Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific: Local Traditions and Global Discourses

Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific

This important volume explores the influences of global environmental discourses, and local traditions and practices, in twelve countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Two fundamental questions are explored in the book: • •

To what degree is a common environmental discourse emerging within the region? To what degree do environmental attitudes and behaviour remain embedded in local traditions and practices?

These questions are investigated through two parallel groups of studies. The first closely examines cultural influences in individual countries, including traditional attitudes to nature and the contemporary politics of the environment. Against this background, the second study examines the attitudes of young people across the region, based upon extensive survey and focus group data. Emerging from these investigations are striking findings that illuminate the patterns of social and environmental conditions within the Asia-Pacific. Offering a wealth of original material and data, and important conclusions concerning the direction of environmental policy and education in the region, the book will be of value to students, researchers and policy-makers alike. David Yencken is Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne and Patron of the Australian Conservation Foundation. He was previously Chairman of the Australian Heritage Commission and Secretary for Planning and Environment, Government of Victoria. John Fien is Director of the Centre for Innovation and Research in Environmental Education at Griffith University, Brisbane. He was coordinator of the UNESCO projects, Teaching for a Sustainable World and Learning for a Sustainable Environment. Helen Sykes is a consultant sociologist and President of the Trust for Young Australians, an organisation working to assist disadvantaged young people. Her research and publications have focussed on young people and leadership.

Routledge Advances in Asia-Pacific Studies

1 Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific Local traditions and global discourses Edited by David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes 2 Ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region David R.Phillips 3 Gender Politics in the Asia-Pacific Edited by Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Peggy Teo and Shirlena Huang 4 Caring for the Elderly in Japan and the US Practices and policies Susan Orpett Long

Environment, Education and Society in the Asia-Pacific Local traditions and global discourses

Edited by David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes

London and New York

First published 2000 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2000 David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes, selection and editorial matter; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Environment, education and society in the Asia-Pacific: local traditions and global discourses/edited by David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes 360 pp. 15.6 x 23.4 cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Environmental education—Asia. 2. Environmental education—Australia. I. Yencken, David. II. Fien, John. III. Sykes, Helen. GE85.A78 E56 2000 363.7’0071’05–dc 21 99–046795 ISBN 0-203-45926-1 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-76750-0 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-20581-6 (Print Edition)

Contents

List of figures, tables and boxes List of contributors Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction

vii x xii xvii 1

DAVID YENCKEN, JOHN FIEN AND HELEN SYKES

1 Attitudes to nature in the East and West

4

DAVID YENCKEN

2 The research

28

DAVID YENCKEN, JOHN FIEN AND HELEN SYKES

3 Environmental attitudes and education in southern China

51

PHILIP STIMPSON

4 Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan

75

BRENDAN BARRETT, OSAMU ABE, EIICHIRO HARAKO AND SATOSHI ICHIKAWA

5 Living traditions: India

99

M.J.RAVINDRANATH AND USHA IYER-RANIGA

6 Unity and diversity: South East Asia LILY KONG WITH IRENE TEH-CHEONG POH AI, PANJI I.GUSTI TISNA, PURISIMA REMORIN, RAPEEPUN SUWANNATACHOTE AND WIWAT LEE

113

vi

Contents

7 Songlines and the Gondwanan inheritance: environmental attitudes and education in Australia

135

DAVID YENCKEN AND JOHN FIEN

8 Voices from the South West Pacific

163

JOHN FIEN, GEWA AU, PAUL KEOWN, PREMILA KUMAR AND SEREANA TAKIVAKATINI

9 Young people and the environment: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour

189

HELEN SYKES, DAVID YENCKEN, JOHN FIEN AND FLORENCE CHOO

10 Young people and the environment: the implications for environmentalism

221

DAVID YENCKEN

11 Listening to the voice of youth: implications for educational reform

251

JOHN FIEN

Appendix A: the questionnaire survey form

276

Appendix B: plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons

288

Bibliography Index

313 330

Figures, tables and boxes

Figures 1.1

The evolution of ethics

7

Tables 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 3.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 5.1 5.2

Relative severity of environmental problems in Asian subregions Partial estimates of the economic costs of environmental degradation: selected economies and years Environmentalism in rich and poor countries A classification of environmental discourses Biophilic tendencies in the USA and Japan: values of nature and wildlife Objectives for environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong Japan: distribution of population Japan: qualification levels obtained Japan: ethnic composition of population Japan: religious beliefs Key phases in Japan’s development Percentage correct on knowledge of environmental science items among various groups in Japan Japanese public attitudes on items related to the new environmental paradigm (%) Anxiety about environmental issues and the need for urgent action in Japan Japan: measures required to solve environmental problems (1992) Japan: actions to solve environmental issues (1993) India: demographic patterns India: population by religion

11 12 21 43 44 69 77 77 78 79 81 92 92 96 96 97 100 103

viii Tables

6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 8.1 8.2 8.3 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9a 9.9b 9.10 9.11 9.12a 9.12b 9.13a 9.13b 9.14 9.15

Examples of nature’s diversity and abundance in selected South East Asian countries Level of urbanisation in selected South East Asian countries Australia: distribution of population 1996 Birthplace of the Australian population Australia: religious beliefs Australia: qualification levels obtained at May 1997 (population aged 16 to 24) Australia: concern about environmental problems, June 1998 (%) Australia: concern about environmental problems by age group, 1998 (%) Australia: the most important environmental issues, June 1998 Expectations of nine aspects of Australian life in the year 2010 (%) New Zealand: perception of the desirability of major environmental protection measures (%) Environmental knowledge and concerns in Fiji New Zealand: ranking of action statements by 11–12 year old (Years 7 and 8) students Sample size and date of survey Economic growth or protection of the environment (%) Does economic growth have to be at the expense of the environment? (%) Societal responses needed to improve environmental quality significantly (%) National priorities: rank 1 responses The most important environmental issues for the country The most important environmental issues for the world The nature of beliefs (%) Have never heard of concepts (%) Have never heard of concepts (%) Correct responses to concept: overall mean (%) Desire to improve the environment (%) Actions taken in the last twelve months to help improve the environment (%) Actions taken in the last twelve months to help improve the environment (%) Reasons for environmentally unfriendly actions (%) Reasons for environmentally unfriendly actions (%) Sources of most environmental information (%) Environmental information sources considered very reliable (%)

115 116 137 137 137 138 151 159 159 160 182 185 188 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 198 199 199 200 200 202 202 203 203

Tables ix

9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19

9.20 9.21 9.22

9.23

9.24

9.25 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5

Frequency of discussion of environmental issues outside school (%) Desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues in school (%) Sample distributions of male and female students (no. and %) Percentage of male and female students who believed that protecting the environment was more important than economic growth Male and female comparisons: correct answers to knowledge of concept questions (%) Male and female comparisons: desire to improve the environment (strong and very strong) (%) Male and female comparisons: those whohave taken deliberate actions to improve the environment in the last twelve months (%) Male and female comparisons: discussions about environmental issues out of school (often and regularly) (%) Male and female comparisons: desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues in schools (often and regularly) (%) Significant differences between males and females Shared cultural beliefs about the relationship between the economy and society(% agreeing) Shared cultural beliefs about science and technology (% agreeing) Shared cultural beliefs about relationships to nature (% agreeing) Levels of familiarity of concepts Environmental beliefs, knowledge, desire and behaviour Current and desired frequency of class discussion of environmental issues (%) Concepts: relatively high level of awareness and knowledge Concepts: relatively low level of awareness and knowledge A suggested set of concepts for reforming the content of secondary education Eight suggested values in an ethic for living sustainably

204 205 205

206 206 206

206

207

207 208 234 235 236 237 239 255 261 262 263 266

Boxes 2.1

Definitions of key terms

40

Contributors

Research Coordinators Australia

David Yencken Professor Emeritus, The University of Melbourne John Fien Director, Centre for Innovation and Research in Environmental Education, Griffith University, Brisbane Helen Sykes President, Trust for Young Australians, Melbourne

The research team China

Philip Stimpson Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

India

M.J.Ravindranath Director, Centre for Environmental Education, Southern Zone, Bangalore Usha Iyer-Raniga Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Architecture and Building, Deakin University, Victoria

Japan

Osamu Abe Professor, Faculty of Education, Saitama University; Director, Environmental Education Research Programme, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Konan Village, Kanagawa Brendan Barrett Research Associate, Institute of Advanced Studies, United Nations University, Tokyo

Contributors

xi

Eiichiro Harako Associate Professor, Field Study Centre, Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo Satoshi Ichikawa Associate Professor, Centre for Environmental Education and Lake Science, Shiga University, Hiratsu Otsu-shi

South East Asia

Lily Kong Associate Professor, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore Wiwat Lee Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand Purisima Remorin Professor, Regional Science Teaching Centre, West Visayas State University, Iloilo City, Philippines Rapeepun Suwannatachote Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand Irene Teh-Cheong Poh Ai Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Panji I.Gusti Tisna Education Officer, Environmental Education Centre, Bali, Indonesia

South West Pacific

Gewa Au Teacher, Beenleigh State High School, Beenleigh, Australia Paul Keown Senior Lecturer, School of Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand Premila Kumar Environmental Officer, Department of the Environment, Suva, Fiji Sereana Takivakatini Lecturer, Institute of Education, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji

Statistical analysis Florence Choo Statistical Consulting Centre, University of Melbourne

Foreword

From the world’s highest city, Lhasa in Tibet, China, to the world’s deepest lake, Lake Baikal in the Russian Federation; from the highest mountain to the deepest seas; and from the driest deserts to the dampest forests; the AsiaPacific region covers an astounding array of geography and culture. The region is one of sharp contrasts. It has two of the world’s most populous countries, China and India, and some of the world’s smallest, Nauru in the Pacific and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. It has one of the world’s richest countries, Japan, and the world’s poorest, Cambodia and Bangladesh. With over 700 languages in Papua New Guinea alone, the region’s ethnic and linguistic diversity is greater than anywhere else in the world. Great and ancient cultures have left legacies such as the Great Wall of China—at 2,350 kilometres long it is the world’s longest human-made structure—and the legendary temples of Borobodur in Indonesia. A wealth of religions crisscrosses the region, ranging from Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism, to other faiths such as Confucianism, Jainism and Taoism. Many countries in the region have, for at least the past three decades, been experiencing rapid economic, social, cultural and political change. With these changes has come a fear that modernization means Westernization and the loss of ways of life and cherished traditions that have evolved over the centuries. Economically, it is the fastest growing region in the world and yet, it is still home to over two-thirds of the world’s poor, due to huge disparities in income distribution. Population figures have doubled over the past thirtyfive years and are still on the increase, and the environmental and social effects of such growth are beginning to take their toll. The diversity in demography, economy, geography, ecology and culture within the Asia-Pacific region presents exciting possibilities and daunting challenges for bodies such as UNESCO working in the region. UNESCO’s mission for the region encapsulates this duality: UNESCO is committed to consolidating the dynamism and economic growth the region is experiencing, but it recognizes its ethical mission to

Foreword

xiii

complement this growth by addressing the threats to the peace, security and equitable development of this region. There is a widening disparity of opportunity, wealth, and empowerment, between and within nations, leading to social injustice, discrimination and deprivation of human rights, and an alarming degradation in the quality of individual lives, of communities and societies, and of natural environments in many areas of the region. UNESCO determines its various programme activities in the Asia-Pacific after close and regular consultations with its forty-three member states in the region. As a result of such consultations, ministries of education in the region have indicated that education for a sustainable future (ESF) is a matter that stands out as warranting special attention. This is not unexpected. The fire haze over parts of South East Asia in recent years; the traffic congestion and air pollution in many of our cities; the El Niño droughts; the plight of refugees; the existence of poverty amidst wealth in so many of our countries; and the inequalities in the distribution of educational opportunities and income according to socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, and between urban and rural areas, are all vivid proof that ESF is of vital interest and concern to all policy makers and educators whether they be in government departments, schools, teacher training colleges, universities or NGOs. Since the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, innumerable summits, conferences, meetings, symposia and round tables have debated how we might square development with the proper management of non-renewable resources and the preservation of a decent environment for present and future generations. Several years on from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio and the ECO-ED meeting in Toronto, the practical results of all these deliberations and agreements remain very limited: as underlined at the ‘Rio+5’ Special Session of the General Assembly held in New York in 1997. There is now a pressing need to move beyond words—beyond the interminable discussions about ‘integrated’, ‘endogenous’, ‘sustainable’, ‘human’ or whatever the latest fashionable modifier of development may be—and concentrate on the essential question of how we get from where we are to where, broadly speaking, we want to be. I am reminded of the story of the African village elder who when asked by a visiting ‘expert’ if he had understood his lengthy exposition on sustainable development, replied: If, after everything I do, the elders show with their smiles and nods that they approve of my action, and if the children in the womb kick with joy at the prospect of coming into this world, then I have made a contribution to sustainable development. Have I understood what you have said?

xiv Foreword

Those who have the power to shape events might follow the African elder’s example and ask themselves whether their actions with regard to the environment have merited the smiles and approbation of their contemporaries and future generations. This is a book about the environment and young people. It is impossible to think about young people without thinking about education. In the world of tomorrow, education must be concerned with more than simply the transmission of knowledge and more than formal education in schools. It must think about all the influences on young people’s attitudes and behaviour. It must place a premium on invention, innovation, anticipation and adaptation. It must encourage enterprise. It must above all foster forms of behaviour, life styles and values necessary for human survival on a crowded planet. In the words of the Delors Report on Education for the 21st Century, it must not only be about learning to know but also learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together. Living together, it need hardly be added, means not only in harmony with each other but with the biosphere of which we are a part. Education in all its forms is highly relevant to the achievement of sustainability. Basic education impacts positively in a multitude of ways on the interrelated problems of poverty, environmental degradation and food security. Improved provision for girls and women brings benefits in terms of declining fertility rates and better standards of health care. Education is also an important factor in furthering social cohesion and democratic governance. Science education has a special role to play in sustainable development: through capacity building, particularly in such fields as ecotechnology and renewable energies, and also by promoting the scientific awareness increasingly necessary to informed ethical choices. However, education in its traditional forms is not sufficient to meet the immense challenge posed by the phenomenon of unsustainable living. People are increasingly aware of the dangers we face and of the need for informed action. They smell the problem in the air they breathe; they see it in congested living spaces and blemished landscapes; they read in the newspapers or hear on the media stories of global warming, rising ocean levels, holes in the ozone layer, destruction of the world’s forests and the disappearance of species. They sense a link between these afflictions and a world that breeds poverty, exclusion and violence. New educational approaches are required if people are to act upon this awareness, if we are to achieve the necessary changes of life styles, if we are to be successful in combating waste, in mobilizing support for public and private initiatives, in developing a new ecological vision and in fostering a sense of global solidarity. The challenge—as identified in Chapter 36 of Agenda 21, the recommendations concerning education of major United Nations Conferences and the work of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development—is no less than that of reorienting education ‘to promote widespread public understanding, critical analysis and support for sustainable development’.

Foreword

xv

Education for sustainable development thus conceived cannot be other than innovatory. It represents a new vision for education. Education for sustainable development places values where they belong: at the centre of the educational enterprise. It highlights issues of equity and the need for a greater sharing of knowledge and resources of all kinds. It raises questions of human rights, such as the safeguarding of the rights of future generations on which UNESCO’s General Conference has adopted an important Declaration. It invites reflection on what may be called the ‘ethics of time’: the moral responsibility to act in time to avoid the possible occurrence of irreversible events. Since it recognizes values as one of the important outcomes of learning, education for sustainable development also calls into question the ways in which performance is traditionally validated in formal educational settings. Clearly, the challenge posed by education for sustainable development— not least for teachers and for teacher training—is a radical one. The task of reorienting education to sustainable development is highly complex and will take time. Some countries are already moving in this direction and are pointing the way forward for others. Individual educators and institutions are also experimenting with relevant concepts and methodologies. However, a great deal remains to be done at the level of policies and structures to redeem the pledges embodied in Agenda 21. One of the greatest needs at the present time is to mobilize support at all levels for the new conception of education that the goal of sustainability demands. An international framework for action exists, deriving from Chapter 36 of Agenda 21. UNESCO, through its transdisciplinary project ‘Educating for a Sustainable Future’ and as Task Manager for the implementation of Chapter 36, is playing a leading role in this regard. A current priority is the forging of new partnerships—between governments, the private sector, parliaments, academic and scientific communities, NGOs, local communities and the media—as the key to the kind of top-up and topdown change on which progress must be based. An enormous responsibility rests with the leaders and implementers of educational reform in this vast and diverse Asia-Pacific region, which is home to 63 per cent of humanity and on which the problems of sustainable development impinge with particular urgency. I have emphasized that by education I mean not only formal education but all those influences, including formal education, that help to give young people the greatest opportunities to lead meaningful lives and to manage and resolve the great issues of their times. This is the approach taken in this book. It looks very widely at the cultural and other influences on the attitudes and behaviour of young people. The chapters on cultural influences are insightful commentaries on the forces that are shaping environmental understanding and action or inaction in different countries in the region. The book could stand on these chapters alone. It is, however, the juxtaposition of these chapters with those describing the research carried out

xvi Foreword

on the views and activities of young people across the region that gives the book its special interest. The book reports the most extensive cross-cultural surveys and studies of young people’s environmental attitudes, knowledge and behaviour that, to my knowledge, have been carried out in the world. The research reported in this valuable and timely publication is of great importance to educators and policy-makers. This is an important book on an important subject. In addition to reporting comprehensively on the outcomes of their own research, the authors offer a wide ranging review of environmental issues and of the literature relevant to them which will be of interest and benefit to anyone concerned with the subject of sustainability within the region. This book has much to teach us about young people, environmental issues, environmental education and much else besides. It deserves to be widely read. Rupert Maclean Chief, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Educational Innovation for Development, Bangkok

Acknowledgements

Interdisciplinary research is collaborative research, and the international and cross-cultural scope of the research we report in this book means that a large team of researchers was involved. The names of those who are direct contributors to this book are provided in the ‘List of Contributors’. However, many others have also been involved. In fact, a team of nearly forty researchers, research assistants and graduate students from sixteen countries have worked on various aspects of this study. The rich depth of local knowledge and sources that characterize the discussion of cultural influences on environmental discourses in Asia and the Pacific in Chapters 3 to 8 would not have been possible without this very committed research team. Similarly, it would have been impossible to conduct the questionnaire research or the focus group interviews without their cooperation. Thus, we begin this statement of appreciation with a heartfelt tribute to all our partners in this research project. All the chapters have been peer-reviewed for accuracy and balance of interpretation. Chapter reviewers included international experts in environmental attitude research and environmental sociology as well as others with expertise on individual countries, cultures or regions. We would especially like to thank the following for both their time and their timely advice which have added greatly to the quality of this work: Leah Burns, Peter Christoff, Debbie Heck, Zhu Jianfei, Stephen Kellert, Chatchai Ratanachai, Roy Rickson, Howard Sankey and Jane Williamson-Fien. Responsibility for the final form of the chapters, of course, remains with the authors and us, as editors. The Australian Research Council provided initial funding for the research. This supported the appointments of Hok Pan Yuen and Florence Choo from the Statistical Consulting Centre, University of Melbourne, as statistical advisers and coordinators, and of Jennifer Lee and Sharon Connell as research assistants for the Australian components of the research and for the coordination of the international components. Grants from university research schemes in many of the participating countries also facilitated the research. Grateful acknowledgements are made to the following:

xviii

Acknowledgements

Asian Development Bank for permission to reproduce Table 4.1, page 203 and Table 4.2, page 223 of Emerging Asia, Changes and Challenges, Asian Development Bank (1997). Richard Eckersley for permission to reproduce Table 3, page 80 of Richard Eckersley, ‘Dreams and expectations: young people’s expected and preferred futures and their significance for education’, Futures 31:73–90 (1999). Island Press for permission to reproduce Table 2, page 138 from Stephen Kellert, Value of Life, Island Press, Washington D.C. and Covelo, Calif. (1997). Liverpool University Press for permission to reproduce Table 2.3, page 16 from P.Shapiro, I.Masser and D.W.Edgington (eds), Planning for Cities and Regions in Japan—A Town Planning Review Special Study, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool UK (1989). Ohio University Press for permission to reproduce a table from page xx of C.Totman, The Green Archpelago—Forestry in Pre-Industrial Japan, Ohio University Press, Athens (1989). J.C.Pierce, N.P.Lovrich, T.Tsurutani and T.Abe for permission to reproduce Table 2.1, page 25 and Table 5.3, page 102 of J.C.Pierce, N.P. Lovrich, T.Tsurutani and T.Abe, Public Knowledge and Environmental Politics in Japan and the United States, Westview Press, Boulder, Co. (1989). Finally, we would like to thank Rupert Maclean of UNESCO for his interest in the research, his support of a project workshop in December 1997, and for writing the Foreword. David Yencken John Fien Helen Sykes July 1999

Introduction David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes

This book discusses attitudes to nature and ecological sustainability in the Asia-Pacific region. Its main focus is on the environmental attitudes and education of young people. The book reports some key findings from a comparative study of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of young people in the region. These findings have implications for environmental policy and education in each of the participating countries and for the region as a whole. The countries discussed in this book and in which the comparative research has been carried out are Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South China and Thailand. There are therefore two countries from Australasia, two from the Pacific, five from South East Asia, two from East Asia and one from South (central) Asia. The research encompasses many different cultures and traditions and many different approaches to environmental problems. The study involved a collaboration of researchers from all of these countries. Not only were the surveys in each location carried out by the researchers from that country; the country chapters describing the influences on environmental attitudes and behaviour were also written by researchers from the country concerned. The perspectives presented in these chapters are therefore from within the relevant culture. Overviews are, however, presented by the three principal researchers in other chapters. National studies of environmental attitudes are now commonplace, especially in developed countries. In subsequent chapters we report selected evidence from national opinion polls and surveys in the different countries participating in the comparative study. It is notable, however, that crossnational research has mostly been confined to North America and Europe and has concentrated nearly exclusively on adult environmental attitudes. Hence the significance of the research to which this book is devoted, with its focus on the Asia-Pacific region and its emphasis on young people. The Asia-Pacific region is a particularly important region for environmental research. It comprises countries such as Australia and New

2

David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes

Zealand with predominantly Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman traditions and attitudes to nature (together with indigenous cultures); countries such as China and Singapore with Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist traditions (and in China’s instance more recent Communist influences); a country such as Japan with its own distinct version of these traditions; India with Hindu together with Muslim traditions; Thailand with strong Buddhist traditions; Brunei (Muslim); and other countries with mixes of traditions such as the Philippines (Catholic together with other Christian, Muslim and indigenous), Indonesia (Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu), and Fiji (Melanesian and Hindu). These traditions are moreover only some of the many different cultural influences to be found within the region. The countries studied in this book are therefore representative of many of the most important cultural and religious groupings in the world. The Asia-Pacific is also the region that has experienced the greatest recent economic growth. Despite economic setbacks, the region is still predicted to become an economic powerhouse of the twenty-first century. Japan’s economy is already a dominant world economy. Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have all enjoyed spectacular growth. China is regularly predicted to become the world’s largest economy in the twenty-first century. Together with this remarkable growth there has, however, been very serious environmental degradation. The environmental problems of Asia have been described as ‘huge and increasing’ (Asian Development Bank 1997). Environmental problems are not, moreover, restricted to Asian countries, as Chapter 1 illustrates. Australia and New Zealand have their own forms of environmental degradation. Finding a way of dealing with these problems is more and more a critical issue, not only a problem related to the environmental protection of the planet but also one related to human health and well-being and to future economic growth. Young people and their environmental education form a crucial component of any strategy for environmental change. Young people in most countries have regularly been shown to hold stronger environmental beliefs and values than their elders. It is frequently argued that environmental change of the kind needed to achieve ecological sustainability will have to await the coming of age and influence of a new more environmentally aware generation, that those now in positions of power and influence are too steeped in older paradigms to be able or willing to make the changes now needed. This is the rationale for the book. Chapter 1 discusses many of these issues in greater depth to set the context for the book. It explains the way environmental thought has expanded the concept of sustainability. It also discusses environmental problems in the Asia-Pacific region, the influence of traditional and local attitudes to nature in different cultures and the emergence of a global ideology of nature or a common cultural model about the environment. It concludes with the underlying questions for the research. Chapter 2 explains the approach we have taken to the research and

Introduction 3

the theoretical framework within which it is has been carried out. It discusses issues related to cross cultural research, what is meant by attitudes, beliefs and values and in what way attitudes and behaviour might be measured and the general approach we have adopted to these and other questions. Chapter 2 is followed by a series of regional and country chapters that investigate influences on attitudes to nature, environmental conditions and environmental education in each country or region. These chapters provide the background setting for the regions and countries concerned and the cultural context in which specific attitudes to nature have developed. The last three chapters are devoted to a discussion of the overall findings of the research and their implications for environmental policy and education. Chapter 9 presents the findings from the questionnaire surveys and the focus group discussions. Chapter 10 reviews the different cultural settings described in the country chapters, compares the findings of the questionnaire surveys reported in these chapters with the findings from parallel focus group surveys, discusses issues related to the findings and reaches conclusions for environmental policy and environmentalism. Chapter 11 draws out the implications for environmental education in the region. Central to the discussion in the last three chapters is the further exploration of the questions raised in Chapter 1 about the relationship between international environmentalism and traditional and local attitudes to nature.

1

Attitudes to nature in the East and West David Yencken

To protect the planet, we have long been told to think globally and act locally. But we can readily see that there are as many reasons to think locally and act globally. If we do not think locally, we may ignore rich sources of traditional environmental knowledge and devalue local understanding and experience of environmental problems. If we do not act globally, we will never solve the big issues of the global commons: atmospheric and ocean pollution and the impacts of environmental degradation across national boundaries. Sustainability has many local and global dimensions. Aspects of sustainability

Sustainable development is today a widely accepted societal goal and concept. It was first given prominence in the World Conservation Strategy, jointly launched in 1980 by The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and was further developed by the World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission); since then its progressive adoption has been remarkable. It has been a key concept underlying international environmental conferences and debates such as the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and the Rio review conference held in New York in 1997. Sustainable development is now a standard commitment of national leaders of political parties and business leaders. But are young people aware of the concept of sustainability and do they have a good understanding of it? This is an initial question explored in the cross-cultural research involving countries in the Asia-Pacific region that forms the basis for this book. While there are many views about Sustainable development, the most commonly used definition is still that of the Brundtland Commission in its report Our Common Future. The Commission defined Sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 5

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987:8). Such a definition, while helpful as a starting point for a more detailed environmental debate, lends itself to widely different interpretations; it says little about the scientific and ecological conditions that need to be met to achieve sustainability or about the means that might be used to get there. It has been increasingly recognized that there is a need: • • • • •

to define ecological sustainability more precisely to extend the range of key concepts needing agreement if ecological sustainability is to be achieved to continue to explore ways of developing more supportive environmental ethics and values to generate models which provide paths for translating sustainability into effective action to explore alternative routes to sustainability.

Many scientific commentators agree that ecological sustainability requires the maintenance of biodiversity (genes, species and ecosystems); the protection of natural capital (air, water, soils); the maintenance of the balance of the energy and material cycles of the planet; and the maintenance of the health and resilience of all life support systems and their capacity to absorb wastes through natural cycles. These four basic concepts need to be as well known as the concept of sustainability itself. Other important concepts needed to achieve sustainability are an understanding of ecology, the principles of interdependence and carrying capacity, the precautionary principle and the principle of intergenerational equity. Each of these concepts and principles says something important about the nature of environmental problems: • • • •

•

ecology, because it defines the relationship between species and the environment in a non-anthropocentric way interdependence, because the complex web of relationships in ecosystems is often little understood and easily susceptible to unforeseen damage and change carrying capacity, because different ecosystems have different but finite capacities to absorb damage and waste without collapse the precautionary principle, because it is the nature of environmental problems to develop over long periods of time during which there is often scientific uncertainty and because, during this long gestation, it is important that there is not complacency about the potential long term dimensions of the problem intergenerational equity, because we have a moral duty to hand down to our children and grandchildren a world not more depleted in biodiversity and natural capital nor more degraded than that we have inherited.

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These concepts are in their own way as significant as the concept of sustainability itself. It is for this reason that we have concentrated much attention in this research project on student recognition of, and ability to define correctly, these and similar concepts. Environmental cognition involves belief systems and values as well as knowledge. Because of the significance of belief systems as the ground from which behaviour is developed, much attention has been given to environmental philosophy and ethics in recent years. Roderick Frazier Nash (1989) in his book The Rights of Nature, includes a diagram which shows the development of ethical concern from pre-civilization up to today and a possible projection into the future. The diagram, shown in Figure 1.1, illustrates simply but effectively some critically important shifts in ethical perspectives related to nature and the environment. There are many strands to these ethical and philosophical debates. Some researchers and thinkers have explored new ethical positions that reflect the shifts of perspective illustrated by Nash (e.g. deep ecology and eco-feminism). Others have explored the linkages between environmental ethics and social justice, and the emerging issues of ecological distribution and environmental justice. Others have developed techniques for assessing the change taking place from previously prevailing social paradigms towards more environmentally conscious paradigms. In this book we are concerned not so much with the development of different intellectual perspectives within the environmental debate but rather with the way in which attitudes, however generated, have become generally accepted by people at large and especially by young people in different cultures. Related to beliefs and values, our research concentrates on the degree to which young people have moved towards the adoption of an environmental paradigm. Ecological economics is another area of growing significance in the environmental debate. Ecological economics, described as the study of the compatibility between the human economy and ecosystems over the long term (Guha and Martinez-Alier 1997:22), had its contemporary origins with Georgescu-Roegen (1971) and his examination of the relationships between thermodynamics and the economy. It has since been further developed by Herman Daly, Michael Jacobs and others. Given the globalization of the economy, the dominance of the capitalist paradigm in every society and the concentrated focus of national politicians on economic development, it has become an increasingly important area of discussion. Again our concern is not with the intellectual debate being waged within and around the edges of the economics discipline but rather with more general community views and especially young people’s views about the relationship between the economy and the environment. There are many other themes within contemporary environmental debates (e.g. environmental political discourse, environmental activism) which are not only of significance in their own right but which also bear

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 7

Figure 1.1 The evolution of ethics Source: Based on Nash 1989

on the formation of general environmental attitudes. Several of these issues are further discussed in the chapters that follow and explored in the studies of young people in the region. Since the focus of this book is on the Asia-Pacific region, some background description is also needed of ecological sustainability in the region. It is to the state of the environment in the region that we now turn. The state of the environment in the Asia-Pacific region

Underlying the debates about sustainability have been a growing awareness of environmental degradation and increasingly systematic attempts to measure and assess the state of the environment, globally, regionally and

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locally. The global picture is not encouraging as has been exhaustively documented by the United Nations Environment Program (1997), the World Watch Institute (1998), the World Conservation Union (1998) and many other bodies. Within the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), member states are expected to carry out regular state of the environment reports. The OECD has developed its own procedures and guidelines and its pressure/state/response model is widely used. The OECD also carries out and publishes environmental performance reviews of its member countries. Reviews have so far been completed for Germany, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Korea, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. Although comprehensive state of the environment reports have only been prepared in some countries within the Asia-Pacific, increasing attention is being paid to environmental conditions in the region. Not only are academic writers researching and publishing on different aspects of environmental management, a series of major reports have now appeared from international agencies and international development banks (World Bank 1993, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 1995, Asian Development Bank 1997). From these publications a general picture can be discerned of the state of the environment and environmental trends in the region. The brief review of environmental conditions in the region that follows, begins with Australia, New Zealand and Japan since OECD performance reviews have been carried for each of these countries. It then turns to the regional assessments. The 1997 OECD review of Australia noted that Australia contains a large and unique part of the earth’s flora and fauna. The review found that there are ‘extremely serious threats to Australian biodiversity’ from agricultural, forestry and developmental pressures (OECD Australia 1998:21). Much remains to be done to translate Australia’s broader strategic response to biodiversity protection into effective decision making and management practices. Australia’s land and water resources are also under considerable pressure in many parts of the continent. Australia’s levels of end use energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (G DP) and waste generation per capita are amongst the highest in OECD countries. The 1996 OECD review for New Zealand notes that New Zealand’s economy is largely dependent on its natural resources with a consequent need to maintain its clean and green image for its export markets. It also notes that public management of the environment has been significantly affected by the economic reforms carried out during the 1980s, which have had both positive and negative impacts. Through its 1991 Resource Management Act, New Zealand has developed a coherent, decentralized approach to the management of the environment with, in principle, powerful ambient standards and guidelines. Local authorities have, however, been

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 9

slow to act to implement the requirements of the act and the standards have been difficult to apply. New Zealand has a high proportion of land in protected areas (30 per cent) and is a leader in park and protected area management. Indigenous plants and animals are, however, still under threat from introduced species and little progress has been made towards the development of a comprehensive system of marine reserves. Water quality in New Zealand’s rivers, lakes and ground water is very high but there are threats to water quality, which need careful attention. Growth in energy intensity has until recently been the highest among OECD countries and there are as yet no environmental controls on motor vehicle emissions. New Zealand lacks comprehensive legislation dealing with waste and hazardous waste. Waste issues are poorly analyzed and in many instances disregarded (OECD 1996:1–9). The 1994 OECD review for Japan notes that one of Japan’s most significant achievements has been to combine the largest economic growth among G7 countries with substantial reductions in air, water and other pollutants and waste production. Within two decades economic growth increased by 122 per cent while sulphur dioxide emissions decreased by 82 per cent and emissions of nitrous oxides by 21 per cent Overall reductions in air emissions have been significant, an Action Programme to Arrest Global Warming has been developed, and the waste management record has been good. Water quality control has, however, been much less successful mainly due to the incomplete and relatively slow development of sewerage systems. Improving water quality is a major challenge for Japan. Remaining air pollution problems concern nitrogen dioxide, fine particulates and hazardous substances. Despite new policies related to endangered species, there has been a decrease in natural forest areas, lakes, watercourses and coastlines continue to be altered and trends for endangered species have been adverse (OECD 1994:181–95). Positive developments in Australia and New Zealand include the putting in place of significant reserve systems, by and large strong legislation, wellestablished environmental agencies, reasonably good information and an active and influential non-government environmental movement. Japan has provided the world with the best example of the separation of economic growth from energy use and air and other emissions. These achievements have not, however, sufficed to deal with environmental degradation in any of the three countries. Each has very significant problems still requiring urgent attention. Overall in Asia the picture is bleak. The chapter on environment and natural resources in Emerging Asia: Changes and Challenges, a major report on the region by the Asian Development Bank, (1997) begins: Asia is the world’s most polluted and environmentally degraded region…. The range of environmental problems is huge—from the degradation of

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rural land to the pollution and congestion of the region’s mega cities. Some areas have unique difficulties, such as the danger that rising sea levels pose for the Pacific Islands. Some environmental problems are created locally, such as the pollution of water resources, while others are involuntarily imported from abroad, for instance, acid rain in Japan and Korea comes largely from coal burning in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). (Asian Development Bank 1997:201) As some cold comfort, the report, however, notes that not all parts of Asia are equally polluted and the region does not fare worst on every environmental indicator. Table 1.1 shows the relative severity of environmental problems in different Asian sub-regions. The economic as much as the environmental costs of environmental degradation in Asia are very high. Table 1.2 (p. 12) shows partial estimates of some of these costs. The table shows that the economic cost has been and is as significant as the human and ecological costs. Estimates of these economic costs range from 1 to 9 per cent of a country’s gross national product. In China alone the economic costs have been estimated to be US$77 billion dollars per annum. This takes no account of the non-economic human welfare costs and the long-term cost of the loss of natural capital. Emerging Asia: Changes and Challenges next turns to the possible causes of environmental degradation. It examines the influence of population growth, poverty, economic growth and institutional, policy and market failures. It concludes that population growth and density alone do not imply environmental degradation. Because the environment does not have an infinite carrying capacity, further increases in population beyond some threshold will likely, however, imperil resources (Asian Development Bank 1997:212). Poverty is seen as a contributor to environmental degradation but not an independent cause. Like population growth, poverty is seen to exacerbate environmental problems in the presence of market, institutional and policy failures. The study also found that the rate of economic growth by itself was not a predictor of environmental problems neither was slow growth a means of keeping environmental problems in check. It notes that ‘slow growing South Asia suffers similarly profound environmental problems as fast growing East Asia’ (Asian Development Bank 1997:199). It notes the argument proposed by some researchers that there is a relationship between income and the environment that displays an inverted U-shaped pattern known as the environmental Kuznets curve. The study compared the rate of environmental degradation for some pollutants with different levels of economic activity. For sulphur dioxide, particulates in cities, and fecal coliform and arsenic in rivers, the study found a relationship to the Kuznets curve; that is pollution initially rising with increased economic growth but then falling as incomes rise above a particular threshold. (It should, however, be noted that the relationship

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 11 Table 1.1 Relative severity of environmental problems in Asian subregions

Source: Asian Development Bank 1997

between affluence and environmental amelioration is a contentious argument.) The main causes of environmental degradation are, however, attributed to: • • • • • •

institutional, policy and market failures the absence of established property rights (public and private) the inappropriate adoption of Western environmental management practices lack of monitoring and supervision inflexibility of public approaches to environmental management lack of effective engagement of the private sector. (Asian Development Bank 1997:209–22)

The report concludes that:

Source: Asian Development Bank 1997 Notes: GNP=gross national product (a): Adjusted for puchasing power parity; it includes non-use values affecting welfare but not GNP

Table 1.2 Partial estimates of the economic costs of environmental degradation: selected economies and years

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Asia will pay even more dearly for environmental negligence in the future than it has in the past. Without better policies environmental degradation will worsen in most of the region during the next thirty years. Only in East Asia will things begin to improve as income levels there have reached the point at which popular demand for an improved environment is forcing policy shifts. (Asian Development Bank 1997:260) Given this picture of environmental problems within the Asia-Pacific region, how do young people respond? What do they perceive to be the most significant environmental problems in their own countries and world wide and how do their perceptions compare with expert assessments? These are also questions examined in our research. Individual countries have different cultural traditions and different approaches to nature and are also increasingly subject to global forces and global discourses. We now turn to an exploration of these influences. Attitudes to nature in the Asia-Pacific region

A great environmental awakening took place in the United States in the 1960s (and then elsewhere) in the wake of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (Carson 1962), the new consciousness of Spaceship Earth generated by satellite photography and environmental disasters such as major oil spills. In response, much attention began to be paid to the causes of environmentally damaging behaviour in the Western world. The initiation of this debate is generally attributed to Lynn White and his 1967 paper ‘The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis’ (White 1967). In this paper White focused on the influences of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the ways in which it had encouraged man (sic) to have dominion over the earth and therefore see himself exclusively amongst living creatures as created in the image of God and thus separate from the rest of nature. Before turning to ways in which the Christian tradition might be transformed in more environmentally benign directions, White wrote this passage: More science and more technology are not going to get us out of the present ecologic crisis until we find a new religion or rethink our old one. The beatniks, who are the basic revolutionaries of our time, show a sound instinct in their affinity for Zen Buddhism, which conceives of the man-nature relationship in very nearly the mirror image of the Christian view. (White 1967:1206) White, however, went on to say that Zen was as deeply conditioned by Asian history as Christianity was by the experience of the West, and that

