<P><FONT color=#33711E><STRONG>Day 1 – Session 1C: <br>Environmental Education</STRONG></FONT></P>

Queen’s Park 5, 2nd Floor

11:50 - 12:10

1.C.1 Professional Development Programmes for ESD: UNEP’s Annual Leadership Programmes on Environment for Sustainable Development

Jeonghyun (Emily) Park and Dong Li, UNEP-ROAP, Thailand

Responding to the need for a new generation of leaders, familiar with the three pillars of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental – the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Tongji University have initiated an annual “Asia-Pacific Leadership Programme on Environment for Sustainable Development”. This Leadership Programme is conducted by the Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD), which was established in May 2002 by UNEP and Tongji University. The Programme serves as a flagship demonstration model for professional development programmes for ESD in the region, and UNEP’s contribution to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). The Programme is designed to provide environmental training for emerging leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, who come from varying professional backgrounds, including the government sector, NGOs, research institutes, private sector, and media. The week-long Programme focuses on the three pillars of sustainable development; with integrated sessions followed by field trips, case studies, interactive exercises and participant presentations. Through the programme, the participants improve their understanding and vision of Environment for Sustainable Development, and work together to consolidate networks and their careers as future environmental leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.

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12.10 - 12.30 

1.C.2 Implementing Environmental Education for Sustainable Development
Phanitda Chenrachasith, Naresuan University, Thailand
Preserving natural resources and minimizing environmental damage is the agenda of both “education for sustainable  development”  (ESD)  and  traditional  “environmental  education”.  However, the sustainability movement has stepped beyond the traditional environmental education framework in at least three directions. First, this approach urges the whole society: industry, community, and government to take responsibility for the long-term consequences of their behaviour. Second, the ESD approach emphasizes on the importance of strategic processes in guiding social transformation. Third, it suggests that education is a critical strategic process for preparing a society to develop sustainability. In planning a new environmental education programme, three consecutive projects were conducted at Naresuan University, including (a) a survey on community readiness measured by local stakeholders’ perspectives of the needs for environmental education, (b) an analysis of current educational programmes in universities in Asia in terms of their applicability to achieving sustainable development, and (c) a review of a recently developed college-level environmental education programme designed to address the sustainability agenda. Reflection on the results of these analyses has led to a recommendation of several basic principles for future efforts to pursue sustainable development through environmental education.

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12:30 - 12:50
1.C.3. An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development: Pacific Island Countries
Jese Verebalavu-Faletoese, University of the South Pacific, Fiji
Although challenges still exist in varying degrees for each Pacific Island Country (PIC), there has been considerable progress made towards achieving universal basic education in PICs. Education is a vital means of raising awareness, and of encouraging practices which are consistent with sustainable development in the PICs. It is necessary to educate resource owners and users on how to sustainably manage their natural resources. NGOs have played an active role in raising awareness about issues relating to sustainable development. And joint efforts have been made by NGOs, academic institutions, community workers and specific government ministries. As a result of education and awareness campaigns relating to the sustainable management of resources, Fiji and Samoa have begun implementing conservation methods to make sustainable use of their coastal and marine resources. Education campaigns have also succeeded in making developers, investors and governments in the Pacific region more aware of the issues. Awareness campaigns have also facilitated greater cooperation between stakeholders and more transparent activities, with benefits for resource owners, communities, and the nation as a whole. This paper discusses how formal and non-formal education can empower stakeholders through raising awareness of how to sustainably manage coastal development in Fiji and Samoa.

12.50 - 13.10

1.C.4 Environmental Education

Susan Tung Nyuk Lin, Principal SJK (C) Chi Hwa School, Malaysia

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