Promoting Environmental Sustainability Governance

In the last decade, the emerging needs for social responsibility on environmental concern has been considerably transmitted into the initiative of firm alliance. This chapter attempts to examine the essential points of university-, industry-, and community-based strategic partnership for further collaboration alliance. This chapter focuses on the key role of strategic partnership with cooperating into the concern in driving the procedural stage on sustainable development. The findings reveal that outstanding value of strategic partnership would give insights into empowering sustainable-based institutional arrangements assigned with the wide attempts to contribute the prudent public policy formulation to implement the good service to solve environmental and related issues. The value is that strategic partnership trend incorporated in this context would be the point of view for sustainable development agenda rooted into the way of living processes paradigm together with demonstrating the wide range of sustainable governance.

Environmental Education and Its Effects on Environmental Sustainability

Environmental education (EE) for sustainable development remains a valuable subject of contemporary society, which is characterized with environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and resource degradation. The delivery of EE is based on the North American Association for environmental education values of knowledge, dispositions, competencies, and responsible behavior towards the environment. EE is a transformative tool to learners since it prepares learners with skills, attitudes, knowledge, and values to resolve environmental problems. It promotes environmental activism and action-oriented resolution of environmental issues. The full benefits of EE are challenged by limited human capacity, questionable professionalism, limited resources, and poor transformation of knowledge to practice. These challenges however can be alleviated through community engagement in formulating EE programs, multidisciplinary engagements, and research on EE delivery and quality.

Role of Cities in Native Woody Species Conservation and Carbon Storage Insight From Niger

Loss of native tree species constitutes a major socio-economic and ecological problem. Nevertheless, there is scanty data on the role of Sahelian cities in native woody species conservation and climate change mitigation. This study tried to determine the native woody diversity, structure, and carbon stocks in Niamey, and Maradi, Niger. The study used the plot method to inventory dendrometric variables based on a stratified sampling approach from peri-urban areas to the built environment. Biodiversity indices and allometric models were used for the data analysis. A total of 63 native woody species representing 47 genera and 24 families were recorded in the overall urban forests in two cities. In Niamey, 46 species belonging to 35 genera and 19 families were recorded while in Maradi, 50 species, 41 genera, and 19 families were inventoried. Fabaceae was the dominant families in both cities with equal richness (13 species).

Heavy Metals Pollution and Its Studies in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu

This chapter is a review of published research papers, books, book chapters, unpublished scientific reports prepared by research organisations, and expert talk about heavy metal pollution. This chapter also summarises the research studies conducted in Coimbatore and a summary of the studies says that very tiny information is available on heavy metals in soil, water, and air components. Till now heavy metals in plants, plant products, animals, animal products, bioaccumulation in humans, and its impacts are not accounted in this region. Further, these chapters identify the research gaps, and research interventions are required to assess the heavy metals contaminations in different ecosystems. It also highlights the need for long-term monitoring of heavy metals in the ground, surface water, food materials, agricultural products produced in the contaminated regions. The chapter concludes with a need for study on human health impacts, restoration, and remediation measures required in Coimbatore regions.

Teaching Climate Change at Primary and Secondary Levels for Sustainable Development

The young minds are provided with climate change and sustainable development education through various means. Environmental education is being taught at the primary level in Central Board of Secondary Education Schools while it is being taught at secondary level in the Social Science and Science Subject in C.B.S.E. Schools of India with various tools and methods. In the present study, the authors have incorporated some methods which help in teaching about climate change at primary and secondary levels. The study shows how the adopted methods are effective in disseminating knowledge about climate change. The investigator decided to adopt the survey method of research to know the method of teaching being adopted for teaching of climate change in environmental science at primary level and in science or social science, eco club at secondary level. Findings were that students should be taught in the school curriculum itself about climate change and its effects. The teaching strategies should be adopted based on the level of the child, his level of cognitive ability, accessibility, and ease of use.