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he was dubious of its validity in Western society. His conclusion was that Christianity should look to its own traditions for a new source of inspiration and that such a new source could be found in the teachings of Francis of Assisi. In the debate that followed publication of ‘The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis’, this question of reforming the Christian tradition or reaching out to find another more appropriate one continued to receive attention. John B.Cobb, after surveying Native American and Chinese world-views, concluded that the Native American world-view did indeed have a well-developed relationship between humans and environment but had other unacceptable social and human aspects. Cobb found that the Chinese world-view had the same environmental benefits as the American Indian world view without its liabilities but nevertheless had been unable to prevent deforestation and other ecologically destructive practices in ancient China. Given the historically demonstrated ineffectiveness of these worldviews Cobb concluded that it was ‘more prudent for us in the West to try to fix the Western tradition than to try to graft on an alien one.’ (Hargrove 1989). While attention continued to be given to the possible incorporation of Eastern attitudes to nature into Western religious and philosophical traditions in the following years, it was not until 1989 that a full scale attempt was made within the English-speaking world to review Eastern attitudes to nature. In Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, Callicott and Ames (1989) sought to compare Chinese, Japanese, Buddhist and Indian world-views. The editors noted that the purpose of their book was to help encourage ‘the more thorough integration of Eastern thought into the philosophy curricula of American (and presumably other English speaking) Universities’. They continue, ‘(But) it represents much more. Environmental philosophers from the outset have supposed that an ecological wisdom was to be found in the East. This book sympathetically but critically explores this supposition for the first time in context and detail’ (Callicot and Ames 1989). Three main strands can be identified in the book. The first is a critical review of Asian religious and philosophical attitudes to nature. The second is a discussion of the ways in which the West might learn from Eastern attitudes to nature. In both the foreword and the introduction there are many echoes of the assumption that ‘ecological wisdom was to be found in the East’; there is also regret that a moment of opportunity had been lost in the debates following Lynn White’s 1967 article to draw Eastern ideas about nature more effectively into mainstream Western environmental discourses. When the Lynn White debate was at its height there was a general feeling that the controversy was helping us move toward the creation of a sound environmental philosophy. But no consensus for reforming [the

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 15

Judeo-Christian tradition] was ever reached. For comparative environmental philosophy, the whole phenomenon was a disaster. The twin arguments that Eastern thought was both insidious and environmentally ineffectual dissipated initial interest in the comparative study of environmental philosophy. (Callicot and Ames 1989: xvii) The third strand is the influence of Eastern world views on Eastern environmental practices. In their ‘Epilogue: On the Relation of Idea and Practice’ the two editors present their conclusions: Eastern traditions of thought represent nature and the relationship of people to nature, in ways that cognitively resonate with contemporary ecological and environmental ideals…. In his enormously influential environmental critique of the Western intellectual tradition, Lynn White Jnr. casually registered that impression himself and candidly revealed the fundamental pragmatic assumption underlying his analysis: ‘What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in relation to the things around them. Human ecology is deeply conditioned by beliefs about our nature and destiny’. This seems obvious to intellectual historians, philosophers and all those who live in the world of ideas. (Callicot and Ames 1989:279) Callicott and Ames then turn to catalogue the environmental disasters and the environmental deterioration taking place in East, South East and South Asia. Two propositions are then presented. The first is that Asian traditions of thought emphasize human continuity with other-than-human beings and natural processes. The second is that what people think really does substantially affect what they do and how they live. They conclude that both propositions are correct and that ‘the brute fact that environmental degradation is rampant in much of Asia’ is best explained by the intellectual colonisation of the East by the West (Calcott and Ames 1989:278, 279). Callicott and Ames then develop the ‘intellectual colonisation’ thesis tracing the introduction of Western science, technology and ideas into the East as part of a more general colonial drive and arguing that, although there may no longer be a Western colonial presence in any significant degree, few Eastern countries affected by Western colonialism have returned to their precolonial ways. There are some significant assumptions in these arguments. One is that traditional Asian attitudes to nature are consonant with (resonate with) modern environmentalist thought. A second is that there is a direct and relatively unproblematic relationship between attitudes (ideas) and behaviour. A third is that traditional Asian attitudes to nature form an

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appropriate basis for a contemporary approach to environmental problems in Asian countries. A fourth is that Western countries have much to learn from Asian traditional attitudes to nature, which could signally assist the development of more appropriate environmental behaviour. Many of these assumptions have recently been challenged. Both the assumptions and the challenges, in their turn, have considerable bearing on the question of appropriate environmental policies and education in both East and West. Poul Pedersen has recently examined three examples of the religious environmental paradigm, one from Tibet (Yuthok), one from Hinduism (Dwivedi) and one from Islam (Izzi Been). He describes them as ‘closely following White’s seminal ideas (and, it should be said, even more the ideas of Callicott and Ames) in their emphasis on religious values and beliefs as determinants of human environmental behaviour and in their more or less openly expressed assumption that the West is responsible for the present environmental crisis’ (Pedersen 1995:261). In spite of their theologically different backgrounds, Yuthok, Dwivedi and Izzi Been all seem to agree, so Pedersen argues, that traditional religious beliefs play a decisive role in human environmental behaviour; also that traditional religious ideas and values express an authentic ecological awareness and a strong conservation commitment which are similar to those of modern environmentalist concerns. Pedersen, however, rejects both claims; the first because it rests on a simplistic and untenable notion of the relationship of values to behaviour and the second as an inappropriate projection of modern phenomena on to the screen of tradition. Bruun has investigated feng shui (geomancy) as a concept and practical tool that has a long continuous history dating back over two thousand years; it has been used by all strata of Chinese society and taken seriously by many eminent Chinese thinkers. Feng shui literally means ‘wind/water’. It is a technique for interpreting the hidden forces of the earth to bring good fortune or to avoid hazard from human sitings and constructions. Human action may interfere with the balanced forces of nature and when it does there is an immediate consequence for human well-being. Thus when the land is healthy and productive humans prosper; when it deteriorates they suffer. Feng shui is thus an ancient Chinese (and Korean and Japanese) concept for ensuring benign human relationship to the land. The study of contemporary applications of feng shui should, therefore, provide illuminating evidence of the way traditional environmentalist beliefs bear upon present-day environmental problems. Bruun confirms the widespread contemporary use of feng shui. It has been continuously employed in recent times in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore and by Chinese settlers in other countries; it is now dramatically increasing in use in mainland China, despite earlier attempts at suppression following the Communist revolution. What prompts its use? Bruun suggests that feng shui is a public activity expressing collective adherence to a number of complementary belief systems. It also represents the commonly held view

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 17

among Chinese people that if something has a grain of truth in it would be foolish to reject or fail to use it. And what does it have of contemporary environmental value? Bruun concludes that the objective sought from the application of feng shui is not necessarily environmental health per se but rather ‘boundless, inexplicable luck—seen as high position, booming business, quick fortune, money pouring in, the family prospering, sons to continue the line’ (Bruun 1995:173–88). What of Japan? Kalland has observed that it has been taken more or less as an established fact that the Japanese love nature (Kalland 1995). Closely associated with this view is the equally widely held view that the Japanese live in harmony with nature. But Kalland notes that scholars have accepted poems, paintings, sculptures, gardens and other artefacts as established proof of the Japanese love for nature and they have been preoccupied with trying to explain why Japanese people love nature rather than with any attempt to test the validity of these claims. If you look carefully, Kalland says, it is clear that not only is there evidence of serious environmental degradation in contemporary Japan, there is also a history of serious environmental destruction in pre-modern Japan. For millennia, too, the Japanese have attempted to conquer nature in much the same ways that Westerners have done. At the technological level, rice fields have been carved out of steep hills, bays have been filled to give additional farm land, animals have been domesticated and sailors have obtained more seaworthy boats (to exploit the fisheries of Japanese waters and eventually the world). At the cosmological level, rituals have been performed in order to come to terms with spirits that influence natural forces. In these matters the Japanese hardly stand out from the rest of mankind. (Kalland 1995:245–6) Kalland concludes that Japanese love for nature is not for nature ‘in the raw’, about which there is at times dislike, even abhorrence, but for nature in its idealized form. The Japanese therefore seek to tame or to come to terms with nature through rituals, poetry and the visual arts. Nature thus appears in a cultivated form ‘which can be used metonymically for both nature as a whole and for culture’ (Kalland 1995:254). Love of nature is an aesthetic appreciation of tamed and cultivated nature, the love of nature in a Japanese garden rather than love of nature in the wild. Above all Kalland contends nature is used as ‘reservoir for metaphors’ (Kalland 1995:254). The Japanese, he says, like to express themselves in metaphors and many such metaphors are drawn from the natural world. These metaphors have sensitized many Japanese to nature but in a particular and personal way. Many scholars have emphasised the particularistic character of Japanese norms and this applies equally well to the environment. It is just

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as difficult to get Japanese to fight against environmental destruction per se, as it is to get them to fight for human rights in distant countries. (Kalland: 254–5) Ronald Inden has argued that the romantic view of the East, challenged above, is a mirror image of the pejorative view often held by Western scholars about the Orient. The Orient and East are seen as the ‘other’, on the one hand symptomatic of the pre-scientific and backward self, and on the other of traditional ecological wisdom. Both views are monolithic, simplistic and have the characteristic effect— intended in the one case and perhaps unintended in the other—of denying agency and reason to the East and making it the privileged orbit of Western thinkers. The two apparently opposed perspectives have then a common underlying structure of discourse in which the East serves as a vehicle for Western projections. (Guha 1989:98) Pedersen, Bruun and Kalland’s viewpoints cannot, however, be seen as the last word on Asian attitudes to nature. Although they are a valuable corrective to superficial assumptions about the links between ancient traditions and contemporary behaviour, they fail to do justice to several aspects of Eastern traditions. First, it is widely agreed that traditional attitudes to nature in the East have placed a stronger emphasis on humanity as part of nature than those in the West. The strengths of these traditions are amply demonstrated in later chapters in this book and need to be fully acknowledged. Second, all well established religious and philosophical traditions take many forms. Some, such as feng shui, in their popular versions may seem at some distance from their philosophic origins. Third, a criticism of Japanese attitudes to nature, such as that of Kalland cited above, fails to recognize that this metaphorical and cultured love for a represented nature can be seen as part of a deeply embedded ecological thinking at a philosophical level. As Zhu Jianfei has argued: If current ecological consciousness is indeed part of a larger and deeper movement (postmodernity as opposed to modernity of subject and anthropocentricism) that goes beyond the care of raw nature, then this Japanese (and Chinese and East Asian) ‘love of nature’ should not be discounted so easily. (Zhu Jianfei 1999) These resonances between ancient Chinese philosophical traditions and Western postmodern thinking have been explored by David Hall and Roger Ames in Anticipating China: Thinking Through the Narratives of Chinese and Western

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Cultures and other writings (Hall and Ames 1995). They also point out the discrepancy between more recent Chinese attitudes and ideologies and ancient Chinese traditions and their postmodern counterparts. From this debate we can conclude that there are distinctive differences in traditional attitudes to nature in Western and Eastern countries. However, there are also distinctive differences among and within Eastern countries, as there are among and within Western countries. Each tradition needs to be carefully studied in its own right. Assumptions made from one culture about another should beware of romanticized perspectives and the projection of the assumptions and viewpoints of the external viewer. Claims made by proponents of their own cultures also need sceptical review. Ancient biocentric traditions and seeming love for nature do not automatically translate into environmentally supportive behaviour. These biocentric traditions are not, however, valueless and insignificant. They can be appealed to today. They form a basis for an ethic and for forms of behaviour consonant with contemporary environmental imperatives. They may also have intriguing resonances with postmodern thinking. Environmentalism in East and West

Another quite different debate is about strands of environmentalism in Eastern and Western countries. In the United States two traditions, embodied in the work of John Muir on the one hand and Gifford Pinchot on the other, have been juxtaposed in much environmental writing. From the former has stemmed the wilderness movement, romantic attachments to nature and biocentrism; from the latter, stewardship of the natural world to manage natural resources wisely for the good of the human race and continuing anthropocentrism. Guha proposes an alternative set of perspectives on human-nature relationships as a basis for a comparison of environmentalism in the USA and India. He argues that the three main environmental philosophies of our times are wilderness thinking, agrarianism and scientific industrialism. Wilderness thinking, he argues, has been the dominant theme in American environmentalism. Wilderness thinking has not, however, been confined to the United States. It has also been exported to the rest of the world. In India it has been one of the forces behind the tiger conservation progamme, a programme supported by international agencies such as the World Wildlife Fund, the World Conservation Union and visiting scientific experts. The tiger conservation programme and similar programmes for the protection of ‘meta-charismatic mega-fauna’ such as lions, rhinoceros and elephants have led to the creation of huge sanctuaries which, in turn, have caused the uprooting of villages situated within their boundaries. This is, says Guha, no less a form of Western imperialism than other more overt forms. Associated with this view there is new version of the white man’s burden: the biologist

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working to save wildlife and wilderness in the Indian, African or South American jungle. By contrast, Guha argues, the dominant environmental philosophy in India is agrarianism. While environmental conflicts in the United States have typically been between preservationists and utilitarians, in India they have focused on alternative uses: ‘subsistence versus, commerce, local versus national, peasants versus industry’. It is particularly the social consequences of environmental degradation in India that gives Indian environmentalism its distinctive form. There are chronic shortages of natural resources; fuel wood is becoming scarcer and more inaccessible; traditional forms of livelihood such as fishing, minding of animals and basket weaving, which all depend upon the resources of nature, are being abandoned because they can not be sustained. The contemporary Indian environmental movement’s origins can be traced to the Chipko movement begun in 1973. Here Indian peasants drew on historical precedents and threatened to hug trees to prevent them being logged for export. ‘Notably the peasants were not interested in saving the trees per se, but in using their produce for agricultural and household requirements’ (Guha and Martinez-Alier 1997:4). Indian environmentalism has been a movement of protest against social injustice caused by environmental degradation. Environmental problems in India are acute and well documented. Indians have their own ideas about priorities for environmental action. The tiger conservation programme, Guha argues, is not high on those lists of priorities for many people. Environmentalism in rich and poor countries

Martinez-Alier develops this argument further. He proposes a classification of environmentalism according to wealth and poverty on the one hand and materialism or non-materialism on the other. This classification is illustrated in Table 1.3. ‘How should we define ecologists in poor communities?’ asks MartinezAlier. In Ecuador, Peru’s northern neighbours, are they not environmentalists—the poor and indigenous population of Zambiza—living around the valley in northeastern Quito, where more than one million kilograms of domestic wastes are dumped every day, who unsuccessfully ask that this dumping ground be closed? …Have they not been ecologists, the peasants of Salinas in Bolivar province, who, without the support of their own communal authorities, nevertheless prevented mining by Rio Tinto in their territory? And the Amazonian population who complain against oil spills? (Martinez-Alier 1998:317)

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 21 Table 1.3 Environmentalism in rich and poor countries

Source: Summarized from Martinez-Alier 1998

Martinez-Alier also argues that much closer attention needs to be paid to ecological distribution conflicts such as: • • • • • • •

environmental racism, dumping of toxic wastes in locations inhabited by people of different colour or race environmental blackmail (either you accept locally unacceptable landuse or you stay without jobs) toxic imperialism, dumping of toxic waste in poorer countries ecologically unequal exchange, importing products from poor regions at prices that do not take account of exhaustion of reserves or of local externalities ecologically unequal exchange, plunder economics ecological dumping, selling at prices that do not take account of exhaustion or externalities biopiracy, the appropriation of genetic resources without adequate payment or recognition of peasant or indigenous knowledge or ownership over them. (Martinez-Alier 1998:321–3)

Men and women

Another comparison is between the experiences of men and women. Ecofeminist critiques have much to say about the gendered nature of environmental science and environmental experience. Women, it is argued, are frequently the first to uncover environmental problems. Because women are responsible for maintaining daily life in most parts of the world, it is often women who notice first when things go wrong in

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the daily environment: the water smells funny, the kids are getting sick more often, the laundry doesn’t get clean. The women who notice this, often start comparing notes. This often leads to the production of hand drawn maps, let us say of illness incidents in the neighbourhood. Before long the women start to complain, make trouble. (Seager 1994:111) The complaints are regularly ignored. Even the experts brought in to examine the complaints may initially dismiss them as unfounded. It may take years, and even deaths, before the problem is finally acknowledged. It is in this way, Joni Seager argues, that many of the great environmental disasters of our times, the Minamata Bays and Love Canals, have been uncovered. Seager also argues that environmental degradation is regularly experienced differently by men and women. Male dominated science and male dominated impact assessment strive for the big picture and the universalizing concept. In the process women are often rendered invisible. Women need to be recognized as key environmental players. They have a special expertise grounded in daily experience, local knowledge and community networks which is distinct from, but no less valuable than, the typical expertise and experience of men. To Vandana Shiva, women’s work and knowledge are central to biodiversity conservation. Indian women have special skills and knowledge in the production and preparation of plant foods. They know about seed preparation, germination needs and soil choice. Women are expert in the breeding and feeding of farm animals. They have special knowledge of forestry practices: the use of biomass for feed and fertilizers, the value of species for firewood and the different forms of agricultural related forestry. They have crucial knowledge about the links between agricultural and forestry production and conservation. In all these ways women’s knowledge and skills are distinctive and important (Shiva 1993:167). Shiva also argues that local knowledge is rendered invisible by dominant knowledge systems. In tropical forests and agriculture there is a ‘monoculture of the mind’ which only sees the forest or field as a commercially exploitable resource. By contrast local knowledge systems are based on the life support characteristics of the local environment. The richness and diversity of these living resources are ‘disappeared spaces’ in dominant knowledge systems (Shiva 1995:12–14). In these different ways—related to cultural traditions, histories of environmentalism, rich and poor societies, knowledge systems and the environmental experiences of men and women—environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour can be seen to be locally and culturally grounded. But there are also shared discourses, knowledge and value sets that are important to the achievement of sustainability.

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 23

A global ideology of nature

In parallel with the debate about traditional attitudes to nature in individual cultures, and about the varying characteristics of environmentalism in different countries, another debate has been taking place about the emergence of a global ideology of nature that transcends individual cultures. Pedersen, for example, argues that the ecological vision of the environment is now global and ‘involves a strong sense of the interconnectedness of all things in nature, of local events with global consequences’ (Pedersen 1995:267). Following Giddens, he also argues that there is a close conceptual relationship between the notions of global time and global space as created in modernity and contemporary ecological space ‘where any locality, any ecosystem, links up with other localities, other ecosystems to disappear as privileged spaces into the network of relations which altogether make up the global environment, the biosphere’ (Pedersen 1995:269). This global vision, he further argues, is more than a shared set of attitudes towards the global environment. It is an ideology: not just a view about the way the world is, but also a view about the way the world ought to be. This emergent ideology is ‘the fusion of beliefs, ideas and practices from various and originally unrelated cultural ensembles or traditions into a unified ecological and conservationist global vision of nature’ (Pedersen 1995:270–1). He cites various examples of international cooperative efforts to redefine or strengthen religious traditions to make them more consonant with environmentally supportive beliefs and behaviour. One example is the bringing together of leaders of the world’s major religions to discuss environmental issues. In 1986 a large meeting was held in Assisi under the auspices of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), at which leaders from five major religions spoke of the importance of religious values for the conservation of nature. By 1990 eight religions had joined the network (Baha’i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Jainism). The similarity of the statements of the each of the religious leaders speaking at Assisi in 1986 may be seen as an example of the development of this global ideology of nature. A more recent example in support of Pedersen’s thesis is the initiative taken by the Buddhist Institute in Cambodia in association with the Heinrich Boell Institute to hold a regional seminar in 1997 to develop an environmental ethic for South East Asia. The White Paper that followed the seminar set out a draft code of environmental ethics that might with only very slight modification have been written by environmental ethicists anywhere in the world (The Buddhist Institute 1997). In the Buddhist Code there is also reference to the international movement to draft an Earth Charter to draw together the ethical requirements for sustainability, together with rules and behaviour for nations and peoples to preserve and promote life on planet Earth.

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There have been several attempts to assess the degree to which there have been popular shifts towards a shared environmental paradigm. Most of this work has focused on the extent to which there has been a change from the previously dominant social paradigm to a new environmental paradigm. Recently, Kempton, Boster and Hartley have used somewhat different techniques to assess the components of contemporary environmentalism in the US (Kempton et al. 1996). Using anthropological methods they have focused on cultural models related to the environment and the extent to which they are shared by different interest groups (in their research members of environmental groups, the general public, sawmill workers and dry cleaners). Their conclusion is that there is a single cultural consensus about the environment in the US and that ‘most Americans share a common set of environmental beliefs and values’ (Kempton et al. 1996:211). This common set environmental beliefs and values does not mean that all views are entirely supportive of a strong environmental position nor that they are all identical. It does, however, mean, according to the authors, that unlike issues such as abortion or gun control in the US there is ‘only one set of culturally agreed upon answers related to the environment’ (Kempton et al. 1996:211). The authors note that similar studies have been attempted in Austria and Sweden with like results and that there is cross-national research which suggests that environmental concerns and attitudes are widely held across nations and in both rich and poor nations (Brechin and Kempton 1994: 245–68). The very large literature on globalization includes many additional references to the forces influencing global attitudes and values. Arjun Appadurai in his book, Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, argues that ‘electronic mediation and mass migration mark the world of the present not as technically new forces but as ones that seem to impel (and sometimes compel) the work of the imagination’ (Appadurai 1996:4). The daily environmental debates taking place over the internet are striking examples of this proposition. We can also look at this question from a somewhat different perspective. The environmental problems now facing the world are global problems stemming from the process of industrialization and capitalist development that has been taking place in every country, albeit at different speeds and intensities. We therefore need contemporary concepts to help frame both the nature of the problems and their likely solution, together with simple, widely applicable models for analysing and approaching environmental problems. These concepts (sustainability, ecology, biodiversity, natural capital, intergenerational equity, precautionary principle and the like) and working models and techniques (metabolism, ecological footprint, natural step, environmental space, industrial ecology, etc.) need to gain widespread international acceptance. They should be developed cooperatively by scientists, environmental thinkers, local communities and others working hand in hand, with contributions from all cultures. There are interesting

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 25

relationships between this more formal conceptual knowledge and the cultural models described by Kempton, Boster and Hartley. Linking the local and the global: a concluding comment

In sum, there are different philosophical and religious traditions in different societies which have influenced attitudes to nature. Not only do these traditions need to be carefully studied; the environmental outcomes also need to be observed carefully. Western romanticism of Eastern attitudes to nature does little to help attempts to achieve cross-cultural environmental understanding or ecological sustainability. The environmentalism of the East and that of the West have different histories and different preoccupations. The environmentalism of rich and that of poor countries also have different trajectories; environmentalism and ecological justice in poor communities are often closely aligned. To attempt to project Western priorities onto Eastern countries or Eastern traditions into Western cultures is misplaced. Each country needs to determine its own priorities for environmental action in its own context. Western cultures undoubtedly have, however, much to learn from Asian traditional attitudes to nature in the same way that Eastern cultures have much to learn from Western environmentalism. In the Asia-Pacific region there are pressing environmental problems. Particularly acute are the problems in Asia. As the Asian Development Bank notes: During the last thirty years Asia has lost half its forest cover, and with it countless unique animal and plant species. A third of its agricultural land has been degraded. Fish stocks have fallen by fifty per cent. No other region has as many heavily polluted cities and its rivers and lakes are among the world’s most polluted. (Asian Development Bank 1997:199) There are significant problems facing other countries in the region. There are further causes for concern. Cielito Habito, former Secretary of Economic Planning, Republic of the Philippines, has drawn attention to seven different ways in which the Asian financial crisis has impacted or might impact on sustainable development in Asia. Four relate to social and three relate to ecological sustainability. The three potential adverse environmental trends are: • •

Cash strapped firms put aside investments in environmental mitigation (e.g. waste management) or do not operate already installed environmental mitigation equipment. Short term concern by governments for restoration of growth may lead to easing up on environmental policy for enforcement; and

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•

The rush to export their way out of the crisis will exert pressures on environmentally sensitive export products in the countries affected. (Habito 1998:3)

To Habito the challenge is not just to restore investor confidence or to put in place safetynets to meet short term problems. ‘The more telling challenge is to prevent short term problems turning into long term problems, even permanent ones’ (Habito 1998:2). Despite the magnitude of the problems, despite the assumptions made by some researchers that developing countries have to experience the environmental Kuznets curve (increasing environmental degradation until incomes rise above a certain level) there are others who do not think that this is inevitable. Emerging Asia: Changes and Challenges observes. ‘Asia has paid heavily for its environmental mismanagement and negligence’. However ‘the potential for improvement is abundant. Continued environmental degradation is not inevitable’ (Asian Development Bank 1997:261). There are alternative policy models that would allow Asian countries to meet the environmental challenges ahead. These models, so the authors argue, are characterized by ‘a strong but limited government role; by effective management and oversight; by an efficient pricing policy; by secure property rights and a prominent role for the private sector and civil society’ (Asian Development Bank 1997:261). Importantly, too, the authors insist on the need for policy commitment across government, not just within environment ministries, agencies and portfolio areas. The solutions to Asia’s and other Pacific Rim countries’ environmental problems will likely require solutions of the kind proposed by the Asian Development Bank. But they will require much more. They will require the rethinking of traditional economic models to incorporate the new views and approaches of ecological economics (for example, full environmental accounting incorporated into national and other accounts), a focus on ecological distribution conflicts, and regular and comprehensive state of the environment reporting and wide publication of the findings. They will also require tolerance and support for environmental NGOs and other community based and public education bodies, and encouragement of environmentally friendly behaviour in all industry and educational sectors and in households. Prominent among such strategies must be the role of environmental education to prepare future leaders, workers and members of all societies for the environmental challenges that lie ahead. The attitudes, knowledge and commitment of young people will be crucial in every country in the region. Each country and culture will wish to turn to its own traditional attitudes to nature for support and legitimation. In each country there is likely to be a rich vein of local environmental knowledge of crucial significance for the solution of local environmental problems. Each country and culture will need to find solutions that take account of and build upon these and other

Attitudes to nature in the East and West 27

traditions. The routes each takes may therefore be somewhat different. However this chapter argues that, notwithstanding the strength of traditional attitudes to nature and the different strands of environmentalism in any culture, traditional attitudes and local forms of environmentalism will not alone be sufficient to deal with the environmental problems now facing the region and the world. Traditional attitudes to nature and local practice must be supplemented by contemporary environmental analysis, contemporary solutions and global action. All are required and need to draw strength from each other. The key research questions

The research into the environmental attitudes of young people in the AsiaPacific region described in this book reflects these issues and concerns. Arising from this interplay of traditional and contemporary and local and global, the key questions we have set out to examine are: • • • •

To what degree is there a common awareness and understanding of environmental concepts in the region? To what degree are there shared environmental belief systems within the region? Are these belief systems changing at different rates within different countries in the Asia-Pacific? To what degree are there shared attitudes about relationships between the environment and the economy? To what degree is personal behaviour different?

Two underlying questions are also explored in this book: • •

What have been and what are likely to be the influences of traditional attitudes to nature in individual cultures? How strong and influential are these local traditions? To what degree is there emerging within the region (and by implication globally) a shared cultural model about the environment or a global ideology of nature?

In the next chapter we explain the way we have approached the exploration of these questions.

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The research David Yencken, John Fien and Helen Sykes

The research questions outlined at the end of Chapter 1 guided the investigation of the environmental beliefs, knowledge and behaviour of young people reported in this book. It is not, however, an easy task to explore and interpret environmental attitudes of young people in different countries. There are conceptual and theoretical difficulties of some magnitude and many associated practical problems. In this chapter we explain our approach to these matters. An initial issue for the research was that of cultural context. In each of the countries involved in the research we could expect to find different cultural traditions affecting the formation of environmental attitudes and behaviour. Within those different countries there would likely be many different subcultures, each of which might have different nuances of influence on attitudes and behaviour. There is furthermore vigorous theoretical debate about universal and relativist norms and values in different cultures. A second issue, closely related to the first, concerns problems of crosscultural comparison. Terms used in one culture might have different meanings in another. Problems of language and meaning are accentuated whenever translation is required. A third issue relates to the concept of attitude. What is meant by attitude? What are we measuring when we attempt to measure attitude? What might be the relationship between attitude and behaviour? How is behaviour measured? What influence does knowledge have on attitude and behaviour? If we are testing knowledge, what kind of knowledge is significant? A fourth issue concerns the environmental focus of the research. In what way should environmental attitudes and behaviour be assessed? And what is the purpose of doing so? A fifth issue concerns environmental education. Educational systems and access to education at different levels and ages vary greatly between countries. Environmental education is strongly developed in some countries, less so in others. The extent and quality of environmental education could be expected to influence attitudes and behaviour. In what way could these

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differences in the quality of environmental education be taken into account? Improving environmental education, it must be assumed, is one key component of a strategy for sustainability. In what way might different cultures assess the significance of environmental education for the transition to a sustainable world? A final issue concerns research techniques. What are the strengths and limitations of different research approaches? In what way are quantitative techniques best used? What could be achieved from qualitative techniques? What other forms of historical or political analysis might be useful? From our deliberations about these issues we concluded that the research needed to include a serious attempt to describe the cultural contexts in which environmental attitudes in individual countries were being formed. We also recognized that we needed to use techniques for translating questionnaires that ensured as far as possible that the meaning of the questions did not change significantly in translation. We concluded that notwithstanding our best efforts in these two regards there would remain important limitations on the authority which we could give to interpretations of the patterns of findings across the twelve different countries involved in the research. This did not mean, however, that no valid analyses could be made. In particular, we could look to see where there were commonalities in findings and where there were significant differences. The commonalities might be reasonably interpreted as based on shared cross-cultural values, paradigms or discourses. The differences, it might be inferred, could be based on local cultural or situational contexts, which, although they might be very difficult to source with authority, provided indicators of the influence of local and traditional values. Given the important role of environmental education as an influence on environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and as a means of equipping young people to manage complex issues of sustainability with understanding and skill, it was also clear that a part of the cultural background discussion for each participating country needed to concentrate on approaches to environmental education in that country or region. We concluded that one form of survey technique would not suffice. Quantitative and qualitative surveys have their limitations as well as their strengths, as members of our research team have explored and reported at some length (Hillcoat, Forge, Fien and Baker 1995). We therefore decided to use a questionnaire survey together with focus group interviews. We also recognized that these approaches would need to be based on a thorough examination and assessment of previous approaches to research of this kind. The research reported in this book has therefore three main components: a cultural background review including a discussion of environmental education, a questionnaire survey and focus group studies. Before turning to a description of these three components of our research, some discussion is first needed about scientific and social paradigms and cross-cultural research.

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Scientific and social paradigms and cross-cultural research

Starting with Foucault, postmodern critics have questioned the very foundations of enlightenment rationalist thinking and the common application of that thinking to different societies. Reason itself is challenged. There is no one definition of truth. The possibility of a theory of knowledge is questioned. Metanarratives, grand visions and theories, are no longer credible since they all depend on some overarching concept of truth (Sandercock 1998). Feminist critiques, post-colonial theory and identity politics have also challenged modernist thinking. Their focus is on the dominated and suppressed ‘other’, whether the other are women, colonized, post-colonial, or indigenous people or people of different race or colour. All draw in different ways upon postmodern critiques. All dispute scientific and technical knowledge as the only way of knowing. All challenge the relationship between rationalist knowledge and dominant power structures. In the face of these commentaries it might be argued that there is no possibility of universal environmental values. All environmental knowledge and values must be seen in their cultural contexts. Such an argument needs to be respected. One of the great strengths of the post-structuralist and postcolonial debate has been its emphasis on cultural diversity and its efforts to restore to women, suppressed groups, minorities and individual communities their right to their own language, stories and ways of knowing and to support in their struggles for justice. But how relevant are these various arguments to the research reported in this book? To answer these questions we first turn to science and scientific assumptions. Science and scientific assumptions

One key part of the debate relates to science. Sandra Harding, Joni Seager and other feminist critics of science have argued that science not only reflects the class, gender, race and political profile of the people who create the science, it also reflects the attempt to impose a rational male order on an unruly feminized world. Science is both socially located and gendered. (Harding 1991; Seager 1994). Some postmodern thinkers have taken the argument further still, almost to question the very legitimacy of science. How do these arguments bear on environmental science? It is generally accepted that most scientific research takes place within global theoretical assumptions and that changes in these assumptions take place when mounting evidence of problems with the prevailing assumption encourages an imaginative reformulation of it. Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) had an important influence on the understanding of scientific change, and coined the term ‘scientific paradigm’ as a means of describing these global theoretical assumptions.

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Even though Kuhn later abandoned the term, it continued to have a life of its own and this paradigm is now widely used for social as much as scientific research. We provide our working definition of social paradigm later in this chapter. However, even the great scientific revolutions in twentieth-century physics which replaced Newtonian physics with a new physics, based on Einstein’s theory of relativity and the quantum physics of Niels Bohr, Louis de Broglie and others, have not changed in very significant ways the practical applicability of Newtonian physics for the daily world in which we live. The main application of the theory of relativity and quantum physics is to astrophysics and atomic physics. Fritjof Capra, while arguing that the new physics has brought into being a dramatically new paradigm of science, still could say that ‘quantum mechanics did not show that Newtonian mechanics is wrong; it merely showed that Newtonian physics is limited’ (Capra 1992:370). Chaos and complexity theories represent more recent scientific paradigm shifts. Other scientific laws and theories may similarly change in the future. However the changes will not necessarily lead to wholesale revisions of the way we need to understand for practical purposes transformations of energy or material cycles in the biosphere or other aspects of environmental science. However revolutionary the reformulation of scientific paradigms at times may be, it is widely agreed that science is involved in a progressive refinement of general laws and theories which describe the functioning of the universe. A different issue is the way in which specific scientific questions are framed and research carried out. They are always likely to be culturally influenced. Another is the increasing influence of science employed for military or commercial ends. Examples of the ‘merchandising of biodiversity’ and its impacts on traditional farming communities are discussed in the chapter of that name in Varieties of Environmentalism by Guha and Martinez-Alier (1997). Another concerns the way environmental degradation is experienced. Environmental impacts are often felt and recognized by local communities long before they are formally identified and analysed by scientists. Intuition, feeling and immediate experience may in these instances be of the utmost importance. Science applied to large scale environmental change also has its problems. There can be much uncertainty when dealing with very complex systems and large scale environmental change. Climate change has taken place regularly over the millennia; it has at times been hard to distinguish between anthropogenic and natural change. All these arguments can be fully respected. At the same time, however, it is also important to acknowledge other aspects of the role of science. First, peer review, publication, contestation and repeated experiments by other scientists in an open international scientific community are key components of scientific endeavour; and they provide important means to test and challenge the hypotheses and research findings derived from environmental science.

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Second, we depend on science for the formal analysis of the physical world and the monitoring of environmental change. At issue is the functioning of the biosphere as a physical system, the thermodynamic balance of energy derived from the sun, transformations of that energy in the biosphere and dissipation of it into space as well as the great material cycles of the biosphere: the hydrological, carbon and nutrient cycles. Of crucial importance is the way human beings have altered the functioning of this system and the effects these interventions have had on biodiversity, atmosphere, land, rivers, wetlands and oceans. A large majority of atmospheric scientists around the world conclude that climate change is being significantly influenced by human activities and that these human induced changes could have unpredictable but major impacts on human and other life. Therefore, when we are dealing with the global issue of climate change, we need to pay serious attention. Third, science and scientists have drawn out the general physical requirements for achieving ecological sustainability. Four such system requirements were set out at the beginning of Chapter 1: the protection of biodiversity, the protection of natural capital, the maintenance of the balance of the energy and material cycles of the planet, and the maintenance of the health and resilience of natural systems and their capacity to absorb wastes through natural systems. We also rely on science and scientists to tell us what we need to do to deal with specific environmental problems such as the eutrophication of lakes, the acidification of soils or the depletion of populations of plants and animals. While there may be debates within the scientific community about the appropriateness of different measures, there is a widely shared body of scientific knowledge and principles crossing cultural boundaries, which informs these prescriptions. Fourth, science and the nature of the physical systems involved are also the source or partial source of another set of principles such as the precautionary principle and the principle of intergenerational equity. These principles are now widely accepted as important for the achievement of sustainability. They are based in part on scientific precepts and in part on ethical values. Their international adoption, however, gives them wide crosscultural standing. These points can be summarized in the following way: •

• •

While science is culturally shaped in the ways described above, environmental science is nevertheless dealing with physical reality. Environmental change is taking place. Forests are being cut down. Rivers are being polluted. Land is being contaminated. Species extinction is real. Prevailing scientific paradigms are broadly shared by the scientific community and widely accepted by others. Scientific research related to environmental conditions and change may be culturally influenced; science may be employed for commercial or military interests in ways that are damaging to global or local communities.

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•

•

Nevertheless the findings from environmental science are broadly and openly published, debated and challenged internationally. Scientists may not always be the first to identify an environmental problem nor is science the only way of understanding it. Science may often be gendered. Nevertheless we rely on science for the formal analysis of environmental conditions and change. We have no more informed source to depend upon. The teaching of environmental science is an international project, using shared principles and concepts, much shared knowledge and curricula with common components.

Social paradigms

Are there social paradigms that have international currency comparable to that of scientific paradigms? Some postmodernists might say not, that people look at the world in such individual, piecemeal and distinctive ways that it is impossible to identify shared paradigms or universal values. It is moreover dangerous to seek agreement about such universal values since ‘agreement’ will likely mean the imposition of the values of dominant groups on minorities and suppressed groups. This is a useful caution. We, however, believe that there are shared human values that are present in all human societies. They might include such values as justice, truth and honesty, respect for life, care and protection of children, family bonds and protection of basic human rights. Even Lyotard, an archpriest of post-modern relativism, has affirmed that ‘justice as a value is neither outmoded nor suspect’, although he adds that ‘we must arrive at an idea and practice of justice that is not linked to that of consensus.’ (quoted in Harvey 1989:52) We believe that it is not only legitimate to posit these values as shared human values: they also form the essential foundations for all programs seeking to bring about fairer and more humane societies. An example is the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Earth Charter is a comparable attempt to develop an ethic of care about the planet. As discussed in Chapter 1, there is evidence of significant agreement across different religious traditions about the moral values that should inform an Earth Charter. As will be discussed later in this chapter, there are also social paradigms relevant to the environment that have been identified and assessed in a number of studies. Innate attitudes to nature

There is a substantial literature about genetically inherited, survival related responses to the environment. Prospect/refuge theory is one example. Prospect/refuge theory argues that humans have an inborn preference for

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savannah type landscapes which offer both a view over the surrounding country and a forested or other refuge within which to retreat and hide (Appleton 1996). Kaplan similarly argues that responses to certain outdoor physical environments may involve a rapid, unconscious type of cognition that precedes affective responses (feelings about the environment) and may have an evolutionary origin (Kaplan 1987). A related concept developed by Edward O.Wilson is biophilia defined as ‘innate tendencies to focus on life and lifelike processes’ (Kellert 1997:6–7). These innate biological tendencies, so Wilson and Kellert argue, are, however, weak tendencies that require learning and experience if they are to become stable components of belief systems. Kellert has posited nine values of biological origin, which reflect a range of physical, intellectual and emotional expressions of the biophilic tendency. They are: • • • • • • • • •

utilitarian: providing material benefits to humans naturalistic: offering a variety of satisfactions from direct experience of nature and wildlife ecologistic-scientific: the comprehension of nature through exploration of the biophysical elements of nature and their patterns and structures aesthetic: the aesthetic appreciation of and response to nature symbolic: the use of nature for expressing ideas and fantasies, telling stories and conveying feelings dominionistic: the urge to manage, control or master nature for survival or other human purposes humanistic: the opportunity presented by nature for expressing and developing capacities for attachment, bonding, intimacy and companionship moralistic: the values derived from the discernment that there is a basic kinship between all forms of life negativistic: the sense of anxiety, threat and challenge posed by the unknown, dangerous species and the forces of nature.

