Transcript YSDA Youth Sectoral Perspective on the Philippine National

YSDA-Pilipinas Inc.
(Youth for Sustainable Development Assembly)
YSDA Youth Sectoral
Perspective on the Philippine
National Environmental
Education Action Plan (NEEAP)
www.ysda.tk
YSDA-Pilipinas 2nd National Congress
May 2002, Isla San Salvador, Masinloc Zambales
YSDA Membership Today!
4H R4
(100 +
local chapters)
Kabalai
(2
Local Chapters)
Youth Conference for
Sustainable Development
in the 21st Century
February 8-9 1996
CYMI
(5 Local Youth
Groups)
LYEM
(11 Local Youth
Groups)
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
Youth in SD IEC
Campaigns
Youth in SD Advocacy
& Lobbying Campaigns
YEAR 4
YEAR 5
Youth Local
Green Politics
Campaign
Proposed Youth in SusDev Modeling Projects
Youth in
Sustainable
Development
Research
NCR-Calabarzon (Marketing Community-Based Ecotours)
Roxas City, Capiz (Children’s Rights Advocacy)
Lanao Lake (Community-Based Sanitation & Livelihood Project)
Region 4 (Promoting Organic Farming & Marketing)
Youth in
SusDev
Capacity
Bldg.
Youth
Conservation
Volunteer
Work
Kabataan
Eco-Preneurship
Development
YSDA Youth in SudDev Research Program
How Green Are You?: A Benchmark Study on the Level of Awareness of
Youth Leaders on Environmental and Sustainable Development Issues and
Principles;
YSDA-Pilipinas Inc.
5-Year
Medium Term
Strategic Plan
(2002 –2006)
Youth in Sustainable Consumption: A Study on the Involvement of
Youth Leaders in Promoting Sustainable Production & Consumption
Practices
Youth Participation in Community Sustainable Development: An
Institutional Study on the Involvement of Youth Organizations in
Sustainable Development
Prospective Youth in SusDev Model Site Profiling: A Profiling of Youth
in SusDev target sites. This benchmark study will determine the socioeconomic and ecological parameters by which to gauge the impact of the
program later on.
Field Impact
Assessment
Youth Conference for
Sustainable Development
in the 21st Century
February 8-9 1996
YSDA Representation in the
WSSD Global Youth Caucus
Round Table Discussions on the NEEAP
STATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INITIATIVES
a) NEEAP
Information, Education & Advocacy Programs for Policy Reforms
• Lobbying at the 2nd NYP Green Brigade EO (EO 52)
Trainings
•Kamp Kalikasan (Youth Environmental Camps)
Research & Development
•Sourcebook of Youth Involvement in Community SusDev (un published)
b) DESD
Highlights on the DESD Section Items
Comments
Section 1: Elaboration on the nature of education for
sustainable development & its links to other international
education processes & priorities
•That the DESD will be implemented within the context of
the implementation of the UN Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) which has provided targets for international
action to bring the abstract concept of sustainable
development into reality Such an education should provide
life-long skills in the area of “learning to know”, “learning to
live together”, “ learning to do” and “learning to be”
•That the four domains of education for sustainable
development includes: a) Basic Education, b) Reorienting
Existing Education Program towards teaching knowledge &
skills on sustainability, b) Developing Public Awareness and
Understanding of Sustainability and c) Training (particularly
focused within the private profit sector)
•That the DESD will be implemented in complementation
with existing international education processes & programs;
particularly with the Education for All (EFA) and UN Literacy
Decade (UNLD)
•That the Key Themes in Education for Sustainable
Development includes: a) Overcoming Poverty, b) Gender
Equality c) Health Promotions, d) Environmental
Consevation & Protection, e) Rural Transformation f)
Human Rights, g) Intercultural Understanding and Peace h)
Sustainable Production & Consumption I) Cultural Diversity,
j) Information & Communication Technologies
Training should not be limited to the business sector
participation. Various civil society groups are also involved in
viable trainings on sustainable development
DESD implementation should result to new and additional
resources and not just a re-alignment of existing funds from EFA
and UNLD.
Human Rights Education should be highlighted within the
context of the right-based approach to sustainable development
as articulated in the WSSD Plan of Implementation
Additional themes on governance (national, local, international),
corporate responsibility/accountability and the issues of
multilateral trade, which are proving to have immense
implications to sustainable development implementation, must
be considered here.
c) Updated Philippine Agenda 21
•Review of the MTYDP (particularly the Green Brigade Program)
•Actions to open up DENR programs & projects to youth
involvement
•Actions to ensure that youth organizations are involve in various
structures & processes of the PCSD
“While these are not directly on environmental education, we feel
that increasing & improving the quality of engagement &
participation of youth leaders & youth organizations in the policymaking & framework-setting on sustainable development in
general (through the PA21) is crucial. This will raise the youth’s
knowledge on the issues and improve their skills needed to
UNDERSTAND and CONFRONT environmental problems.”
CURRENT ISSUES & GAPS
IDEAL OBJECTIVES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
EE should provide young people
the needed knowledge &
analytical skills in order to fully
understand the complex issues of
environmental destruction in their
own localities
CURRENT EXPERIENCE
(Formal, Informal & Non-Formal Education)
§
Environmental Education in many schools remains
rather technical and focused more on biological/earth
sciences. Despite many attempts to link the teaching of
environmental issues & skills to other social-political &
economic issues, there is a perceive lack of sufficient
linkaging.
§
There is a perceived lack of “champions” among
teachers and school administrators on promoting
environmental issues as a cause that students and other
members of the school community can rally behind on.
§
There is a lack of focused on presenting environmental
issues as personal issues of students and youth that allow
them to questions and review their own value systems and
lifestyles
§
Non-formal and informal environmental education has
not always been consistently available to a large number of
young people across various age range & batches. (e.g.
conduct of youth environmental camps by various groups
have not been consistent every year and articles on
environmental issues have not found its way regularly on
campus papers & other publications)
IDEAL OBJECTIVES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
CURRENT EXPERIENCE
(Formal, Informal & Non-Formal Education)
EE should provide young people
practical skills in order to
substantially contribute in
collective efforts to jointly confront
specific local community problems
resulting to and as a result of
environmental destruction
§
There is a severe lack of actual engagement of young
people (particularly students) in ongoing collective community
efforts to confront specific environmental issues as a way to
further complement formal instruction in schools on
environmental education.
§
In relation to this, while serious efforts are being made
by some schools to integrate environmental projects towards
creating sustainable, “green” campuses; these have been
more an exemption than a rule. In such cases, teaching
environmental education through formal instruction has not
been as effective since it lack the needed consistency in terms
of actual practice & involvement of the students who are
provided such instructions.
EE
Knowledge
Understanding of
Community
Environmental &
SusDev Issues
“EE should empower young
people to confront & resolve
“real” environmental issues of
their communities”
Reflections
Resolution of Actual
Community Environment
& SusDev Issues
Proposed Framework for EE
Life Skills
Involvement
of the
Successor
Generations
RECOMMENDATIONS & NEEDED ACTIONS
Issues & Problems
EE remains technical & focus on
biological/earth sciences
There is a perceived lack of linkaging
between EE & other socio-political &
economic issues
There is a perceived lack of actual
engagement of the youth to confront
specific environmental issues in their
immediate communities
There is a perceived lack of
“champions” among teachers &
administrators on promoting
environmental actions to resolve
environmental issues
Recommendations
& Needed Actions
EE in schools & communities must be
undertaken not merely as academic
exercises but focused on responding to
specific community environmental &
susdev issues

