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World spotlight on environmental education
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- Sibongile Mokoena, Education Outreach Coordinator, SAEON
SAEON participated in the 4th World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) held in Durban recently; the first on the African continent.
The WEEC was attended by nearly a thousand delegates from over one hundred countries. The government of South Africa, at various levels - national, provincial and local - supported the Congress and emphasised the significant role of education for sustainability and South Africa's commitment to promoting a culture of sustainable living.
The Deputy President of South Africa, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, in her opening address, pointed out that the WEEC comes at an opportune time, when South Africa, like many other countries in Africa and elsewhere, is seriously engaged in considering the implications of global climate change.
Other government officials who attended the Congress include the Minister of Environmental Affairs from Angola, the SA Deputy Minister for Education, MECs for the Environment and Tourism from KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, and the Mayor of Ethekwini Municipality.
The programme of the Congress was tight, with 268 papers spread across 12 themes in environmental education.
SAEON presented an assessment report of the impact of the education outreach programme at the Ndlovu Node from 2004-2006, which was compiled by Rajen Pillay, an independent consultant, together with Sibongile Mokoena and Joe Sibiya, Education Outreach Officer of the SAEON Ndlovu Node. The SAEON presentation elicited favourable comments and interest was expressed by delegates from long-term observation organisations and people with an interest in educational evaluation in particular.
The great benefit of the congress was listening to, sharing ideas with and learning from the experiences of other environmental education practitioners from across the world. The wide range of innovative approaches to promoting environmental learning made the conference particularly worthwhile.
The congress exhibition was officially opened by Rejoice Mabudhafhasi, Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs. The National Research Foundation's biodiversity units - the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, SAEON, the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and the African Coelacanth Environmental Programme - all exhibited under one banner. We were honoured to have a few precious minutes to interact with the ministerial delegation during their brief tour of the exhibition area.
It was particularly heartening to hear Prof Heila Lotz-Sisitka, chair of the Congress Scientific Committee, acknowledge with appreciation the presence and support of the National Research Foundation team.
"What WEEC 2007 meant to me"
- Dumile Tshingana, Education Outreach Officer, SAEON Elwandle Node
I went to the congress hoping to explore environmental education in an intimate way, and to learn how to put ideas together and transfer environmental education knowledge and passion to young learners in my programme. I was particularly interested in projects related to my work - schoolyard long-term environmental monitoring and observation, evaluation and innovation.
I found the congress a worthwhile and informative experience and the quality of papers presented, keynote speakers and workshops deserve special mention. I was exposed to fascinating writers, researchers, inspiring educators, naturalists, government officials, academics and representatives from non-profit organisations. I was impressed with the way in which themes were used for the presentations - as a knowledge interpreter I find themes useful in guiding people and helping them remember concepts and processes.
I went away with some interesting ideas which will be useful in the pilot project and actual implementation (regional roll-out phase) of the SAEON Elwandle environmental education programme.
I personally appreciate the publication of the congress papers in the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, which will be a useful reference in the future. I also enjoyed the exchange of experiences and perspectives with congress participants, the new ideas, the networking and the plans for future collaborations, which for me was the most exciting learning experience of all.