As will be illustrated later in this chapter, Kellert claims that his comparative studies, despite the differences in their findings, illustrate that there are shared biophilic attitudes across cultures. In each of the three areas discussed above (science, moral values and innate attitudes to nature) there is evidence of paradigms shared across cultures. These paradigms may not represent universal truths nor is it necessary that they should do so; their key characteristic is that they are widely shared. We therefore conclude that it is a valid question to examine to what degree scientific and environmental paradigms and beliefs, concepts and knowledge related to nature and ecological sustainability are shared by young people in different countries.

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Local culture

By contrast, the way people respond to scientific information, the use they make of it and the assumptions they bring to it are likely to be strongly culturally conditioned. Personal and institutional behaviour are similarly likely to be fully embedded in local, culturally shaped, values, ideologies and institutional practices. Environmental traditions and discourses vary greatly. Science is not the only way of knowing about the environment. Local and traditional knowledge, intuition and feeling have their place alongside scientific rationalism. Attitudes, assumptions, discourses, institutions, practices and personal actions all therefore need to be studied in their cultural context. It is therefore particularly important that an examination of the cultural influences affecting the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of young people in different countries pays close attention to the locally specific nature of philosophical and religious traditions; these all affect attitudes to nature, to specific institutional influences and to local traditions of environmental management. For the educational system as a whole it is helpful to know in what way it too might be embedded in local traditions; for environmental education, we need to know to what degree it might be affected by local values and might rely on culturally specific practices. But we also need to have some understanding of the extent of teaching in different countries that is based on shared principles of education for sustainability. These issues can furthermore be considered from the perspective of well established theories and practices in cross-cultural research. Cross-cultural research

Cross-national research in sociology has been described as being of four kinds: first, where the nation is the object of research; second, where the nation is the context for study; third, where the nation is the unit of analysis; and, fourth, where the research is transnational in character (Kohn 1989:20). Social psychological research of the kind described in this book belongs to the class where the nation is context for the research, that is to cross-cultural research which is concerned with the generality of findings about, and interpretations of, individual attitudes and behaviours and their relationship to social structures in a number of different countries. The country chapters, however, involve other types of cross-national research. Cross-cultural research strategies, Kohn argues, have typically been concerned with the search for statistical regularities or alternatively for cultural or historical differences. More useful, however, is to concentrate on the issues of interpretation involved with similarities and differences. Kohn maintains, ‘Finding similarities greatly extends the extent of sociological knowledge. Moreover, cross-national similarities lend themselves readily to

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sociological interpretation; cross-national differences are much more difficult to interpret (Kuhn 1989:78). From a social psychological perspective, Pepitone and Triandis argue that individual social behaviour is determined by habits, intentions, Self and identity. This model is universal, that is, the combination of these variables operate to determine social behaviour in all individuals, everywhere. By contrast, the influence of the individual factors will vary from culture to culture. Cross-cultural research can help to identify the influence of the different variables. It can also identify similarities. ‘To leave the universal entirely out of the story is to foreclose a science of human social behaviour.’ But universality cannot be presumed from studies within a single culture. For Pepitone and Triandis the important questions for social psychology are not what makes individuals vary in social behaviour but what makes groups vary (Pepitone and Triandis 1987:494–5). Cross-cultural research has also been carried out on human development, that is, on life span perspectives in different cultures and the ways in which humans develop and change from childhood to old age. Erikson has, for example, proposed a number of ego stages from youth to old age. He claims that people in all cultures address themselves to the same issues in each of these stages but the way the issues are addressed is subject to great variation. Others, such as Levinson, have proposed more strongly structured agelinked periods in human development (Hogan and Yorke 1989). Best and Ruther (1994), in surveying cross-cultural themes in developmental psychology, have contrasted Piaget’s assumptions of the universality of childhood development—the context-specific theoretical framework which ‘treats culture and aspects of development as parts of a single interactive system of coordination between individuals and the contexts of their everyday lives’—and the cultural practices perspective where individuals are not seen as separate from the environment in which they live their daily lives. Here ‘cultures are assumed to have expectations about the form, manner and order of conducting customary actions’ (Best and Ruther 1994:56). They conclude that most researchers agree that sociocultural factors are important determinants of development. Based on these various arguments it is possible to propose a range of influences on the environmental attitudes and behaviour of young people that includes: •

•

A genetic disposition which includes innate and bioethical attitudes to nature. The concept of biophilia has been discussed above. Others have similarly argued that there is a biological root to social morality that can be related to values concerning nature and environment (Bellett 1990). A model of human social behaviour (including attitudes and behaviour related to the environment) of which genetic disposition forms a part but

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• • •

which includes other important components (habits, intentions, Self and identity) which will vary between individuals and cultures. The stages of development in individuals’ lives, for our research, the particular issues of the period of adolescence. The local cultural traditions and norms (including education) on attitudes to nature and environmental behaviour. External (international) influences on those norms and variables.

Where there are significant differences between cultures it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between these different influences although it is possible to posit some hypotheses and questions. Describing local cultural influences is, however, a valuable means of understanding differences. Similarities will be easier to interpret, even though the influences that have affected the shared attitudes and behaviour may still be different in form or degree. The issues raised by this literature also strongly support the view that cross-cultural comparisons should make at least some attempt to discuss the cultural contexts in which the attitudes and behaviours have been shaped. The cultural background reviews

The individual regional and country chapters that follow concentrate on an exploration of these various cultural influences. Authors from the different countries and regions briefly describe the social background; the religious and philosophical influences on attitudes to nature; the characteristics of environmental problems facing the country; the role of international, non-government and government agencies; the role of the media; the evidence from previous surveys of environmental attiudes; and the nature of environmental education in their countries or regions. These descriptions of the cultural context influencing the environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of young people in twelve countries in the Asia-Pacific region form the core of this book and the background to the discussion of the findings of the research reported in the final three chapters of the book. The surveys and interviews: the theoretical framework

Cross-cultural studies of environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviour have the potential to explore these issues of cultural specificity and shared belief and paradigm. A questionnaire survey is one means of carrying out such an exploration since it is possible to use randomly selected samples of sufficient size from comparable groups to enable comparisons to be made. By contrast, focus group discussions allow people to discuss issues freely and openly and in ways that reflect their own values and priorities rather than those of the researcher. Both questionnaire surveys and focus group

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discussions were used in this research. However before the way we have used these two techniques can be discussed, there are many other theoretical issues affecting research design that need close attention. Much attention has been given in recent years to the conceptual foci of research which attempts to measure environmental attitudes. Attitude is a complex concept, characterized, as Fishbein and Ajzen described it, ‘by an embarrassing degree of ambiguity and confusion’ (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975:6). In summarizing different definitions of attitude Connell identified three commonly described features (Connell 1997:9, 10). Attitudes can be described as tendencies; they imply evaluation; and they are related to an object, event or idea. It has commonly been held in the psychological literature that attitude has three structural dimensions: cognition, affect and conation. Cognition relates to knowledge and beliefs, affect concerns feelings and conation concerns tendencies to act. These structural dimensions are not independent of each other. A change in one will likely mean some change in another. There has indeed been much debate about the degree to which it is possible to distinguish between these three components in most practical situations. Empirical studies, which have attempted to distinguish between cognition, affect and conation have had inconclusive findings. The general conclusion reached from a study of the literature is that it is difficult to distinguish between affect and cognition, in most real life situations although it is easier to distinguish conation from affect and cognition. Nevertheless, the structural distinctions between cognition, affect and conation are valuable ways of understanding and, by implication, measuring attitude. This is particularly so because it has been shown that people’s responses do not always involve all three dimensions of attitude. A response may, for example, be based on feeling alone. For this reason it is incorrect to assume that by measuring one dimension of attitude the findings will give a full indication of a person’s entire attitude combining all three dimensions (Gray et al. 1985; Zimmerman 1996). There are other theories about the formation of attitudes that are of considerable general interest. Notable amongst these are the functional theories. Such theories argue that people develop, maintain and change attitudes for reasons that are functional to them. Functions in attitude formation include: utilitarian (seeking rewards and avoiding penalties); knowledge (seeking meaningful and stable frames of reference); egodefensive (establishing defence mechanisms against perceived threats); and value-expressive (seeking self expression and self actualization). Theories of attitude change discuss issues such as the creation of cognitive dissonance between beliefs and new information contrary to the nature of those beliefs, peer group pressure, and consensual processes for working through these dissonances (Chaiken and Stangor 1987). Our research is primarily concerned with the assessment of existing attitudes. For this reason theories of attitude formation and attitude change were of less relevance to the design

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of the survey. Theoretical frameworks for the understanding of attitude formation and change are, however, valuable as background material for the interpretation of the survey’s findings. Another vexed issue in the psychological literature is the relationship between attitude and behaviour. Early assumptions about the direct translation of attitudes into behaviour have been replaced by an increasing recognition of the range of variables that influence behaviour. Bentler and Speckart, for example, point to a wide range of factors modifying attitudes and influencing behaviour, including beliefs related to behaviour and referents, motivation to comply, peer and social norms, past behaviour and perceived barriers and difficulties (Bentler and Speckart 1979). A third important issue relevant to the design of research instruments seeking to test knowledge about a particular issue, and the influence of knowledge on attitudes and behaviour, is the distinction that needs be drawn between factual and conceptual knowledge. Cognition may relate to knowledge about an isolated group of facts or to broader conceptual knowledge about a particular issue or topic. Factual knowledge without conceptual knowledge or belief has been found to have little influence on attitudes and behavioural intent. A fourth issue relates to the distinctions that need to be drawn between world-views, beliefs, opinions, paradigms, values and ideologies. As with other aspects of the literature on attitudes, definitions vary. We have chosen to use definitions drawn principally from Olsen, Lodwick and Dunlap (1992) but supplemented from several other sources. These definitions are shown in Box 2.1. From this review of the literature we reached the conclusion that the design of our surveys should be based upon discrete suites of questions which attempted to assess cognition, affect and conation separately. Beliefs and feelings might, however, be very difficult to separate. Feelings might best be explored in the focus group studies. Questions testing knowledge should concentrate on concepts rather than facts. No attempt should be made to infer that particular behaviours might follow automatically from particular attitudes, since too many individual and culturally distinct variables would be involved. Assessment of behaviour should be based on questions related to past behaviour, since past behaviour has been established as a good general indicator of likely future behaviour. Environmental attitudes

Two aspects of the literature on environmental attitudes were of potential interest for our research. The first concerns environmental attitude formation. Alternative theories respectively emphasize the importance of cultural change (for example the impact of post-materialist values on environmental attitudes); childhood experience of the natural world (the influence of the physical surroundings in which people grow up); the

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Box 2.1 Definitions of key terms World-views World-views are encompassing views which are pervasively adhered to. They are composed of beliefs or belief systems and the social values associated with them. Our world-view is learned through socialization and is constantly being reinforced by the culture of our society. We unconsciously and uncritically take our world view for granted. Beliefs and belief systems A belief is a specific idea about some aspect of life that its holders are convinced is true, regardless of any disconfirming evidence. A belief system is a set of interrelated beliefs dealing with a broad social condition or form of activity. It is more extensive and complex than any of the specific beliefs included within it. The specific beliefs within a belief system tend to form a more or less integrated whole although the belief system may display many internal inconsistencies. Social paradigms A social paradigm refers to the perceptual and cognitive orientation that a community uses to interpret and explain certain aspects of social life that are important to it. Although similarly constituted of beliefs and belief systems, a social paradigm is more restricted than a world-view since it applies to only a part of life and is typically held by a section of rather than a whole community. It has been described as a mini worldview, providing the framework of meaning within which facts and experiences acquire significance and can be interpreted. Values Values are normative views about the world. Values are concerned with the way the world ought to be not just with way the world is. They are enduring beliefs that specific modes of conduct or end states of existence are preferable to other alternatives. Values are formed from worldviews, paradigms and belief systems. They are stable and enduring and general in their applicability rather than focused upon a particular object or activity. Ideologies Ideologies are arguments derived from world-views or social paradigms

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that groups of people purposefully use to justify their actions. An ideology is adopted to explain, justify and legitimate one’s actions and goals. The appeal of ideologies is that they provide meanings, simplify existence and create certainty. Ideologies are typically held with the strongest conviction and tend to be highly intolerant of alternative and competing ways of seeing the world. A ttitudes An attitude is a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object. Attitudes are generally seen to have three dimensions, a cognitive dimension dealing with beliefs and knowledge, an affective dimension dealing with feelings and a conative dimension dealing with behavioural intention. These three dimensions, although valuable for the understanding of attitudes, can not easily be separated in most practical situations. Opinions Opinions usually refer to verbal statements of an attitude or belief. Opinion can be used to mean an individual appraisal or, as in public opinion, the spoken expression of attitudinal consensus about a particular matter. Sources: Olsen et al. 1992, Slater 1982. Connell 1997

impact of environmental problems and issues (the influence of one or more identified environmental problems on individual attitudes); the changes in world-views and paradigms that have taken place over the last decades (for example the development of new paradigms about stewardship of the environment); and related to all or most of the above, the influence of the media. As with the more general theories of attitude formation, theories about environmental attitude formation are mainly of general background relevance to the research. Of greater direct relevance is the literature on environmental paradigm change. Pirages and Ehrlich were among the first to propose the notion of a new environmentally based paradigm to replace ruling paradigms (Pirages and Ehrlich 1974). Dunlap and van Liere (1978) further developed this notion with the specification of a ‘dominant social paradigm’ as the ruling paradigm that was responsible for the beliefs and assumptions human beings had brought to their damaging treatment of the environment. Thus two alternative paradigms were opposed. On the one hand the old or traditional

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paradigm, the ‘dominant social paradigm’, involving belief in progress, technology, materialism, development and the separation of human beings from nature. On the other hand was the ‘new environmental paradigm’ involving recognition that humans were a part of nature, that there are limits to physical growth and development, and the belief that human life should be in harmony with nature. It then became apparent that it would be valuable to attempt to measure to what degree people adopted these different paradigms, and to what degree changes might be taking place between the two paradigms. As survey techniques to make these comparisons were developed, the concepts and techniques were refined and improved. The ‘dominant social paradigm’ was seen to be too broad a concept to compare with a new emerging environmental paradigm. It became clear that wholesale change from one paradigm to another was not a typical response, and that when people began to move from one paradigm to another they might hold viewpoints incorporating beliefs from both paradigms. Using refined versions of these techniques for assessing paradigm shift, Olsen, Lodwick and Dunlap carried out detailed surveys and showed that there was indeed a significant adoption in the USA of beliefs associated with the new paradigm (Olsen et al. 1992). An alternative approach designed to assess the degree to which communities had adopted a shared cultural model about the environment was developed and reported by Kempton, Boster and Hartley (1996). This model was described in Chapter 1. We concluded that it was valuable to try to assess the degree to which young people in the different countries involved in the research had adopted beliefs consonant with, or partly consonant with, a new environmental paradigm. We also concluded that it would be prudent to use questions related to paradigm change that had been tested by others. Alternative research approaches

Another survey approach concerns discourse analysis. The contemporary notion of discourse has its origins with the French philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault showed how values and assumptions, and the language in which these values and assumptions were embedded, shaped the way ruling groups branded and treated ‘the criminal’, ‘the mad’, ‘the sick’, and ‘the sexually deviant’ (Foucault 1973, 1977). Discourse can therefore be defined as the language and forms of argument and expression which consciously and unconsciously reflect particular world-views, social paradigms and sets of beliefs. Since Foucault, discourse analysis has been widely used, although some assumptions made by Foucault and his followers about imprisonment in particular discourses and the hegemonic nature of discourses (the dominance of a particular discourse at a particular time) are strongly disputed.

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Discourse analysis has been applied to the environment, to the way changes have taken place in discourses about particular issues such as acid rain and ozone layer depletion and, more generally, to the types of discourses that pervade environmental politics. An example of the latter is the examination of prevailing environmental discourses carried out by John Drysek in The Politics of the Earth (1997). Drysek classifies environmental discourses in two ways. Discourses concerned with environmental change, he says, can be reformist or radical. They can also be prosaic, taking the present political and economic framework and its relationship to the environment as a given, or they can be imaginative, redefining problems as opportunities, incorporating the environment into the heart of the economy and society. These four classifications can be seen as a matrix, as is illustrated in Table 2.1. All four types of discourse can, in turn, be contrasted with the discourse of environmental denial. This is the view and argument that there are no significant environmental problems that will not be solved by new discoveries, human invention and technology, or automatic adjustments to price mechanisms and the workings of the market place. Broadly encompassing as Drysek’s analysis is, it does not cover all discourses about the environment nor does he make such a claim. His analysis particularly excludes discussion of the world-views and discourses of indigenous people. As an example, the environmental discourses of indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, discussed in later chapters, reflect very different traditions, world-views and assumptions from those described in The Politics of the Earth. Shared positions about the environment and environmental agenda have also been classified in many other ways. Oelschlaeger categorizes the main strands of environmental (wilderness) philosophy as resourcism, preservationism, ecocentrism and ecofeminism (Oelschlaeger 1991). Guha argues that agrarianism, wilderness thinking and scientific industrialism are the three environmental philosophies of our times (Guha and Martinez-Alier 1997). Discourse should not be assumed to be all that is important. Nevertheless there is force to Drysek’s argument that ‘language matters, that the way we construct, interpret, discuss and analyze environmental problems has all kinds of consequences’ (Drysek 1997:9). Is discourse analysis applicable to our research? We concluded that it had limited direct applicability to our survey work, not because it was Table 2.1 A classification of environmental discourses

Source: Drysek 1997

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insignificant—we believe that environmental discourse analysis is a powerful form of analysis—but because there were conceptual and practical difficulties in using this approach for our research. Discourse analysis applies particularly to the language, arguments and assumptions brought to political/economic debates. The title of Drysek’s book makes clear in what context he is discussing environmental discourses. Echoes of those discourses would undoubtedly be found in the viewpoints of young people but their political/economic views may not be fully formed. Second, the techniques developed by Foucault and his followers, and the approach, taken by Maarten Hajer and Karen Litfin and others, would be very difficult for us to use in our cross-cultural research (Hajer 1995; Lifkin 1994). Awareness of the nature of different environmental discourses should, however, pervade our interpretations of all aspects of the research. Kellert has carried out surveys in different countries to determine the strength of support for each of the biophilic values discussed earlier in this chapter. The findings of a cross-cultural survey between the United States and Japan are shown in Table 2.2. In the two countries there are many shared preferences (for example for single species and individual elements of the landscape) but there are much higher dominionistic scores and much lower ecologistic-scientific scores in Japan than in the United States. The higher dominionistic scores suggest a greater wish to control the environment and the lower ecologistic scores suggest a lower interest in and understanding of ecological structure and function. These findings correlate with other studies and views (see Kalland’s views of Japanese attitudes to nature, discussed in Chapter 1). Kellert is, however, at pains to point out that comparative surveys of respondents in the United States, Japan and Germany, another country in which he carried out research, show that all the nine values of biophilia appear in each country, although varying in intensities and configurations. The variability, he concludes, is more a matter of degree rather than a reflection of fundamental differences in perspectives about the natural world.

Table 2.2 Biophilic tendencies in the USA and Japan: values of nature and wildlife

Source: adapted from Kellert 1997:138

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In the previous chapter we described the studies using ‘anthropological’ techniques carried out by Kempton, Boster and Hartley and the conclusion they reached that there was now a shared cultural model about the environment. These and other forms of research have their place and, by using alternative approaches, add weight to the body of general findings and give further insights into studies of attitudes to nature. They therefore constitute an important resource for our research. For various reasons, however, we concluded that the particular techniques used were not appropriate for the form of research that we were carrying out. The design of the questionnaire and the approach to the focus group interviews were based on these evaluations. The questionnaire survey Questionnaire methodology

An early pilot survey, carried out by two of the Australian researchers, demonstrated the potential of a school-based questionnaire to survey large groups of secondary students. The approach adopted for this part of our research was based on this pilot study. The schools in each city in which questionnaire surveys were carried out were randomly selected. Representation of different types of schools was sought where it was applicable. In Australia, for example, state, independent and Catholic schools and girls, boys and mixed schools were represented in the sample. The whole school population in the selected school at the year level was surveyed except where schools were very large. Sample sizes are shown in Chapter 9. Because it was recognized that there would be great variability in school systems and school retention rates between the different countries involved in the research, we decided to confine the international survey to high performing schools, that is to schools that sent the largest proportion of their students on to university. The rationale for this decision was that there was likely to be less variability in samples of students, because the students would all belong to a common cohort of bright students who would mostly be continuing their secondary education until university entrance, and would therefore be receiving an education preparing them for such tertiary studies. As the brightest students in their community these students could also be expected to constitute a body of future leaders. Their stances towards the environment would therefore be of some significance. The schools chosen were located in major metropolitan areas to avoid the risk of further variability between urban and rural schools. Wherever possible, questions that had already been extensively tested in other surveys were used. The revised questionnaire was extensively piloted in Australian schools in two cities, Melbourne and Brisbane. It was also checked and discussed with the international participants. Once the

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questionnaire had been agreed, international collaborators were asked not to vary core questions. There were, however, other questions that had, or might have, culturally specific elements. Collaborators were invited to vary these questions as they saw fit after consultation with the principal researchers. Relatively few such changes were made. All are identified in the report of the findings in Chapter 9. The pilot studies also demonstrated that it was possible to use a long questionnaire survey successfully, if the questionnaire was administered in class. We further encouraged schools to use the balance of the period after the students had filled out the questionnaire to discuss issues raised by it and thus to use it as a teaching aid. To minimize risks of changes in meaning where translation of the questionnaire from English to another language was needed, collaborators were asked to arrange for translation into the language of the country by one expert and translation back into English by another (as proposed by Sechrest et al. 1972). Detailed comparisons were made of the translated and retranslated versions with the original English version to determine ways of representing the meaning of the original version most accurately. Reliability assessments were made of responses to the Australian questionnaire, the first to be carried out. One general knowledge question was discarded for all other surveys and the Australian findings for this question set aside. A part of another question related to awareness of environmental concepts was similarly discarded from the analysis of findings from all countries. The forms of statistical analysis used for the evaluation of responses to the questionnaire survey are discussed in Chapter 9. The questionnaire themes

The main themes of the questionnaire were: Environment and economy and requirements for environmental change

Two questions were asked to test the views of students about the comparative priority they assigned to economic growth and environmental protection, and the degree to which they believed that protection of the environment would have to be at the expense of economic growth. In another part of the survey an alternative question posed similar alternatives as a test of consistency of responses. One question was asked about the types of actions that would be needed to bring about environmental improvements. The questions about the environment and economy are questions regularly asked in adult opinion polls, albeit in a variety of forms. It could be argued that only when it is fully and widely accepted that a sustainable society requires significant adjustment to present economic thinking and practices and that a sustainable society does not necessarily imply restrictions on economic

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activity as a whole although it will mean restrictions on some kinds of economic activity, will we release the energy and imagination needed to solve our environmental problems. Hence the significance of these questions. National goals and environmental issues

Two questions were asked about national goals and the significance of different environmental issues, to find out what issues students thought most significant for their country, where protection of the environment sat among those issues, and what environmental issues they saw as most acute for the world and for their country. We believed that it would be of considerable interest to see to what degree these assessments of national goals and environmental issues varied between different countries. Belief in alternative paradigms

A suite of questions was asked to assess the degree to which young people had moved away from previous paradigms associated with faith in technology, development and unlimited resources towards new paradigms associated with harmony with nature and scepticism about growth and technology. The questions used were drawn from those extensively tested by Olsen, Lodwick and Dunlap. Conceptual knowledge

Twelve questions were devoted to knowledge of environmental issues and concepts. Such questions are asked in many surveys of environmental attitudes. The questions were in part drawn from other surveys and part generated by the research team. When questions of this kind are asked on their own it is possible that intelligent respondents—in this study we had a cohort of able students—might be able to guess the right answers to questions even when they did not have prior knowledge of the concept. We therefore introduced an additional suite of questions before testing knowledge and understanding of key concepts. Students were asked if they had ever heard of particular concepts and if so whether they had discussed them in school or class. By this means we were able to gain further insights into students’ awareness and knowledge of key concepts, and also to have available a means of checking answers to the knowledge questions. Desire to achieve and skills in bringing about environmental change

Two questions were asked about students’ desire to be involved in bringing about environmental change and their perceived skills to achieve such changes, if only in a small way.

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Environmentally supportive behaviour

Four questions were asked about actions students had taken to improve the environment, their feelings about such actions, the degree of support they received from family and friends, and the reasons why they might continue to behave in environmentally unfriendly ways. Sources of environmental information

Two multiple choice questions were asked to investigate the sources of environmental information and to assess the students’ estimate of the reliability of the information received from these sources. Frequency of discussion outside school and desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues in school

Two final questions were asked of students to assess how frequently environmental issues were discussed away from school and to find out how often students believed environmental issues should be discussed in school classes. A sample questionnaire is shown in Appendix A. The focus group studies

The well known benefits of quantitative studies include their ability to assess opinions from large and statistically valid samples, the uniformity of measurement possible from standardized questions, anonymity and the potential for sophisticated analysis using statistical techniques. The equally well known disadvantages of quantitative studies are their rigidity of structure, the requirement placed on respondents to give a response to a question or express a view about a topic even when they might not have an opinion, the possible simplification of complex issues, and the inability of such techniques to deal well with nuances of opinion. It was for these reasons that we decided that it was important to combine qualitative studies with the questionnaire survey. Qualitative studies offer the opportunity to those being interviewed to discuss their attitudes and feelings, and to raise issues of significance to them that may not have been apparent to the survey designers. They also enable interviewers to explore issues in depth and to gain understanding of the backgrounds and reasons for particular attitudes of respondents. The approach adopted for the qualitative studies was to carry out focus group discussions with selected groups of students. In Australia, for example, six focus group studies were carried out in each of the two cities, Melbourne and Brisbane, in which the research was carried out. Students in the focus groups were randomly selected from six secondary schools in each city. These schools were in their turn randomly selected from the twenty-six

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schools that had participated in the questionnaire survey. The sample was selected to represent the types of schools (and proportions of them) found in Brisbane and Melbourne. Standard conventions were established for the running of the focus group studies in different cities based on the focus group interview guide, developed at Ohio State University (Archer 1987). The focus group discussions used a semi-structured approach. All researchers in different countries were requested to ask an agreed suite of basic questions. The different researchers were, however, free to explore those questions in whatever way seemed most appropriate or seemed best to reflect the nature of the discussion. The questions were designed to explore the underlying concerns of the young people being interviewed and to discuss environmental attitudes and concerns in the context of these underlying attitudes and beliefs. The main themes and the questions asked related to them were: • • • • • •

What are your hopes and fears about the future? What are your concerns about the environment? From what sources do you get information about the environment? How reliable do you think these sources are? What do you think are the causes of environmental problems? How do you think we can improve environmental quality? What do you think you can do to help the environment?

All of these questions, excepting the first, were asked in the questionnaire survey. By approaching the same questions in different ways and with different techniques we sought to gain a broader and deeper understanding of student responses. The first question about hopes and fears for the future is a question that has been asked in surveys of young people to provide a barometer of the optimism or pessimism with which young people face the future. The responses also illustrate the differing nature of the concerns of young people from different backgrounds and milieus. The answers to these questions provided an important context for the views and attitudes expressed during discussions of environmental issues. The norms and requirements for all parts of the research, once agreed, were assembled in a country coordinator’s manual, which was distributed to all research collaborators. The manual included agreed procedures for the preparation of the country cultural background statements, the administration of the questionnaire survey, and the procedures for the focus group studies. Concluding comments

The growing awareness of environmental problems, and the growing recognition of the global nature of these problems, have prompted increasing

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interest in cross-cultural comparisons of environmental attitudes and behaviour. Many cross-cultural surveys have been and continue to be carried out. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), for example, carried out a survey of attitudes to the environment in fourteen countries in 1988. Environmental data is also included in a number of major cross-cultural surveys. Examples are the Eurobarometer running since 1973 and now including twenty-seven countries and the Gallup study on environmental attitudes in twenty-two countries. Many smaller cross-cultural studies have also been carried out. An example is the five country comparison of determinants of pro-environmental behaviour carried out by Lévy-Leboyer et al. (1996). Some of the major studies such as the Eurobarometer confine themselves to a few questions only. The Gallup study is better developed. Some of the smaller studies use carefully considered techniques. No cross-cultural study of adult or young people’s attitudes has, however, to our knowledge used a combination of cultural context review, lengthy questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions. Very few if any of the cross-cultural studies have concentrated on young people. The research reported in this book thus constitutes an attempt to extend the scope of cross-cultural studies related to environmental, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. Its focus on young people and on the way environmental education could better serve a significant cross sample of the world’s cultures is another important characteristic of the research.

3

Environmental attitudes and education in southern China Philip Stimpson

Environment and development are two major concerns…. Through its arduous efforts of many years, especially those made since the Industrial Revolution, mankind [sic] has made brilliant achievements in transforming nature and developing economy. Yet neglect of environment in the course of industrialisation, particularly the irrational exploitation and utilisation of resources, has caused global environmental pollution and ecological degradation posing a real threat to the survival and development of mankind. (Li Peng 1994:1) For most Chinese, food and shelter come first. (Martin Lee, Hong Kong Legislative Councillor 1992) The Chinese tradition is for everyone to ‘sweep the snow from only one doorway’. (Fung Shui-Wing, The Conservancy Association 1989) It is rare for any subject to command unanimous support in Hong Kong these days, but there is one target for 1999 which everybody should be able to support. What ever happens, this should be the year in which the Government and the people join together to improve the environment…. In these hard (economic) times, Hong Kong needs a breath of fresh air. A concerted campaign against pollution should become a rallying point for the community in the year ahead. (Editorial, South China Morning Post, 1 January 1999)

China’s environmental problems, many of which are exemplified in and around Guangzhou and Hong Kong, are well understood and are set out in China’s Agenda 21 document (State Planning Committee 1994). They are mainly those of local environmental pollution and ecological degradation but it is also recognized that the country is not immune to global environmental impacts such as the effects of climatic change (Xie 1994). China also experiences great disparity in incomes between and within provinces,

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between poorer, isolated rural areas and the richer urban areas. Incomes in Hong Kong exceed those in Guangzhou by a factor of ten and those in Guangzhou exceed those in some nearby impoverished rural districts by a factor of ten or more. The State Planning Committee of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) estimates that 80 million people, or 8.8 per cent of the total population, have incomes which do not allow them adequate food, clothing and shelter. (However, it should also be noted that overall, the impoverished population of China has dropped from the 1978 level of 250 million people). The majority of the most impoverished people in China live in the central and western parts of the country, and these impoverished areas often contain fragile ecosystems. Population increases have intensified human impacts in these areas by pressuring people to move into marginal agricultural regions. This has led to severe land degradation, soil erosion and water shortage. With low incomes and unemployment, there has been a drift to the cities in the east, such as Guangzhou, aggravating existing urban environmental problems. The link between the ability to generate acceptable incomes and the development of a sustainable environment, i.e. sustainable living, in China is clear. It brings the dilemma between development and the environment to the forefront. Guangzhou and Hong Kong are the two great conurbations of Southern China. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC); Guangzhou—Canton—is the capital of the adjoining Province of Guangdong. Hong Kong is one of the original ‘Asian Tigers’ and Guangzhou waits on the sidelines to become one. While these two Chinese cities operate within two largely different socioeconomic systems, they also share important characteristics. Guangzhou, perhaps more than any other place in China, exemplifies capitalism with Chinese socialist characteristics of Deng’s 1978 ‘open door policy on industrialization’. Hong Kong, which was returned by Britain to China in 1997 to become an SAR within the PRC, marries Western capitalism within a Chinese cultural context. Both suffer serious environmental degradation that, until recently, often went unheeded. While these two cities are more characteristic of eastern rather than western China and of urban rather than rural China, they represent a stage of development that will probably be followed by many other Chinese cities. Guangzhou is an urbanized area, with a population of more than six million in the municipality (Edmonds 1996), and is located on the lowlying flood plain of the Zhu Jiang. It is positioned at the northern end of a potential industrial mega-city running down the Zhu Jiang Kou (the Pearl River Delta) to Hong Kong in the south. It has a long history as the capital city of southern China. The area is highly industrialized, the environment degraded and few natural habitats remain untouched. The Hong Kong SAR is similarly highly urbanized but, with a population of over 6 million and an area of only about 1,080 square kilometres, is even more densely occupied. The SAR comprises a series of islands, one of which is Hong Kong Island, together with a part of

Southern China

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the Chinese mainland. The topography is dominated by mountains rising to over 900 metres; there are also small areas of riverine and coastal lowland. Despite near complete deforestation, it is an area with diverse habitats including tracts of hill-grassland, pockets of feng shui woodland, mangrove swamp and, located near the boundary between tropical and temperate zones, some of the north-ernmost tropical reefs on the China coast. Its wetlands are important stopping-off points for the annual north-south bird migrations. Nearly half of the land area is under the protection of country parks. Socially, Guangzhou is totally Chinese. It is administered by a socialist bureaucracy that pervades many aspects of life. Economic growth has led to an increasingly wealthy upper middle class. At the same time, a major feature has been the large number of rural poor from the west of China who have poured into the city and its surroundings searching for work. The number of long-term foreign workers is very small although the external influences from the many interchanges between Guangzhou and Hong Kong cannot be discounted completely. Foreigners and Chinese returnees largely come for business, tourism or family reasons and their influence on the social fabric is probably small. In contrast, the Hong Kong SAR is a laissez-faire international trading and commercial centre. Socially, it ‘is a fascinating but problematic admixture (but rarely amalgam) of races, of cultures, of lifestyles’ (Sweeting 1995:44). The reversion of sovereignty in 1997 has led to a resurgence of traditional Chinese values. British and Commonwealth influences are still, however, strong in the early days of the SAR although there is perhaps a greater tendency to look towards North America. Hong Kong has traditionally acted as a bridge between China and the West. Although at its heart it is a Chinese city-state, with about 95 per cent of its population being ethnically Chinese, Hong Kong has a history of outside influence where global entrepreneurial values are championed. Over the last 100 years, many Hong Kong Chinese have emigrated or gone abroad to study; many have returned, particularly from North America and Australia, bringing with them new skills, ideas and societal expectations. About a quarter of a million people are foreign nationals. These are primarily from the Philippines, the USA, Indonesia, Canada, the UK, Thailand, Japan, India and Australia (Immigration Department, GHKSAR 1998). Hong Kong, however, does not perceive itself as a multicultural society as do, for example, Australia and New Zealand. Although many of these foreign citizens are long term, third or fourth generation residents, Sweeting comments that while ‘some (foreign citizens) would claim a “sense of belonging” to Hong Kong, few, except possibly the Eurasians, can confidently feel it’ (Sweeting 1995:44). Their influence in helping shape attitudes cannot be discounted and at times is disproportionate to their numbers. Many are professionals and managers with a concern for quality of life at a personal level if not always in the work arena. In addition to this ‘expatriate group’, there are people from other areas of China. Some are business professionals but most enter under the

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family reunification scheme. Many of these newcomers have had little previous exposure to environmental thinking, feel socially isolated, tend to see their present living conditions as temporary and have little interest in working for environmental improvement (Hills and Chan 1993). Not surprisingly, they tend to be preoccupied with establishing themselves and finding employment. Today, Hong Kong is classified by the World Bank as a high-income economy (Islam and Chowdhury 1997) and boasts the third highest GDP per capita in Asia (US$23,000). Until the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, its economy was growing at about 5 per cent per annum. The Guangzhou area, as a ‘New Asian Tiger Economy’, is growing well above the PRC average of about 7 per cent. Both Hong Kong and Guangzhou suffer the environmental consequences of unbridled economic development. Hong Kong, for example, generates more than two million tonnes of liquid waste and 22,500 tonnes of solid and semi-solid waste per day; this is rising geometrically with increasing GDP by a factor of ten (Environmental Protection Department 1994). Guangzhou similarly suffers serious pollution. Water quality degradation is viewed as particularly serious because of its direct risk to human life (Edmonds 1996); while treatment has more than doubled from the 1980s to the 1990s so too has the volume of effluent. The state of the environment is described in more detail in a later section. With this social and political context in mind, this chapter examines influences on Chinese attitudes and behaviour towards the environment and discusses factors that shape environmental attitudes in the region. This is followed by an analysis of the environmental education curriculum in Guangzhou and the Hong Kong SAR. The chapter concludes with review of surveys of young people’s attitudes towards the environment in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Influences on attitudes to the environment Cultural influences

Teasing out the influences of Chinese culture on environment values in Guangzhou and Hong Kong is difficult. Cultural generalization is a perilous endeavour, not the least because of the cultural diversity present in all societies. Generalization can also draw the unwary towards inevitable cultural differentiation at the expense of convergence and global thinking. The extent to which people in Guangzhou and Hong Kong hold environmentally distinct attitudes, and the extent to which they are similar to those other people in the Asia-Pacific region, is a central issue. Cultural correlations generally tend to be weak and indistinct and inevitably a matter of interpretation (Stimpson 1996). There is always the risk of culturally deducing what one hopes to find when cultural interpretations are chosen which fit the

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environmental conclusions that are felt to be true. Contemporary interest in Chinese culture has, in particular, given rise to a myriad of shades of meaning, and discussing cultural context and its impact on environmental thinking is a potential minefield for the unwary. As with most cultures, there is a need in China to distinguish between ‘high culture’ with its scholarly precepts from vernacular, everyday pragmatic representations of culture. Whichever ‘common vision shared by people concerning patterns of behaviour, customs, values and structures, religions and faiths, art and music, etc.’ (Wielmans and Chan 1992) we give the name culture, it is important to recognize that culture is not static. Culture in southern China is also ever evolving; it influences people’s actions but their activities help to shape the cultural context at any point in time. Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 the official ideology of China has been a Maoist version of communism. This ideology, known as ‘Marxist-Leninism-Mao Zedong thought’ is inherited from Western enlightenment thinking and is closely aligned with Western modernist ideas about science, technology and the mastery of nature. Confucianism was officially discouraged in the PRC after 1949 but for Chinese people, Confucian cultural notions lie deep in their psyche. Under Deng and subsequent Chinese leaders Maoist ideology has been significantly modified; there is evidence today of a resurgence of traditional Chinese values together with infusions of Western capitalist thinking, particularly in south China. Thus, there are three current groups of influences on Chinese attitudes to nature, traditional values, Maoist communism and global capitalism (together with global environmentalism), all in uncertain relationships to each other. Confucianism is a part of Han roots. It provides a set of social rules in which the behaviour of individuals and individuals’ responsibilities are highlighted. Traditional Chinese culture is viewed by Hsu (1975) as a culture of the ‘heart’ rather than the ‘mind’, although this is not to argue that the culture lacks rationality of thought. Confucian teaching encodes rationality and Chinese history is replete with examples of technological innovation. A strong element in traditional thinking and beliefs is an emphasis on people’s relationship with their fellows and surroundings. Morality originates in people’s lives and hearts and in their view of the cosmos. Moral behaviour depends on personal decisions and interpretations. (In this, it perhaps contrasts with traditional Christian thinking where morality and justification for a person’s actions originate in God or heaven.) Values and beliefs in Chinese culture stress the union of people and nature but at the same time are often centred on the person or a specific individual/authority figure (Ames 1989). They tend to assume tangible rather than metaphysical proportions and are reflected in the way ideas are often conceptualized in concrete rather than abstract terms. While environmental perception and values are intimately related to the individual and the individual’s desires, it is, nonetheless, not easy to see what

