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Mahler, R., Simmons, R., & Sorensen, F. (2005) Finding 1

To craft a water outreach program, determine public interests in advance by gathering information about the following, and how those opinions might be influenced by age, sex, length of residence in the state, community size:

  • opinion of local groundwater quality;
  • personal efforts to enhance groundwater quality or quantity (by reducing chemical usage in yards, recycling used motor oil, correctly disposing of household chemicals, use of water-saving applicances, reduced household water use, reduced water use in yards, reduced water use in car washing);
  • who should be responsible for protecting water quality in communitites (federal government, state government, county/city/town, individual citizen);
  • how rural residents prefer to be informed about water;
  • where residents have gotten information; and
  • what sources of information might have changed their behavior.

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Margerum, R. D., & Whitall, D. (2004) Finding 1

In advising watershed councils and technical teams, provide training to enhance quality efforts in the following parameters of the collaborative process: centralization vs decentralization of the decision-making process; the tension between local/lay knowledge and expert knowledge; scale and inclusiveness of collaborative decision-making; tensions between ecological/scientific time frames and management/constituent time frames; expenses and agency resources required for collaborative decision making. Continue reading →

Marzolla, M. (2004) Finding 1

With Latino youth programs, use place-based pedagogies so that the education of citizens might have direct bearing on the well-being of the social and ecological places people actually inhabit.

  • Allow participants to apply their learning to a wide variety of home, neighborhood and community situations.

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Maurel, P., Craps, M., Cemesson, F., Raymond, R., Valkering, P., & Ferrand, N. (2007) Finding 1

Social learning refers to the growing capacity of a social network to develop and perform collective actions. In promoting social learning in watershed management, it is important to frame information in such a way that a convergence of views becomes possible through interaction and collective learning processes, e.g. maps illustrating the impacts of water releases, as perceived by the users; graphs showing flow/time relationship and details of the hydrological regime; and field trips and video sessions to allow participants to see the impact of water releases on fish reproduction. Other useful tools include, for example, tools to communicate a vision about water management such as might be accomplished with a 3D model of a hydro-electric dam, a3D chart localizing all the dams on the river, video cassettes and measuring instruments, which testify that the water management authority cares about people’s safety, and stakeholder involvement in data gathering. Continue reading →

Maurel, P., Craps, M., Cemesson, F., Raymond, R., Valkering, P., & Ferrand, N. (2007) Finding 2

Social learning refers to the growing capacity of a social network to develop and perform collective actions. In promoting social learning in watershed management, use technical information in a way that supports local actors to explore and clarify their own understanding of the river basin. Beware of information or communication tools that are either poorly designed or used inadequately, for example with too much technical content. Those can act as a barrier by overwhelming actors with technical information which is not relevant or understandable for them. Continue reading →

May, T. S. (2000) Finding 1

Encourage teachers to include the following elements in their environmental education programs:

  • Flexible curriculum
  • Collaborative learning environments
  • Students’ bearing the consequences of the behavior
  • Teacher competency in listening and questioning
  • Diverse instructional strategies
  • Resourcefulness in accessing resources
  • Creativity, especially in knowledge of how to do without,
  • Facilitation skills
  • Ability to make connections
  • Understanding of local-to-global connections
  • Ability to integrate curricula
  • Using personal/student strengths/passions
  • Experiential teaching orientation
  • Cooperative and inclusive learning
  • Nurturing a sense of place
  • Consistent can-do vision
  • Infectious passion for EE and teaching in general
  • Humor in the classroom
  • Practice of environmentally responsible behavior
  • Risk taking Recharging oneself

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