Celebrating 'four' PhD graduates in 2013 - part two

Sequel to the ‘celebrating 'four' PhD graduates in 2013 - part one’ article, the entire Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), Rhodes University community of practice is proud to present to you her newest and outstanding ‘Dr’s in the house’. Their significant contributions to environmental learning and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), including remarkable comments from their examiners are as follows: ...read more

Celebrating 'four' PhD graduates in 2013 - part one

The prestigious Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), Rhodes University is proud to announce the graduation of her four PhD scholars this year (2013). Namely: Dr Clayton Zazu, Dr Charles Chikunda, Dr Ingrid Joan Schudel and Dr Dylan Kenneth McGarry. Look out for details of their important contributions to environmental learning and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in a follow-up article. Including a glimpse of their graduation ceremony. ...read more

2013 Sponsorship available for 3 PhD and 4 Masters studies in Environmental Education

CATHSSETA (Culture Arts Tourism Hospitality Sport Sector Education and Training Authority), in conjunction with GreenMatterza (the engine for growing BioDiversity skills and developing the right people at the right time for the green economy) is providing the means and platform to support a university-based research programme in HCD (Human Capital Development) for BioDiversity sector. ...read more

Application for 2013-2014 MED Degree closed

The Faculty of Education is currently advertising the 2013-2014 Masters degrees programme. These include masters in environmental education, masters in geography education, and masters in science education. All three degree programmes address issues of educational quality and relevance, within a wider vision which critically probes the role of education in contributing to just and sustainable societies. The degrees foreground theoretical and practical knowledge of Environmental, Science and Geography Education; while also addressing wider education and learning questions in society such as: education and inequality; education and access to learning; and education for sustainable futures. ...read more

Grand opening of the prestigious ELRC

The building of the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), an important, significant and timely university-community facility at Rhodes University (RU) was officially opened today 13th September, 2012. The meeting commenced with a welcome address by the Director of the centre, a rear gem and the ‘golden girl of the Rhodes University’, who has held the Murray and Robert Chair of Environmental Education at Rhodes University since 1990, Prof Heila Lotz-Sisitka. In her address she acknowledged the presence and impact of people who have made the centre what it is today, without which the ELRC would have been nameless.

The ELRC was developed as a partnership between the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs (DEDEA), Makana Municipality and Rhodes University, with funding that was channelled through the South African National Biodiversity Institute as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), in order to develop the Makana Botanical Gardens and link it to the education activities in the university and community.
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ELRC welcomes the New Umthathi Training Project Director

The Umthathi Training Project, located in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape has a new Director in the person of Mumsie Gumede who took over from Marlene Mitchener this year. Today, Friday 7th September, the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) staff members and postgraduate students, including the representatives of the SADC REEP, and the 2012 RU/SADC REEP Alumni made a grand visit to the Umthathi Training Project to joyfully welcome the new Director. ...read more

The RU/SADC Alumni 2012 get their hands ‘glued’ to make beauty out of waste

As the second week RU/SADC ESD Leadership alumni course 2012 ends, the class had a fantastic time with Michelle Craig, who came to ELRC from WESSA to facilitate a workshop in which waste cardboards were used to make earrings , necklaces and bracelets. In a space of 15 minutes on the minimal, participants were engaged in the activity/demonstration as Michelle unrolled the interesting hands on activity in paper crafts. She works for WESSA in the department of Education and finance and whenever an opportunity avails itself, she said “I get my self involved in learning more crafts skills in order to share more ... and I also do embroidery, chokers, crocheting and knitting, skills which I learnt when I was five. ...read more

The 30th EEASA conference is here

From Tuesday 11th to Friday 14th of September 2012, Rhodes University, Grahamstown will be hosting about 350 anticipated delegates registered for the 2012 Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) conference. Over 100 papers and workshops are slated to be presented and this 30th conference promises to be the best. Conference presenters have already received the draft programme for the conference, guidelines for their presentations, including the map of the conference venue. ...read more

ELRC PhD scholar's experience in Moscow, Russia

A PhD Scholar and Rhodes University staff member, Mr Charles Chikunda, attended the 3rd International ISCAR Summer University (SU) in Moscow, Russia between July 2nd to 7th, 2012. This is an annual event that brings together 24 PhD students from different regions of the world, disciplines, socio-cultural contexts and age groups. ...read more