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direct influence Confucianism has had on environmental thinking. Conflicting arguments can be deduced; some imply environmental disregard and others respect. Like Buddhism, Confucianism looks for balance. Reciprocity—what you do not want others to do unto you, do not do unto them—is a unifying principle. It is encapsulated in the idea of ‘jen’ (ren) which has been variously translated as ‘magnanimity’, ‘benevolence’, ‘perfect virtue’ and ‘moral character’ (Moore 1967). Such notions imply care, concern and stewardship. Yang (1988, cited in Bond 1991) argues that traditional Chinese values emphasise inner development and contemplation, collectivism, conservatism, a focus on the past and submission to, or at least acceptance of, the forces of nature. In this light, Chinese culture puts value on conservation and a respect for society and nature. These traits, however, might equally be interpreted as encouraging support for the status quo. Lau (1982) notes the development in Hong Kong of a social psyche that he terms utilitarian familism; in this, the pursuit of self and family interests supersede interest in communal (and environmental) responsibility. In this context, Bond (1991) notes that, while most people who claim a Chinese cultural base tend to espouse conservative values such as family security and obedience rather than change values such as independence and novelty, people from Guangzhou may be an exception. The Confucian rationalist view of the world, however, incorporates a value system that sees few difficulties with conflicting opposites: ying and yang. Opposites are complementary; they are a part of a total balanced system. There is, thus, a tendency for the Chinese to perceive the environment within a pattern of an overall unity of objects, in contrast with the Western tendency for decomposition into constituent parts. The unity of Chinese thinking is exemplified in the ideas invoked by the working of mysterious earth forces. This can be understood as a rationalization of success or failure in life in terms of one’s environment. It is a belief system that originates from a rural agrarian society and so it makes sense to appreciate, for example, that health and prosperity are linked to locations that can provide adequate supplies of water, a sunny aspect and protection from cold winds: environmental quality. Feng shui can be described as a popular and utilitarian view of the Chinese approach to nature and is a force for environmental conservation. Over time, it has become elaborated to accommodate the conditions of a more urbanized society; the principles, for example, are used to determine optimal office arrangements. The underlying relationships remain. For some Chinese people at least, particularly in southern China, they are a part of their covert belief system and direct how the environment is perceived. Taoism, as an encoding of the mysterious operations of the universe, provides an alternative Chinese perspective on human/nature relationships. The human/nature dualism in Western thinking is precluded by Taoist commitment to the interdependence of such categories. There is a special personal responsibility for the environment since the environment is

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cultivated not as an ‘other’ but as an immediate dimension of ourselves (Ames 1989:142). Ames also notes that the Taoist perspective puts specific constraints on the appropriateness of scientific and technological development. Confucianism, yin/yang cosmology and Taoism can be looked at separately but it is better to see them as merged and fused in Chinese thinking. In this thinking, people are part of nature. Tian and jen (or ren) are central concepts. Tian can mean all of sky, heaven and nature. These two concepts, together, signify the union of the human with nature. There are different dimensions to these relationships to nature. They include the tangible and practical, the aesthetic (poetry, calligraphy, landscape painting, garden design) and the supreme (Zhu 1999). It is also simplistic to look at influences on Chinese attitudes and behaviour solely from the viewpoint of cultural values, for as Bond notes: Research indicates the potential problems of using cultural values alone as ways of explaining Chinese patterns of behaviour. The Chinese (however) do not agree very strongly among themselves, and other cultural groups may be more Chinese than the Chinese, at least with respect to values. (Bond 1991:39) The ‘modern Chinese’ retain some essential Confucian virtues and also value technical mastery and achievement. Both are ingredients of entrepreneurial success and give rise to potential conflict with the environment. We should not be blind to the possibility of a mutually selective interaction between traditional Chinese cultural values and new institutional arrangements (Bond 1991). While Hofstede (1980) argues that collectivism is more dominant than individualism in Chinese society and the paramount concern is for the integrity and advancement of the group and the common good of the community, many Chinese people today are putting more and more value on individualism. This perspective looks to the future and accepts mastery over nature. Such people prefer a life combining action and enjoyment. Meditation and submission to external forces are rejected. While Yang (1988, cited in Bond 1991) was writing of Taiwan, the economic situation parallels Hong Kong and Guangzhou leading perhaps to similar conclusions. Thus, whilst the PRC socialist ideology stresses collectivism in which the individual works for the betterment of the state, social and economic forces are now leading many towards a culture of individualism and environmental disregard as part of the drive towards self-improvement. On the Chinese mainland, and in Guangzhou in particular, there is a three-way tension between traditional, socialist and global norms. This is not to say that there are not areas of complementarity and symbiosis. Many of the traditional social norms, for example collectivism and acceptance of authority, are consistent with the norms of the socialist state, as is the

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individualism that generates economic wealth in the service of the country. Further, people who are more individualistic and materialistic would not see themselves as rejecting traditional values but reinterpreting them in the context of China in the next century. Yet there are conflicts; these come from development that creates a new balance and puts environmental stewardship at risk. NGOs and the voluntary environment movement

International non-governmental organizations concerned with the environment have tended until recently to be looked on with suspicion by government in the PRC although it has to be recognized that World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has worked on joint scientific projects for nearly two decades. In Guangzhou, during the last ten years or so, local NGOs have formed but are often orchestrated by government and lack the independence expected in the West. NGOs in Hong Kong are active and follow Western conceptions. However, they do not receive widespread support, and have generally been ignored by both the past colonial administration and the present SAR Government unless it suited the needs of the administration. While Hong Kong environmental groups have become much more technically competent in recent years, they typically carry out their work in a lowkey manner. For example, they have not drawn, as other lobbying groups have, on prominent personalities to encourage people to their cause (Hills and Chan 1993). They are largely seen as the preserve of a section of the articulate, young middle-class. While their thinking is no longer dominated by expatriates, many of the Hong Kong Chinese in these environmental groups have lived or studied overseas. The main groups involved are the Hong Kong Conservancy Association and local chapters of Friends of the Earth and WWF. Their influence, nonetheless, belies their size. Their activities have played an important catalytic role in raising awareness, keeping the environment in the forefront of the media and lobbying for change. Recently, they have become more active in the community with neighbourhood environment ‘greening’ schemes that have, for example, sought to save energy and recycle waste. They are also attempting to build a presence in Guangzhou. Nair (1997) believes that private sector business participation is the key. This is absent in Guangzhou but in Hong Kong a Private Sector Committee on the Environment (PSCE) was inaugurated in 1991, with an associated Centre for Environmental Technology (CET). These initiatives on the part of business seek to facilitate implementation of practical solutions to environmental problems. The PSCE in Hong Kong is supported by twenty large companies representing about 68 per cent of the Hang Seng Index of major companies listed on the stock exchange, and employing about 160,000 people in the territory. However, industry and business in the SAR largely comprises small companies which do not always identify with the

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committee or feel committed to the environment (Gibbs and Healey 1997); nonetheless, the PSCE hopes that it can set an example others will follow. Environmental policy

The role of government in Guangzhou and Hong Kong needs to be considered separately. The ‘one country, two systems’ approach leaves Hong Kong to develop its own legislation in local matters such as the environment. Much of the environmental policy in place today in Hong Kong is derived from its colonial past. Guangzhou, on the other hand, interprets and applies legislation from the Central Government in Beijing. Nonetheless, while the political and administrative mechanisms may differ, as may timings, there are many similarities between the two systems in respect to environmental policy in practice (Stimpson 1997). In Guangzhou, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sets the direction. The Government’s environmental policy, centrally from Beijing and provincially, defines the focus for attitudinal change. The Chinese Communist Party is the pre-eminent force behind many aspects of Chinese life and attitude to the environment is no exception. With control of the media, television and newspapers carry the CCP’s message. Education is similarly viewed as a tool of the Party. Propaganda does not have the same negative connotation as in Western societies. Values education, of which environmental education is a part, has been seen by the State Education Commission in political terms to combat ‘undesirable’ bourgeoise influences from the West and to emphasize socialist principles (Lam 1993). Views change over time but the ideological base remains strong. Hence, once environmental protection became a central plank in Party thinking in the 1970s, the Party sought to put its full force behind promulgating its ideas by all means available. It engaged in bill-board, television and newspaper campaigns as well as looking to modify the school curriculum. In the absence until very recently of NGOs, the influence of the Communist Party at national, provincial and municipal levels is probably the most potent force at work. Loyalty to the Party is crucial and taking up directions given by Party leaders, however brief, is a means of demonstrating loyalty (Wong 1994; Kwan and Lidstone 1997). Environmental policy cannot be examined separately from population and development policy. Pollution is a serious problem but the population question dominates considerations of the environment and development on the mainland to a degree not found in Hong Kong. The current population of China stands at around 1.2 billion (with 73 million in Guangdong and Hong Kong) but is estimated to reach 1.3 billion by 2000 and 1.5 to 1.6 billion by 2050. Much of this expansion will occur in the richer coastal cities such as Guangzhou, exacerbated by net inward migration, both legal and illegal, from other provinces. On the whole, the consumption levels of the Chinese people are low (the average per capita GNP is only US$350). However, incomes are rising and

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Guangzhou is one of the wealthiest cities in China with a desire to match the living standards of Hong Kong. Supplying the needs of the people is the major concern in China both in terms of basic needs for the poor and fulfilling the rising expectations of the rich. To satisfy the needs of a growing population, the Chinese Government attaches great importance to improving people’s food clothing and housing conditions, to enriching entertainment, physical education, health care as well as the development of tertiary industries in order to provide people with full and convenient services. As the national economy rapidly develops, these demands will become more urgent. (State Planning Committee 1994:49) The environmental risks are understood and the need for sustainable consumption patterns recognized. Nonetheless, the tension between environment protection and development is ever present. The balance has often shifted towards development with environmental protection perceived as a facilitating device, mitigating the worse effects of environmental deterioration. This dilemma is especially apparent in the Guangzhou area. Environmental management policies in China date from the mid-1970s. Following legislation by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 1979, environmental issues received increasing official recognition in the early 1980s (Chen 1981). In 1983 at the Second National Congress on Environmental Education, environmental protection was adopted as a basic national policy (Cai 1991) and this led to the setting up of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) in 1984. During the 1980s, there was a proliferation of environmental legislation to mitigate and control the excesses of development culminating in the 1989 PRC Environmental Law (Bradbury and Kirkby 1996). In line with these measures, Guangzhou has its own environmental bureau and its tertiary institutions are active in environmental research in order to inform policy. The problem is, thus, not one of legislation but the degree to which laws are enforceable at the local level. Protection policies in the 1980s centred on setting, for example, standards of water or air quality and on fining transgressors. This technocratic approach had only limited success. The scale of the problems was too great and there was an absence of a coordinated environmental control organization that could effectively operate nationally and at all levels. Central policies and local regulations often did not parallel each other. Today, following international practices, policies centre on a ‘polluter pays’ principle with a mixture of emission charging, financial incentives, such as tax relief, and traditional control. While rapid economic development in recent years has led to such a serious reduction in environmental quality in many areas that engineering solutions have been essential to stem the tide,

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the perspective largely remains technocratic emphasizing problem solving rather than prevention. The Hong Kong SAR Government, like its colonial forerunner and the PRC, has all the characteristics of a paternalistic, if bureaucratic, administration with a command and control philosophy (Man 1993a) and has increasingly sought to influence people’s attitudes to the environment. In this sense, the situation is no different from Guangzhou. The Hong Kong Government’s actions similarly are often described as ‘too little too late’, and indeed in the early days there was a tendency to be reactive rather than proactive. Environmental response tends to be demand driven in reaction to public comment and complaints (Kwong 1990). However, government influence on public attitudes over the longer term is probably underestimated. There can be little doubt that the attitudes and dispositions of successive governors of Hong Kong in the colonial period played an important role in developing awareness of the environmental situation but, as Hills and Chan point out: Whilst it is clear that an interest in, and a commitment to, solving Hong Kong’s environmental problems on the part of the territory’s most senior government officials is of paramount importance and perhaps even a necessary condition for action, it is probably insufficient in itself to explain the relative continuity in the government’s position since the late 1970s. (Hills and Chan 1993:202) In the 1950s and 1960s, environmental awareness in government centred, as it had done for over 100 years (Choi 1993), on environmental health and such matters as refuse disposal and fish quality. Water quality, as a consequence of the dumping of industrial and agricultural waste, started to become a problem in the late 1960s, as did water supply. A series of country parks was instigated in the 1970s to protect water catchments, conserve nature and provide leisure facilities. Water control zones were started in the 1980s. The approach in this period was largely, as elsewhere, technocratic and oriented towards ‘fire-fighting’ and problem solving rather than prevention. Influence on public attitudes was indirect as a spin-off from publicizing engineering solutions. Responsibility for the coordination of these and other schemes was given in 1977 to an Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) within the Lands and Works Department of Government. (The EPU subsequently became the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in 1986.). Public participation, however, was minimal in the early days and largely restricted to the Environmental Protection Advisory Committee (EPCOM). The impact of the early work of government on public attitudes towards the environment is difficult to gauge. Most solutions did not get to the source of environmental problems but instilled a public perception that the environment was the responsibility of government rather than the

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individual. Paternalism met the needs of territory but perhaps lulled many in the street into a false sense of security. Increased concern associated with environmental deterioration in the mid-1980s led to the environment becoming a major cause. Whilst management remained a central plank, it was recognized that winning the hearts and minds of the public and of decision makers was crucial, if the necessary changes in behaviour were to come about and environmental problems prevented. This became more important as public participation in government expanded. In a climate of increasing democracy in the late 1980s, it was realized that the government would have to win support for their ‘polluter pays’ policies, and the charges, for example, to home owners and businesses for new sewage treatment according to their use. At the same time, there was a campaign to increase awareness among the public of the value of a clean and green Hong Kong and of the wider responsibility for actions in the territory towards the global environment. In 1989 the government published a White Paper entitled Pollution in Hong Kong—A Time to Act followed by A Green Challenge for the Community in 1993 and a review of efforts to promote sustainable development in 1996. Thus, whilst previously government policies attempted to be predominantly non-interventionist providing the minimum infrastructure necessary, the administration gradually came to recognize that it must adopt a more proactive social as well as civil engineering stance if problems were to be solved. To achieve these ends it has embarked on major publicity drives using the media. The environment is still regarded as important by the SAR Government and 3.1 per cent of spending in 1997–8 was spent on environmental affairs. This is a marked rise from 0.8 per cent in 1988–9. However, the present government is setting policies for the early years of the new millennium and is perceived by many as more ‘business friendly’ than other recent administrations (Hills 1997); it seems more preoccupied by issues such education, housing and the economy. There have, for example, been serious suggestions to reclassify country parks to a semi-protected status to help solve housing problems; such proposals would have been unacceptable five years ago (South China Morning Post, 27 July 1997). The first chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR accepted that environmental quality is important; however, when he established key task forces to tackle major problems, the environment was not represented. The media

The media both in Guangzhou and in Hong Kong play an important role in highlighting environmental problems and publicizing environmental schemes. Sweeting (1995) goes so far as to claim that a ‘media mentality’ is a major social characteristic of contemporary Hong Kong. For young people, in particular, television is the dominant news medium although adults are also

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avid newspaper readers. While in Guangzhou the media are state controlled and a part of the government information system, in Hong Kong there is an independent press, which, at times, is highly critical of the administration’s environmental policy. Few issues of newspapers do not contain some reference to the environment. For example, the main English language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, ran thirty-two articles on the environment during one week in September 1997. These included the following subjects: greenhouse gases; the water quality of beaches in Hong Kong; the Yangtze dolphins; nuclear protest in Germany; Greenpeace’s swoop on toxic waste in the port of Hong Kong; the population problem in China; forest fires in Malaysia and Indonesia; air pollution from cars in Guangzhou; and the region being forced to pay for profit-at-any-price development. The media in Guangzhou are used as an important propaganda tool to highlight environmental blackspots and problems. To this end, the PRC Government established a China Environmental Science Press in 1980 to publicize the government’s efforts in combating environmental degradation and raise environmental awareness. The media in Guangzhou, however, are expected to strengthen coverage of positive achievements and to avoid concentrating on negative reports. As a senior official of the State Press and Publication Bureau said, ‘It is not a total ban but selected articles have to be in line with the official tone’ (South China Morning Post, 26 December 1998:4). A report on political dissent was the context for this statement, but the comment also applies more generally. The state of the environment in Guangzhou and Hong Kong The environmental situation

Despite environmental monitoring, published data on environmental quality in southern China varies in its availability; no comprehensive report exists as for example in Australia. The EPD in Hong Kong, however, publishes an annual yearbook and it is possible, as Edmonds (1996) has done, to piece together the situation in Guangzhou from various sources. The state of the environment is generally poor and, despite efforts, deteriorating. As the area has become wealthier, it has produced wastes at a faster rate. The EPD in Hong Kong estimates that the population has risen by 30 per cent but GDP and waste generation, which is a correlate with wealth generation, have increased by 300 per cent. Edmonds (1996) argues similarly about the situation in Guangdong. Key problems are: •

Waste disposal is a major problem in both cities. Hong Kong, for example, produces over 2,000,000 tonnes of liquid wastes and 22,500 tonnes of solid and semi-solid wastes per day but only 20 per cent receives proper treatment and 10 per cent partial treatment with the remainder

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•

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being left as raw effluent (Hong Kong Government 1997). Levels of treatment in Guangzhou are similarly low. The waters of rivers draining into Zhu Jiang Kou are highly polluted with agricultural and industrial waste. Water quality in Hong Kong harbour is poor and the median concentration of dissolved oxygen is frequently close to the minimum accepted level of 50 per cent saturation. Industrialization has led to a problem in disposing of toxic waste from the textile, plastic and electronics industries in Guangzhou. This has been more successfully dealt with in Hong Kong by legislation in 1993 and 1996 which has cut the total amount of toxic metal discharged by 1,700 kg per day. Land clearance has led to increased rates of run-off that have resulted in silting and flooding particularly around Guangzhou. In the delta, the Yuencheng River, for example, is now 1 metre above surrounding agricultural land. As in Hong Kong, river embankments and schemes to reduce flooding have been set in place. The Guangdong authorities have also embarked on a major reforestation programme to reduce soil erosion as a part of the Great Plains Project. Urban expansion has resulted in habitat loss and decreasing biodiversity generally in the region. Protected areas only seem to slow the rate of decline. Air pollution from the industrial use of sulphurous fuels and from vehicles has contributed to acid rain (Rain pH values in Guangzhou in the early 1990s averaged 3.7). Sulphurous fuels have been partially controlled in Hong Kong but the part played by vehicles continues largely unabated. Airborne particulate matter (from the incomplete combustion of fuels and from construction) constitutes a health hazard in both Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The EPD in Hong Kong estimates that between one quarter and one third of the population is exposed to unacceptable levels (above WHO standards) of sulphur and nitrogen dioxides and half of the population suffers from high dust levels. The continued use of CFCs in Guangzhou contribute to ozone depletion although this has been dealt with in Hong Kong by stringent controls on eighty-nine ozone depleting substances. Increased demand for food has led to increased use and risk from chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the countryside around Guangzhou. Most of the vegetables consumed in Hong Kong come from Guangdong.

The administrations in Guangzhou and Hong Kong have responded in a number of ways. Some areas are the subject of various forms of water control zoning. Similar measures exist to control waste, air and noise pollution. In Hong Kong the commissioning of a planned US$1.2 billion sewerage improvement scheme is awaited. Guangdong plans to spend nearly 15

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billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) to combat pollution (South China Morning Post, 6 August 1996). Hong Kong-Guangdong pollution problems, particularly as regards air and water pollution, are slowly being tackled by increased cooperation in practical ways between the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau and the SAR Environmental Protection Department. Enforcement of environmental legislation, however, provides cause for concern. The annual report detailing the environmental situation in Hong Kong (Environmental Protection Department 1994) highlighted, amongst a number of issues, the problem of illegal dumping of wastes by individuals. Xinhua (the New China News Agency) reports similar problems on the mainland. Contemporary trends in environmental attitudes

The dilemma exists between, on the one hand, traditional and imported values which support environmental sustainability and, on the other, forces of survival, ‘short-termism’, entrepreneurship and consumerism, which often are a cause of environmental degradation. Hong Kong grew through trade and profit. Guangzhou does so today in the ‘open-door’ period. What was important in the past in Hong Kong, and remains generally so today, is the symbiotic relationship between government and business that exists to maximize economic opportunity. At the heart of this relationship is the minimal regulation of economic activity and avoidance of financial burdens and infrastructural expenditure; all these, it is assumed, would hinder industry. Guangzhou and Hong Kong have felt it necessary to industrialise in order to survive. Factory owners and workers have grown up in an economic and social climate in which environmental matters have generally played second fiddle to attitudes and values underpinning development and ‘survival’. Environmental understanding is often shallow. Environmental concepts, which have currency in international literature, are often not part of the thinking of the public at large. In a recent analysis of environmental questions in Guangzhou an official commented: ‘In the early 1990s when Hong Kong environmental workers came and talked about environmental education, some Guangzhou people thought they were talking about environmental hygiene’. That is not to say, however, that there is ignorance of the fact that long-term remedies depend on changes in attitude and behaviour. Personal responsibility for the environment and environmental protection is not strong. Using the terminology of O’Riordan (1983), attitudes seem technocratic and managerial, or even cornucopian, rather than ecocentric. Strong commitment to the environment is the purview of a minority. In Hong Kong, increasing affluence, the development of a less transient population, the growth of a middle-class for whom the privations of the

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1950s and 1960s are a matter of history, and improved education have all helped to foster the beginnings of a concern for a better environment. However, the proviso that it should not materially affect people’s lifestyles always seems to exist. Increasing concern is also apparent in Guangzhou. Edmonds (1996) notes a degree of active citizen consciousness with the number of complaints to environmental protection units increasing, as people become less willing to accept adverse water and air quality and high levels of noise pollution. The level of environmental awareness and priorities among the public at large in the last decade or so can in part be gauged by the media interest described earlier. The media in Hong Kong both shape and reflect the public’s views. Anecdotal evidence suggests a strong concern about pollution issues, in particular air pollution, which is visible and is the cause of many respiratory illnesses, and about toxic wastes that contaminate foods. To most, environmental improvement is a matter of reducing pollution levels which risk degrading the quality of their lifestyles. Global issues seem less important. Whether this is a question of myopic selfishness or a feeling of powerlessness (as argued by Lai 1992) is debatable; in all probability there is a mixture of both. Environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong Intentions

Before the 1980s, environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong was limited as it was in most education systems including those in the AsiaPacific region. In Hong Kong, most educational innovation was directed towards the creation of a more technically literate population (Lee 1991; Adamson 1995) and educational provision was generally seen in terms of building infrastructure for the economy. Nine years of universal education was only introduced in Hong Kong in 1978 and Guangzhou in the 1990s. Environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong before the 1980s was linked to specific community needs. For example, in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 1960s there was the promulgation of environmental health education information through government media initiatives and, in the 1960s, there were water conservation campaigns during periods of drought. Similarly, in the People’s Republic, the government was involved in a ‘one child’ publicity drive in 1980 to reduce population pressure. Schools played a minor role. In Hong Kong, there were the beginnings of change in the late 1970s, with a move towards socially relevant school curricula. Pressure from NGOs and environmentally concerned individuals led curriculum committees in subjects such as chemistry, biology, geography and home economics to incorporate environmental themes. Nonetheless, overall, attempts at formal environmental education in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou during this period were sporadic and piecemeal.

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The situation in schools began to change in the early 1980s. In the PRC, the Second National Congress on Environmental Education in 1983 made environmental protection a national policy. It established an Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) which saw education as important (Chen 1994). The E PB was centred in Beijing but there were similar provincial government offices, including one in Guangzhou. The State Education Commission drew up a broad environmental curriculum for China based around environmental science with the assistance of the EPB, the State Planning Committee and the State Science and Technology Commission in Beijing. Recent educational policy encourages local adaptation and, in 1988, an Environmental Education Professional Teachers Committee was set up in Guangzhou comprising EPB officials, local cadres, lawyers and teachers to create a detailed, localized environmental programme within the national framework. Environmental education is viewed as a minor element within the context of values in education as a whole, the emphasis of which is strongly weighted towards the current state of the country and promoting pride in China (Lam 1993). The environmental education curriculum in Guangzhou seeks to provide the essential environmental knowledge needed for the development of contemporary China. The focus is largely on encouraging involvement of the people in environmental protection. The aim is to integrate science and sentiment, to develop a love and respect for nature and the environment. The desire is that young people will come to accept that environmental protection is something that involves everyone, and that some personal sacrifice is needed for the common good of society. Theory and knowledge about the environment is to be integrated with conservation practices in and for the environment. Five aims are promoted: • • • • •

knowledge of environmental protection as a national policy understanding that the environment is a part of the resources of China awareness that environment implies certain values awareness that environmental protection is a form of social ethics knowledge that environmental protection is controlled by legislation.

Knowledge, rather than analysis of problematic issues, is emphasized in a conventional view of environmental education. As indicated in Table 3.1 (p. 69), objectives often emphasized political aims, and environmental education is seen as a tool for information diffusion and the explanation of government initiatives. The objectives are at three levels, with schools being largely involved with fostering environmental consciousness (Level I) and awareness (Level II). This reflects a linear notion of behaviour change. The document sets out the knowledge about the environment and the attitudes pupils should acquire. It is the intention that knowledge, which is dominantly scientific in character, will encourage the

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formation of appropriate attitudes; this, in turn, will engender inclinations to act in ways that are environmentally friendly and consistent with national ideology. The environmental perspective of the curriculum is largely technocratic, and accommodates the present social system. A critical dimension is largely lacking. It looks to the adjustment of existing patterns of behaviour to maintain environmental sustainability without deflecting national and economic development. The tension between economic growth and environment is, however, recognized in the curriculum but the dilemma is not fully addressed. In Hong Kong, formal moves into environmental education also came in the mid-1980s. The colonial governor of the territory made the environment a key policy area. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD), like the EPB in the PRC, targeted environmental education. The EPD lobbied the government Education Department, which then agreed to incorporate environmental education into its curricula. As in China, curriculum development was largely conducted in a top-down manner and efforts were centralized in an Environmental Education Working Party comprising teachers, curriculum developers and education officials, but not EPD officials or NGO affiliates. The work resulted in the Guidelines on Environmental Education in Schools published by the Education Department in 1992. Unlike in Guangzhou, the document was only directed towards school-based education. The EPD developed a separate initiative with the business community. It also supported NGOs, such as Friends of the Earth, in community education as well as producing its own publicity materials. In contrast with the Guangzhou environmental curriculum, that in Hong Kong sees the task in terms of providing experiences necessary to help young people shape their attitudes, as well as providing them with knowledge. The stated goal, which echoes the 1977 Tbilisi definition for environmental education, is to promote in pupils a lifelong forward looking concern for the environment. It endeavours to prepare young people for making informed, justifiable and practical decisions regarding the conservation of the environment to enable them to live as useful and responsible citizens. The curriculum seeks an environmental education curriculum for the environment as much as about the environment but, while seeing the need for encouraging change, does not go as far as a social reconstructionist position. The rhetoric contrasts with that for Guangzhou. It expresses a process orientation and does not directly link environmental education in schools to specific government environmental protection policies. It seeks a broad education that will facilitate young people’s thinking about the environment and their position within it. The objectives of environmental education in schools (Table 3.1) express liberal, rather than directly instrumental, educational intent. Unlike in Guangzhou, objectives are not differentiated between primary and

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Table 3.1 Objectives for environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong

Source: Guangzhou Environmental Protection Propaganda and Education Centre (1990); Education Department (1992)

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secondary sectors; the implication is that the ideas are interpretable at all levels. A cross-curricular approach is adopted in both Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The aim is to infuse or permeate an environmental perspective into all subjects. This, however, has been the subject of debate. Some environmental educators have been concerned whether subject specialists are willing to be involved, and whether they have the necessary skills and commitment. Not all subject specialists have welcomed the incorporation of environmental education themes, and some see this as diverting from the central focus of their disciplines. Consequently, in Guangzhou, specialist elective courses were proposed but, as elsewhere in China, have not proven popular with a crowded school curriculum (Zhu 1995). In Hong Kong, efforts were focussed on a stand-alone ‘environmental studies’ programme for school leavers. However, the Hong Kong course, with curriculum content derived from existing biology and geography syllabi, was originally proposed as a non-examinable subject for lowachievers and, being viewed as low status, was rejected by schools. A second attempt involved an A-S level module in environment issues within a liberal studies programme for students aged sixteen to nineteen. This was more successfully implemented. However, it was only taken up by 10 per cent of schools when influential universities in the territory indicated they preferred A levels to A-S levels. In the debate, it has become clear that only a cross-curricular approach through existing subjects is likely to succeed in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou but that, in neither, is implementation easy. One question is how far the HKSAR education system will seek to converge with that of neighbouring Guangdong province and Guangzhou. As noted, in the mainland, there is an explicit focus on environmental protection education rather than environmental awareness, which is at the core of environmental education in the schools of Hong Kong (Stimpson 1997). The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has argued that the ‘one country, two systems’ concept is hindering the setting up of crossborder environmental protection policies (South China Morning Post, 1 October 1997). This in itself does not necessarily imply a unity of environmental education but it does perhaps indicate a mood which is intensifying; it parallels initiatives in environmental planning where a Hong KongGuangdong Liaison Group has worked since 1990. While the discourse among Hong Kong educators has espoused personal development, education in Guangdong is more explicitly geared to the needs, desires and beliefs of central government. NGOs in Hong Kong have argued that there should be a move towards action learning and environmental protection. However, whether the inculcation which dominates teaching in Guangdong would be acceptable to the HKSAR teachers, who support the rhetoric if not always the practice of active learning, is open to question. Nonetheless, it seems inevitable that conceptions of environmental education in the

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remainder of China will exert greater influence on the Hong Kong environmental curriculum than hitherto. Practice: an evaluation of environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong

The implementation of environmental education in Guangzhou and Hong Kong is probably as strong as anywhere in China. Indeed Kwan and Lidstone (1997) note the claim that environmental education is most effectively achieved in Guangdong of all Chinese provinces. Nonetheless, there is a tendency for environmental education to be marginalized by most teachers and its practice is piecemeal. Lam (1995), looking at the level of adoption of environmental education practices among geography teachers in Hong Kong, concluded that, whilst the teachers were concerned, most were at the level of ‘routine use’ within the confines of their subject. None indicated that they were looking for cross-curricular integration or were seeking to renew their whole philosophy and practice with respect to their teaching in environmental education. Radical changes seemed unlikely. He concluded that the present pattern of environmental education was best described as shortterm, often ill conceived, and unsystematic. There is often a discrepancy between intention and practice in schools, particularly in matters of emphasis. In Hong Kong, curricula are recommended not mandatory, and in Guangzhou there is considerable flexibility so long as instructions from central Government are not contravened. In one school Wong (1995) visited in Guangzhou, the head indicated that, in his opinion, it was enough to make students aware of environmental problems; involvement could come later in life. Parents are often concerned with their own economic advancement and the academic success of their children, rather than broader issues of the future health of the environment. It was argued that the pressure from the examinations left little time for environmental education, a point also noted by Lam (1993) in the case of environmental education through geography. Similar sentiments are to be found in Hong Kong. The influence of the examinations, which occur at all levels in the two education systems, is very strong and seen by teachers as a major constraint on what is taught in practice. Environmental components are rarely included in science or other public examinations in Guangzhou. The situation is somewhat better in Hong Kong, but there is still a tendency, however, to emphasize environmental knowledge rather than values or critical thinking. Diffusion through the secondary school curriculum is limited. In Guangzhou, it is centred in secondary schools with science, particularly biology, rather than the social sciences; in primary schools it is associated with geography and nature study (Jiang 1994). In Hong Kong, the opposite largely applies. Cheng’s (1994) survey of secondary school teachers in Hong

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Kong to assess the implementation of environmental education noted that, despite the Guidelines recommending that it should be infused into all subjects, teachers largely viewed environmental education as the responsibility of the biology and geography departments. A broad commitment to cross-curricularity was lacking among subject oriented teachers. Informal, extra-curricular activities have, thus, proved an important avenue for environmental education in both cities. Environmental education, despite the curriculum rhetoric and the actions of a few schools, is predominantly about the environment rather than in or for the environment in any meaningful way. Cheng’s survey in Hong Kong showed that opportunities for education in and for the environment were limited, a point taken up by Tilbury (1997) who noted that textbooks do little to encourage a critical appraisal. Lee (1996) similarly found that, while student teachers recognized the importance of environmental action, they would not advocate children taking a radical stance. ‘Cramming the duck’ is a metaphor for teaching in the mainland. Expository rather than the recommended experiential classroom approaches are adopted in the main, both in Hong Kong and particularly in Guangzhou, where the latter are largely unknown in class (Lam 1993; Man 1993b; Wong and Stimpson 1994) even though teachers recognize that pupils do not like the direct teaching of values (Lam 1993). Teachers in Guangzhou accept that things are controlled by the political ideology and that the free selection of values is not allowed. Ngan (1995), in a study of 409 teachers and student teachers, showed that educators were well aware of major environmental issues such as rainforest destruction from logging, radioactive waste disposal, loss of biodiversity, acid rain, etc. They recognized that responsibility for action lay as much with the individual’s decision about his or her lifestyle as with government policy. Yet teachers hold conflicting views. Teachers are knowledgeable, at least in a general sense, about the environment and recognize environmental priorities. (A parallel study of geography teachers by the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Hong Kong (1994) indicated teachers felt environmental education was an important part of their work.) However, whilst most in Ngan’s sample agreed that people should live in harmony with nature, many argued that people have the right to modify their environment to suit their own demands. Teacher education has been noted as a major problem by a number of researchers. Only just over one quarter of the teachers who were surveyed by Xu (1995) in mainland China had any training in environmental education although the situation was better for primary school teachers in the most developed areas. Provision fell to one in six in the less developed parts of China. Lam (1993) similarly pointed to the lack of professional understanding of teachers. Teachers did not know much about ways of developing environmental values apart from direct inculcation. Teacher education, with its often reductionist, instrumentalist approach to

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developing training skills, offers limited support. Overall approaches in teacher education institutions create an educational climate in which it is difficult to inculcate the sorts of skills and attitudes required by potential environmental educators (Stimpson 1994, 1995; Lee 1996). To address this problem in Guangzhou, a regional environmental education centre was recently established at the teachers’ college. The centre is attempting to meet the criticism of a lack of resources for teaching and is presently involved in producing materials related to Guangdong. In Hong Kong, similar centres have been set up by NGOs. The environmental attitudes of young people in Guangzhou and Hong Kong

Surveys of the environmental attitudes of young people by, for example, the Hong Kong Youth Federation (1991), Ng (1991), Yeung (1993), Beijing Normal University Department of Resources and Environmental Sciences (1994) and Wong and Yan (1995) indicate an awareness of environmental issues. Most, apart from the Beijing Normal and the Wong and Yan studies, have been relatively small scale. Beijing Normal University, in conjunction with the Canadian International Development and Research Centre, conducted a nationwide survey in ten provinces involving just under 16,000 upper primary and lower secondary children. Guangzhou was not included, but attitudes are unlikely to differ substantially from other affluent areas such as Shanghai that were surveyed. Wong and Yan (1995) surveyed 4,790 Hong Kong secondary school students from Secondary 2 (13–14 years old), Secondary 4 (15–16 years old) and Secondary 6 (17–18 years old). Their study aggregated the data from the three groups and did not attempt to differentiate by ability range. The young people in the Beijing Normal University survey had some knowledge of potential issues such as those related to ozone depletion, limited resources, and environmental problems from social and economic development. Both the primary and the secondary school children recognized that people’s behaviour must change, and claimed that they would be prepared to report offenders who polluted the environment. However, when asked if they would pay 10 yuan (just over US$1) towards processing waste products as many rejected the proposal as accepted. Those who disagreed with such actions felt either that it was too much or that it should be free. Wong and Yan’s results suggest that people, in Hong Kong at least, were more aware in 1995 than in 1991. This seemed consistent with Ng’s study, which seemed to show that education was making a difference in respect of the level of awareness about the environment. Among those students surveyed by Wong and Yan, 80 per cent realized that people are able to upset the balance of nature, recognized the impact of water and air pollution, and agreed that there is a need to reduce consumerism. As in the Beijing study, there was awareness of environmental issues. Most students agreed that

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there should be restricted development in country parks and favoured environmental protection even if it meant slower growth. They claimed they would change their lifestyle to reduce pollution. Sixty per cent agreed with the government’s decision to charge for sewage disposal and 90 per cent supported the government’s recycling campaigns. Yet many students saw people in a superior position to nature and that nature was there for exploitation. Where environmental problems arose, technological solutions were generally envisaged. Although most students recognized that population levels presented problems, nearly one-third saw no limits to economic growth. These findings largely parallel earlier outcomes from a survey of both students and adults by the Environmental Campaigns Committee (ECC 1993). The Hong Kong Youth Federation and Yeung both concluded that in general there is little inclination to take extensive action to protect the environment. For example, young people argued that they would write on both sides of a piece of paper to prevent waste, but are unwilling to take waste paper to collection points for recycling. There is a tendency to support many broad ‘apple pie’ and ‘motherhood’ type concepts such as environmental protection and in particular, those that are stressed in government information campaigns. On the other hand, few students involved themselves in environmentally friendly everyday activities such as taking their own shopping bag to reduce the use of plastic bags. They rarely practised green consumerism. Few became involved in school environmental action activities. As Lai (1992) and Lai and Stimpson (1997) found, many young people lack the confidence and feeling of empowerment that encourages action. Conclusion

There is a great ambivalence in the environmental values of young people in Guangzhou and Hong Kong reflecting, as in many communities, conflicting priorities in society. Individuals, government and educators believe that values consistent with sustainable development need to be cultivated. Desires for economic improvement and material advancement, however, are strong. Pragmatic self-seeking, often to the detriment of the environment, is too often apparent. Information about the environment is readily available in schools and particularly through the media. Despite the efforts of certain groups of teachers and the rhetoric of curriculum documents, environmental education provision in schools is limited generally in its extent and focus; in all probability the media have at least as great an impact as the school in shaping young people’s attitudes towards the environment. At the heart of the issue is the question of strength of environmental belief.

