Youth
and Community
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Youth
and Community
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On
this page you will find:
DorsetYouth Service - Promoting good
practice in environmental youth work.
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One of the key out comes
of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 was Agenda 21, an action plan for the
21st century. Agenda 21 set out a strategy for working towards sustainable
development, which includes and involves all sectors of society.
Ref.'Youth Action & the Environment' - Alan Dearling, Council for Environmental Education. |
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Click here for more information about Agenda21. |
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Young people
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Young people live in times of rapid change. Education should prepare them for their role as active participants in shaping a sustainable future. We should put sustainable development into the curriculum of schools and into the lives of people and communities at home and work, helping to transform world-views. We should promote active citizenship and environmental responsibility. |
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Education for Sustainability aims to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and values to participate in decisions about the way we do things individually, locally and globally. |
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| It opens up to young people the range of possibilities that the world holds and the effects that different choices will have on themselves, other people and the environment. | |
| Young people are clearly stakeholders
in their future. They have a right to know about what is needed to move to more sustainable forms of living and they have a responsibility to share in bringing this about locally, nationally and internationally. |
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The School communities of Dorset now have their great challenge for the new millenium; to adopt sustainability as one of the core values to underpin their curriculum and teaching. They can move towards this by: |
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| - helping
young people to learn and understand how to build fairer, happier and healthier families and communities; |
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| - helping their pupils to understand the overwhelming need for creative, socially useful, economically viable, environmentally benign and fairly paid work for all; | |
| - helping their pupils to understand the need to care for and enhance their local environmental resources, upon which, ultimately, all life on the planet earth depends; | |
| - and above all by enabling and encouraging their pupils to practise sustainability in their own lives and as world citizens. | |
| Many schools and colleges already
help their pupils and students to learn about environmental issues and investigate
the consequences of human actions. Many also help their young people put conservation into practice in their schools and local communities. Education for Sustainability however, goes beyond much of this current and most commendable practice and sets out to inform and improve young people's understanding of a range of key topics. For instance: |
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| - many of the
attitudes and values expressed in our present consumer-orientated lifestyles can operate in ways that are not sustainable over time; |
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| - as citizens of tomorrow, young people will be involved in the transition from the present 'consumer' to the new 'conserver' modes of living; | |
| - the young will need to be equipped with new values, information, understanding and skills; | |
| - how
the present rates of consumption of fossil fuels are universally agreed
to be non-sustainable in terms of reserves and environmental impacts and
how we are stealing the resources of the future generations and despoiling
their environment at the same time; |
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| - good citizenship requires that we begin to learn new ways of living now; | |
| - how the benefits
of such changes to more sustainable living could be immense socially, environmentally and economically. |
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Dorset
Education for Sustainability network -
promoting active citizenship and environmental responsibility |
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| Members of the
Dorset Network for Education for Sustainability are keenly aware of the
challenge posed to schools and the County Support Services by the recommendations
given here. They are not easy, they require training and planning as well
as resources and commitment. For many there will also need to be a change
of heart. However, Dorset County Council is committed to implementing Agenda
21 and sustainable development has been a key element of this since the beginning of 1996. The network is working to build up resources and experiences, and offers its support to those working with young people to help them meet this challenge. |
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| The Network believes: | |
| - That the rich principle of sustainability
can be introduced, progressively to all Dorset pupils and students within the National Curriculum; |
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| - That all pupils and students can be helped to learn about and adopt sustainable forms of living appropriate to their own circumstances; | |
| - That all pupils and students
can become familiar with the actions being taken in the County, the nation and the world; |
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| - That Dorset young people can feel that they can make their views known to the opinion-formers and decision-takers, and be taken seriously; | |
| - That to assist this process,
all schools and colleges can be affiliated to the Dorset Local Agenda 21 Forum, possibly with their own Youth Council; |
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| - That, recognising the difficulties of resourcing such curriculum innovations as EfS, ways can be sought by the County of beginning the vital process of introducing the schools of Dorset to the rich possibilities for them and for their communities in shaping sustainable futures. | |
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Dorset
Youth Service
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| Dorset Youth and
Community Service supports young people aged 12-21 in their transition from
childhood to responsible adulthood, encourages their social development
and individual fulfilment, and helps them participate fully in society.
Good practice in environmental youth work should: |
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- Illustrate the links between the local and the global environment. - Make connections between social issues and the environment. - Enable individuals to
convert their environmental concern to action. |
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| Three categories
are identified through which the objectives of EfS are contextualised in
the work of the Youth Service: |
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- Political education approach: focus on power and decision making. - Using the outdoors: environmental perspectives in outdoor activity. - Personal action and social development: exploring issues and action for young people and youth groups. |
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The
DWT was founded in 1961 to protect the wildlife and natural habitats of
the county. The founders’ efforts to conserve the unspoilt beauty of the
county attracted wide ranging support, and the Trust, a registered charity,
now has nearly 7000 members, and a team of dedicated professional staff.
Volunteers and staff work together to fulfil the vision of the early pioneers.The
Trust’s main activity is to acquire and manage nature reserves for the
benefit of the wildlife of Dorset. They have 40 established reserves,
ranging from a tiny island in the river Stour to their most recent acquisition,
Upton Heath. Wildlife Watch Groups Wildlife
Watch is the junior branch of The Wildlife Trusts. It is the way to get
children involved in their environment. Now, more than ever , their unique,
project-based, investigative approach to environmental education is relevant
to everyone. |
| To
find out more contact: Wildlife Watch, The Green, Witham Park, Waterside South, Lincoln LN5 7JR. Tel: (01522) 544400 Fax: (01522) 511616 E-mail: wildlifersnc@cix.compulink.co.uk or contact The Dorset Wildlife Trust (see above) |
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