RU/SADC REEP ESD leadership course 2012 commences

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Environmental Education Programme (REEP) commenced today the 27th of August, her yearly Rhodes University/SADC International Certificate in Environment and Sustainability Education Course at Rhodes University, South Africa. This year’s course is slated to take place for two weeks, ending on the 14th of September and the overall theme is “Leadership for Environmental and Sustainability Education in SADC.” ...read more

SAHRA/Rhodes University

Following its official launch on the 7th of May 2012 by the minister of Arts and Culture, honorable Paul Mashatile, this professional development course has now gained ground with the first group of participants graduating on the 19th of October 2012. ...read more

Eastern Cape Eco- School Award ceremony 2012

The regional Eco-Schools award ceremony was hosted by the Rhodes University Environmental Learning Research Centre on the 9th March 2012. The Grahamstown Seventh Day Adventist School and Kingswood College were amongst four schools in the Eastern Cape to receive recognition as an international Eco-School. Overall sixty-four schools from across the province were awarded with certificates which represent increasing commitment and sophistication as schools take on the Eco-Schools challenge at the level of bronze, silver, green, gold, international and platinum. ...read more

Global Change Challenges and Critical Realism Debates - DON'T MISS IT!

The International Association of Critical Realism (IACR) Conference is scheduled to hold from the 18th-20th of July 2012 at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Global change challenges such as economic decline, persistent inequality and social injustice, climate change, loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation are symptoms of a wider set of issues with roots in established norms, social practices and power structures.

IACR2012 seeks to raise debate, and critically question the significance of ontological realism, epistemological relativism and judgemental rationality to global change challenges; on the African continent that continues to be framed as 'marginal' in the global world order.

Can critical realist tools and concepts help us re-think development, social mobilisation, nature-culture relations and other social practices such as politics, education, work, employment, health and well being?

For more information please go to www.IACR2012conference.co.za

Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) 30th Annual Conference and Workshop

Between the 11^th-14^th of September 2012, Rhodes University the home of Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), the Sustainability Commons and the Makana Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) for the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development will be hosting this years’ EEASA conference.

The theme for the conference is “Environmental Learning, Agency and Social Change”. Proposed conference streams include ‘Natural Resource Management, Biodiversity, Conservation and Agriculture’, ‘Higher Education and Training’, ‘Formal Schooling’, ‘Informal Learning’, ‘Business and Industry’, ‘Local and National Government’, Informal Learning’, and Inter-sectoral (cross-cutting) work.

For full details on conference fees, registration, accommodation, abstract and paper submission, please visit www.EEASAConference.co.za

Cleaning, greening and caring

Last year, Sivele Masa went hunting for a job at the municipality. Twenty-five, unemployed and living in Ward 7, he was open to just about anything on offer. When he arrived however, Masa was redirected to the National Youth Development Agency, where an officer posed a challenging alternative: why not create his own job? The officer advised him on the merits of starting a closed cooperative with a group of his peers. And so the seed was planted. Masa took the idea back to his community and quickly recruited nine others who shared a similar vision of employment and community betterment. After brainstorming, the group decided they wanted a project that could addresses the complex, intermingled issues of their community, from unemployment and the environment to health and safety. ...read more

Education and Sustainable Development in Africa

The Environmental Learning Research Centre will attend Africa’s largest educational gathering this February, the Triennale on Education and Training in Africa. The conference is hosted every three years by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). This year’s conference brings major players in education -- from Africa ministers, senior officials, financial contributors, development organisations, civil society and other leaders -- to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Here they will discuss the theme, ‘Promoting critical knowledge, skills and qualifications for sustainable development in Africa: How to design and implement an effective response through education and training systems’. ...read more

PhD student, Million Belay, nominated for 'forest hero' award by UN Forest Secretariat

The United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat (UNFF) has nominated the Director of MELCA-Ethiopia, Million Belay, as one of the finalists for the first international Forest Heroes Award of 2011.The announcement was done during the Forest Day at the Climate Change negotiations convened in Durban, South Africa. ...read more

COP17 stirs student activism

Alongside their individual research agendas, many students at the ELRC concern themselves with issues across the broader social and environmental spectrum. This is no surprise -- when they come to the centre they are passionate advocates and educators, actively engaged in their own responses to modern problems. While they’re here, the centre aims to nurture this activism alongside their academic efforts, so that students leave better-equipped committed citizens of the world. Outside engagement is, therefore, a crucial component of a student’s time at the ELRC; this is an effort to reconstitute the traditional function of a university. ...read more