4

Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan Brendan Barrett, Osamu Abe, Eiichiro Harako and Satoshi Ichikawa

In eight more years we celebrate A less polluted world. A tanka (31 syllable poem) written in 1884 (Irokawa 1985) Nearly every day I have these coughing spells. When it happens at night, I can’t sleep. Almost every day I visit the hospital. Sometimes I think that I’d be better off dead because it would set me free of this. Still, I keep going because I don’t want our children and grandchildren to suffer like this. It’s my wish that no more people will fall victim to pollution. (Nishiyodogawa Pollution Lawsuit Plaintiffs and Counsel News, 20 October 1994)

Japan is the paragon post-industrial economy and the first industrialized democracy in the non-Western world. Environmental attitudes in Japan, as elsewhere, have been influenced by an array of social, cultural, geographical and climatic factors. Looking into the history of Japanese philosophy, religion and literature, it is possible to trace the evolution of a distinct intellectual tradition concerned with the relationship between humanity and the natural world (Davenport 1998). For instance, the Kojiki (written in AD 712) describes how the heavens and the earth came into existence, emerging from a state of chaos over a period of millions and millions of years. It explains how the heavens gave birth to deities and how two of them, Izanagi and Izanami, were sent forth with the sacred spear, Ama-no-Nuboko, charged with the task of creating and ruling over the land. The world they beheld from heaven appeared as a fog-bound sea. Izanagi placed the spear into sea and drawing it up observed how great drops fell from it coagulating to form the island known as Onokoro. The two gods descended to this island and began their next task of creating a country. First, they created the island of Awaji, next Shikoku and then the island of Oki. Following this, Kyushu, and after that the island Tsushima, were created. Lastly, Honshu, the main island of Japan was created. The name Oya-shima-kuni (country of eight great islands) was given to the island chain. This green archipelago has been inhabited for over 13,000 years beginning with the Jomon era (11,000 BC to 300 BC). For this entire period, the Japanese

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people have managed to coexist with a remarkably rich flora and fauna that includes 1,214 species of vertebrates, 35,207 species of invertebrates, 7,087 species of vascular plants, 5,500 species of algae, 1,800 species of mosses, 1,000 species of lichens and 16,500 species of fungi. The origins of the Japanese, however, remain undetermined with some scholars arguing, for instance, that the Yayoi peoples (300 BC to AD 300) were not descendants of the Jomon and were basically migrants from the Asian continent (Ohnuki-Teirney 1993). Regardless of their origin, the Yayoi chose as their home a mountainous country composed of nearly 4,000 islands extending 3,000 kilometres from north to south.1 Located close to intersection of three tectonic plates (the Pacific, Eurasian, and Philippine), Japan has been subjected to seismic and volcanic activity throughout its history, and experiences around 1,500 seismic occurrences per year. Confined to the lowland areas, subjected to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, monsoons, flooding and landslides, it is difficult to imagine how the Japanese people could carve out a fragile existence, let alone grow and prosper. And yet this inhospitable archipelago has maintained an extremely large population for centuries and is now one of the most densely inhabited countries in the world, supporting a population of 126 million in 1999. The average population density in Japan is around 340 persons per square kilometre. However, in some urban areas such as Tokyo and Osaka the population density is between 4–5,000 persons per square kilometre. Significant urbanization began in Japan during the Tokugawan period (1600–1867) with industrialization developing rapidly in the late nineteenth century. By 1920, around 18 per cent of the Japanese population lived in urban industrial centres. This proportion increased steadily, reaching 38 per cent by 1940 and climbing once more in the post-war period to 56 per cent by 1955. During the period of rapid economic growth (1960–4), over 3 million people migrated to the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. By 1970, 70 per cent of the Japanese were living in cities, climbing to nearly 80 per cent in the 1990s (see Table 4.1). Rapid industrialization, urbanization and other aspects of modernization have transformed Japan into a ‘front ranking’ advanced industrial society. The Japanese are now an affluent people with the large majority (up to 90 per cent) identifying themselves as middle class. Adult literacy is nearly 100 per cent and in 1993 roughly 23 per cent of the population above fifteen years of age had completed some form of tertiary education (see Table 4.2). Educational attainment is on the increase and currently approximately 40 per cent of all students per annum advance to higher education. However, divisions have begun to emerge in Japan based not on class values but in terms of age and education. Watanuki (1980) argues that educational attainment and the status of one’s university are measures by which Japanese people determine social position. In addition, he identifies a growing rift between the older generations who place emphasis on austerity, collectivist and deferential value preferences, and the younger generations who are generally more self-indulgent, secular, independent and self-assertive.

Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan 77 Table 4.1 Japan: distribution of population

Source: Shapira, Masser and Edginton 1994

In general, the Japanese are considered to be ethnically homogenous, with existing literature referring to fact that ethnic groups represent only 1 per cent of the total population. This may be somewhat misleading, however, and has been challenged in some quarters. While it is true that non-Japanese residents compose only 1.1 per cent of the national population, there are a number of minority groups within Japan that need to be considered when discussing ethnic/indigenous issues (see Table 4.3). The smallest of these indigenous minorities is the Ainu, aboriginal people who are now mainly located in Hokkaido, although they once occupied a large part of northern Japan.2 The other indigenous group within Japan is that of the Okinawan people, who inhabit the former island kingdom of Ryukyu, to the south of mainland Japan. Both of these groups are culturally distinct from their mainland compatriots. Moreover, within Japanese society there is another minority group known as the Burakumin. This minority came into existence in the seventeenth century and was composed mainly of peasants and craftsmen involved with the tannery and other related industries. At that time, the Burakumin represented the lowest stratum in society and were the subject of discrimination, the legacy of which persists in modern Japan. The Japanese constitution guarantees religious freedom and there are some 220 million (roughly twice the national population) registrations of members of a religious group. The predominant religion in Japan today is Shintoism which has over 118 million members, representing most Japanese. Table 4.2 Japan: qualification levels obtained

Source: Employment Status Survey, Statistics Bureau, Management and Co-ordination Agency, 1993 (http://www.somucho.go.jp/soumu/index e.htm) Note: Covers population 15 years and above

78 B.Barrett O.Abe, E.Harako and S.Ichikawa Table 4.3 Japan: ethnic composition of population

Source: Immigration Bureau, Ministry of Justice (1997) (available on http://jin.jcic.or.jp) Note: Despite rising unemployment and over 60,000 deportations a year, about 288,000 foreigners did not leave Japan even though their visas expired in 1995, about the same number as in 1993, a boom year. About 70 per cent of the apprehended foreigners had been in Japan one year or more, up from 30 per cent in 1990.

Shintoism (the way of the kami or gods) came into existence in the sixth century AD and is based on the principle that human beings, animals, trees, plants, mountains and streams can all be kami.The popular perception that the Japanese have a special relationship with nature perhaps derives from these Shintoistic beliefs. The next major religion is Buddhism with 90 million members. Buddhism was introduced into Japan in AD 538 and added a new dimension to the people-nature relationship, claiming that divinity resides in the fabric of the natural universe. However, it may be safe to conclude that most Japanese consider themselves to be hybrid Shinto-Buddhists. Christianity, a minority religion in Japan with only 1.5 million members (over a million Protestants and around 400,000 Catholics) was introduced by the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier in 1549. The authorities suppressed it in the seventeenth century as a potentially subversive influence. The ‘other religions’ category in Table 4.4 includes roughly 100,000 Muslims as well as various sects that have come into existence in the post-war period. Confucianism is another important influence on Japanese behaviour and attitudes; however, it can be best understood as a code of moral precepts rather than a religion. Imported from China, Confucianism eventually emerged as the dominant mode of thought in the Tokugawan period. It added a philosophical conception of people and nature as complementary elements in a world based on cooperation rather than conflict. The influence of Confucianism on contemporary Japan is difficult to assay and is generally thought to have declined in the post-war period. Influences and attitudes to the environment

Japanese attitudes to the environment and nature have continually represented something of an enigma to non-Japanese observers (Asquith and Kalland 1997). It has been claimed that traditional Japanese art, philosophy,

Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan 79 Table 4.4 Japan: religious beliefs

Source: Government of Japan 1993b

literature and religious belief attest a subtle awareness of human kinship with the natural world. It has also been argued that the Japanese perceive nature and culture as mutually embedded (Eisenstadt 1995). Moreover, the two principal streams of religious thought, Shintoism and Buddhism, express and reinforce this organic view of people in nature. Under this framework, leading philosophers have explained the uniqueness of the Japanese in terms of spatiotemporal conditions or, more precisely, as shaped by a particular set of environmental influences. One example is the work of Watsuji Tetsuro, who developed the concept of fudo, translated as climate and culture. His works seek to distinguish Japan from other monsoon cultures arguing that: Japan’s exposure to the severe climatic impact of the Arctic air from the north is a key factor in providing climatic and other physical conditions uniquely characterizing Japan. It is this dual climatic situation that is reflected in the Japanese temperament. The dual Japanese character of endurance and receptivity is one such manifestation. (Befu 1997) These and other such writings form the basis of Nihonjinron: the philosophical underpinnings of what it means to be Japanese. Quite clearly, the basic foundations for environmental attitudes in Japan lie outside of the Western JudeoChristian model (Pepper 1996). Table 4.5 (page 81) illustrates some of the key phases in the development of environmental attitudes in Japan. The initial phase of human-nature relationships is discussed in Davenport (1998) who refers to the early emphasis on Shamanistic perspective of communication between the social and spiritual world. In the Kofun era (see Table 4.5), Buddhism was introduced into Japan as well as Chinese aesthetic notions of the natural world. At the same time, Shintoism was formalized as a distinct set of religious beliefs and rituals. In the Nara period, Buddhism became more pervasive throughout Japan and at all levels in society. Moreover, a new system of land ownership developed based on the Shoen estate—land granted to persons who have been of service to the state—with significant impacts on both the ecological and economic foundations of the organization of society at that

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time. As development continued, increasing pressure was placed up the natural resource base in the country with significant deforestation taking place during the eighth to fourteenth centuries (Totman 1989). From the Heian period (see Table 4.5) onward, a more materialistic and pragmatic paradigm emerged, as Buddhism and later Confucianism brought about new interpretations of the ‘primitive’ or ‘archaic’ mythological conceptions that underpinned early Japanese thinking. The Tokugawan period was perhaps the most significant time of change in this respect, with the emergence of a new class system and power struggles between the aristocracy and religious establishments. It was at this point that Confucianism emerged as the dominant paradigm with its socio-materialistic perspective. Confucianism gave rise to an increased emphasis on scholarship and promoted ‘national learning’ (kokugaku). The literary focus associated with ‘national learning’ has been considered in some quarters as encouraging the process of seeing the natural world in aesthetic terms. As Davenport argues, the rediscovery of Shinto by ‘national learning’ ‘shifted what was originally a shamanistic or magico-religious discourse to the level of aesthetic (and potentially a political) ideology’ (Davenport 1998). At the same time as ‘national learning’ became prevalent throughout Japan, there was also a gradual increase in influences from the West. For example, Western science, or ‘Dutch learning’ as it became known, was explored because the Dutch were the only European nation to maintain trading contacts with Japan during the isolationist Tokugawa Shogunate. Moreover, as one of the few countries in the Asia-Pacific not to be directly colonized by the West, Japan had the opportunity to examine Western philosophy and technology during its shift from an agrarian to an industrial state, and to take only that which best suited its needs. As the quotation from Sakuma Shoozan (1811–1864) clearly shows: In teachings concerning morality, benevolence and righteousness, filial piety and brotherly love, loyalty and faithfulness, we must follow the examples of the Chinese sages. In astronomy, geography, navigation, surveying, the investigation of the principles of all things, the art of gunnery, commerce, medicine, machinery and construction, we must rely on the West. (Barrett 1997) The Japanese struggled for some time before wholeheartedly accepting these external influences. But once accepted, they became widespread. Western science and technology was a major driving force responsible for revolutionary change in Japanese society during the Meiji era beginning in 1868. Undeniably, the most fundamental changes in the people-environment relationships in Japan resulted from the successive industrial revolutions from this period onwards. Moreover, the Meiji Restoration (1868– 1912) marked the early beginnings of what can be described as Japan’s

Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan 81 Table 4.5 Key phases in Japan’s development

Source: Based on Totman 1989 and Davenport 1998

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most damaging ecological disaster (Broadbent 1998). An important example of the transition from Tokugawan values to those of the new Meiji era in environmental terms, was the Ashio Copper Mine Incident. The mine was the first technologically advanced facility in Meiji Japan. In 1890, deforestation activities around the mine caused periodic flooding of surrounding farmland with poisonous run-offs from copper tailings. After years of appeals and petitions to the government and the factory, followed by mediation and indemnity settlements, the situation did not improve and in 1900 approximately 2,000 farmers took collective action and marched on Tokyo. Incidents such as Ashio provide a clear understanding of how Japanese peasantry, middle and intellectual classes responded to early environmental problems. It has been argued that the Japanese Meiji intellectuals, many whom were socialists, Christians or both, viewed these early pollution incidents as part of the proletariat struggle (Colligan-Taylor 1990). This intellectual tradition was frustrated when Japan shifted from democracy to bureaucratic fascism in the 1930s (Irokawa 1985). The seed of contemporary Japanese environmentalism remained, albeit dormant. National consciousness of wider environmental problems only arose from 1964–5 onwards. In the fifteen years following the Second World War, Japan developed a strategy for economic expansion that was oriented toward highly polluting industrial sectors including iron, steel and petrochemicals. The result of this strategy was an unparalleled ecological crisis. A number of major pollution incidents occurred at this time and the reaction from government and industry was slow to the point of being obstructive. Although some Japanese academics were influential in raising public awareness of these disastrous pollution incidents, it is worthwhile mentioning here that the pollution protest movement in Japan was particularly effective in eventually bringing pressure on the government to act (McKean 1981).3 Through their activities and litigation (the Big Four Lawsuits) they brought about a radical change in the administrative approach to environmental problems. The actual court verdicts in each of these lawsuits were reached in the early 1970s (Huddle and Reich 1975). The lawsuits were crucial in establishing the principle of causation, and in shifting the burden of proof from the plaintiffs to the defendants. They also widened the interpretation of negligence and established the principle of strict or nofault liability for all forms of industrial pollution, and deftly handled the problems related to the compensation of pollution victims. By the early 1970s, there was a substantial body of thought about the environment and considerable experience with pollution problems in the Japan. Public concern for the environment was running high. By 1972, Japan had developed one of the most complete statutory frameworks for environmental policy in the world, primarily as a result of the ‘Pollution Diet’ of December 1970 where fourteen environmental laws were enacted or amended. The requirement for environmental protection to be in harmony with economic development was removed from the 1967 Basic Environment

Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan 83

Act and the ‘polluter pays’ principle was introduced at this time. Unfortunately, some of the laws and regulations enacted at this time proved unworkable or misconceived. The system of environmental legislation in Japan remained more or less unchanged throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was only with the emergence of global environmental issues and the emphasis on sustainable development that we witness efforts by government administrations to seriously reexamine the system. This began with the passage of the Environment Basic Law November 1993. Also in December 1993, the Government of Japan submitted a National Action Plan for Agenda 21 to the Commission on Sustainable Development. This was followed by the adoption of an Environment Basic Plan in 1994 which incorporates the concept of sustainable development together with the notion that measures need to be taken to reduce society’s ‘load’ on the environment. These aims are to be achieved through the promotion of an environmentally sound material cycle, harmonious coexistence with nature, more extensive public participation and international cooperation (Government of Japan 1993a; Japan Environment Agency 1994; Japan Environment Agency 1993). To summarize, the question of whether environmentalism exists in any given society will depend upon how the environment is defined (Milton 1996). However, it is clear that the definition of environment in all cultures is contested, and subjected to change both geographically and temporally (Macnaughton and Urry 1998). In this context, the antecedents of Japanese environmental attitudes may be best understood as a complex mix of values derived from pre-industrial times shaped through the process of modernization and influenced by the ecological crises that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Hence, we perceive sorrow over the loss of Tokugawan values and nostalgia for Edo lifestyles, as well disconsolation with the unfulfilled Meiji visions of a new Japanese society. Role of key interest groups

Several key interest groups have significant scope to influence attitudes towards the environment in Japan. These include the government, media and voluntary environment movements. Government and institutional responses

The Japan Environment Agency (JEA) was established in 1971 with a mandate to promote policies for pollution control, nature conservation and other environmental issues.4 The relative status, successes and weaknesses of JEA have been discussed extensively (Barrett and Therivel 1991; Gresser, Fujikura and Morishima 1981). The Agency had a budget of ¥67 billion in 1994. There are approximately 1,000 staff at the JEA, 275 at the National Environmental Research Institute and twenty-seven at the National Institute for Minamata Disease Research. The OECD estimated that this represented

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about 0.01 per cent of all government employees (OECD 1994). However, this figure indicates that the OECD incorrectly assumed that the JEA is the focal point of Japan’s environmental management system. This is mistaken: because the JEA is severely constrained by the fact that the policy proposals it makes are closely vetted by other ministries and implemented by local government. Rather, it may be more appropriate to consider the Agency as a coordinating body that collects and disseminates information. Furthermore, many environmental responsibilities lie elsewhere within the governmental administration. These are: • • • • •

Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW): water supply, waste management, human waste treatment. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF): forestry, fisheries conservation, agrochemical control. Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI): energy conservation, environmental technology development, supervision of commercial nuclear plants. Ministry of Transport (MoT): traffic pollution control, aircraft noise pollution control. Ministry of Construction (MoC): urban planning, development of public works including sewerage, urban parks, roads and dams, river preservation and flood control.

These ministries clearly exert considerable influence over the direction of Japan’s environmental policy and have significant resources at their disposal. Within many of these ministries considerable emphasis is placed on environmental issues. The Ministry of Construction also exerts considerable influence on the quality of the environment through its town planning functions, which include environmental assessment responsibilities. In Japan, the policy-making process appears to be dominated by these pro-development ministries. Consequently, JEA faces a number of significant barriers to the implementation of its policy; these may be overcome when the Agency is significantly expanded and given ministerial status in the year 2000. In recent years, perhaps supported by increased public awareness of pressing global environmental problems, the status of JEA has been greatly enhanced. Moreover, JEA has effectively drawn on the need to respond to global problems as a means to further develop national environmental policy approaches. The most notable example is the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in Japan in December 1997. Japan takes its commitments to the global community very seriously and has ratified all major international conventions related to the environment.5 Local environmental activities

Local authorities in Japan function as local environment agencies. As early as 1949, local authorities began introducing factory pollution prevention

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ordinances although they were generally weak and ineffective. It was not until July 1969, with the passage to the Tokyo Metropolitan Pollution Ordinance that the most significant breakthrough was made in local legislation. The ordinance sought to prevent and to eliminate all environmental pollution, gave priority to pollution control over economic growth, and empowered the local authority to impose draconian measures against polluters including cutting-off industrial water supply, if necessary. The ordinance excited considerable political and legal controversy, because it was stricter and more pro-environment than the existing national legislation. Other local authorities also found national regulations to be insufficient and enacted their own much stricter regulations. They took the view that it was the primary and inherent obligation of a local authority to preserve the safety and health of its residents. At first central government was strongly opposed to such ordinances but gradually gave way to public opinion that was fully in support of the actions of local government. Later national legislation was even revised (for example, Air and Water Pollution Control Acts) in order to support local authorities in the enactment of environmental ordinances and enforcement of pollution control. In terms of environmental policy, local government in Japan led central government in the 1960s and 1970s. Interestingly, from 1969 onwards, the demand for more effective pollution control became identified with the issue of local autonomy. The trend towards the decentralization of pollution control accelerated to the point where all forty-seven prefectures had passed some form of pollution control ordinance by 1975. From the 1960s onward, the general approach to environmental issues at the prefectural level initially involved the establishment of advisory councils to the governor and the establishment of a pollution control office. For example, Osaka Prefecture set up such an office in 1966. The establishment of pollution research institutes enhanced the capabilities of these offices and, in the early 1970s, prefectural authorities began to establish separate environment departments. As of 1994, all prefectures had established a bureau or division dedicated to environmental pollution control. However, the actual administration of policy is conducted through public health departments, branch offices of the authority and sections of the agriculture and forestry departments. At the municipal level, the organizational arrangements take the following forms. Larger authorities tend to have a separate environmental department supported by a pollution research centre. For example, as of October 1991, a total of 177 municipalities had established a separate division or bureau to deal exclusively with environmental pollution and fifty-one research centres had been established. Smaller authorities tend to have either an environmental group responsible for pollution control (450 municipalities in 1991) or a pollution control officer (253 in 1991). Taken together around 27 per cent of all municipalities by 1991 had made some form of change in order to deal with environmental issues. As regards the involvement of local politicians, all prefectures and most large municipalities have established a subcommittee in the assembly dealing environmental affairs.

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In the early 1970s, the need to look beyond mere pollution control to the wider issues affecting the environment was recognized, and regional environmental management systems were introduced. These systems bring together a whole range of tools including environmental monitoring and information procedures, environmental assessment and pollution control. Moreover, local authorities have played a fundamentally important role in fostering greater public participation in policy making. Some, such as Kanagawa Prefecture, have made efforts to increase public access to information through the enactment of freedom of information ordinances in the early 1980s. The environment remains a priority for local government and a large number of local administrators are employed in this area. Media and academic treatment of the environment

Japan has some of the highest newspaper circulation rates in the world. Data for 1995 show that some of the national newspapers have a daily circulation of 8–9 million (World Media Handbook 1995). As regards the coverage of environmental issues, it appears that the media have played a decisive role. According to Broadbent in the 1970s: it seemed that every day the national press trumpeted new pollution incidents, protest movements, and court suits. The media generated a collective awareness of the problem throughout the nation. It helped local groups know that they were not alone in their concerns. (Broadbent 1998) For instance, in newspapers the average space devoted to environmental issues grew from 0.4 per cent in 1960 to 2.8 per cent in 1972. News coverage on television quadrupled between 1960 and 1970. This comprehensive media coverage of environmental issues had the effect of shifting public opinion from one of resistance to the recognition of the dangers of pollution, to a situation where it became acceptable to protest overtly. These protests peaked in 1973 only to decline in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, pollution issues seemed to attract less media attention. However, from 1989 onwards there was an interesting new development, with increasing coverage of global environmental issues in most major magazines and newspapers. This trend has continued and a recent survey by the Prime Minister’s office on Global Environmental Issues and Lifestyles revealed nearly 90 per cent of respondents obtained information on these issues from the television, 75 per cent from the newspapers, 14.6 per cent from radio and 24.3 per cent from books. It is clear that the media is playing an important role in increasing awareness and changing public attitudes in relation to the environment. However, there is criticism of the role of the media from some quarters and it has been claimed that there are few journalists who are deeply interested in environmental problems. This situation is compounded by problems in the media industry

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related to the role of press clubs and also advertising. As regards press clubs, these have privileged access to government information sources and do not wish to jeopardize this situation by writing critically about environmental issues where the government is involved. Regarding advertising, the big corporations extensively use the media. The environmental coverage in the media therefore tends to use self-censoring to avoid controversial issues that could diminish advertising revenues (Hoffman 1996). The Japanese academic community is also very influential in shaping public attitudes to the environment. Academics undertake scientific research on environmental issues and participate in the policy-making process at all levels through advisory councils (a privilege not permitted to most environmental groups). According to Barrett and Therivel, academics in Japan are: bound by a network of loyalties and obligations. Controversial fields of research are frowned upon, so they often remain conformist. Many academics are funded by and have links with industry or government research institutes. As a consequence, independence of thought and inquiry are limited. (Barrett and Therivel 1991) While some academics have proven to be leaders in environmental reform and supporters of the environmental movement, those who speak out tend to be careful, since promotions could pass them by or their positions could be made untenable. This limits the potentially effective role that the academia could play in Japan in popularizing environmental issues and their solutions. Voluntary environmental groups

Environmental groups would probably benefit the most from a more vocal and supportive academic community. In the absence of such support these groups have struggled to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the general public. The history of citizen protest and the environmental movement in Japan has been extensively documented (McKean 1981, Broadbent 1998). There tend to be three main types of environmental groups: pressure groups (e.g. housewives’ associations, labour unions); conservation groups (e.g. for wildlife protection, cultural preservation) and ad hoc militant groups (e.g. compensation seeking or anti-development). In the 1970s, these groups tended to focus mainly on localized issues, and networking across the country was virtually unknown. In recent years, however, the status of NGOs has improved and their role has changed somewhat. From the 1980s onwards, the number of NGOs has gradually increased until there are now around 200 or so working on environment and development issues. Collectively, they have successfully sensitized public opinion on various issues, increased the scope of government policy making and offered alternatives to decision makers (Kanazawa 1996). NGOs in Japan, however, have far less financial support

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and organizational stability than their counterparts in other industrialized countries. In addition, levels of membership are quite low. For instance, the Wild Bird Society of Japan has around 30,000 members, which compares with the 400,000 in the UK Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is also important to recognize that a large number of the NGOs in Japan have actually been established by national or local government. The staff of these organizations tends to be composed mainly of seconded or retired government officials. While this provides them with direct access to their former organizations and a key role in agenda setting and policy making, it has the disadvantage of binding them to issues of a non-contentious nature. However, the promulgation of the 1998 Non-Profit Organization Law looks likely to bring significant changes in the role of NGOs in Japan; it will provide them with officially recognized status which should increase their influence, since greater consultation between government and these groups is likely to occur in the future. Business and green consumers

The industrial sector in Japan has a history of resistance to pollution control and environmental reform. In the late 1980s and 1990s, however, there was a noticeable shift in the attitudes of business in Japan with respect to environmental issues and a clear recognition of the potential opportunities associated with green business practices. For instance, Japanese firms have taken the notion of environmental management very seriously with over 1,500 companies certified as ISO 14001 compliant as of January 1999. This is much higher than Germany with 1,100 compliant companies and the United Kingdom with 950. Japanese firms now view good environmental management as a crucial element of international competitiveness. Related to this, a survey in 1995 by the Nikkei Industrial Consumption Research Institute showed that roughly 80 per cent of Japanese firms had established an environmental charter and many are developing standards to evaluate their environmental performance. The increasing emphasis placed on the environment by Japanese business may also be related to the growth of green consumerism in Japan. Although Japanese consumers and the public are not as environmentally aware as their counterparts in some Western countries, the 1990s has seen the emergence of environmental awareness as an influence on consumer choice.6 Recent research by Dentsu (a major advertising firm in Japan) revealed that 22.7 per cent of respondents were willing to pay more for green products in 1997 (up from 13.3 per cent from 1993) and another 51.6 per cent would consider doing so (up 10 per cent from the figure in 1993). More than half these consumers (62.4 per cent of them) expressed increasing dissatisfaction with the present efforts by business to address environmental issues. While participation by Japanese citizens in environmental groups is relatively low when compared to other industrialized countries, there has been a recent increase in participation in consumer groups. The Cooperative

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Association (Seikatsu Club) in Japan, an organization that includes green consumer goals, has around 250,000 members and is active on the political front with representatives in many local assemblies (Peng-Er 1999). In addition, new partnerships have emerged between consumer groups, local government and business. One example is the Green Purchasing Network (GPN) set up in February 1996 which includes 464 companies, 121 local governments and 107 citizen groups. GPN gathers and disseminates the information required in order to enable citizens to make informed green purchases. State of the environment in Japan

Japan has one of the most comprehensive and effective environmental monitoring systems in the world. The development of the system began in the early 1970s and involves a network of monitoring facilities throughout the country operated by national and local government. The information collected is presented in an annual state of the environment report referred to as the White Paper on the Environment and published by the Environment Agency. A brief review of these materials reveals a number of important issues concerning the quality of the environment in Japan (Japan Environment Agency 1998). •

•

•

•

•

•

Considerable progress has been made with respect to key air pollutants (sulphur oxides and carbon monoxide) compared to the levels encountered in the 1960s and 1970s. However, control of nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate matter levels in urban areas has proven more difficult. Japan’s carbon dioxide emissions are below the OECD average. However, the absolute carbon dioxide emissions are still high. For example, in 1992 Japan produced 5.1 per cent of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions. Trans-boundary pollution from neighbouring countries is a growing concern with acid rain levels now similar to those found in Europe. Although research is still going on, it is predicted that negative environmental impacts from acid rain will become apparent in the near future. There is nearly 100 per cent compliance as regards the control of heavy metals and toxic substance concentrations in water bodies. However, the control of organic pollutants has proven more difficult with eutrophication occurring in inland water areas and bays (Tokyo, Ise and the Seto Inland Sea) around Japan. Development activity around the inland and coastal waters poses a threat to the natural environment in these areas. Roughly 30 per cent of the lakeshores and 56 per cent of the marine coastline have been developed or altered. The main methods of waste disposal in Japan are landfill and incineration. Approximately, 75 per cent of the municipal solid waste is currently incinerated. While recycling rates for some materials are high (waste paper at 48

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per cent and glass at 49 per cent), further efforts are required in order to reduce waste generation. Alternatives to incineration need to be explored especially in the context of growing concerns about dioxin emissions from inadequate incinerator facilities (around 30 per cent of existing plants are sub-standard in terms of performance). Regulation of hazardous industrial waste is another area that needs to be improved. There is growing public concern about the potential impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (environmental hormones) and an urgent need for more scientific research. Although 67 per cent of Japan is forested, natural vegetation cover accounts for only 19 per cent of the country (mainly in Hokkaido) and is continuing to decline. Moreover, the most recent version of the Red Data Book shows that 7 per cent of mammals, 8 per cent of birds, 22 per cent of amphibians and 11 per cent of freshwater/brakish water fish are threatened with extinction.

Adult environmental attitudes

The Prime Minister’s office regularly undertakes surveys of public opinion about environmental issues. For instance, in a 1988 public opinion survey 25 per cent of respondents indicated that global environmental issues were a serious concern. By 1990 this had risen to 42.4 per cent and by 1993 it was 55.6 per cent (Kanazawa 1996). In November 1998, in a survey of 3,000 people throughout Japan, nearly 80 per cent indicated that they were concerned about the state of the global environment. A large number of people (around 50 per cent) also considered that decline in the quality of the natural environment within Japan is one explanation why the general situation in Japan is currently getting worse. According to most national and international surveys undertaken of the attitudes of the Japanese toward to the environment, it is clear that the majority recognizes the significance of environmental problems and the necessity for ordinary citizens to act in some way to protect the environment. For instance, the 1993 ISSP survey of Attitude and Behavior Concerning Environment undertaken in Japan by the NHK Public Opinion Research Division revealed a number of interesting insights into Japanese attitudes toward the environment.7 Although there were many similarities between the attitudes found in Japan and those elsewhere, the main distinctions were: • • •

Japanese respondents tended to be more concerned about air pollution by automobile exhaust fumes than respondents from other countries. They ranked second in the predominance of the perspective that considered human activity inevitably damages the environment. They ranked last with regard to those who held an optimistic view that scientific progress can solve environmental problems, and highest in their tendency to believe that animals should have the same moral rights as human beings.

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• •

Regarding the knowledge of environmental problems, Japanese had the most accurate knowledge among the twenty-one countries surveyed. Many Japanese answered in the affirmative, in principle, about bearing the costs of protecting the environment to a certain extent, but only a few were willing to share the expenses voluntarily.

Other detailed studies of environmental attitudes in Japan have been made. For instance, a 1989 survey by Pierce, Lovrich, Tsurutani and Abe compared public knowledge and environmental politics in Japan and the United States. The findings from Japan are summarized in Tables 4.6 and 4.7 (p. 92). Based on these findings Pierce et al. argued that the Japanese public is knowledgeable about environmental issues and support for the new environmental paradigm in Japan is high (higher than in the United States). They also concluded that support for the role of science and technology was lower in Japan than in the United States (reinforcing the findings from the ISSP survey). In explaining Japanese support for the new environmental paradigm, it was argued that some of the fundamental concepts it contains might well correspond to long-held fundamental beliefs that underpin Japanese culture. Another survey on Japanese perceptions of wildlife and its conservation was undertaken by Kellert (1990). Kellert’s results revealed that Japanese appreciation of nature is very narrow and idealized. He argued that the Japanese appreciation of nature is primarily focused on single species and individual aspects of the environment. He also claimed that the ecological and ethical dimensions seem to be lacking from the Japanese perspective. Here we see clear contradictions between the results of the surveys undertaken by Pierce et al., Kellert and the ISSP which imply either a shift in values in recent years or the basically contested nature of these complex issues within Japan itself. Environmental education in Japanese schools

The approach to education in Japan has been well documented and need not be discussed here (see Lee 1995). Rather this section focuses on the main trends in the development of environmental education. Traditionally, environmental education in Japan was not recognized as a discrete element in the national curricula but was covered under other subjects such as social studies, science, health and physical education (Ichikawa 1996). It was only following Japan’s tragic pollution experience during the 1960s that new courses began to be introduced at all levels of schooling on ‘pollution and health’ in 1969, on ‘environmental protection and prevention of pollution’ in 1977 and finally on ‘mankind and the environment’ in 1978. Over this period, the overall proportion of environmental education gradually increased although still within the framework of existing subjects. It was not until 1989, however, that a more radical revision of the curricula took place with the introduction of ‘life environmental studies’ as a new subject at elementary schools

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Table 4.6 Percentage correct on knowledge of environmental science items among various groups in Japan

Source: Pierce et al. 1989 Table 4.7 Japanese public attitudes on items related to the new environmental paradigm (%)

Source: Pierce et al. 1989 Note: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding

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intended to encourage children to ‘develop interest in the relationship between oneself and one’s immediate environment, [and] also develop habits and attitude conducive to an appropriate lifestyle’ (National Institute for Education Research 1993). Within this framework, environmental education came to focus on fostering the abilities of students to solve environmental problems and to promote attitudes appropriate to responding positively to social change. Related to this was the increased emphasis placed on experience-based learning. The Ministry of Education has supported these activities with the publication of environmental education handbooks and guidelines that call for the development of citizens who are: aware of, and knowledgeable about, the environment and its problems, that have the skills, faculties and judgement required to promote the appropriate conservation of the environment on the basis of a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between human activities and the environment. (Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture 1992) The ministry has taken the lead in promoting the spread of environmental education within schools through a number of measures that include the designation of model eco-schools in specific municipalities, environmental education fairs, and additional teacher training activities. The prefectural and municipal governments are responsible for the implementation of these measures and guidelines. Moreover, the Japan Environment Agency is responsible for promoting more widespread adult environmental education. The effectiveness of these institutional arrangements has not been fully examined although it may be safe to conclude that they have not been conducive to the creation of a more integrated approach to teaching in this subject area. The main breakthrough that can be attributed to the adoption of environmental education in Japan is the impact on teaching methods. As in many other countries, the overall approach to teaching in the past in Japan placed emphasis on the structured, systematic presentation of knowledge through simultaneous, collective instruction in classrooms. The pupils were considered as passively accepting directions from the teacher, relinquishing their independent thinking, judgement and action. However, the introduction of new teacher methods through environmental education has brought about significant changes as summarized in the following statement from the Ministry of Education: We now need to move away from the notion that school education be a self-contained process through which all required knowledge is taught. Instead we must use education to develop the qualities and skills needed to enable people to continue learning throughout their lives and to live independently in an era of dramatic change. (Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture 1995)

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New methods of instruction are being introduced focusing on individualized, small groups and team teaching, hands-on learning and problem solving. This includes experimentation with role-playing, simulation, games, debating, as well as decision-making and values clarification exercises. This approach to education has a ‘liberal progressive orientation’ (Kemmis, Cole and Suggett 1983). It is still too early to evaluate the impact of these new measures. At the same time, the relatively recent introduction of guidance on environmental education in 1992 also makes a comprehensive assessment of its effectiveness difficult at this stage. The handbook itself appears to promote an integrated perspective to the study of environmental issues and places emphasis on the role of the individual in resolving contemporary problems. It argues: Our daily lives as a consumer [built on affluence and convenience] cause the destruction of the biophysical environment as well as urban lifestyle pollution, such as water contamination, noise, waste management problems and traffic. Moreover, the production and consumption patterns result in the exhaustion of the Earth’s valuable resources and energy, and cause considerable damage to the environment through the discharge of large of wastes and pollutants. (Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture 1992) The general orientation of this approach seems to be promoting various forms of environmentalism (after Fien 1993) including the following: • • •

Main orientation: accomodationist, focused on the amelioration of environmental problems through legislation and science-based management practices. Secondary orientation: Gaianist, focused on attributing environmental problems to personal lifestyles, economic growth, advancement of science and technology, and population growth. Tertiary orientation: eco-socialist, focussing on the socio-economic systems and their possible transformation.

Studies of the environmental attitudes of young Japanese illustrate that only the primary orientation, which sees solving environmental problems as something to leave to others, has had any real impact. Environmental attitudes of young Japanese

Two recent surveys undertaken in Japan provide useful insights into the environmental attitudes of young people. The first was undertaken in 1992 and covered over 700 students in high schools in Tottori Prefecture (Ohka and Fujishima 1993). The second involved a nationwide survey in 1993 covering over 900 eleventh graders (Ohtaka 1994). Results from both the 1992 and 1993 surveys show that almost 90 per cent of the respondents

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were interested in environmental issues to varying degrees. Regarding the issues that were the subject of most concern, Table 4.8 (overleaf) presents the results from both surveys. Itshows that ozone layer depletion, radioactive pollution and water contamination were of greatest concern in Tottori; nuclear waste disposal was considered as the most serious issue requiring urgent action in the nationwide survey. Tables 4.9 and 4.10 (pp. 96–7) summarize the actions considered necessary to solve environmental problems in the two surveys. These illustrate the respondents’ understanding of the need for the individual to take action to help solve environmental problems (as high as 76 per cent in Tottori and 74 per cent nationwide). However, there is a noticeable fall-off in these percentages when it comes to undertaking specific actions. For example, only 32 per cent said that they were willing to draw posters, 25 per cent to talk to their friends, 18 per cent to contribute money, 16 per cent to distribute pamphlets, and 14 per cent to write to politicians. Conclusion

This chapter has sought to identify links between the predominant form of environmentalism in Japan, and some of the contemporary attitudes to the environment among the younger generation. It is clear that Japan’s experience in the 1960s transformed the country into a society anxious about pollution abatement. This is compounded by a relatively weak planning and nature conservation system. Hence, the emphasis of the environmental administration has tended to be on regulatory and technology-oriented approaches to tackling pollution issues. Emphasis on personal action to tackle environmental problems associated with modern lifestyles appears not to be prevalent. Moreover, the results of various surveys indicate that there is fairly widespread pessimism in Japanese society with regard to the actual effectiveness of these technocentric approaches to solving environmental problems. Indeed, environmentalism in Japan may be evolving into a new phase (shifting away from past concerns with pollution) to reflect the more widespread adoption of post-materialist values and acceptance of the new environmental paradigm. This is given further impetus by the general social trends in contemporary Japanese society. These include major shifts in demographic structure (an aging society), rapid changes in the economic and industrial base (the recession), privatization, new demands stemming from the impact of information technology and an overall increase in societal expectations about the quality of life. These changes demand new approaches to understanding the environment that are holistic and more sophisticated. These new approaches may already be emerging. The 1993 OECD environmental performance review for Japan, for instance, remarked upon the achievements of the Japanese in uncoupling the levels of economic activity and energy use from air pollution emissions, and willingness to recognize the increasing importance of international environmental

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Table 4.8 Anxiety about environmental issues and the need for urgent action in Japan

Source: Ohka and Fujishina 1993; Ohtaka 1994 Note: *25% of students wanted to see urgent action to deal with domestic waste and 49% on industrial waste disposal.

cooperation in recent years (OECD 1993). The OECD was, however, critical of Japan’s environmental performance in a number of areas but in particular nature conservation, which was described as being ‘at a cross-roads as regards its potential to either achieve significant gains or to experience irreversible losses of natural resources’. The OECD’s recommendations related to the need for greater integration of environmental and other policy areas, Table 4.9 Japan: measures required to solve environmental problems (1992)

Source: Ohka and Fujishina 1993

Oya-Shima-Kuni: Japan 97 Table 4.10 Japan: actions to solve environmental issues (1993)

Source: Ohtaka 1994

the adoption of ecosystem management and pollution prevention rather than mere control, the use of economic instruments and development of strategies, and the setting of targets for nature conservation. To some extent, the Japanese Government has sought to respond to these comments within the Environment Basic Plan of December 1994. The plan includes proposals for a mandatory environmental assessment system, more widespread use of economic instruments and the development of systematic measures to conserve outstanding natural features. It remains to be seen, however, whether or not this is merely rhetoric or whether it will produce a substantial shift in Japan’s future environmental policy. More importantly, the evidence from the survey of young people in Japan shows that expectations about the future quality of the environment are high. Young people in Japan are becoming increasingly familiar with concepts commonly used in the international community. They also appear to be very supportive of the environmental paradigm, ranking environmental protection higher than economic growth. They see personal action to protect/improve the environment as important. However, for a number of complex reasons, they appear unable to move from understanding to action. This may relate to a lack of efficacy or sense of agency on their part or to some kind of societal tendency that frowns on participation. The challenge, as found in other countries examined in this

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book, is how to create the conditions whereby the energies and enthusiasm of the youth of Japan can be harnessed to ensure environmental protection and responsible, proactive citizenship. Notes 1 Fifty-three per cent of Japan is mountainous, 7 per cent is classified as volcanic, 11 per cent highlands, 4 per cent piedmont, 12 per cent plateau and 13 per cent lowland. 2 On March 27 1997, the Sapporo District Court ruled that the Ainu people should be granted recognition as an indigenous people of Japan and therefore entitled to the protection of their distinct culture. 3 The tragedy at Minamata, where mercury entered the food supply of the local fishermen, is well documented. The symptoms of Minamata disease first began to be noticed in the early 1950s and the responses by the polluter (Chisso Corporation) and the local and national administrative bodies increased the tragic nature of this disaster. This response was characterized by denial and unwillingness to cooperate with scientific investigations on the part of the polluter and unwillingness to recognize the problem or take action on the part of the administration. The national government only officially recognized the disease in 1968, twelve years after its first discovery and one year after another mercury poisoning incident was brought to the public’s attention in Niigata. The costs in human terms of this delayed response were high. For example, in 1986 it was estimated that some 752 people had died as a result of mercury poisoning at Minamata with a further 173 deaths in Niigata. Cadmium poisoning along the Jinzu River in Toyama resulted in the death of 95 people and around 625 people had died throughout Japan from pollutionrelated respiratory illnesses with another 94,639 victims still alive. 4 There are currently four main bureaus in the Agency: Planning and Coordination, Nature Conservation, Air Quality and Water Quality. The Environmental Health Department was added in 1974 and the Global Environment Department in 1990. There are two institutes affiliated with JEA: the National Institute for Environmental Studies and the National Institute for Minamata Disease Research. In addition, there are two advisory committees, the Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control (CCEPC) and the Nature Conservation Council (NCC). The Director-General of the Agency is required to consult with these bodies when developing basic policies. A Council of Ministers for Global Environmental Conservation was established in 1989. It includes nineteen ministers (out of a total of twenty-one) and is concerned with furthering the development of Japan’s global environmental policies. Furthermore, in January 1994, a Central Environment Council was established as part of JEA in accordance with the 1993 Environment Basic Act. Members of the Council are appointed by the Prime Minister and their task is to oversee the preparation and implementation of the Environment Basic Plan. 5 On 2 October 1998 the National Diet enacted the Law for the Promotion of Measures to Tackle Global Warming. The act clarifies the role of all relevant social actors, such as national government, local authorities, the private sector and citizens in achieving the quantitative emission reduction target of green-house gases as set out in the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 6 These consumer trends have increased the range of green products on the market. Japan has its own version of eco-labeling, known as ‘Eco-Mark’ for a range of consumer goods. As of October 1994, there were 2,224 products under sixty-one categories qualifying for the Eco-Mark. 7 The information on the ISSP (International Social Survey Programme) is taken from a summary report by K.Midooka and N.Onodera of NHK (the National Broadcasting Company of Japan) available on http://www.hhk.or.jp.

