On the Use of Different Presentation Formats in an Exhibit at a Science Center to Communicate Sea Level Rise

This study focused on evaluating the effectiveness of the different presentation formats (text, photographs; video and simulations) used in an exhibit at a science center in Singapore to communicate the message of sea level rise, an important manifestation of climate change. Interviews with visitors were used to obtain their views on the exhibit, the influence the message behind the exhibit had on them, and the implications of sea level rise for the tiny island state. The findings suggest that simulations are more effective in communicating abstract phenomena, provided the objectification is rendered effectively.

Taking Action from Awareness

Increasing awareness of climate change issues is a critical issue for all individuals in today's society. Environmental education is important to not only creating awareness of these issues, but taking action towards fostering positive change. Pre-university students have a strong voice on environmental issues that needs to be heard. Environmental education programs such as SeaTrust Institute's AWARE (Action Within a Resilient Environment) assist teens in learning about issues that directly impact their communities. AWARE combines environmental education with hands-on experiential learning projects in their communities. This program also connects high school students with other high school and college students enrolled in SeaTrust Institute's Global Internship.

NGO Roles in Promoting Climate Change Awareness through Environmental Education

As the climate continues to deteriorate, government agencies and NGOs alike try their possible best to figure out ways to turn the tables around and fight the issue. While government helps to draft policies, implement laws that help to curb it, the major strategic publications and public awareness lies on the shoulders of NGOs for proper execution of the bottom-top public awareness. This report tends to explore, discuss and pinpoint ways NGOs can play a strategic important role in the promotion of public education and awareness of the changes in the climatic conditions of our society.

Zanzibari Seaweed

Well before island nations began to consider rising ocean levels, a feature of global climate change (GCC), they have been concerned with the allocation of water resources. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the efforts of universities, in the Tanzanian cities of Zanzibar and Dar-Es-Salaam, to promote environmentally responsible entrepreneurial projects, which sustain women's economic empowerment, while advancing the general development of the broader community, in which they live. The object of this discussion is to examine the history of sea-weed production, and to examine how Zanzibar's seaweed farmers, who are largely women, have responded to adversity, and what, if anything, they can do to address current difficulties.

The Place of Concerns for Posterity in the Global Education for Sustainable Development Agenda

Education is a powerful tool to alter unsustainable values and mindsets. But in order for it to be used most efficiently it is crucial to have a clear understanding of what values should be advanced, changed, or developed. This chapter aims to clarify some conceptual difficulties with the value of future generations in education for sustainable development. Future generations are embedded in the definition of sustainable development and can be reasonably expected to be at the heart of education for sustainable development. This chapter explores this assumption and analyzes how future-oriented concerns are formulated and advanced in the global educational agenda put forward during the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) led by UNESCO. This analysis compares conceptual foundations of ESD against key developments in climate and environmental ethics on the treatment of posterity. This chapter can contribute to the disciplines of environmental education, philosophy of education, and to climate ethics.

Science Communication as a Tool for Advancing the Environmental Education on Climate Change

The aim of this chapter to describe and explain the role of science communication as a method to advance environmental education on climate change with a special reference on Africa being one of the regions suffering from the effects of climate-induced disasters and risks in the increased anthropogenic effects of modern development. The overall impression globally and regionally is the scientists are poor communicators on what they do hence are often misunderstood by the media and society over the work they spend their life and effort doing. The buttressing methodological philosophy to this chapter is applied systems approach that views actors, processes, inputs and outputs of the climate change, policy and science as intricately related hence require a trans-disciplinary, interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approach. However, critical areas of reference are health and diseases, resilient communities, coastal adaptation and farming practices and technologies.

Building Resilience to Climate Change at Local Levels

Climate change impact is calling for international attention and collaborative efforts through multilateral and bilateral agreements to reduce it. It is a complex environmental problem that is not only naturally induced but made more stressful by anthropocentric capabilities in the quest for better lifestyles. Although climate change causes and impact are known, its mitigation strategies are compounded by human wants at the expensive of their own sustainable survival. This chapter explore different ways of promoting climate change awareness through environmental education. It is important to accompany all climate change awareness efforts by recognition of local ecological knowledge that promote resilience as well as engage in research to enhance sustainable development in local communities.

Learning and Climate Change Adaptation

Youth play an ever-increasing role as counter-cyclical agents that can be mobilized for developing and implementing adaptation responses to build resilience in communities under stress from climate change. Organizations with a coupled research and educational focus are well situated to partner with formal and informal educational institutions to create valuable opportunities for simultaneous learning and practice for youth and their communities in building resilience to climate change. In this chapter, the author argues that climate-knowledgeable and empowered youth are positioned to show new, resilient behavior as critical environmental and social thresholds are approached. Using human health as a gauge for sustainable action, the study by NGO SeaTrust Institute that is analyzed in this chapter shows potentially effective learning approaches, programs and systems for engaging youth as transformational agents to catalyze community leadership for climate change adaptation in an age of escalating environmental and social instability.

Gendered Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change

Climate change is a critical global issue with the potential to cause social, political, environmental and economic hardships. Women and the poor are disproportionately affected by climate change because of cultural norms, their dependence on natural resources; responsibility for water, fuel, food procurement and household care; their greater exposure to risk in crisis and severe weather events and the predominant presence of low technology in agriculture and their lack of resources and power. This chapter concentrates on vulnerability and adaptation responses at the community level and the context or factors that influence adaptation at this level. In particular, this it focuses gender based vulnerability and adaptation and the factors that influence they respond to climate change. It also highlights the importance of collective adaptation efforts in order to guide the design of more inclusive and effective adaptation projects and programs.

Incremental Learning and Gradual Changes

The environmental consequences of climate change in agriculture have been degrading farmers' livelihood and welfare because of their inability to cope with the unusual risks and livelihood crises due to climate change. However, state policies addressing farmers' needs to develop their coping mechanism towards the unusual consequences of climate change have not been defined appropriately. To continue relying on their conventional ways of farming would not effectively help them to survive in the midst of unusual weather conditions. A long-term educational commitment to improve farmers' agrometeorological learning is urgent. The authors present their inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborative works in providing climate services to farmers through Science Field Shops. Improving farmers' anticipation capability has been carried out through various means of learning. The authors describe the incremental learning process and the gradual changes the farmers in Indramayu Regency have gone through since 2010.