Green cities 'think big' by starting small

Marlene Mitchener, Director of Umthathi Training Project

“It’s very important to marry learning with doing,” said Dr Shepard Urenje, at last week’s Supporting Urban Sustainability (SUS) conference. Attending the meeting were Swedish and African partners which included the Makana Municipality and local NGO, Umthathi Training Project. The partners reflected on their year engaging with local environmental and sustainability issues and interactions with cities from around the world. The purpose of the programme is to address sustainability and livelihood issues for urban populations through various small development projects, and to do this more effectively by learning through a network of international partnerships. ...read more

Youth prepare for COP17

As COP17 draws nearer, so should our collective awareness of its aims. Perhaps more important, however, is mindfulness of the role we play in mitigating environmental issues. Last week the ELRC partnered with the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) to host a youth awareness activity to stimulate thinking about the international conference on a local level. ...read more

Inqaba Yegolide Youth Cleaning Initiative

Yesterday, I spied Prof Rob O’Donoghue in the courtyard of the ELRC. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his glasses perched on top of his head -- signals I know to mean he’s about to give a demonstration. You must know a few things about Prof Rob: he loves sustainable inventions and stand up comedy and he has been an educator for about 35 years. He has had a time to combine these interests and passions into his own well-honed brand of active workshop, which he performs to students, teachers, passersby -- basically anyone willing to listen. And by active demonstration I mean, digging holes, scooping grass, pulling weeds, planting trees. ...read more

Local educator goes beyond the classroom

Though Velile Quza has been teaching for 17 years, his appetite for learning has never waned. Quza teaches Grade 10 - 12 English in Grahamstown’s Khutliso Daniels Secondary School, but has embarked on a part time Honours in Environmental Eduction through Rhodes University. But more important than his continued self-education, is his desire to share his new knowledge with his students. “I thought: let me make use of what I now know in this learning environment,” says Quza, explaining his reasons for starting an invasive plant species project which is getting his classes excited about environmental issues. ...read more

The ELRC receives recognition for environmental contribution

Marking the end of Rhodes Environmental Week, three Environmental Awards were presented at the Environmental Learning Research Centre last Friday (7 October). ...read more

International universities explore ESD

The Environmental Learning Research Centre, together with CHERTL, are currently hosting the ‘Africa hub’ of an international training programme which focusses on education and sustainable development in universities. The programme, involving 25 academics from throughout Africa, seeks to support critical thinking and educational innovations in the cross-disciplinary area of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in higher education in Africa and Asia. ...read more

Research Design course gets students thinking

Last a week, educators from South Africa and abroad came together to focus on research in the social sciences, taking part in the Research Design Course at the ELRC. It was an intense week of discussions, lectures, readings and group exercises, all of which asked educators to examine and interrogate the methods they use to facilitate learning. “This is a complex arena characterised by a range of methods, methodologies and discourses that attempt to raise questions about, describe and explain what is meant by the pursuit of ‘Truth’,” said Prof Heila Lotz-Sisitka, explaining the purpose of the course. ...read more

Chile deliberations on universities and a ‘clean and Just’ economy

Next year is Rio +20, an annual Earth Summit that focusses on the tensions between resource usage and flows in developed and developing world economies. It will mark 20 years since the first major Earth Summit. Not surprisingly, given the recent emphasis on the economic crisis in the West, a major topic of discussion will be establishing a globally acceptable framework for green economies within the context of sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Such economies are to be established on principles of low carbon development and are to create new green jobs while enhancing sustainable development. Of course this is not without contention, as many countries in the Global South see this as yet another form of ‘external control’ on development - a factor which somewhat paradoxically is not simply a political matter, but one tempered by global change science that points to the long-term costs (in both human lives and development costs) of climate change and continued ecosystem degradation. ...read more

African RCEs Unite

It’s the first time African Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs) have met face-to-face and their initial reunion is taking place right here at the ELRC. From Nigeria and Mozambique, and eight other countries in between, RCEs have gathered to discuss the tricky work development on the continent. ...read more

Women in the Nursery

This is a tribute to two very strong, enthusiastic, passionate women working in the nursery of the Makana Municipality’s Horticulture Department.

