
motivation and commitment towards the resolution of the
environmental situation.
It develops the skills to identify alternative solutions for environmental
situations to clarify the values associated with the alternatives and to
use these values to make decisions about which alternatives to choose.
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Environmental education is necessary to make people aware of
The impact of our activities on the environment.
The need for protecting the environment.
The need for conserving resources.
The concepts of ecology.
The relevant legislations.
Importance of Environmental
education
 5 – 16 June 1972 – UN organised the Stockholm conference on
Human Environment. It initiated efforts to establish the need for
environmental education at all levels – primary, secondary and
higher levels of the education system and to make people in both
rural and urban areas environmentally aware .
 June 5th –World Environment Day
 Aim of the conference was to lay emphasis on basic concepts such
as the quality of life, environmental knowledge and awareness and
participation of people.
 Reasons for introducing environmental education are:
 To make people aware of the impact of their activities on the
environment.
 To motivate students to get involved in community action and
participate in various environmental and management projects.
 To enable people to understand the complexities of the environment
and adopt eco-friendly habits for sustainable development.
 To integrate different approaches of the humanities, social sciences,
biological and physical sciences and apply then in the investigation of
environmental problems.
Public awareness
 Public awareness to environmental issues can be created by
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people realise the importance and problems of
environmental issues.
making people conscious of environmental conservation and
creating awareness.
Conducting meetings to discuss the problems of environment
Exposing environmental problems through articles in news
papers.
Involving both Govt and Non-Govt organizations in efforts to
conserve the environment
 Introducing Environmental science in all universities and
colleges
 Conducting environmental research and organizing seminars,
conferences
 Instituting awards for individuals and organization involved in
environmental management.
Scope and Importance
 Environmental education includes environmental science, environmental
engineering and environmental management
 Environmental Science: It is the scientific study of the environment i.e.,
the study of air, water, land and soil. It also incudes inherent or induced
changes in organisms and environmental loss due to human activities.
 Environmental engineering :
It includes public health protection, development of legislation and
business, quality standards, regulation and guidelines for environmental
protection. It provides solution for a clean and hygienic environment.
It can introduce techniques for ecological balance and improve the
aesthetic quality of the environment.
Treatment of contaminated water, liquid and solid waste, gaseous
materials, preventive measures for protection of environment and
development of effective regulation.
 Environmental management:
It is necessary for changing or developing the physical, social
and economic structure of environment.
It involves environmental strategies and environmental
tactics.
Environmental strategies are plans for improvement of the
quality of environment. Envn tactics are the means of
implementing the plans.
Scope and importance of Envn Education
 To expose the problems of over pollution and population.
 To enable us to make appropriate decisions for protection and
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improvement of Envn.
To understand the need for sustainable utilization of resources
To provide info about ecological systems, causes and effects.
To create awareness about various renewable and non-renewable
resources of a region
To provide info about biodiversity and potential dangers to
survival of specific species of plants, animals and micro organism.
To evaluate alternative responses to environmental issues.
Vision
 The importance of environmental science and environmental
studies cannot be disputed.
 The need for sustainable development in a key to the future
of mankind
 continuing problems of pollution, loss of forget, solid waste
disposal, degradation of environment, issues like economic
productivity and national security, global warming, the
deletion of ozone layer and loss of biodiversity have made
every one aware of environmental issues.
 The United Nations conference on environment and
development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and world
Summit on sustainable development at Johannesburg in 2002
have drawn at the attention of people around the globe to the
deteriorating condition of our environment.
 It is clear that no citizen of the earth
can afford to be
ignorant of environment issues.
 Environmental management has captured the attention of
health care managers. Managing environmental hazards has
become very important.
 Human beings have been interested in ecology since the
beginning of civilization.
 Even our ancient scriptures have emphasized about practices
and values of environmental conservation. It is now even more
critical than ever before for mankind as a whole to have a clear
understanding of environmental concerns and to follow
sustainable development practices.
 India is rich in biodiversity which provides various resources for
people. It is also basis for biotechnology.
 Only about 1.7 million living organisms have been described and
named globally. Still many more remain to be identified and
described. Attempts are made to conserve them in ex-situ and insitu situations.
 Intellectual property rights (IPRS) have become important in a
biodiversity rich country like India to protect microbes, plants and
animals that have useful genetic properties.