5

Living traditions: India M.J.Ravindranath and Usha Iyer-Raniga

Introduction

India is a country of vast diversity, both biological and cultural. Located in the Asian continent at the junction of the bio-geographic provinces of Africa, Eurasia and the Orient (Gadgil 1991), India is bounded on the north by the Himalayas—the most fragile and the highest mountain system in the world— on the south-west by the Arabian Sea and on the south-east by the Bay of Bengal. As a result, India has a multitude of climates, soil types and ecosystems. It also has an astounding diversity of languages, religions and cultures. India’s climate ranges from perpetual snow-cover of the Himalayas to near equatorial conditions in the south, from mangroves to humid tropics and from hot to cold deserts. And with a population of more than 900 million, and an annual growth rate of 2.11 per cent, India is soon expected to take the place of China as the most populous country in the world. A record 1,652 languages are spoken by its people as their mother tongue, with thirty-three spoken by over 100,000 people each. India’s population is predominantly rural, and has been increasing in numbers and people per square kilometre over the last decades (see Table 5.1). India is one of the top twelve mega-diverse nations in the world. Indeed, India’s biodiversity is extraordinary; it includes almost all the major ecosystems of the world. While the country only has slightly over 20 per cent of its land area under forests, of which less than 12 per cent has close forest cover, there are roughly 45,000 species of plants, or about 12 per cent of the global plant wealth. There are about 15,000 species of flowering plants, constituting 6 per cent of the world’s flowering plants. More than 33 per cent of these species are endemic and are located in 26 endemic centres (Khoshoo 1991). In terms of diversity of fauna, India has over 68,300 species of animals of which 60,000 are insects, about 1,600 fish and 372 mammals. The rate of endemism is 33 per cent in reptiles (7.2 per cent of the world’s reptiles) and 62 per cent in amphibians (4.4 per cent of world’s total). There is also a wide range of domestic animals, including buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry, horses and camels. Although no clear estimates are available,

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Table 5.1 India: demographic patterns

Source: Manorama Year Book 1996

India’s marine biota is very rich and spreads over its 7,000 km coastline, with a shelf zone of 452,460 sq. km. and extended economic zone of 2,013,410 sq. km. There is an abundance of seaweeds, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, corals, reptiles and mammals (Khoshoo 1991). Environmental concerns in India

Although rich in terms of its natural resources and tradition of reverence for and conservation of nature, like many other countries in Asia and the Pacific, India faces innumerable environmental problems and concerns. These range from pollution of air and water to loss of biodiversity and soil health problems. Particularly in the rural areas, there is widespread environmental degradation. Forest clearance and widespread erosion mean that nearly a third of India’s land area is considered to be unproductive wasteland. Furthermore, falling water tables have resulted in shortages of drinking water. Perhaps the biggest environmental challenge facing the country is its sheer population size. Rapid population growth has effects on standards of living and the environment. It puts pressure on the natural ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and natural capital such as forests. As population numbers increase, other resources are also stretched leading to severe economic problems. The National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development (Government of India 1992) classifies India’s environmental problems into two broad categories. The first relates to the impact of efforts to achieve rapid economic growth and development. The second deals with the impacts of poverty on the country’s natural resources (land, soil, water, forests, wildlife, etc.). In one way or the other, these two categories of problem are related to the increasing population size of the country. These issues are also associated with the journey of post-independence India to the present.

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Population

By mid-1996, the population of India was estimated at 934.2 million, based on a projection from the 1991 census figures (Srinivasan et al. 1997). With an annual growth rate of 2.11 per cent, it has now reached one billion. It is expected that this population growth will stabilize around 2060 at which time it will be 1.8 billion, almost double the present population. This escalation will put severe pressure on the country’s natural resources and life support systems, as well as bringing down the per capita availability of land. It is estimated that over 230 million tons of food grains will be required to support this population compared with the present production of 150 million tons (Trivedi 1992). This problem is compounded when one considers the population of livestock to be supported on the available land. India has the world’s largest cattle population. The 406 million head of livestock need to be supported on less than 4 per cent of the total land classified as pasture land. Much of this has already been over-grazed and become wasteland. The increase in human population has resulted in large-scale migration to urban areas in search of employment. The number of urban centres has increased from 2,843 in 1951 to 3,768 in 1991, an increase of over a third (Srinivasan et al. 1997). The identified population living in slums in Indian cities has increased from 27.9 million in 1981 to over 150 million in 1991. This increased migration has placed enormous pressure on the infrastructure and sanitation facilities of the major cities and towns. Only twenty-one have partial or full sewerage and sewage treatment facilities (Centre for Environment Education (CEE) 1992). According to Rao (1995), over 25 per cent of the urban population in the mega-cities of India have no access to potable water, resulting in serious health problems. Land use

India’s total land area is 329 million hectares. Of this, almost 175 million hectares require special treatment to make it productive. This situation has been caused by inappropriate land uses, which have intensified water and wind erosion, salinity and alkalinity. Careless irrigation practices and construction activities have resulted in the large-scale destruction of forests and agricultural land. About 100 million hectares of arable land out of a total of 160 million hectares have degraded, half of which are severely degraded and unproductive (Rao 1995). India loses almost 6,000 million tons of soil annually. This involves six million tons of soil nutrients (Trivedi 1992). Increased soil erosion has also resulted in sedimentation of rivers and reservoirs, adversely affecting the water holding capacity of these water bodies and damaging aquatic ecosystems. Although rainfall is generally plentiful and reliable in most parts of India, almost 30 per cent is lost as surface run off, with only 50 per cent percolating into the soil. Almost 70 per cent of water bodies are polluted to varying degrees (Trivedi 1992).

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Forest cover

India’s forest wealth, once a pride of the country, has been decreasing at an alarming rate. Forests in India are categorized into ‘recorded forest’ (the legal classification of an area as forest) and ‘actual forest’ (a subset of the former which refers to land under actual forest cover). According to the report of the National Conservation Strategy (Government of India 1992), there were 75.01 million hectares of recorded forest in 1992. This amounts to 19.5 per cent of the total land area, which is far below the national standard of 33 per cent for the plains and 66 per cent for the hill regions. India is losing almost 1.5 million hectares of forest cover each year due to the commercial use of forest areas for mining and logging. This has resulted in the loss of habitats and biomes, and the extinction of faunal, floral and microbial species. The Botanical and Zoological Surveys of India identify almost 1,500 plant and animal species as endangered. Urbanization and industrialization

Another important concern is increasing urbanization and industrialization. Slightly over 30 per cent of urban Indians live in slums located around a large number of industrial establishments. This increased urbanization and industrialization have resulted in the vast clearing of green areas and has converted major cities and towns into concrete jungles, with problems of air, water and land pollution and lack of access to basic civic amenities. Air pollution in Indian cities has reached dangerous levels (Srinivasan et al. 1997). As a result, respiratory diseases, such as asthma, and allergic diseases are rising. The high levels of air pollution are primarily due to the incomplete combustion of leaded petrol and diesel, particularly in two- and three-wheeled vehicles. The growth in the numbers of automobiles in the country has been exponential over the last three decades. In addition to these human-induced problems, India also faces regular natural disasters caused by frequent occurrences of floods and drought, landslides, cyclones, earth quakes and so on. One estimate suggests that almost one eighth of the country is prone to flooding, with loss of human and animal life and damage to crops and property worth an average of 300 million dollars annually (Rao 1995). Cultural context

Culture may be defined as the total accumulation of material objects, ideas, symbols, beliefs, sentiments, values and social norms which are passed on from one generation to another in a society (Ranganathan 1971). Table 5.2 indicates that the Indian population is a complex mixture of various religions and racial strains and is polygenetic in nature. The rich culture that has evolved over the years is infused with concern for the environment and conservation.

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Hindus comprise over 80 per cent of the Indian population. Hinduism does not rest upon any single belief system or any single personality, messiah or prophet. It has remained open to all approaches to truth through various saints and sects, teachings and sacred books. However, the term, Hinduism, is narrowing, to include only those who hold the Vedic heritage as sacred. Char (1997) believes that this is because of a perceived need to follow the Western idea that a religion must have a founder and a sacred book, as in the case of Muslims and Christians. The Buddhist and Jain religions have departed from the basic Hindu tradition and developed religio-theological systems based solely on the preachings of their own founders, the Buddha in the case of Buddhism and Mahavira in the case of the Jain religion. Sikhism, another off-shoot of Hinduism, relies purely on the teachings of its founding spiritual teacher, Guru Nanak. The Vedas have generally been considered to provide the traditional path for any Hindu. However, the post-Vedic literature of Hinduism and its contemporaries, the Buddhist and Jain religions, are also imbued with reverence and compassion for the environment, and emphasize environmental protection and conservation. Buddhism developed as a monastic sect and blossomed into a religion of the masses with heavy patronage from early Indian rulers such as Ashoka and Kanishka. Empathy with all living things is the lifeline of Buddhism, which condemns cruelty of any kind to animals and plants. When prayer wheels are turned in Buddhist temples, it is believed that the natural order of the universe has been set in motion. Jainism emphasizes conservation of nature through the path of Ahimsa (non-violence), the basic tenet of which is ‘live and let live’. Jain culture is based on the concept of aranya sanskriti, and holds that the whole world is a huge and gigantic tree and humans occupy only a small portion of it (Deshpande 1958). There are also many Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Parsi communities in India. Like Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, Muslims in India do not believe that the earth exists for humans alone. Muslims generally believe that a clean Table 5.2 India: population by religion

Source: Manorama Year Book 1996

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environment is essential for human existence. Thus, devout Muslims wash several times a day and do not eat pork because pigs are not considered clean animals. Muslim attitudes to the environment are discussed further in Chapter 6. Hindu beliefs and the environment

The Indian concept of development is called mangalya and involves: a state in which man [sic] has no insurmountable problems and the natural, cultural and social environment in which he lives is conductive to his overall welfare. Mangalya is not limited to an individual; it covers all those humans and other lives in and around the individual. It is the collective welfare. It carries man towards blissful life. The collectivity includes all living and non-living entities, the individual in question is linked to. (Misra 1994:127) Kushala is a term that is often used in conjunction with mangalya. It conveys ‘welfare’ in general while mangalya conveys ‘bliss.’ It is generally believed that Hindu Indian culture is based upon both kushala and mangalya. Hence, it can be said that the culture goes beyond human beings to include other living creatures including plants and animals. Bhat (1994) argues that two major elements of Hinduism have contributed to the development of a national environmental ethic in India: empathy with, and compassion for, all living and non-living things, and harmony with the environment. Thus, from time immemorial, Hindu Indians have called their culture manava dharma or human culture. Dharma is a moral value derived from dhr, which means to uphold, to maintain, to support, or to nourish. Hindu Indian culture therefore encompasses the needs of every human being, irrespective of age, class, creed or sex (Chatterji et al. 1966), and places a heavy emphasis on a deep understanding of the nature of humans and their relationships with other organisms in the universe. Viewing humans as both a part and a product of nature, Hindu culture approaches nature through humans; it is in themselves that people can become most aware of ‘reality’ and, in Hindu culture, nature is perceived as an all-encompassing reality. Hence, everything in nature is considered sacred and worshipped—mountains, rivers, oceans, soil, plants, animals, air and so on—and each aspect of nature is revered. Water, air, soil and energy (fire) are worshipped as Varuna, Vayu, Bhodevi and Agni, and many animals honour the gods and deities as their vehicles. Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas, Puranas, and Upanishads and the great epics Mahabharata and Ramayana laid a strong rationale for the conservation of nature. They even prescribed religious practices as well as sanctions against the excessive use of natural resources. These scriptures state that: No one species has an absolute power over another, although there does exist a balance between them. Man is particularly obliged to be the

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protector and guardian of all creatures, since man is endowed with the unique quality of consciousness, which other creatures lack. (Moonis Raza 1988) According to Misra (1994), nature and culture are indivisible in Indian traditions and, within this view, everything is interrelated and interdependent. Hence, there are few prohibitions on the use of nature for food and other essentials, but many stipulations that their use should not jeopardize the environment. It is, perhaps, for this reason that ancient Indian Hindu scriptures abound with detailed description of trees, plants and other vegetation and messages about the importance of their protection and conservation for the general welfare. This is reflected in the Upanishads which emphasize that: This Universe is the creation of Supreme Power meant for the benefit of all his [sic] creation. Each individual life form must therefore learn to enjoy its benefit by forming a part of the system in close relation with other species. Let not any one species encroach upon the rights of the others. The universe along with its creatures, belong to the Lord. No creature is superior to any other. Human beings should not be above nature. Let no one species encroach over the rights and privileges of other species. Legal prescriptions

Thus far, discussion has focused mainly on the influence of religion. However, Indian rulers and administrators have enforced measures to protect the environment for many centuries. For example, Ashoka (third century BC) published a list of birds, animals and plants that had to be protected, while Kautilya, an even earlier Brahman statesman, instigated legal steps for conserving the environment and punishments for those who polluted life support systems such as the air, water, soil and forests. Perhaps, because of these very ancient traditions, India was the first country in the world to write environmental protection into its constitution. The Indian Constitution and its Directive Principles of State Policy stipulate that ‘The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife in the country’; also to ‘protect and improve the national environment including forests, lakes and rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for the living creatures’. In recognition of the need for environmental protection, several regulatory and promotional measures have been taken over recent decades, including: • •

The Wildlife Act, 1972, amended in 1983, 1986 and 1991 The Water Act, 1974, amended in 1988

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The Water Cess Act, 1977, amended in 1991 The Forest Act, 1980, amended in 1988 The Air Act, 1981, amended in 1988 The Environmental Protection Act, 1986.

Thus, India’s living traditions of concern for the environment are not only deeply embedded in culture and religion but also in law. The Indian education system owes its roots to this spiritual, cultural, philosophical and legal milieu and, to that extent, educating children about, through and for the environment is not a new emphasis in India. Environment and development in post-independence India

Circumstances during the pre-independence period, in both India and the rest of the world, paved the way towards the state of the environment in India today. Rather than dealing with environmental issues per se, the leaders of the Indian freedom struggle developed broad directions for the future of India and, in a traditional Indian fashion, these included a blend of social and environmental ideals. The policy of the British colonial administration was to develop a small class of English-educated Indians rather than to educate the masses. Thus, there arose a small local elite which was English in thought, tastes, opinions, morals and intellect, although of different race and colour. While this served the interests of the Raj, it was ultimately to lead to its undoing, because most of the leaders of the nationalist movement in India came from this elite class (Jayaram 1994). Gandhi, the spiritual leader of the independence movement, sought to found a society based on the principles of equality, liberty, human fellowship and peace (Prasad 1985). He looked to the emergence of a classless society through the emancipation of women and the lower classes and through Hindu-Muslim unity. He strongly opposed the industrialization of India as a social and moral imperative because he had witnessed the destruction of the Indian hand-spun cotton industry by cheap imports from the cotton mills of England. In response, Gandhi spun his own cotton and encouraged others to do the same. Gandhi believed that Western civilization was a society of ‘wants’ divorced from the social processes through which these might be satisfied. Thus, he sought to focus development in the villages of India. Gandhi’s ideal Indian village consisted of cottages with sufficient light and ventilation, built of materials obtainable within a five-mile radius. These cottages would have courtyards for families to plant vegetables and house their cattle. In this way, villages would be responsible for the production of their own grain, vegetables, fruit and khadi (local textiles). Village wells were to be accessible to all regardless of caste. Lanes and streets were to be free of avoidable dust. There would be houses for woship, common meeting places and a village common for grazing cattle and collecting manure for organic fertilizer, as

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well as a cooperative dairy and primary and secondary schools where vocational education would be emphasized. A village panchayats (council of elders) would be responsible for settling disputes. Guha and Martinez-Alier (1997) describe Gandhi’s view of the ideal village as a reflection of the Indian ideals of self-reliance, a clean and hygienic environment, the protection of nature and careful use of natural resources. Gandhi saw education as the basis for the continuity of his village ideal through an emphasis on the natural and the social environment of the student and village, and the development of skills to support the local economy. He called this concept of education nai talim or ‘new education’ where the head, the heart and the hands were to be trained to work in coordination. Nai talim was to replace the academic and book-centred education that was a legacy of the British Empire with education built around a productive craft linked with the immediate environment (Misra 1994). Gandhi hoped that this form of education would help to bridge the gap between the village and the city. However, India’s first Prime Minister, Nehru, believed that industrialization was necessary if India was to have a self-reliant economy. Thus, he encouraged the development of an industrial infrastructure of coal mining, oil refining, steel making and machine building. He did not neglect agriculture or village community development but the First Five Year Plan (1951–6) devoted only 17.4 per cent to this sector (Prasad 1985:138). Scientific research was also given a high priority because Nehru saw it as being the instrument for solving the problems of poverty, hunger, sanitation and illiteracy in the country. However, his belief in science was also tempered with the need for ethical and spiritual solutions and the concept of dharma (duty). Nehru also believed that the agricultural foundations of India had to be strong. Feeding the Indian population was a very important issue to Nehru. Thus, it would not be fair to say that Nehru did not care about small-scale industries or rural India. However, despite his intentions, small-scale industry in India declined under Nehru’s rule in the decade following independence. The processes of industrialization that Nehru pursued may have suited India in the 1950s but has caused untold problems today. Farmers and local artisans were displaced from their roots in rural India and migrated to the cities where their lack of factory skills has made it difficult for them to find work and feed their families. Poverty drove them into shanty towns without potable water, proper sewage or other amenities. Thus, while an urban elite has enjoyed the fruits of industrialization, India’s rural and tribal communities have lost their traditional rights of access to natural resources. Contemporary environmental attitudes

The legacy of colonial rule and post-independence development has impacted deeply on the social and environmental fabric of India. However, this legacy also needs to be seen within the context of the living tradition of

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environmental care in India. As a result, there is little doubt that the people of India are very concerned about the state of the environment. This may be seen in the coverage of environmental concerns in the media, the rise of environmental NGOs, and the results of surveys of environmental attitudes. Media

In the last few years, the news media have played an important role in creating environmental awareness amongst the public. This role has been enhanced with the Supreme Court of India directing the media in the country to disseminate environmental information in national and regional languages. Thus, a scan of the major newspapers, such as the Times of India, The Hindu and the Indian Express, reveals a wide coverage of environmental issues. Examples include demands to reduce the use of polythene bags (Times of India 1999b), calls to develop solar energy for household use (Times of India 1999a), and to ban diesel powered private vehicles (Times of India 1999c). Television stations broadcast a wide range of short (specific episodes) and long-term programmes (serials) on the environment aimed at many different audiences. Many have been developed by Doordarshan (the national television broadcaster) and the University Grants Commission and broadcast for school and college students as well as the general public. The role of NGOs

India has more than 5,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working exclusively on environmental issues, nature conservation and alternative development. Their activities include environmental awareness campaigns, regional and national workshops, training courses, political lobbying and mass action. Many NGOs have been successful in halting large-scale developmental projects through mobilizing both local and national campaigns to safeguard the environment. These include the Chipko Andholan, Silent Valley, Narmada Sarovar, Save Western Ghats and Save Nilgiri Biosphere movements. Survey of environmental knowledge and attitudes

There have been very few national studies of environmental knowledge and attitudes in India. However, India has participated in several international studies, including the Gallup International Institute’s ‘Health of the Planet Survey’ (Dunlap et al. 1992). In this survey, 21 per cent of the Indian respondents rated environmental problems as the most important in their country (compared with a range of 1 per cent in Poland to 39 per cent in Ireland and the Netherlands); 77 per cent expressed ‘a fair amount’ or ‘a great deal’ of personal concern about such problems (compared with a range of 40 per cent in Turkey to 94 per cent in the Philippines). When asked about the effect of environmental problems on their health ten years ago compared

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with the likely effect on their children and grandchildren over the next twenty-five years, the Indian respondents moved from being in the middle range of concern (effects on health ten years ago) to amongst the highest in terms of their concern about future effects. This indicates a strong perception of future environmental decline. The Indian respondents ranked air and water pollution as the two most important environmental problems facing their country. These were also the top two concerns in almost all other countries in the Gallup survey. However, where other countries rated waste management and the loss of natural resources in the next band of concern, population pressure on the environment was ranked third in India. Indeed, 45 per cent of the Indian respondents rated ‘too many people’ as a ‘very serious’ problem compared with a range of 1 per cent in Denmark and 5 per cent in Japan to 38 per cent in Turkey, the next highest score to that of India. Similarly, more people in India (49 per cent) rated ‘too much noise’ as a ‘very serious’ problem than anywhere else in the world. The next highest was 29 per cent in Turkey and 28 per cent in South Korea. And the Indian respondents were second only to those of Poland in rating air and water quality as a ‘very serious’ problem. The solutions to environmental problems most favoured by the Indian respondents included family planning, stricter laws for business and industry and education. In fact, India ranked second highest in the world, after Canada, in seeing education as a solution. Interestingly, Indians ranked second lowest (27 per cent compared with 26 per cent in Brazil) in their willingness to avoid buying products that damaged the environment. This contrasts with figures of 77 per cent in Canada and 83 per cent in Switzerland. However, this finding should be seen as a reflection of the high proportion of their very low average income that Indian people spend on basic necessities, and their consequent lack of discretionary spending, rather than as a negative environmental response. There have been no national studies of the environmental attitudes of young people in India. However, a recent article in the Times of India (1999d) indicated that a group of students was so concerned about the state of the environment that they presented a ‘green paper’ to the Chief Minister of Delhi in which they indicated that they were the ultimate losers of environmental degradation and sought urgent action. Environmental thinking

Contemporary environmental thinking in India reveals that the pro-environmental aspects of traditional Indian culture are seen as relevant to the modern world and have been contextualized to take account of social, economic and political realities. For example, Vandana Shiva (1989) has argued for alternative models of development based on agrarian ideals that are not too distant from those of Gandhi in his vision of a village-centred India. She has linked these ideals with Prakriti, the life-giving force associated with women in Hindu religion, and called for this feminine relationship with nature to

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become the basis for a sustainable mode of development. Other Indian scholars, such as Visvanathan (1990) and Nandy (1988), have also criticized the development model followed by the West and by India in the post-independence period. They see the destruction of the environment as an inevitable outcome of following this model. Instead, like Shiva, they argue that the implicit view of people and nature in the concept of sustainable development, as defined by the Brundtland Commission, accords with the agrarian concept of sustainability, which seeks harmony with nature in the farming of traditional crops within the natural cycles of local ecosystems. However, Shiva can be criticized for her idealization of women and their biological association with nature, as well as the high level of respect that Shiva deems women received in India in the past. In her arguments, Shiva does not consider the patriarchal nature of Indian society nor the caste divisions within it. Braidotti et al. (1994) argue that environmental problems in India are quite complex and entrenched in the social make-up of Indian society (for example, those lowest in the caste system, the shudras, have traditionally performed ‘dirty’ jobs such as garbage removal, cleaning toilets and such like). Thus, these problems cannot be as simply explained as Shiva tries to do. Cultural feminists, such as Bina Agarwal, have recently sought to explain the relationship between woman and nature as culturally and socially created but, nevertheless, one that can be appropriated by women to increase their control over natural and symbolic resources (Braidotti et al. 1994). The effects of cultural traditions, the direction of post-independent development, and contemporary environmental thinking in India can all be seen in the way Indians respond to environmental crises. Since India is still predominantly a nation of villages, nature-based movements tend to be at the roots of the environmental movement. When there is visible environmental deterioration and resource shortages, the people react in the only way they know they can: through dharna and bhook hartal, demonstrations and fasting, respectively. Guha and Martinez-Alier (1997:13–15) have categorized grassroot environmental action in India today into four broad groups. In the first, there is a collective show of strength, for example through a demonstration, where as many people as possible show their dissent by shouting slogans or singing songs. The second involves the disruption of economic life, the hartal or bandh, where the aim is to bring normal life to a standstill. This may involve closing shops or blockading roads or any other action that will disrupt the normal day-to-day life. The third is called the dharna, or sit-down strike, the object of which is to stop work and force the authorities to listen to grievances. The fourth category directs moral pressure on the state as a whole. Significant in this is bhook hartal, or fasting in a public space in order to generate as much media attention as possible. These are traditional forms of protest in India. For example, the Chipko Andholan, Silent Valley and Appiko movements for saving forests and trees drew upon the actions of the Bishnois in the eighteenth century. As followers of a holy man in Rajasthan, the Bishnois were vegetarian and dependent upon

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local forests for much of their food and medicines. In 1730s, the Bishnois paid heavily for their faith when the King of Jodhpur ordered his men to clear timber from the forests of neighbouring villages. The village women hugged the trees to save them from the axe-men and many sacrificed their lives in the process. This great sacrifice has been an inspiration for modern environmental activists in the country. Environmental education in Indian schools

The wide range of living traditions in India led to efforts to design a curriculum for environmental studies as early as the 1960s, when the first attempts were being made to reform the colonial education system. This project had an emphasis on exploratory activities in the child’s local environment. Science curricula since then have stressed environmental learning. These initiatives were strengthened by India’s National Policy on Education of 1986 which stated that: There is a paramount need to create a consciousness of the environment. It must permeate all ages and all sections of the society beginning with the child. Environmental consciousness should inform teaching in schools and colleges. This aspect will be integrated in the entire educational process. (National Policy on Education 1986) This was supported by a 1991 Supreme Court of India (Apex Court) directive to all education departments in the country to make environmental education compulsory at all levels of education, including higher education (Directive of the Supreme Court of India 1991). As mentioned earlier, this directive also made specific recommendations on the environmental responsibilities of television, newspapers and radio. India’s National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development, formulated in 1992, argues that: Intensive programmes for education and training will need to be introduced in the universities, Indian Institutes of Technologies and other professional institutions. Environmental education at the school level, including training of teachers, shall be an important component of educational programmes. (Government of India 1992) These initiatives mean that India is one of the few countries of the South where environmental education has a formal status in the educational system and is supported by reasonable infrastructure and funding. India has a huge school system with student enrolments exceeding 100 million. The system includes ten years of schooling (primary and secondary),

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two years of undergraduate or intermediate studies, and three years of collegiate education. The number of school children in Standards I to V is 89.9 million, while the number in standards VI to VIII is 28.78 million. At the secondary stage, Standards IX to X, the number is 28.6 million. In Standards I to V, environmental education is introduced through integrated themes that link natural and social science under the broad title of ‘environmental studies’. Topics such as ‘Earth our home’, the climate, soil and forests of India, water resources and mineral wealth are emphasized (Gill 1991). The goal of these studies is to promote values such as objectivity, open-mindedness, perseverance, precision and concern for the maintenance and improvement of the environment. The development of skills for observation, recording, and interpreting information underlie the choice of teaching strategies. At the upper stages of primary and secondary school, environmental studies are given an interdisciplinary dimension by teaching topics in physics, biology, chemistry and geography with an environmental perspective. A number of concepts related to sustainable development are explored, including balance in nature, human interference in nature, natural resources and their conservation and population dynamics. The objectives at this stage are to help students develop sensitivity to the uses and misuses of science and attitudes that favour concern for a clean environment and the preservation of ecosystems. Environmental education is also infused into the teaching of school subjects such as mathematics, crafts and work experience, language, and wildlife and forest conservation. Conclusion

Indian culture has been a cradle for the respect and reverence of nature. India’s journey towards industrialization might not have been as damaging to the social and environmental fabric of the country if early post-independence leaders, Gandhi apart, had drawn more significantly on these traditions and advocated greater care and concern for the environment. However, concerted efforts are now being made to promote environmental education at both formal and informal levels. While these efforts have helped to put environmental education on the national agenda and weave environmental considerations into all developmental efforts, it is not possible to be complacent. There is much to be done to protect India’s environment and to move towards sustainable development. There is an urgent need to work towards more ecologically based systems of production and more environmentally attuned lifestyles. This requires a holistic and comprehensive approach to the environment and its problems as well as efforts to rehabilitate degraded lands, protect threatened ecosystems, and build social capacity for a sustainable future.

6

Unity and diversity: South East Asia Lily Kong with Irene Teh-Cheong Poh Ai, Panji I. Gusti Tisna, Purisima Remorin, Rapeepun Suwannatachote and Wiwat Lee

The phrase ‘Bhinneka tunggal ika’ (unity in diversity) is printed on Indonesia’s coat of arms. The theme is reflected in Indonesia’s national symbol, the banyan tree: there are many roots and branches, but only one tree. This same perspective has sometimes been applied to South East Asia: while diverse, it is also united or, at least, similar in many ways. This chapter explores how this may be so in terms of the relationship between environment, society and education. In particular, the chapter examines whether there is a common cultural perspective on society and the environment, centring primarily on religious beliefs about the environment. The chapter also discusses the role of government in environmental management, including its part in environmental education and how, in direct and indirect ways, common values have been inculcated in South East Asians to the extent that a common perspective on the environment may be evolving. South East Asia is a diverse region, socially and culturally, economically and politically. Its natural environments are also diverse, despite the many similarities accorded by a tropical-equatorial setting. This diversity makes it difficult to do justice to the topic in one chapter. It will not be possible, for example, to include a comprehensive coverage of all the countries, or examine all the cultural and religious traditions in each country. This is unsatisfactory, given that religious traditions must always be understood in situ. As Ling has argued, for example, the term ‘Buddhist’ ‘has no constant heuristic value’ in Asia, for: it is necessary to be contextually specific, or possibly ‘country-specific’. A Thai Buddhist will have a somewhat different religious perspective from a Ceylon Buddhist, and each of these will have a different perspective from a Burmese Buddhist or a Chinese Buddhist or a Tibetan Buddhist. (Ling 1987:11) Thus, a full treatment of this topic really requires a book-length treatment of each country, with all the richness and complexities of its cultural and

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religious traditions painted, before any attempt can be made to understand how these translate into educational patterns and attitudes and behaviour towards society and the environment. The present volume offers no such luxury. This chapter therefore provides an illustrative, rather than a comprehensive, treatment. It offers a useful shorthand introduction to the diversities of South East Asia, including: • • •

a brief overview of the state of the environment in selected countries in terms of the diversity of their natural environments and the way they are being threatened the various religious and philosophical traditions and their beliefs about society, nature and the environment governmental and societal commitment to the environment in these countries.

It is imperative to preface the discussion with a few words about the choice of South East Asian countries, as several criteria have led to the selection of the five countries involved. First, the different physical environmental conditions must be represented, that is, primarily agrarian and rural, and primarily urban and built-up. Second, different states of development should be reflected, that is richer, more developed states, and poorer, less developed ones. Third, varied cultural and religious traditions must be included, and particularly, given the fact that all the major world religions may be found in South East Asia, it seemed important to include countries in which these religions are present in a significant way. Finally, this book arose out of an international project to compare the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of young people about the environment. Such mega-international efforts are often reliant on finding interested and able participants from various countries. Given these criteria, the following countries are included: •

• • • •

Singapore, a developed, highly urban, officially secular state which nonetheless has a mix of various religions among the population (mainly Christianity, Islam, ‘Chinese religion’ of a syncretic kind, and Hinduism) Brunei, another high economic growth country with a high level of urbanization, and primarily Islamic culture Thailand, primarily Buddhist, less developed and mainly rural with pockets of massive urbanization Indonesia, Islamic with a strong pocket of Hinduism in Bali, also not as developed economically with high levels of rural population with selected areas of urbanization The Philippines (primarily Christian with some Muslims), with conditions similar to Thailand and Indonesia.

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State of the environment

The rich biodiversity of South East Asia is covered well in many publications (e.g. Rifai 1994; Tomascik et al. 1997). Table 6.1 provides examples of nature’s diversity and abundance in the selected South East Asian countries. This summary illustrates the diversities of flora and fauna in varied ecosystems in these countries, even for Brunei and Singapore, which are highly urbanized and have very small land areas (see Table 6.2). Yet, despite such diversities and abundance, not all is well with the state of the natural environment in these countries, as deforestation and other problems threaten the biodiversity we have summarized. Table 6.1 Examples of nature’s diversity and abundance in selected South East Asian countries

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Table 6.2 Level of urbanization in selected South East Asian countries

Source: United Nations Population Information Network; Crystal 1997

In some ways, Brunei and Singapore are more similar than the other countries. With their high rates of urbanization, both face different environmental problems from the rest. On balance, the current state of Singapore’s environment appears healthy. Certainly, deforestation accelerated with the arrival of the British to clear land for agriculture in the early years of the nineteenth century and subsequently from the impacts of urbanization and industrialization to the point that Singapore does not have much forest left (see Kong and Yeoh 1996). By 1900, only one-tenth of the island was left covered by primary rainforest and secondary jungle and 13 per cent by swamps. This was further reduced in the years following independence in 1965. However, the government has since been able to protect, conserve and improve other aspects of the environment. Two main directions characterize the nature of environmental change in post-independence Singapore: the eradication of polluting and unhygienic landscapes and the creation of a ‘clean and green’ city. Various governmental measures were implemented to ensure that these two goals were achieved. Slums and squatter settlements were cleared and public housing expanded to enable previous slum dwellers to have a decent place to live; in turn, the government gained better control and management of the environment. Other measures included hygienic ‘hawker’ and food centres, the abolition of polluting activities such as pig and duck farming, backyard trades and industries, and cleaning up the Singapore River. A ‘garden city’ concept was introduced in 1965 to guide planning and development of an island with abundant greenery, and remains a central part of national policy today. This philosophy continues to guide the development of the city in the late 1990s. However, nature conservation is still not seen as a high priority by the government, which privileges developmental imperatives and ‘pragmatic’ economic considerations. In Brunei, the most heavily populated area is along the coast. A high rate of population growth, caused by low infant mortality and death rates, high nutrition levels, and high life expectancy means that population pressure on the fragile coastal ecosystem is increasing. For example, the urban construction industry has been responsible for the destruction of vegetation,

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soil erosion and siltation of streams. The increase in wealth has in turn prompted the development of the construction industry. Like Singapore, therefore, Brunei’s environmental problems are more a result of affluence than of poverty. Inland, many of the forests, wildlife and water catchment areas were for a long time left relatively untouched as high levels of individual income per capita meant that there was little pressure to exploit the country’s natural resources. This too is beginning to change. The forested interior, including many reserves, are facing threats from ecotourism. Although it was believed in 1994 that the levels of hunting and collection had not affected the flora and fauna, there is fear that increased access by outsiders arising from ecotourism is now putting increased pressure on these resources. Calls for rules governing management and use of natural resources have been made. Some argue that the existing restrictions on hunting and collecting in forest reserves in Section 19 of the Forest Act and the Wildlife Protection Act need to be more closely enforced. It is argued that the schedule of protected animals should also be enlarged (Eaton and Ibrahim 1992) and certain areas should be placed under absolute protection because they are deemed so precious, fragile and essential for the conservation of Brunei flora and fauna. The situation is quite different in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. There are essentially two sets of problems in these countries, those confronting the rural areas and those in urban areas. The inability of the agricultural sector in these countries to provide sufficiently for the livelihood of the rural dwellers, and the increasing rate of land conversion from agricultural to industrial, has led to a rapid increase in rural-urban migration. The resultant unplanned urban explosion has placed tremendous stress on the environment, such as traffic congestion, air, water and land pollution, and sewage and rubbish disposal problems. In Thailand, domestic and industrial waste is one of the major environmental problems in its capital (and prime) city, Bangkok. Water quality in urban areas in Thailand often does not meet recognized standards. Domestic solid wastes increased at an average annual rate of 5.8 per cent in the 1990s, and collection services face the serious problem of insufficient land for disposal sites. Public conflicts over the location of disposal sites have aggravated the problems. Further, industries are generating hazardous wastes at an alarming rate of 1.35 million tons per year. Traffic congestion in Bangkok is legendary, with an average car speed of less than 15 kilometres per hour in most parts of the city. This in turn causes air and noise pollution. These conditions are mirrored in Manila and Jakarta. The infamous situation of Smokey Mountain in Manila, for instance, needs no repetition here. All four major river systems in Metro Manila are biologically dead. While Metro Manilians generate about 4,000 metric tons of solid waste daily, only a portion of these is collected. The rest is either left on the streets, dumped into waterways, or burned, creating health and aesthetic problems.