Support to ensure that every campus will
have an Environmental Student Org
 Setting of Faculty Environmental Groups
 School Extensions Services (e.g. NTSP)
should focus on responding to
environmental issues
 Require a Graduate of Environmental
Studies/Science/Education to be part of
every H.S. Science Teacher Teams

Issues & Problems
Recommendations
& Needed Actions
Many students still do not perceived
environmental issues as personal
issues

Make Sustainable Consumption &
Production Issues central to EE
 Green Lifestyle Options (e.g. Ecowaste,
Organic Food/Food Safety, Green
Transport Options) must be taught,
supported & practiced (including
institutionalization of appropriate policies &
provision of infrastructure to support these
lifestyle options such as bike racks,
banning soft drinks in canteen & serious
implementation of campus ecowaste)
Non-formal & Informal EE have not
always been consistently available to
young people (e.g. youth camp, articles
on environment in campus papers)

Review & Strengthen the implementation
of the SK Green Brigade Program &
encourage the focus of this program on EE
 Implement & institutionalize the 2nd & 3rd
NYP resolutions for the creation &
institutionalization of a PHILIPPINE
YOUTH LEADERSHIP CAMP ON
ENVIRONMENT & SUSDEV
Issues & Problems
Recommendations
& Needed Actions
Non-formal & Informal EE have not
always been consistently available to
young people (continuation . . .)

Support the conduct of training on
environmental & sustainable development
issues for campus journalist complemented
by appropriate linkage support to on
campus and off-campus environmental
groups and institutions to ensure more
regular news and articles on environment
in school papers
Lack of integration of best practices on
susdev implementation from indigenous
knowledge system (particularly from
practices of Indigenous Peoples’
Community) to current EE programs

Inclusion of IP and Muslim Community
Leaders to all national EE coordination
structures and mechanisms.
 Institutionalize a Cultural Exchange
Program focused on indigenous knowledge
system and urban-rural sustainable
development links with the active
participation of IP and Muslim communities
Issues & Problems
There is perceived lack of consistency
between the EE that is being taught in
schools and the actual practice &
involvement within & outside the school
in environment & susdev issues
Recommendations
& Needed Actions
Ensure coordinated action by ALL
sectors to provide conducive opportunities
for young people to learn about and be
involve in resolving community
environment & susdev issues
complementing EE in school in a
consistent manner
 Continue and develop stricter guidelines
& standards on sustainable development
practices of schools in the existing school
accreditation by government and selfaccreditation processes by the private
sector (e.g. PAASCU)

Environmental Education
VS
SUSDEV Education?
RANDOM THOUGHTS . . .
• Environmental Issues are subsets of Sustainable Development
Issues
• All environmental issues are necessarily sustainable development
issues but not all sustainable development issues are environmental
issues
• The resolution of environmental issues are dependent upon the prior
and final resolution of other socio-political and economic problems.
The new PA21 identifies these as the following: a) population, b)
governance, c) trade & globalization, d) corporate accountability, e)
poverty reduction and others
•IF the objectives of EE are both to inform and capacitate in
order to allow for relevant participation in the resolution of
community environmental issues; it MUST be able to tackle
and provide the needed info and skills to resolve the other
socio-economic and political problems
• CAN Environmental Education really provide the info &
skills to resolve these other socio-political and economic issue?
• Will a broader framework for SUSDEV Education be better?