Training Strategies for Organic Agriculture as a Pathway to Achieve the SDGs

The current agricultural and food system needs to become more sustainable. Scientific evidence shows that organic agriculture is particularly environmental beneficial and can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Yet, it is a knowledge intensive practice and all actors along the value chain need to be accordingly trained. Focusing on farmers, this chapter assesses available training initiatives in the sector. In order to become more effective, public bodies should engage more in capacity building and training on organics. Moreover, additional training initiatives should focus on specific crops or agricultural systems, which also addresses the training need of farmers in conversion. The use of ICT has the potential to facilitate the development of more efficient training interventions. The further development of training initiatives is a vehicle to promote organic agriculture and ultimately to contribute to achieving the SDGs and climate mitigation and adaptation in particular.

Investigating Turkish Pre-Service Primary Teachers' Environmental Moral Reasoning Patterns on Environmental Dilemmas

This chapter explored preservice primary teachers' moral reasoning patterns on local and non-local environmental dilemmas. Forty-seven preservice primary teachers enrolling in an environmental education course voluntarily participated in the study. The data were collected via preservice teachers' written reports about local and non-local environmental dilemmas and analyzed by means of qualitative and quantitative methods. The results revealed that preservice teachers mostly focused on ecocentric and anthropocentric moral reasoning on sea pollution case while using ecocentric and non-environmental reasoning in the deforestation case. The t-test results also revealed that preservice teachers used more anthropocentric reasoning patterns in the sea pollution case when compared to the deforestation case. The inclusion of local and non-local dilemmas into the environmental education courses in undergraduate teacher education programs can facilitate preservice teachers' moral reasoning.

Ecological Sanitation (ECOSAN) in Oasis Communities

The chapter highlights the importance of the concept of “ecological sanitation” (Ecosan) in environmental education. It also describes the implementation and management of the “Ecosan” project in several primary and middle schools and explores the lessons learned from reusing organic waste to promote sustainability in arid communities in the southeastern region of Morocco. The project planned and built Ecosan systems that recycle human wastes in five schools from five oasis villages of the Draa-Tafilalt region. The results suggest that the Ecosan system may be a sustainable option to support water, soil, and biodiversity in the vulnerable arid areas, but the scale-up of the project and adoption by the local communities will require more work and coordination with the government and local stakeholders.

Ecotourism as a Sustainable and Active Citizenship Approach

Tourism offers both advantages and disadvantages to the involved countries. Ecotourism emerges as a tourism segment based on the principles of sustainable tourism, oriented to the preservation of nature, respect for local traditions and customs, interest in the history and culture of the destination, encouragement of intercultural communication, and aid to the local economy. This study aims to understand how students of tourism from the Porto Polytechnic Institute, in Portugal, know and define it. Additionally, it aims to understand how many of these students have participated in typology activities and the reasons that led them to do so. A quantitative research with 123 students (44% of the universe) was conducted and the results showed that 23% of students know the four basic principles of ecotourism and about half have experience in the practice of it. The main motivation is related to “contact with nature.” Finally, it is discussed how ecotourism can be seen as a way of empowerment of students, regarding sustainability and the well-being of our environment and its inhabitants.

Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainability in the Bangladeshi School Curriculum

Bangladesh is one of the most affected countries by climate change and extremely vulnerable to environmental degradation. Young people, as the new generation, need to understand the consequences of climate change and its impact on their lives and the lives of their fellow citizens. This chapter presents the findings from a systematic evaluation of Bangladeshi school curriculum, and how it prepares the future generation for climate change adaptation and ensures a sustainable future for them. This chapter highlights the recommendations from the findings and suggests how the national curriculum could address climate change mitigation and adaptation for sustainability by providing contents to offer grounding for the young people as global citizens to act in the local context. Although there is some content included in the school textbooks related to climate change and sustainable development issues, there is a need for inclusion of more relevant contents in the national school curriculum so that school textbooks provide enough contents on climate change, its mitigation and adaptation.