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Other problems, many of which can be traced to periods of colonial rule, abound. The case of Indonesia is illustrative. Deforestation began during Dutch colonial rule when forests were cleared on a massive scale for growing cash crops such as teak, coffee, tea and pepper for export, and later when the Dutch built a railway network. Indeed, it was the Dutch who introduced Indonesia to the technology for large-scale plantation farming and extraction of natural resources. The destruction to the forests continued after Indonesia’s independence when large-scale development and industrialization began in earnest. When Suharto came to power, five-year development plans were introduced. These were successful economically and brought a huge increase in rice production. This was part of the ‘green revolution’, introduced so that Indonesia might become self-sufficient in the production of rice to feed the rapidly growing population. However the new rice strains required the use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides, with their attendant effects on the environment. At the same time, the exploitation of the rainforests accelerated, and now represents a serious threat not only to the country’s biodiversity but also to the indigenous people with their knowledge of the tropical rainforest ecosystem; this loss has been likened to a burning of a great library in which centuries of stored knowledge can vanish overnight (Rifai 1994). Three decades ago, forests covered more than half of Thailand but, by 1994, had been reduced to 83.4 million rais (1 rai equals 1,600 sq. m.), or 26 per cent of the total land area. This was despite a logging ban introduced in 1988. As a result, the area of ‘high risk’ erosion zones had increased from 17.3 million hectares in 1987 to 21.4 million hectares in 1997, an increase of 160,000 hectares a year. In the Philippines, over-extraction by subsistence agriculturalists and commercial firms is depleting forests and fisheries and degrading the land. This has caused the clearance and settlement of public forest lands and coastal areas which were previously untouched. Mangrove forests, which covered some 500,000 hectares in 1918, had declined to about 140,000 hectares in the late 1990s. Similarly, primary forests, which had covered about 15 million hectares or almost half of the country’s total land area in the 1960s, had declined to less than a million hectares (3–4 per cent of the total land available) by the late 1990s. As South East Asian countries become more and more a part of the world economy, their ecosystems become increasingly open to global flows of people and finance. One tragic example of this is the tourist industry and its impacts on local environments. The example of Bali is typical. Here, the tourism industry is the main source of environmental problems. These include the conversion of agricultural land for resorts; shortage of clean water for the local people as more water is diverted from villages and agricultural land to hotels and golf courses; erosion of beaches; and increasingly high levels of non-biodegradable waste, sewage and other forms of pollution. Water and beach pollution caused by the tourism industry can

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also be found in the Thai beach resorts and islands of Pattaya, Phuket and Ko Samui. The next two sections focus on two additional ways in which these countries in South East Asia both converge and diverge. The first is in the area of religious and cultural traditions, which impact on environmental attitudes and behaviour. The second relates to the institutional and societal efforts undertaken to create and/or maintain a healthy relationship between people and their environments. In so doing, the chapter looks towards an answer to the question whether a shared cultural ideology about nature and the environment is emerging within the region. Religious traditions and cultural values

The five South East Asian countries in question are multiracial, multi-lingual, multireligious and multicultural, albeit to different degrees. This section focuses on the religious and cultural traditions found in the region and the relationships with nature that they propound, and how their influence may be changing with time. Even though no major world religions originated from South East Asia, this region can be described as a cauldron of religious and philosophical traditions; over many centuries, traders, missionaries, colonizers and immigrants brought almost all of the world’s great religions to this region These have thrived and flourished till the present. Given the earlier caveat about how religion must be understood in particular historical and geographical contexts, this section discusses specific religions in the context of particular places. Thus, Buddhism is discussed in relation to Thailand, Chinese religion in relation to Singapore, Christianity (in particular Catholicism) in relation to the Philippines, Hinduism in relation to Bali, Indonesia, and Islam in relation to Brunei. Although the focus is on religion, other cultural factors that appear to influence attitudes towards nature are discussed where appropriate. Theravada Buddhism is the main religion of the Thai people: 95 per cent of Thais are Buddhists. The rest are primarily Malay-Muslims, living mostly in the southern provinces. As Dreyer noted, Buddhism is an ‘environmentally friendly religion that gives clear rules about the way we should utilise, protect and appreciate the environment and about what our disposition towards it should be’ (Dreyer 1996:56). It is perhaps for this reason that Batchelor and Brown (1992:8) describe Buddhism as an ‘ecological religion or a religious ecology’. One of the hallmarks of Buddhism is the virtue of compassion, nowhere more evident than in the figure of the bodhisattva: one who has gained such good merit through countless lives that he/she can leave the world of birth, death and rebirth and pass into nirvana. But the bodhisattva is so full of compassion that he/she holds back so as to help people escape the sufferings of existence. This compassion is applied to other creatures of the Earth as well. Therefore, it is

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said that the lands around Buddhist temples and monasteries often become de facto sanctuaries for wildlife. Buddhism in Thailand is also influenced by a range of local cultural values that Wetchapitak (1990) describes as integrally related with systems of production and principles of harmonious mutual living. Wetchapitak describes the village as the most crucial institution in Thai life. Here, Thais show how they are able to manage their production of rice and other crops that depend greatly on nature. Indeed their entire system of production is based on the concept of mutual help, which defines their way of life. This way of life is also defined by a set of rituals that are performed to mark the occasions that coincide with the production of rice. These rituals represent respect for nature and illustrate the harmony between people and nature. This relationship with nature is the result not only of Buddhist beliefs but of beliefs in spirits as well. This is evident in the belief that there are spirits or gods/goddesses who protect nature such as the Mother of River (Mae Kongka), Mother of Rice (Mae Posope), Father of Woods (Chao Pa), and Father of Mountains (Chao Kao). However, in recent years, the cultural values anchored in traditional ways of life are shifting with modernization and urbanization. This rapid change has influenced the traditional systems of production, beliefs and mutual living. In order to increase productivity, people have become more competitive, individualistic and try to overcome nature instead of respecting it. Thus, land use has been intensified, coupled with the use of fertilizers and insecticides to increase productivity. The influence of traditional religious and cultural values is increasingly in question. Indeed, Pongsapit (1993) argues that political and economic factors have greater influence on the values of Thais, particularly in urban areas, than Buddhism in contemporary Thai society. Singapore’s population is characterized by a high degree of religious heterogeneity, paralleling the diverse ethnic groups. In 1990, the population comprised Buddhists (31.1 per cent), Chinese traditional religionists/Taoists (22.4 per cent), Christians (12.5 per cent), Muslims (15.4 per cent), Hindus (3.7 per cent), other religions (0.6 per cent) and no religion (14.3 per cent) (Singapore Census of Population 1990:2). While the census keeps Buddhists and Chinese traditional religionists (Taoists) as separate categories, the fact is that religion may be quite similar in Singapore in everyday lives for these groups; they are therefore generally described as ‘Chinese religionists’ (Kong 1991) with beliefs and practices derived from a mix of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. While it is sometimes argued that Confucianism is not a ‘religion’ but a moral code or philosophical system, Leo and Clammer (1983) noted that in Singapore, Confucius is regarded by some as a specific deity in his own right, worshipped apart from other deities and constituting the focus of a specific religious complex. Confucian teachings form the backbone of thought and, in that sense, common ground is shared with non-religious Confucianists’ veneration of Confucius as a sage and for

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whom Confucianism is a philosophical basis of Chinese culture. Ancestor worship is also an important element of Chinese religious practices in Singapore. It has sometimes been described as an extension of filial piety, which is an important value in Chinese society and strongly rooted in Confucianist thought. In this practice of ancestor worship, ancestors, as with many of the other gods of the Chinese pantheon, have a role to perform in providing guidance and protection for the living descendents. In return, the latter will reciprocate by offering food (the essence of which the dead ancestors will distill) and paper models of daily necessities (clothing, vehicles, money, and more recently, television sets, video recorders, washing machines and even credit cards). This manifestation of mutual care between generations is an important part of the relationship between the living and the dead, and also between the living. In another very important sense, ancestor worship also acts as a ‘stimulus to morality’ (Addison 1925:26): consciousness that ancestors are watching and will judge, and reward or punish according to one’s conduct, heightens the moral sense of the community. Ancestor worship is such a significant part of Chinese religious life that Addison (1925:83) and Hinton (1985:44) have argued that it is the most important religious phenomenon in the life of the Chinese. However, it is seldom seen as composing a distinct religion (Tamney and Hassan 1987:4), and is regarded more as a part of Chinese religious life in general. Although Taoists have been regarded as a category in both the 1980 census (Khoo 1981) and a 1988 Ministry of Community Development survey of religions (Kuo and Quah 1988), it is doubtful that many Singaporeans can meaningfully be labelled as religious Taoists. This is because Taoism was used as a catch-all category in these surveys, and included those who ‘believed in the philosophy of Lao Zi or Confucius, or who practised ancestor worship or who worshipped the various Chinese deities’ (Khoo 1981:20). What is probably more common among Chinese religionists in Singapore are syncretic religions which incorporate elements of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism as well as ancestor worship and other elements of animistic folk religions. As Hinton (1985:31) described it, ‘the religion of the Singaporean Chinese Religionist is an ancient, rather animistic folk religion infused, to a small degree, by a selection of often modified beliefs and practices from the socalled high religions’. In borrowing Wee’s (1976) categorisation, the syncretic religions include sectarianism and ‘shenism’. Sectarian religions include for example, Sanyi Jiao (Three-in-one doctrine); Zhenkong Jiao (The Doctrine of the True Void); Xiantian Dadao (The Great Way of the Former Heaven); and Dejiao (The Moral Religion), to name a few of the main groups. They include in their canons various strands of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucianist thought.

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‘Shenism’ probably best characterizes the religion of a vast majority of Chinese in Singapore. This is amply reflected in the substantive amount of research focused on it (for example, Elliott 1955; Heinze 1979, 1981; Ju 1983; and Cheu 1988). Unlike the above sectarian religions, it has no canonical tradition. It is cultic, with each cult centred around a particular shen (spirit) whose chief mode of communication with this world is through spirit-mediums. It is syncretic, for the ‘shenist’ pantheon can include Confucius, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, alongside any other spirit, deified hero or emperor. Even Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary are considered by some as shen. Indeed, as Wee (1976:173) pointed out, shenists have the habit of taking over deities of other religions by treating them as shen. Perhaps the best way to characterize ‘Chinese religion’ in Singapore is to dispense with labels and to consider the distinguishing features of the religion. Chinese religion is result-oriented and highly pragmatic; it is problem-oriented; it is worldly and materialistic; individualistic; highly concrete and action-based rather than philosophically-oriented (Hinton 1985:33–4). This is true to a large extent of the syncretic religions, particularly shenism, but possibly less true of the ‘high religions’ (Buddhism) when they are practised in their ‘unadulterated’ canonical traditions. Given the characteristics of a religion such as ‘Chinese’, it is likely that, in the absence of canonical teachings about nature and the environment, there are syncretic views, sometimes mutually reinforcing, at other times, contradictory. For example, a materialistic, worldly stance is unlikely to encourage environmentally-friendly attitudes and behaviour. However, a Buddhistic slant is more likely to, and elements of animism may suggest a reverence for certain animals and plants. Apart from these religious influences, Singapore must also be examined as a case study of the way modernization has influenced cultural values and, in particular, attitudes towards nature and the environment. With modernization and the pursuit of affluence, especially in the postindependence years, the state has identified a need to cultivate in Singaporeans a ‘culture’ of environmental consciousness and responsibility. However, as Dr Ahmad Mattar, then Environment Minister pointed out, Singaporeans do not generally act out of any genuine concern for the environment (Ministry of Communications and Information 1990:33–7). Religion in Singapore must not be seen explicitly to inform public policy and civic action. This is because the state has deemed that religion must be kept separate from the economic, social and political aspects of life (Kong 1993). Thus, even if religions do advocate particular positions vis-à-vis human relations with the environment, these beliefs have not entered national state agendas and have not guided environmental action through policy formulation and implementation. Instead, the underlying ideological impetus is a pragmatic one. The state’s environmental management is predicated on, and propelled by, the perceived need to ensure long term economic viability rather than any religious or other ethical impetus. If

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unleaded petrol was used, or recycling pursued, it was because it was more cost effective to do so. It was thus felt that efforts at inculcating an ecological consciousness had to be stepped up. In the meantime, it was decided that successful environmental management in the short term could not depend on individual conscience but needed to rely on regulation and direct controls instead. Like the Indonesians and Thais, Filipinos come traditionally from agrarian societies. They can be categorized into three groups in terms of religion: the Christian lowlanders, the Muslims and the native animists. About 90 per cent of Filipinos belong to the category of Christian lowlanders. Just over 80 per cent of Filipinos are Catholics, and another 7 per cent are Protestants. Only 5 per cent are Muslims. As in other countries in South East Asia, a degree of animism also infuses the practice of world religions in the Philippines. Christian views about the environment and their purported influence on human behaviour have been given much space in existing literature (see Chapter 1, which summarizes Lynn White’s (1967) argument and some of the resulting debates). Unfortunately, research has not been conducted to ascertain how far these values have specifically influenced environmental attitudes and behaviour in the Philippines. Attempts to understand the influence of Christian values is made more complex by the continuing influence of vestiges of traditional values. Specifically, these traditional values must be understood in the context of the Philippines as still a predominantly rural society with values rooted in a long history of peasantry. Indeed, the Code of Sumakwel, dating back as long ago as 1250, still appears to influence contemporary Filipino peasants. For example, it regarded land as a valuable resource which should be cultivated and planted, and it placed a high premium on property ownership. In turn, the 1433 Code of Calantiao called on Filipinos to revere sites such as forests that are held in respect. Those who did not do so had to pay with a month’s work in gold or honey. Similarly, those who killed trees of ‘venerable appearance’, sharks or the ‘streaked crocodile’ would be put to death. These exhortations were contradicted by interpretations of Christian teachings, reflected in the Book of Genesis, and argued by White (1967), that God gave humans dominion over the earth and its creatures, although they would accord with other interpretations of Christian teachings (Glacken 1967; Dubos 1969, 1972). Four of the world religions may be found in Indonesia. However, 87 per cent of Indonesians are in fact Muslims. Uniquely, the island of Bali is distinctly Hindu and Balinese culture is very different from those of Java, Lombok, Sumatra and so forth. Given that the following discussion of Brunei focuses on Islam, the focus here is on the distinctiveness of Hinduism in Bali. Balinese culture is an indigenous ethnic minority culture. It has survived and flourished even though Indonesia has been colonized by the Dutch, and

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Javanese influence has been prevalent in post-independence Indonesia because it is defined as the national culture. Bali’s unique cultural heritage is based on Hindu philosophy and its people still live in a close-knit and functional community system (banjar) with its rules and principles, and their daily lives are richly coloured with artistic expression. Hinduism in Bali is a localized religion which has syncretized with Balinese customs (adat), art (seni) and aspects of animism. The Hindu religion of the Balinese prescribes several principles for its people to follow in order to live a meaningful life, which, in the context of environmental discourse, can be equated with the notion of living sustainably. Some of the most important principles are: the tri hita karana or the concept of how human beings should endeavour to build a harmonious interrelationship with the three elements of life, namely, God, human beings and nature, in order to have lasting happiness; the tri kaya parisudha or the three activities that are liberating: right thinking, right speech and right action; and the tat twam asi or ‘Thou art I’ philosophy, a fundamental concept of compassion towards all creatures. These concepts and principles are still observed by the Balinese in their daily lives to a large degree. Balinese life is filled with festivals and celebrations that are accorded to the gods, ancestors, human beings, spiritual teachers and to the negative force of nature. Some of these festivals have environmental significance. These include Galungan, Tumpek and Nyepi. Galungan, which is the Balinese version of ‘Earth Day’, is designed to give special thanks to all gods for creating and protecting the world and its creatures. The goddess of the sea and the god of the forest are especially honoured in this festival that is said to have existed as early as the sixteenth century. Tumpek includes Tumpek bubuh, Kandang, Landep and Wayang as special days set aside to give thanks to plants, animals, tools and the arts, respectively. These festivals involve celebrations that pay homage for their service. Nyepi, the Balinese New Year, falls during the month of March and is a month when physical and spiritual cleansing of the island is performed. Besides these celebrations, there are numerous others, each being a thanksgiving to the gods for creating and sustaining the earth and the universe. The Balinese also observe the concept of sacred place. Such places, for example temples with proximity to mountains, forests, lakes and rivers, are believed to be protected by guardian spirits. Thus, the Balinese believe that these places need to be revered and treated with care. This concept of sacred place, combined with the continuous need for plants and animals that are used in various ways during the ceremonies, ensure that the Balinese will protect the continuity of these elements. This concept indirectly represents the modern concept of biodiversity conservation. The Balinese are therefore a people with a deep sense of belonging, stewardship and responsibility to their island and its environment. However, with modernization and the pressures of development, this relationship with

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the environment is increasingly coming under pressure. This can be illustrated in the context of rice culture. The pressure of development has meant that padi fields in parts of Bali have been converted to residential and resort use. The practice of Balinese culture, reliant as it is on rituals associated inter alia with rice fields, has thus lost its main vehicle of expression. Part of this is due to the rise of the tourism industry. For example, few people understand how to handle non biodegradable wastes, or how to treat hazardous wastes that are part of modern living, as these byproducts are foreign to them (Sujana 1994). At the same time, Bali’s major development plans are made by the central government in Jakarta; that is, decision-making is not in the hands of the Balinese. This results in development plans that are largely driven by short-term material gain. This has undermined the island’s local principles that have been known to be more ecologically sensitive. From Bali, we turn to Brunei, where Islam is the national religion, practised by 63 per cent of the population. The rest of the population includes Buddhists (14 per cent), Christians (8 per cent), and ‘others’ (15 per cent) (http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook). However, Islam is the state religion in Brunei and its influence on Bruneian attitudes and behaviour in relation to nature is strong. The Quran stresses the interdependence of humans and the natural environment. Humans are not seen as the only species on earth, and all other living things created solely to be used by humans. Indeed, it is believed that God provided an environmental ethic (Deen 1996) in which God created the individual components of the environment to have different functions. The principles thus laid down should be obeyed. When human beings over-exploit and degrade the environment, they are warned indirectly of the consequences of ecological imbalances (Subbarini 1993). A theory of sustainable utilization of the ecosystem can then be deduced from Islam’s assertion that life should be maintained through due balance in everything. The influence of Islam on Bruneian environmental beliefs is strong. For example, during the episodes of severe smoke haze across most of South East Asia in September 1997 and April 1998, mass prayers were held in all mosques throughout the country to seek divine assistance against the calamity plaguing Brunei. Muslims were called to fast two days before performing the mass prayers. Intriguingly, their prayers seemed to be answered when a heavy downpour of rain occurred the following day! Although Brunei Malays have been Muslims for the last 500 years, practice of the religion is still influenced by Hindu beliefs and rituals, and folk beliefs. For example, many Brunei Malays use verses from the Quran as charms while Hindu rituals are also found in Malay marriage ceremonies. However, it is unclear how such syncretic beliefs and practices affect the way in which Bruneians interact with the environment. What is evident in Brunei, as in Singapore, is that the reach of religious

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and traditional values is not as evident as the values underpinning modernization, urbanization and economic development. A typical attitude among Bruneians, observable from a letter to the press, is the lack of environmental commitment. For example, in a bid to get beaches cleaned up, one letter writer expressed the view that the government should import people to do the work (Borneo Bulletin, 1 April 1998). Governmental and societal efforts

In general, the governments of all five countries have taken initiatives to improve their respective environments. The main difference, however, lies in the level of commitment of these governments to implement their environmental plans, and the level of funding they are able and willing to commit to these efforts. At the same time, the state of the environment in these five countries is different, and the effort required of different governments varies accordingly. In the case of Singapore, the political will and the resources are available (see Savage and Kong 1993): in 1995, for example, the Parks and Recreation Department’s total expenditure was S$58.6 million (Parks and Recreation Department Annual Report 1995/6). Indeed, Savage and Kong (1993) have argued that the government’s commitment to the creation of a viable urban ecosystem can almost unabashedly be labelled a political culture of ecological consciousness. This commitment is evident in the way in which specific government ministries and statutory boards are charged with the responsibility of changing and protecting the environment to achieve political visions. For example, the Ministry of Environment plays a significant role in addressing problems of solid waste, air and water pollution, industrial water production, sewerage, drainage, environmentally hazardous chemicals, and public hygiene. The Ministry of National Development in turn is responsible for changes in the environment in the form of urban renewal and development, public housing, public works, parks and recreation, construction industry development, planning and development control, building control, land development and building conservation, amongst others. The best evidence of this commitment is the success in keeping Singapore’s environment healthy, as discussed in the previous section. In oil-rich Brunei, financial resources are not a stumbling block. For example, the government has tried to entice residents who have lived over the shallow waters of the Brunei River on stilt houses (the community has existed there for the last five centuries) to move away. They have been offered free housing, land, livestock and farm equipment in order to reduce the pollution of the river because the residents have no experience of disposal of non-biodegradable waste. However, the residents rejected the government’s initiatives because they believed the new settlements would create certain degrees of family disintegration (Ibrahim 1994). Instead, the

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government introduced modern improvements to the village, such as improved sewage systems and floating traps to collect rubbish thrown out by the inhabitants (Borneo Bulletin, 20 November 1997). However, despite the obvious government will and commitment of financial resources, the problem has persisted because of the sheer volume of waste generated and the need to clean up a river that has been polluted for generations. At a larger level, Brunei’s efforts to protect the environment are closely tied to the national development plans (NDP). In the Fifth NDP, for example (1986–90), one of the objectives was explicitly to achieve a ‘clean and healthy environment’. During this period, a National Forest Policy was implemented. This emphasized environmental protection and conservation. In the Sixth NDP (1991–5), sustainable development came into focus as the objective ‘to sustain the development of the oil/gas industry’ was placed side by side as the desire to ‘maintain a clean and healthy environment’. The management of solid waste and air and water pollution was also given attention during this period. Further, a National Council for the Environment (NCE) was formed with the Environmental Unit acting as its secretariat. Among the many initiatives of the NCE was a plan to ‘promote environmental awareness, information and education and to coordinate programmes for all strata of society’ (Baines 1994). During this period, a National Environment Strategy was developed as a response to Agenda 21. The strategy identified those chapters in Agenda 21 that were relevant to Brunei and used them as a policy framework and to set up a plan of action for environmental protection and management. It emphasized several key objectives: to raise environmental consciousness; integrate environmental dimensions in economic planning and development; improve the environment and natural resources assessment and information databases; strengthen urban and rural environment improvement programmes; enhance environmental quality; protect vulnerable ecosystems, habitats and biodiversity; protect coastal and marine environmental resources; and strengthen regional and international cooperation. These foci were endorsed in the Seventh NDP (1996–2000), which emphasized sustainable use of natural resources, the minimization of negative impacts on the environment from population growth and human activities, and the need to balance socio-economic development and sound environmental quality. Despite these efforts, there is a concern that a separate Ministry of Environment should perhaps be established (Borneo Bulletin, 5 October 1997). This would ensure a specific budget allocation for environmental management and protection. The Environmental Unit may then also have more staff resources, for example, to deal with the many fires that ignite in the forests and grasslands (Borneo Bulletin, 1 April 1998). Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines do not have the same luxury as Brunei and Singapore in terms of financial resources. Nevertheless, various governmental efforts are evident in these countries.

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In Indonesia, several significant initiatives have been introduced over the past three decades. The first was the creation of the Ministry for the Environment and twenty-seven Bureaus of the Environment (BLH) across the Indonesian provinces (Gaffar, 1993). Second, Act No. 4 1982 concerning basic provisions for environmental management was enacted. Some of the important consequences of the Act were the establishment of government regulations on Environmental Impact Assessment (AMDAL) in 1986 and the establishment of the Environmental Impact Management Agency (BAPEDAL) in 1990, with branches in each of the Indonesian provinces and districts (Warren and Elston 1994). BAPE DAL has continued to grow in size and stature and many Indonesians are now familiar with it as the government body that deals with anything to do with pollution or environmental protection. Act No. 4 1982 was expanded into a new Act, No. 23 1997, in order to deal with the management of increasingly complex and serious environmental problems in Indonesia. The Minister of Education and Culture has also decreed environmental education compulsory in all teacher training institutes across Indonesia, and teachers have the responsibility for infusing environmental education into the curriculum in primary and secondary schools (Gaffar 1993; Kusnoputranto and Soetaryono 1993). The government has also been increasingly receptive to the initiatives of non-government organizations, communities and individuals committed to protecting the environment. Clearly though, the problematical state of the environment in Indonesia means that much of the real work of improving the environment still remains to be accomplished. In Thailand, environmental protection as well as other policies have been centrally planned and implemented. Initially, most environmental plans were drawn up and financially supported by international agencies. This was because natural resource and environmental protection were accorded relatively low priority compared to economic or social schemes. For example, the government once sought to relocate industries and industrial parks from Bangkok in a bid to reduce congestion and improve efficiency. However, as Manopimoke (1995) has pointed out, the government was more concerned about industrial development than environmental quality control, and this has led to not only the redistribution of industries but of pollution as well. In the early 1990s, when the UNDP (1994:5) evaluated the state of the environment in Thailand, it concluded that the country’s environmental problems were not going away quickly. The reasons for this included: a lack of effective policy instruments, lack of political will, inadequate institutional capacity, inadequately trained staff, inadequate coordination and cooperation among key agencies, and inadequate investment of financial resources. In sum, these reflect the lack of governmental commitment and effort. This is despite the fact that an Office of National Environment Board was established in 1975, particularly to see to resource protection and rehabilitation. Actions with similar intents, but

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apparently unsatisfactory results, were also introduced in the Fifth to Eighth National Plans (spanning 1982 to 2001), effecting, inter alia, protocols for systematic coordination between central and local governments in the management of natural resources and the environment; applying a ‘polluter pays’ principle; introducing new environmental legislation; and establishing three separate agencies with clear roles pertaining to different aspects of the environment. The case of Thailand speaks for many other countries as well, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines, in which the existence of national plans, legal instruments and institutional structures does not necessarily translate into effective environmental management. The case of the Philippines illustrates further that, even with international institutional arrangements and assistance, all is not well. Hence, despite the existence of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development, reportedly the first body in Asia to be established following the Rio Earth Summit’s proposal to set up a Commission on Sustainable Development, and despite the fact that the country accepts that ecological security, as embodied in the Convention of International Trade for Endangered Species (CITES), takes precedence over trade agreements in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), significant environmental problems still persist. Environmental education

The five countries share one common trait in relation to environmental education. Environmental education is not taught as a distinct subject in the curriculum, but is incorporated into other subjects such as science, social studies, geography, civics and moral education. For example, environmental effects resulting from human activities such as agriculture and industry are often dealt with in geography classes, while concepts such as the interconnectedness of ecosystems are handled in both science and geography lessons. Civics and moral education, among other issues, address respectful use of the environment. The Philippines and Thailand perhaps have the most pronounced environmental education plan at the national level among these five countries. In the Philippines, a National Strategy on Environmental Education (N S E E) was initiated in 1989. It aims to develop an environmentally literate and responsible citizenry who shall ensure the protection and improvement of the Philippine environment in order to promote and implement sustainability, social equity and economic efficiency in the use of the country’s natural resources. To effect this NSEE, a National Environmental Education Plan (NEEP) was introduced in 1992 to: develop awareness of environmental situations, encourage acquisition of higher thinking skills and attitudes, and lead to the manifestation of positive

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behaviour towards environmental protection and improvement. This is to be achieved at all levels of the educational hierarchy, the target groups being the basic, higher, non-formal, vocational and technical education sectors. Core messages to be disseminated include the notions of interconnectedness, diversity, balance of nature, finiteness of resources, population growth, carrying capacity and stewardship. In Thailand, USAID sponsored the Ministry of Education’s First Master Plan on Environment Education (1991–6). This master plan consisted of a set of goals, strategies, rationale, work-plans and activities, aimed at creating awareness about conserving natural resources and the environment among all students and 60 per cent of the population. In addition, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh National Plans (1982–96) emphasized environmental education through, inter alia, the development of environmentally related curricula and the training of environmentally related personnel (Veeravatananond and Sripanpong 1996). Since 1994, the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has identified selected schools around the country and established them as Provincial Environmental Education Centres to promote environmental education activities at the provincial level. This regional approach has also been adopted in Indonesia in a slightly different context: centres of environmental studies have been opened in various Indonesian universities to assist in the provision of environmental input to students studying to become local government and national development planners. In terms of informal or public environmental education, Singapore probably has the most extensive environmental campaigns. These are supplemented by public lectures, forums, exhibitions, and various forms of souvenirs bearing environmental messages. Public education activities are the most usual form of activities conducted by government and nongovernment organizations. At the same time, apart from formal classroom learning, some schools have established extra curricular activities, centred on environmental awareness and conservation, as part of informal education. This is true of Brunei as well (Nawi 1998). Nevertheless, environmental education has not been successful in these five countries. A variety of similar reasons can be found across all five countries: • • • •

the existing curriculum is limited in terms of content depth, breadth and scope teachers are not well-trained or are not trained at all teachers are constrained by having to teach the syllabuses for examinations and therefore, cannot provide adequate attention to environmental education as it is not an examination subject classroom teaching in these countries tends to be knowledge-based and is geared towards preparing students for examinations

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• •

environmental education is dependent on each individual school’s and administrator’s will to carry it out indigenous knowledge does not have a place in environmental education. (Maricar 1997)

The role of NGOs and industry

Apart from government initiatives, environmental issues are also the purview of non-government bodies (NGOs). The presence of NGOs is very strong in the Philippines and Thailand, stronger in Indonesia than in Brunei, and almost non-existent in Singapore. At present, there are 45,000 registered NGOs with just as many people’s organizations (POs) in the Philippines. NGOs adopting environmental issues as their cause developed primarily during the 1980s, and their involvement has varied, from protesting against the planned operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, establishing a comprehensive environmental index directory of selected groups, to organizing mass mobilization activities. Besides the NGOs, large corporations in the Philippines have also played important roles, especially in developing innovative technologies and techniques to manage the waste they produce. For example, Kimberly-Clark took its own initiative to develop a waste-water treatment plant that cost PHP8.5 million even before government authorities demanded waste-water treatment from industries operating around the area where Kimberly-Clark is situated. Nestlé Philippines Inc. has invested nearly PHP1 billion in environmental protection and power generating facilities. The Alabang Factory has creatively been utilizing the 119 tons of waste coffee grounds generated daily as fuel for its boiler. In Thailand, the past ten years have seen the emergence of NGOs aimed at tackling environmental issues. In the late 1990s, there were forty-nine registered national and international NGOs devoted to environmental resource conservation and protection. There were also a number of unregistered ones and numerous private and community organizations playing active roles in environmental management, environmental quality promotion and environmental and resource conservation. The main activity undertaken by environmental conservation-related private organisations has centred on technological development. This has focused on attempts to deal with environmental problems such as waste reduction and/or reuse, energy conservation, pollution abatement and control, and clean technology. Community organizations have focused their activities more on public education and natural resource rehabilitation, within their own neighbourhood. In the Suharto era in Indonesia, dissidence was rarely tolerated because it was believed to detract from nation building. In recent years, however, the government has gradually shown its support for NGOs and individuals

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involved in environmental issues because it recognizes the importance of NGO contributions in this field. Approximately thirty-seven national or international NGOs were operating in Indonesia in the late 1990s, each working directly or indirectly in the field of environmental education. The future of NGOs remains bright as more people are increasingly aware of the existing environmental problems. As in Indonesia, NGOs in Brunei mainly take on educational roles. The Brunei Association for Science Education (BASE) has organized conferences with environmental themes for science teachers. Similarly, the Women’s Council of Brunei has organized seminars to educate women members about consumer and environmental concerns and to provide them with the skill to address these. Major private companies, particularly the Brunei Shell Petroleum Company, have also promoted environmental awareness to their employees. In Singapore, the few existing environmental groups have also engaged primarily in environmental education activities, encouraging environmentally friendly lifestyles among Singaporeans. For example, Jalan Hijau or Green Way, a sub group of the Nature Society of Singapore, one of the handful NGOs that exist in Singapore, is active in promoting the use of environmentally friendly products through the distribution of a guidebook, talks and exhibitions. In recent years, the Nature Society has become more active and vocal, producing its own masterplan on conservation, and initiating petitions to conserve nature areas. Conclusions

The preceding discussions illustrate the diversities that typify South East Asia: the state of the environment, its religious traditions and their influence on people’s attitudes towards the environment, governmental input to care for nature, including environmental education initiatives, and non-governmental efforts to the same end. In many ways, nature has not been allowed to take its own course in the South East Asian countries examined here, and there is little reason to believe that this has been different in other South East Asian countries necessarily omitted from discussion in this chapter. The myriad problems are essentially caused by one of two factors: affluence (or desire to achieve affluence) and poverty. The former, typified in Singapore and Brunei, is evident in the rush of development, manifested in building and rebuilding, manufacture and consumption, which has caused the removal and/or destruction of nature, be it forest or coastal ecosystem. The emphasis on a ‘catching up’ approach to development, always a sense of wanting to do better as a country and as individuals, has become, in some ways, a value that pervades individual lives as much as it drives governments and countries. Singapore’s emphasis on achieving ‘excellence’ is both a rhetoric and a reality that pervades everyday lives and is perhaps epitomic.

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At the same time, poverty is real. Poverty at the level of the individual has perpetuated the continued suffering of slum and squatter settlers, in conditions of inferior water quality, poor sanitation, polluted air, and uncollected waste. Poverty at the level of the state has caused continued inability to address these environmental problems, both because it has other problems deemed more pressing to address, and because it does not have the financial resources needed to effect environmental change. Given these situations, what are the real possibilities for successful environmental management and healthy human-nature relationships in South East Asia? It would appear that there are strong religious and cultural traditions to draw on. While there are disputes over some interpretations, it is nevertheless clear that, albeit diverse in the subscription to different religious and traditional values in the various countries, South East Asian peoples may draw on a unity of underlying values which emphasize harmony with nature and respect for the environment. This is true, whether reference is made to Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, animism or other local cultural traditions. Yet Doughty (1981) raises an important point that casts light on our discussion. This is that holding a particular attitude or belief does not necessarily amount to acting in a manner consistent with that attitude or belief. As Tuan (1974) argues, despite belief in a harmonious relationship with nature, nineteenth century Chinese landscapes were ravaged as a result of the destructive actions of peasants. Similarly, Dei (1993) illustrated how attitudes of respect for the forest have not stopped deforestation in Africa. This appears to hold true to an extent in South East Asia, though perhaps in some of the more traditional agrarian societies in these countries, some of the traditional values may hold more fast than in the urban areas overtaken by modernization and values associated with that process. If the fundamental values, more often than not, do not translate into harmonious human coexistence with nature, then an imposition of will, driven by other imperatives, may need to be introduced. The case of Singapore is again instructive. The political culture of ecological consciousness that Savage and Kong (1993) identify is rooted less in religious or traditional beliefs than in pragmatic values. For example a healthy population, possible only if there is a healthy environment, is necessary if the people are to be of economic value. Significant effort is therefore channelled into ensuring healthy environments through a sheer imposition of political will, where individual volition either does not exist or suffice. Although the role of non-governmental organizations is important, South East Asia is not a region where NGOs abound (apart from the Philippines). The most significant environmental progress is made where the greatest commitment of the government is evident. Yet even the Singapore government recognizes that an enduring green consciousness should be a set of values, not a litany of laws and fines. In this regard, environmental education becomes of crucial importance.

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Governments in the South East Asian countries examined here have all introduced some degree of environmental education, in both formal and informal ways. This is necessary if some value re-orientation is to be introduced, but for various reasons discussed above, such education has not been easy to implement successfully. But perhaps the greatest difficulty is that while environmental education is introduced to espouse certain values, governments and societies are oriented towards another set of values, which essentially emphasize and privilege economic growth and development over the environment. When governments maintain an environmental education programme, but simultaneously make decisions not to conserve a natural area so that another industrial plant may be set up, it is of little surprise that environmentally friendly values appear difficult to inculcate in young people. When children increasingly grow up in urban jungles rather than more natural settings, the affinity for nature becomes increasingly difficult to develop. If South East Asian countries are beginning to move in the direction of Singapore’s development, as their aspirations intend, then these findings from a study of Singapore’s youth and their relationships with nature, should perhaps be given due and urgent attention: Young Singaporeans interviewed have little interest in and affinity for nature. This is the result of a few factors: growing up in a highly urban environment in which contact with nature is limited; over-protective parents of two-children families who worry about the ‘dangers’ that their children are exposed to when playing in natural areas; and the abundance of other recreational and entertainment options. This has predisposed them in a way to adopting the rationality of the state when confronted with situations in which a development priority conflicts with the needs of wildlife and greenery. With some exceptions, by and large, young people in Singapore are quick to defend the need to remove natural areas, for example, for the construction of other ‘more necessary’ amenities. At the same time, if such natural areas are to remain, then they need to serve instrumental goals, defined in state terms variously as the provision of recreational opportunities, and a salubrious and aesthetic environment, and indeed, to act as an economic resource. (Kong et al. 1999:12). If this is the general direction, will generations of South East Asians hereafter begin to grow up with little empathy for nature? As urbanization and modernization proceed, the answer leans towards the affirmative, and suggests that, increasingly, nature could become so socially constituted as externalized and separated from human society that it may easily become open to manipulation for human ends. Environmental education, drawing from religious and traditional values, is certainly going to be crucial and imperative, and must be coupled with broader re-orientation in social values.