It was the morning of 28July 2011, when a colleague and I went to the Department of Horticulture to meet with Kevin Bates, the Manager of Parks and Recreation, to conduct observations and interviews with his employees. I was there to do a skills needs analysis project, which formed a part of my research for my Masters topic: “Learning pathways on key occupations relevant to sustainable development within Makana Municipality”. This is all about Education and Sustainability. Of the five groups we interviewed, the two women working in the nursery stood out. ...read more

The ELRC shines during Community Engagement Week

This week is Community Engagement Week at Rhodes and the ELRC is getting involved. Described as the “third leg” on which a university stands, along with teaching and research, community engagement is increasingly a priority for institutions intent on breeding compassionate, mindful citizens -- not just employable graduates. ...read more

Regional research gets support

Last week ten researchers from the Southern African Development Community Regional Environmental Education Programme (SADC REEP) participated in a writing course at the ELRC. The course provided the necessary space and support for busy environmental educators to focus on writing up their research, which will appear in this year’s Southern African Journal of Environmental Education.
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Teaching outside the box

Getting children to look at their surroundings and creatively interact with them are what the Creeping Toad workshops are all about. Innovated and conducted by one of Britain’s leading environmental educators, Gordon MacLellan, these workshops incorporate outdoor exploration, storytelling and performance. ...read more

The art of resolution

“One of the problems with environmental education today, is the word ‘awareness’,” says Rhodes Environmental Education PhD student, Dylan McGarry, “Being aware of something doesn’t mean it will change what you value.” ...read more

Sustainable living and heritage

Sustainable living is as much about tradition as it is embracing modernity. Preserving culture and heritage is an important aspect of developing consciously, whether it means protecting indigenous plants or honouring cultural practices.

As a part of the Re-Imagining festival, Sibongile van Damme, CEO of the South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA), gave a talk entitled, ‘Embracing Intangible Heritage within the Cultural Heritage Sector: which way to go – erasure or social cohesion’. Van Damme sought to contextualise the issue of apartheid liberation songs and to facilitate a discussion around whether these songs still have a place in South Africa. ...read more

The cycle of environmental education

“I’m interested in how the arts can be used to establish a critical voice,” said Ingrid Schudel, lecturer and PhD student at the ELRC, “With art, one wants to do more than just make pretty pictures.” As a part of the Re-Imagining mini Festival, Schudel conducted a three-day paper making workshop for local teachers. While teaching the skill of recycled paper making, the workshop explored issues around waste and recycling in Grahamstown, challenging educators to move closer to the root of the problem. ...read more

Supporting Urban Sustainability

A team of five environmental activists from the district of Makana recently attended an international workshop in Malmo and Visby, Sweden. The focus of the visit was to investigate how different cities are pursuing urban sustainability and green city initiatives and to have an international dialogue around this topic. Five other teams from Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Sweden and Tanzania attended the workshop, which was hosted by the Swedish International Centre of Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD). ...read more

Interactive Environmental Education

Last week Environmental Education Masters students returned to the ELRC for their third Masters week of the year. While here, they discussed the progress of their current research while participating in a number of creative and interactive workshops. The workshops focused on the sustainability areas of water, agriculture, waste, nutrition and intended to stimulate innovative ideas for teaching environmental education in and outside of the classroom.

At a workshop on recycled paper makin ...read more

Arts Festival goes Environmental

While the National Arts Festival sweeps through Grahamstown, bringing with it all manner of artist and festival-enthusiast, the ELRC is taking part in its own creative festival. For eight days during the Festival, it will host the Reimaging “mini festival”, which brings together artists, activists and educators for the purpose of “reimaging” the future of the environmental sustainability.

Through workshops, panels and exhibitions, environmental leaders and passionate citizens will uncov ...read more

Feeding minds at the Fest

Creative collaborations are happening at the Re-imagining festival in the Sustainability Commons of the ELRC. Various environmental groups and activists have been invited to discuss and deliberate ideas for more sustainable living. Food and Trees for Africa is taking part in the conversation and hosted an informational talk on their approach to teaching gardening and planting using a culturally sensitive approach. This South African NGO is spreading the seeds of permaculture in schools and co ...read more

The Art of Activism

Wading through the sea of and texture and colour, of shapes that coil and ripple and occur in an infinite variety, creates an overwhelming sense of beauty while alluding to the tragedy of environmental destruction. An exhibit of the Woodstock Art Reef Project (WARP), which is on display at the ELRC for duration of the Re-imaging festival, makes a symbolic statement about the stunning diversity that is being lost as a result of climate change. The community art initiative is a part of a global movement to use crochet handicraft as a way of expressing the threat of climate change on our oceanic eco-systems.

Speaking about the environmental and community driven aspects of WARP, was on ...read more