7

Songlines and the Gondwanan inheritance Environmental attitudes and education in Australia David Yencken and John Fien Country (to Aboriginal people) is a place that gives and receives life…. People speak to country, sing to country, visit country, worry about country, feel sorry for country and long for country. (Deborah Bird Rose 1996:7) ‘Pity we didn’t get here first’ he said. ‘We the Russians?’ ‘Not only Russians…. Any people who could cope with wide horizons. Too much of this country went to islanders. They never understood it. They’re afraid of space. We could have been proud of it. Loved it for what it was.’ (Bruce Chatwin 1988:142)

The Australian land mass was once part of the great southern Gondwana continent, comprising the present land masses of South America, Africa, Antarctica and New Zealand. Some 45 million years ago the Australian continent broke away from Gondwana. Since that time Australia has been physically separated from the rest of the world. This long isolation has given rise to a distinct and remarkably diverse flora and fauna. Australia is widely recognized as one of the great bio-geographic regions of the world. Flannery notes that Australia supports 25,000 species of plants compared to only 17,500 species in the whole of Europe (including Turkey, the Eastern part of the old Soviet Union and the Mediterranean islands) and that there are more species of vascular plants in the Sydney region alone than in the whole of the British Isles (Flannery 1994:75). The qualities of the Australian land and landscape have had a profound influence on indigenous people and more recent migrants alike. For Aboriginal people the land—country in Aboriginal English—is a ‘nourishing terrain’. Not only have Aboriginal people, described by the French anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss as ‘the intellectual aristocrats among early peoples’ (Flood 1995:15), occupied every part of the land, adapted to it and it to them, it is also for them a living landscape peopled by mythological beings from the dream time. Country is a part of Aboriginal being and thus a defining concept. Aboriginal people have not, however, been alone in

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recognizing the spiritual qualities of the Australian continent. Australian writers and painters of European or other origins have struggled to express and to interpret the peculiar qualities of the land. D.H.Lawrence, during a brief visit to Australia in 1922, wrote of ‘the strange as it were invisible beauty of Australia…which seems to lurk just beyond the range of our white vision. You feel you can’t see it…. It is so aboriginal, out of our ken, so aloof (Lawrence 1995:84). The poet Judith Wright has observed that ‘in Australian writing the landscape seems to have its own life. Sometimes it takes up an immense amount of room; sometimes it is so firmly pushed away that its very absence haunts us as uncomfortably as its presence could’ (Wright, quoted in Tacey 1995:6). David Tacey, writing about the Australian psyche and Australian identity, has observed that ‘the landscape in Australia is a mysteriously charged and magnificently alive archetypal presence’ (Tacey 1995:6). In this chapter we briefly describe some important aspects of Australian society. We then discuss the environmental setting in Australia. Here we discuss cultural and other influences on attitudes to nature in Australian society, the politics of the environment, the state of the environment as depicted in recent reports, and adult attitudes to the environment. We then turn to young people in Australia, the nature of the environmental education they receive, their attitudes as reported in other research and the questions that the achievement of a sustainable society poses for them. A picture of Australian society

Australia has been occupied by Aboriginal people for at least 50,000 years and by European and other settlers from 1788 onwards. More recently Australia has seen a considerable increase in Asian migration. Between the 1986 and 1991 censuses, for example, the number of people in Sydney speaking Chinese at home increased from 57,3792 to 111,274 and between the 1991 and 1996 censuses the number of Asian-born in Australia grew from 467,258 to 697,896 (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1991a, 1991b, 1996). While the proportion of Asian-born is still small, Australia is slowly but progressively becoming more Asian focused and Asian influenced. This is expressed in its attitudes and relationships to the region, through mutual trade and investment, in the new attention being given to Asian languages and culture in Australian schools and universities, through increasing migration and through the increasing numbers of Asian tourists and visitors. Although this increasing Asian influence is strongly contested by a minority of Australians, few people doubt that the trend will continue. Tables 7.1. to 7.4 show the extent and distribution of Australia’s population and the ethnic make up, religious beliefs and levels of education of Australian people. The present population of Australia is some 19,000,000. It is significantly concentrated in five large cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and

Songlines and the Gondwanan inheritance Table 7.1 Australia: distribution of population 1996

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends 1998

Table 7.2 Birthplace of the Australian population

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996 Census

Table 7.3 Australia: religious beliefs

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996 Census

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138 David Yencken and John Fien Table 7.4 Australia: qualification levels obtained at May 1997 (population aged 16 to 24

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Yearbook Australia 1999

Perth. A small proportion of the population only lives in rural and remote settlements. Australia is a multicultural society reflecting the high levels of immigration since the Second World War. Birthplaces of the present population indicate the background of recent migrants and the religious beliefs identified in the census illustrate religious affiliations and influences. In the six years between 1991 and 1997, the number of Australians with bachelor degrees increased from 743,034 to 1,220,000, a 64 per cent increase, and those with higher degrees and postgraduate diplomas from 253,115 to 432,700, a 76 per cent increase. Australia therefore has a mainly urban population with the largest numbers of people concentrated in the five largest cities. All the settlements of any size, Canberra excepted, are on the coastline and all population growth is to be found on the coastal edge. Australia is now a multicultural society with many different ethnic strands among its people. Its religious and cultural traditions and its legal and political systems have been strongly Anglo-Celtic, but these are now being slowly modified by the influence of its most recent waves of migrants, by indigenous values, and by growing awareness of and interest in its Asian neighbours. Although the majority of the population does not hold qualifications beyond secondary school level, literacy levels are close to 100 per cent and educational standards are continually improving. Standards of living are also high, though increasingly there is disparity in income levels with an increasing number of the population living below the poverty line. In 1973 Al Grassby, Minister for Immigration, described Australia as ‘a nation of immigrants and the descendants of immigrants’. He continued, ‘Our national character has been determined by the diverse elements of population who came here from many countries’ (Jordens 1995:164). This was a defining moment in the political history of Australia, since in the following years the policy of multiculturalism was adopted and confirmed by all the main political parties. Multiculturalism was conceived as a means

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of integrating indigenous people, white settlers and more recent migrants into Australian society while recognizing and respecting the individuality of their cultural backgrounds and experiences. While race debates flare up from time to time in Australia, as in other societies, public support for multiculturalism remains strong. In a news poll conducted across Australia in April 1997, 78 per cent of respondents thought that multiculturalism had been good for Australia compared with 16 per cent only who thought it had been bad (The Australian 1997). The environmental setting

From 1788 until the 1970s the dominant cultural influences have been Anglo-Celtic. Western ideas, technology and science have therefore been pervasive in shaping value systems and attitudes towards the environment in Australia. Many books and articles have traced the influences of JudeoChristian and Greco-Roman ideas and the technocratic scientific view on Western attitudes to nature and the environment. Pepper has for example observed that: ‘The technocratic view of nature and society based…on classical science, is the one which has permeated Western popular consciousness…during the last two to three hundred years’ (Pepper 1993). This technocratic view has been strongly aligned both with liberal ideology and free market capitalism on the one hand, and socialist thinking on the other. Australia has been the heir to these attitudes and values and has shared with other English-speaking countries very similar patterns of thinking and behaviour. Thus the attitudes of both major groups, the conservative coalition (Liberal Party and National Party) and the social democratic Australian Labor Party have been and continue to be strongly infused with traditional technocratic and developmental ideologies. Together with other Western countries, Australia has also experienced more recent challenges to these dominant attitudes towards development and technology. Australian writers and thinkers have actively participated in the international debates that followed the explosive launch of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962 and the questions that followed Carson’s and other environmental exposures. The Australian philosopher, John Passmore made a significant contribution to the discussion of the influence of Christian dogma and teaching that followed Lynn White’s seminal paper ‘The historical roots of our ecologic crisis’ published in 1967 (Passmore 1974). Charles Birch (see Hollingworth 1994) subsequently took an active part in proposals for a redefining of Christian traditions. Australians have also been active in debates about paradigm and value changes, political change and the rethinking of traditional economics that has followed the coining of the term ‘sustainable development’ in the World Conservation Strategy (launched in 1980), its further development by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) and its subsequent widespread adoption. Val Plumwood (1993), Freya Mathews (1991), Peter Singer (1975,

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1979), Nick Low and Brendan Gleeson (1998) have written extensively on environmental ethics. Robyn Eckersley (1992, 1995), John Dryzek (1997) and Peter Christoff (1996) have contributed to international discussion on green politics and the relationship between representative democracy and the environment. This intellectual contribution has been paralleled by the growth of popular environmentalism in Australia, represented by the explosion of environmental groups described later in this chapter. These two groups of attitudes and values, the technocratic on the one hand and the environmentally aligned on the other, are currently in an uneasy relationship. The technocratic view still pervades the thinking of the mainstream political parties and of decision makers generally. On the other side, popular concern about the environment is supported by a strong environmental movement and a vigorous academic environmental debate. There are also some important signs of political change. The minor parties, the Australian Democrats and the Australian Greens, which currently hold the balance of power in the Australian Senate (upper house), are both strongly environmentally aligned. Individual business leaders are also beginning to espouse and promote sustainable practices, although, measured by the frequency of incorporation of environmental reporting into annual accounts, progress has been slow. Australia could therefore be seen to be in a stage of slow environmental transition. While Australia has shared an intellectual inheritance with the rest of the Western world and Australians have played an active part in the global debates, there have also been distinctive local influences on environmental attitudes and awareness. The two most important have been the emerging understanding of the particular qualities of the Australian land and its flora and fauna and the influence of Australia’s multicultural society, especially the growth in awareness and appreciation of the cultural and other traditions of Australia’s indigenous people. The growing awareness of environmental problems, local, regional and global, has also had a major bearing on the evolution of environmental attitudes in Australia. Environmental attitudes and policies in Australia have been significantly affected by the difficulty European and other settlers have had in understanding the nature of Australia’s geology, geomorphology, soils, climate, flora and fauna. Much of this scientific understanding is very recent, stemming from recognition of the influence of plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of the continent, the extraordinary variability of Australia’s climate, and the resultant ecosystems that have developed in Australia. Satellite imagery is now providing further new information. Europeans brought assumptions about the land and about agricultural and other practices which have proved disastrous in Australia. Whereas Europe has rich soils caused by glaciation and was colonized after the Ice Age by an aggressive but limited range of plants and animals, Australia has

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old leached soils, little recent glaciation or vulcanism to enrich them, high levels of salt deposits from frequent ocean inundations and a most complex and diverse flora adapted to small local variations in conditions. The soils and ecosystems are delicate and easily disturbed. Many are poorly suited to European forms of agriculture or grazing. The high urban concentration of the population has meant that many Australians have not been directly exposed to the problems posed by the impacts of European settlement. Many issues have thus become marginalized. This has been an additional problem for environmental protection in Australia. The growing consciousness of the need, first, to understand the nature of the land and its ecosystems and, second, to rethink human responses to them is one of the most striking features of current Australian environmentalism. Australia’s multicultural society might be considered to have affected environmental attitudes in two significant ways. The first is through the influence of Australia’s indigenous people. There have been some very important changes in recent attitudes to Aboriginal people, stemming in part from a humanitarian concern about the welfare of Aboriginal people, especially their health, education and employment and the treatment they have received from white society, and, in part, from a growing recognition of the significance of Aboriginal cultural achievements. An example is the increasing recognition given to traditional Aboriginal sites and the rock art, tools and burial ceremonies and the lifestyles associated with them. Several of these sites are now included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. There is also an increasing literature on Aboriginal relationships to the land, and the intelligence of their adaptations to the Australian climate, flora and fauna. There is discussion about Aboriginal spirituality and the lessons that might be learnt by white Australians from Aboriginal people. Many of Australia’s best known writers and some distinguished international writers have recently explored such themes. Aboriginal writing, painting and music is itself achieving considerable recognition, internationally as well as in Australia. These writings and cultural productions are beginning to have an important influence among some opinion makers, if not yet among Australians at large, and are helping to shape attitudes to the Australian environment. The Aboriginal rights movement has also been given a new momentum following a High Court decision of 1992, the so-called Mabo decision, which for the first time rejected the concept of terra nullius, that is that the land discovered by European settlers was empty and unowned. This decision, and the subsequent legislation enacted to reinforce it, have given Aboriginal communities the opportunity to make claims for land that they have continued to occupy since European settlement. Despite moves by the present federal government significantly to restrict the scope of this

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legislation—and, it should be said in part, stimulated by such regressive policies—debates about Aboriginal people and Aboriginal culture have brought ab out important shifts in traditional environmentalist perspectives. Government and conservation groups have been forced to adapt Western approaches to conservation and land management to the traditions of indigenous people. The very concept of wilderness, with its long significance in North American and Australian conservation history, has had to be redefined. Today it is accepted that there is no part of Australia that is a wilderness in the old sense and that every part of the country has been occupied for very long periods, and in some way modified, by humans. Recently there has also emerged a body of Aboriginal environmental writing. It covers topics such as traditional practices (for example the use of fire), ethno-botany, environmental knowledge and intellectual property, challenging white perspectives and assumptions about these issues. Marcia Langton writes about the need for recognition of indigenous knowledge systems (the totality of information, practice and belief specific to each indigenous culture) (Langton 1998). Michael Dodson, one time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner, argues for the inclusion of these knowledge systems alongside Western scientific knowledge. Culture is what enables us to conceive of land and environment in terms that are different to conventional European notions…landscape and environment are human constructs that are inherently shaped by the ways in which humans perceive or think about the world around them…. What I am suggesting is a partnership…between Western knowledge and ‘scientific’ approaches to land and environmental management and indigenous knowledge and approaches. Such a partnership, I suggest, should provide the basis for sound, sustainable environmental management and protection. (Dodson quoted in Langton 1998:8) A second important multicultural influence has been that of recent migrants, especially those of non-Anglo-Celtic background, and including those coming from Asia. Recent adverse economic trends for rural industries have meant that overseas migrants have tended to concentrate in cities. The problems of adaptation to, and understanding of, an unfamiliar physical environment, described above, have therefore strongly applied to recent migrants. There are, however, some encouraging signs of change. The environmental movement in Australia has until recently been largely Anglo-Celtic in character. This is beginning to change. The Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) now has its own environmental group. Little research has, however, been done on the environmental attitudes of different ethnic groups in Australia.

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The politics of the environment

Australia has a federal system of government. The three tiers of government are the federal Commonwealth government, the eight states and territories, and local government. The states and territories retain many important powers. By contrast the powers of local government in Australia are weak by international standards. Environmental management is primarily in the hands of the states and territories. The federal constitution makes no mention of the environment. This has left much uncertainty about federal constitutional powers related to the environment. As is described below, there have, however, been recent High Court decisions that have clarified the potential scope of Commonwealth decision making and action. International treaties, conventions and recommendations

Australia is a signatory to most of the most important international agreements on the environment and has played an active part in the development of many of them. The conventions have been very influential in the shaping of environmental policy and attitudes. They are of particular significance in a country with a federal system of government. The World Heritage Convention has, for example, been used several times by the federal government to overrule actions of the states. Two notable cases have concerned the South West Wilderness area of Tasmania and the Daintree wet tropics area of Queensland. References to international conventions and agreement, and Australia’s performance related to their objectives, are frequently discussed in the Australian media. They are actively used by the environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) to question and debate government policy. Australia now has thirteen properties inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. They include the Great Barrier Reef, the South West of Tasmania, Lord Howe Island, Shark Bay, the Daintree wet tropic area, Fraser Island, Kakadu and Willandra Lakes to mention a few. The last two are also listed as sites of outstanding cultural value, representing ancient Aboriginal occupation, cultural practices and rock art. High Court challenges to the listing of Fraser Island and the South West of Tasmania led to the redefinition by the High Court of the environmental powers of the Commonwealth. Since these rulings, it has become accepted that the Commonwealth has virtually unlimited powers to legislate on behalf of the environment in ways binding on the States, although these powers have been little used. Another World Heritage site, Kakadu, has been the centre of long running environmental debates because of the presence of uranium within the park boundaries. Recently proposals to extend uranium mining in and around the park have drawn strong criticism from the World Heritage

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Committee itself, adding a new dimension to the debate. In all these ways World Heritage listing has been influential in Australia. Other international conventions have also had important if less dramatic influences on environmental policy and protection in Australia. National environmental policy

Although in Australia, as elsewhere, a generalized concern about the environment had existed for many previous decades, the early 1970s were a watershed for national environmental policy. An important external influence was the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment held in 1972. Preparation for the Conference put the need for environmental legislation onto the policy agenda in Australia and, following the election of the Whitlam Labor government in 1972, a suite of national legislation was introduced and passed. This legislation has continued to provide the backbone for national environmental policy from that time forward. Through these measures, considerable advances have been made in the control of pollution, the assessment of environmental impacts, the development of policies and techniques to reduce environmental degradation in rural Australia, and the identification and conservation of areas of significant natural and cultural heritage. Only very recently has this body of legislation been significantly amended. Under the subsequent Fraser government, a National Conservation Strategy was prepared, drawing upon the World Conservation Strategy launched five years earlier. The National Conservation Strategy was not, however, submitted to the Minister of Arts, Heritage and Environment until 1985, by which time a new government was in place. The Strategy project brought representatives from many different interests together to debate environmental issues and was thus an important precursor to subsequent collaborative exercises in environmental policy development. It had, however, little serious backing from the federal government and was not used as a basis for national environmental policy. One important state conservation strategy, stemming from this family of strategies, was, however, subsequently prepared in Victoria and launched in 1987. This strategy included significant measures and commitments and had the full backing of the government of Victoria of the time. Christoff attributes the superior contribution of Victorian participants to the next important national initiative (the Ecologically Sustainable Development project) to the involvement of Victorian government agencies, public servants, industrialists and environmentalists in the development and implementation of the state strategy (Christoff 1999). The next significant development in national policy was again associated with a new Labor government. The Hawke government swept to power in March 1983 with a commitment to the protection of and World Heritage listing for the South West of Tasmania and with the strong endorsement of

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leading environmental NGOs. Political lore of the time attributed much of Labor’s electoral success to its environmental platform. As part consequence, the new government gave high prominence to environmental policy and forged close connections with the environmental movement. Particularly influential was the role of the Australian Conservation Foundation. This was the high point in environmental NGO influence, one not likely to be repeated frequently. Over the next years the Hawke government stopped the Franklin below Gordon dam, brokered a new Murray Waters Agreement incorporating water quality measures, moved to nominate the Daintree wet tropics area on the World Heritage list and introduced many other environmental measures. Of particular significance, because of their potential for system change, were the Ecologically Sustainable Development project and the establishment of the Resource Assessment Commission. In 1987 the Brundlandt Commission released Our Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987), a report on sustainable development. A new model was therefore available to the government. By 1989 environmental policy had lost some of its political lustre, and the Hawke government was searching for an alternative way of resolving environmental conflicts which linked environmental concern more effectively to growth and development. In that year Prime Minister Hawke called a series of meetings to explore the development of a ‘rational strategy for the environment’ (Doyle and Kellow 1995). It was agreed that a discussion paper would be prepared. In June 1990 the Commonwealth government produced a forty-page discussion paper on Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). In August of that year the Prime Minister announced the establishment of nine sectoral E S D working groups involving government officials, industry representatives, unions and environmental, community and consumer groups to examine sustainability issues in each of the industry sectors. Consultation forums were held all round Australia. Reports were received from each of these working groups, and subsequently two other reports on intersectoral issues were prepared. Overall the reports contained five hundred recommendations. In November 1991 the Commonwealth, states and territories agreed a process for examining these recommendations. A draft strategy was prepared and released for public comment. In December 1992 the Council of Australian Governments endorsed the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (Commonwealth of Australia 1992). The strategy contained an overall goal, three core objectives and seven guiding principles. The goal is: •

Development that improves the total quality of life, both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological processes on which life depends.

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The core objectives are: • • •

to enhance individual and community well-being and welfare by following a path of economic development that safeguards the welfare of future generations to provide for equity within and between generations to protect biological diversity and maintain essential ecological processes and life support systems.

The guiding principles are: • • • • • • •

Decision making processes should effectively integrate both long and short term economic, environmental, social and equity concerns. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. The global dimension of environmental impacts of actions and policies should be recognized and considered. The need to develop a strong, growing and diversified economy which can enhance the capacity for environmental protection should be recognized. The need to enhance international competitiveness in an environmentally sound manner should be recognized. Cost effective and flexible policy instruments should be adopted, such as improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms. Decisions and actions should provide for broad community involvement on issues which affect them. (Commonwealth of Australia 1992)

This was an important step forward. Many of the principles set out here have been central to discussions about ‘sustainability’. The working group reports and the eventual strategy have also had their critics. Criticisms include that the reports did not fully acknowledge the issue of ‘limits’ and come to terms with the critical distinction between ‘development’ and ‘growth’. They emphasized production rather than an approach focusing on overall patterns of consumption and lifestyle; they omitted the crucial population and per capita resource use questions; and they reflected a bias in favour of current economic policies (Hare 1991). Hollick has argued that any discussion of sustainability should ask four central questions: sustainable for what? sustainable for how long? sustainable for how many and at what level? and sustainable over what area? (Hollick 1990:18–23) These questions were not fully addressed. The second question ‘sustainable for how long?’ is arguably the most important. These are important criticisms, but it was hardly surprising that the ESD project required major compromises. There were also real accomplishments.

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These included the adoption of ESD goals by the federal and all state governments, the working associations of environmental and industry representatives, and the raising of awareness among all participants. The greatest disappointment with the project was not due to its inherent deficiencies but rather that the consultative, working party approach was abandoned by the Keating government when Keating replaced Hawke as the leader of the Labor party and Prime Minister of Australia. Another Hawke government initiative, the Resource Assessment Commission, a body charged to explore and find sustainable options for contentious resource issues, was also abandoned at the same time. During these Labor years federal/state environmental relationships were increasingly systematized and formalized under a policy of cooperative federalism. The Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) was formed, combining two previous ministerial councils, and in 1992 an Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment was reached between the Commonwealth and the States. Under this agreement, a National Environmental Protection Council was established to provide coordinated national policy approaches and to set national environmental protection standards for specified environmental issues. A feature of the Council is that two-thirds majority decisions are binding on all participating governments. There is evident good sense in a coordinating mechanism of this sort in a federal system of government where the states retain so much responsibility for environmental management. The environmental concern has continued to be that the coordinating mechanisms often lead to the watering down of environmental policy to a lowest common denominator. A crucial issue is the question of national policy leadership, that is the degree to which the Commonwealth (federal) government is prepared to take a strong leadership role on environmental matters, and to what degree these intergovernmental arrangements lead to a diminution of strong national leadership. The election of the Howard coalition government in 1996 introduced a new phase to national environmental politics. Through the sale of a part of Telecom (now Telstra), the national telephone carrier, the new government committed to the establishment of a Natural Heritage Trust and the spending of one billion dollars on environmental remediation over six years. Since the federal Labor opposition has been opposed to the sale of Telstra and has identified no other readily available source of comparable funds, it has found itself in a political quandary over environmental policy and has opted for a low key approach to the environment. Environmental initiatives have been left to the minor parties. There has thus been a tacit agreement by the major parties to keep environmental policy out of the political limelight. It is also typical of Australian political responses that significant policy initiatives are taken to protect the environment by environment portfolios in one section of government, while the government as a whole, or other

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agencies of government, take policy stances in support of economic interests that are seriously damaging to the environment. An example is the federal government’s Natural Heritage Trust with its one billion dollars committed to the environment. Parallel with this scheme, the government has adopted a regressive stance on greenhouse gases; they have proposed sweeping changes to, and expanded uses, of the leasehold lands of Australia, many of which are significantly degraded and which cover some 40 per cent of the continent. They have also approved very large developments that threaten World Heritage areas, and licensed continuing wood chipping and clearing. Particularly significant have been the recent moves from both major parties, especially the Howard government, to devolve responsibility for environmental decisions to the states and territories. The motive has in part been ideological, to avoid intervention in the states’ affairs and in part pragmatic, to avoid having to bear the wrath of the environmental movement for perceived inadequacies of policy decisions. Especially influential in encouraging this devolvement was the forest debate. National environmental policy leadership remains a crucial political issue for Australia. The voluntary environment movement

Australia has a remarkably strong and diverse non-government environmental movement. In 1993 its composite membership was estimated to be around 300,000 people (Papadakis 1993:149). There are two significant national groups, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Wilderness Society. Major international bodies such as Greenpeace, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Friends of the Earth are active in Australia. In each state there are also umbrella environment councils representative of the myriad of smaller environmental bodies to be found in that state. The environmental groups are influential in shaping environmental agenda and opinion. The leading organizations figure regularly in the media. Opinion polls show that the environmental NGOs enjoy a high level of credibility. The surveys show that Australian people more readily believe what is said about environmental conditions by environmental groups than by any other group including government and industry. As in most countries, these groups represent a great diversity of opinion and divergent styles of operation. They also typically fill different niches. The Australian Conservation Foundation is national in focus, concerned with all environmental issues, outspoken and professional in its arguments. It has traditionally had the most direct access to the federal government, although this relationship changed with the election of the Howard coalition government. The Wilderness Society, as its name implies, has a prime focus on nature conservation and the protection of biodiversity. It is also activist and outspoken with a strong youth membership. Greenpeace follows its

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international practices, working outside government, concentrating on a few, usually internationally determined, campaign themes and taking dramatic actions from time to time to point up environmental problems. The WWF also has a focus on biodiversity and nature conservation. It is influential but is less activist in orientation. The nature conservation councils in each state or territory focus on state problems and issues although they too join in national debates from time to time. Media treatment of the environment

In Australian society, as in most societies, the most pervasive form of media is television, followed by radio and newspapers; nearly every Australian will give some attention every day to the television or radio. The biennial surveys carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics consistently show the media as the prime source of environmental information. In the 1998 survey, for example, 70 per cent of respondents identified television and radio as their main source. This was followed by newspapers (55 per cent) and government (27 per cent) (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998). For young people, television is the premier medium for news and entertainment. It is moreover regarded as the preferred source of knowledge, as well as the educational medium from which young people believe they have learnt most about the environment. Papadakis (1996) has analysed treatment of the environment in The Bulletin, one of Australia’s leading news magazines, over the period 1966–94 to illustrate the growth of coverage over this period. A similar growth of coverage could be assumed for other media outlets. As a random example on Friday 13 November 1998 articles and material on the environment appeared in The Australian, The Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age (Melbourne), The Canberra Times, The Courier Mail (Brisbane), The West Australian (Perth), and The Mercury (Hobart). Many of the more prominent papers carried several pieces. The subject matter of the articles ranged from global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, solar power plants, feral pigs, oil spills, regional forest issues, organic foods, chemical spills, new national parks to a UN prize for the founder of a clean-up campaign. Such coverage in the print media alone is typical of daily media reporting on the environment in Australia. This exposure might suggest that the environment is well covered and thoughtfully treated by the Australian media. This is, however, far from the case. Syndicated articles from international papers reporting international research and studies are well reported in some leading Australian papers but systematically ignored in others. Papadakis’s analysis of the treatment of the environment in The Bulletin shows that pro-development and antienvironmental reporting is still common. Media treatment of the environment strongly reflects prevailing political norms. The media

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seemingly accepts the agenda of the governing parties, and nearly all debates are carried out related to and around these agenda, but rarely outside them. Political reporters treat the environment as a sectional interest in a pluralist society. If the environment is not perceived to be a major political issue, because it is not at that moment ranked very highly in popular surveys of immediate national concerns, it is relegated to a minor position. Much of the media interest, such as it is, is focused on political conflict rather than on the substance of the issue. Media ownership in Australia is also highly concentrated, although it is not clear what influence that has had on environmental reporting. The state of the environment in Australia

While there have been very many publications of different kinds on the Australian environment and while there were earlier reports, Australia has only recently produced a comprehensive and independently produced state of the environment report, Australia: State of the Environment 1996 (State of the Environment Advisory Council 1996). Over eighty leading Australian scientists were involved in its production. The report included chapters on human settlements (including social and health indicators); atmosphere; land resources; biodiversity; inland waters; marine and estuarine environments; and natural and cultural heritage. In summarizing the condition of the environment in Australia the report concluded that the good news was that: • • • •

Unlike most industrial nations Australia has no significant problems with sulphur dioxide and acid rain. Urban drinking water is generally very good, as is the standard of Australian food. Oceans and estuaries, away from major cities and developed coastal areas, are in relatively good shape. Levels of some urban air pollutants, including lead, carbon monoxide and large particulates have declined in recent years.

Australia also has serious environmental problems: • • • •

The loss of biological diversity is perhaps Australia’s most serious problem. In many cases the destruction of habitat, the major cause of biodiversity loss, is continuing at an alarming rate. Inland waters in southern Australia are in poor shape largely because of poor management. Soil erosion from agricultural land remains a problem, especially given Australia’s poor shallow soils. Old growth (primary) forests continue to be logged.

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The hole in the protective ozone layer over the Antarctic is growing larger and deeper. In cities, transport systems, storm water and other waste disposal continue to have substantial adverse impacts on the environment. (State of the Environment Advisory Council 1996)

The report listed many other areas about which there is considerable uncertainty because the necessary information is not available. These include the status of some marine species, some types of forests threatened with disappearance, the patchy system of reserves, and aspects of urban air quality, water systems and natural and cultural heritage. As will be shown in the following section, there is a considerable dichotomy between the problems identified by Australian scientists as the most acute for Australia, and those perceived by ordinary Australians as the most significant and threatening. Adult environmental attitudes

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has been carrying out regular surveys of environmental attitudes in Australia for the last eight years. Although a few attitudinal questions only have been asked, they are consistent between surveys and come from a respected independent source. Table 7.5 shows changes in environmental concerns from 1994 to 1998. In surveys carried out in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998, air pollution, freshwater pollution, ocean pollution and destruction of trees and ecosystems have consistently been the environmental issues of greatest concern to Australians. What is striking about these concerns is the emphasis given to air pollution as Australia’s major environmental problem and the lack of attention given to other issues such as land degradation and deterioration of inland water regimes. Ironically, urban air pollution is one of Australia’s few real success stories. Significant improvements in air quality have followed the phasing out of lead in petrol and the subsequent requirement for catalytic converters to be fitted to the exhausts of all passenger cars. By contrast, land degradation, deterioration of inland waters and loss of biodiversity are most frequently ranked by scientists as Australia’s most significant problems Table 7.5 Australia: concern about environmental problems (%) June 1998

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998:11

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(State of the Environment Advisory Council 1996). The concerns expressed by Australians in opinion polls no doubt reflect the urban concentrations of the population and the close association of the majority of Australians with the coastline. Many Australians also believe that the quality of the environment has declined in the last ten years. In the 1998 survey 46 per cent believed that environmental conditions had declined compared with 24 per cent who believed that they had improved and 26 per cent who believed that they had stayed much the same (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998:15). Young people: environmental education and attitudes in Australia

It is against this background of environmental problems, changing social values and environmental practices that environmental education developed in Australia from the 1970s onwards. The historical development of the environmental education movement in Australia is traced in Greenall (1987). Greenall explains that environmental education existed in the form of nature study and outdoor education prior to the 1970s. Conservation education was also prominent, especially in the early work of the Gould League programmes in New South Wales and Victoria. However, two conferences, one on ‘Education and the Environmental Crisis’ held in Canberra in 1970 and a conference held in Melbourne in 1975 as part of the lead-up to the UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education in Tbilisi in 1977, were catalysts for the modern environmental education movement in Australia. These conferences, and the curriculum and professional development programmes that followed them, have led to an acceptance by the departments of education in all states of the definitions and prescriptions for environmental education developed by the UNESCOUNEP International Environmental Education programme. Thus, environmental education policies and curriculum guides in Australia place much emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching, study of environmental values, critical thinking and decision making skills, increased school-community interaction in solving environmental problems, and experiential teaching methods. It is difficult to provide a detailed picture of environmental education in Australia due to the complex nature of the education system. Australia has three levels of government: Commonwealth, state/territory and local, with the first two being responsible for education. The six state and two territory governments have major responsibility for education policy, the provision of schools, staff, syllabuses, and teaching resources in public schools. The Commonwealth government provides special purpose funds for educational projects of national significance (such as gender equity, multicultural education, and school-industry links, but unfortunately, not environmental education as yet). In recent years, the Commonwealth has acted to try to

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bring a degree of coordination and uniformity to education policy and curricula across the various state/territory systems. In Australia there is a strong tradition of school-based curriculum development in which schools and teachers are responsible for developing the detailed objectives, content, teaching methods and assessment of student learning within the parameters of broad-framework syllabuses. This has led to much innovation and the development of programmes, including many in environmental education, which suit the needs of students in their individual schools and communities. This diversity of practice makes it difficult to keep up with what is happening. Coupled with the division of Australian education into eight state/territory systems, it makes the task of providing a national picture very difficult. Thus, this overview of environmental education in Australia is necessarily a selective one. A more comprehensive review of the policies in each state/territory together with case studies of the diversity of environmental education programmes and activities found in schools may be found in Greenall Gough (1990) and Gough (1992). National curriculum and environmental education in Australia

The operation of eight state and territory education systems in a country with such a small population as Australia is very expensive and leads to much duplication of effort. It also leads to difficulties for students whose families move from one state to another. These problems have led to efforts in recent years to coordinate curriculum policies across Australia. This has not been wholly successful due to states and territory governments wishing to ensure that their ‘rights’ over education are not infringed, and because many prominent educators have resisted the national curriculum process. They have feared a tyranny of uniformity that would undermine the local curriculum control and curriculum diversity of school-based curriculum development. They have also resisted the conservative approaches to education that have been proposed when eight different systems seek to find educational philosophies upon which they can agree, and upon which a system of national educational standards testing could be developed. However, many agreements have been reached. In 1989, the Commonwealth, State and Territory ministers for education agreed on the Hobart Declaration often ‘Common and Agreed National Goals for Schooling in Australia’. These goals include two of direct relevance to environmental education: developing ‘an understanding of and concern for balanced development of the global environment’, and ‘a capacity to exercise judgement in matters of morality, ethics and social justice’. These goals were incorporated into the 1999 Adelaide agreements on Education and are being introduced into educational programmes in all school systems. The national curriculum process has identified eight areas of

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knowledge for cooperative curriculum action. One of these is Studies of Society and the Environment. Actions in the field of Studies of Society and the Environment have included a national audit of environmental education materials (Stowell 1990) and an in-depth review of the pattern of curriculum provision for environmental education in Australia, through an analysis of all relevant educational policies and syllabuses in the country. The results of these reviews were incorporated into a national statement on Studies of Society and the Environment and the development of assessment profiles through which a common pattern of describing student performance may be achieved. State and Territory governments are now implementing locallyadapted versions of these documents. It is difficult to judge these documents and their implications for environmental education at this early stage, but the general feeling amongst environmental education teachers in Australia is one of caution. Among their concerns are fears of an overly-anthropocentric orientation in the national statement; its lack of attention to the natural environment; its treatment of resources from an economic viewpoint only; its lack of a global perspective in a too heavy emphasis on Australian studies; its focus on disciplines not interdisciplinary teaching; its emphasis on passive forms of learning; and its lack of emphasis on critical enquiry and education for active citizenship. Environmental education in the states

Early environmental education policies in the states largely focused on learning about the natural environment. However, in recent years a number of important events and publications have influenced the concept of environmental education. In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development published Our Common Future. This report legitimized a more holistic view of environment, and brought concepts of social justice and ecologically sustainable development to environmental education. This view of environmental education was reinforced by the publication of Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living by IUCN, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) in 1991. In the same year Australia endorsed and signed four key agreements relating to social and ecological sustainability at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The same year also saw the development of a National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development in Australia. All states endorsed this strategy. An objective of particular relevance was the incorporation of the principles of ecologically sustainable development into the curriculum, assessment and teaching programs of schools and higher education. As a result of these and other developments, the focus of environmental education in the states has changed. The new aim is to deliver effective learning and teaching which assists students to acquire the understanding, skills and values to participate as active and informed citizens in the

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development and maintenance of an ecologically sustainable, socially just and democratic society. A number of events and publications have resulted from this changed focus. In Queensland, for example, field study centres were renamed environmental education centres to reflect this broadening of the focus of environmental education. In 1993, following earlier initiatives, an Environmental Education Curriculum Guide (Queensland Department of Education 1993) was published to draw together these influences and present a holistic and cross-curricular notion of environmental education. This document proposes that the environment has natural, social and personal elements which are inextricably linked. The ‘world ethic of sustainability’ outlined in Caring for the Earth (I UCN, U N E P and WWF 1991) provides the philosophical basis for the Curriculum Guide. This, in turn, is reflected in advice about the practical implementation of educating for the environment. While encouraging diversity of approaches, the Queensland department of education recommends the adoption of a set of principles to encourage programmes that are interdisciplinary, holistic, student centred and community orientated. Effective programmes also use a problem solving approach when examining issues, incorporate direct experience and generate action. An evaluation of environmental education in Australia

It is always possible to provide case studies of exemplary programmes of environmental education and many such case studies can be provided of the work of teachers and students in Australia (Gough 1992). However, such lighthouse examples do not give a comprehensive account of the environmental education experiences of the majority of students. Conversely, national evaluations and surveys are very time-consuming and expensive. Thus, apart from a national evaluation in 1973–4 (Linke 1980), there have been no large-scale studies of environmental education in Australia. The general pattern of environmental education in Australia appears to be one of rising enthusiasm among students and teachers, but two recent studies provide evidence of a need for caution in claiming that good practice in environmental education is widespread. In the first, a case study of environmental education in two Brisbane secondary schools revealed a high level of teacher and student interest in both schools (O’Donohue 1990). However, this was not being translated into comprehensive programmes of environmental education for a number of reasons; these related chiefly to limited teacher awareness of the values and social participation objectives of environmental education and the barriers imposed by syllabus, assessment and timetable constraints. The teachers did not seem to recognize the opportunities available in their syllabuses to address such objectives or to be aware of ways of overcoming these barriers, especially for their senior secondary classes. The second study was by Spork (1992). This study involved an extensive

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and rigorously sampled survey of the teaching of environmental education in one Brisbane education region. Spork focused her data collection and analysis on perceptions and practices of seven aspects of environmental education. These are teaching about natural systems, teaching about peoplenature interactions, teaching skills to investigate the environment, teaching positive attitudes to the environment, teaching skills for investigating and clarifying environmental issues, teaching problem solving, and teaching through and for environmental action. The first three of these relate most closely with education in and about the environment whilst the last three are essential aspects of education for the environment. When asked to report on their own practices in these seven aspects of environmental education, the teachers said that education about and in the environment were the most common approaches to environmental education they followed. Teaching information about the natural environment (98.2 per cent) and positive attitudes to the environment (91.2 per cent) were the most commonly reported aspects, while teaching through investigating and clarifying environmental issues (28.1 per cent) and through taking environmental action (19.7 per cent) were the least common. This pattern of practice occurred despite the fact that almost all the teachers rated all seven aspects of environmental education as ‘important’ or ‘Very important’ in another part of the survey. The sharp drop-off in attention to the critical aspects of education for the environment means that the end purposes and full educational potential of environmental education are being lost: and that environmental education is not being implemented according to international or state guidelines in the schools in the region surveyed. As Spork notes, the tragedy of this is that: The dilution of environmental education through the lack of emphasis on education for the environment, implies that students are not being helped to develop the appropriate environmental values, ethics, morals, motivations, behaviours and skills necessary to act constructively for the environment. (Spork 1992) Lack of teacher education and professional development is a major factor in the explanation of these patterns. When asked about their pre-service teacher experiences of environmental education, only 4.9 per cent of the respondents said that they had undertaken any studies in the subject, while over 85 per cent claimed that they had received no training at all through pre-service, in-service (only 6.6 per cent) or post-graduate studies (3.1 per cent). Innovations in environmental education in Australia

However, despite these concerns, a great number of innovative environmental education programmes from all states and territories of Australia can be

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cited to provide an indication of the direction in which environmental education practice is headed. These innovations include many ‘Landcare’ programmes, junior ranger schemes, community problem solving strategies, the work of environmental education centres, and the establishment of schools of excellence in environmental education. Landcare is a national programme in which farming communities take responsibility to address land degradation in all its forms. Landcare education programmes illustrate the variety of ways in which school students are participating in this program. Victoria led the way with its Soilwatch programme in which over 10,000 students annually participate in a state-wide programme to measure soil salinity in their areas. In most States, Soilwatch has been extended to include several environmental quality monitoring and repair programmes, including Streamwatch and Waterwatch, Wormwatch, Frogwatch and Pasturewatch. Tasmania has also instigated an Adopt-a-Beach programme, which involves schools in caring for a section of the coastline by recording litter and other forms of marine pollution. In Western Australia, a ‘Ribbons-of-Blue’ programme links schools, their communities and various government agencies to monitor the salinity, turbidity, and pH, total phosphorous and nitrogen values of local bores, streams, rivers and dams. Students also prepare action plans and work with local communities to improve the quality of the water bodies. In New South Wales, this programme is called Streamwatch and is sponsored by the Sydney Water Board and the New South Wales government Department of Conservation and Land Management. The Australian government is presently coordinating the various state water quality monitoring programmes as a national Waterwatch programme in which all states are participating. A Junior Rangers Programme is conducted in the Northern Territory. This is an after school programme which aims to develop positive environmental attitudes by providing young people with memorable close encounters with nature and positive adult role models. Plans are presently underway to extend this programme to isolated bush children through the radio network of the School of the Air. ‘Act Now’ is an environmental education programme in the Australian Capital Territory. Act Now provides an educational kit to aid primary schools to focus on local energy and conservation issues whilst the ‘Views on Wildlife’ kit provides lesson plans focusing on attitudes to the natural fauna and biodiversity of the area. In South Australia and New South Wales, several schools have been designated ‘schools of excellence ‘for environmental education. One of these is Manly Vale Public School in Sydney. This school has a number of bushland and pond sites which serve as outdoor classrooms which help teachers to integrate environmental education across the whole curriculum. Much use is also made of nearby industries, shopping centres, a creek and a lagoon for similar purposes. This school also has an active waste

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management plan in which food scraps, paper and aluminium are recycled. There are special tree planting sites, which provide food for a koala feeding programme and for the regeneration of farming lands. Students at this school participate in a school parliament in which ‘ministers’ for the environment and energy monitor the environmental well-being of the school and prepare programme extracts for television. The school also is connected by computer to a sister environmental school in the USA and provides much assistance to local teachers and teacher training programmes through an environmental education resource centre. The environmental attitudes of young Australians

Formal education is not the only way in which young people’s views, opinions and behaviour are shaped. Attitudes of young people towards the environment are also influenced by the optimism or pessimism young people feel about their own life chances and about the future generally, and by family and peer group values and opinions. Unemployment levels amongst young Australians have been very high in recent years, more than three times the general rate of unemployment in Australian society. It is understandable that those people who do not have jobs, and who believe that their prospects for obtaining jobs are poor, will be more concerned about their own personal survival than about global issues. There are therefore likely to be differences in attitude between those young people who, through their personal family background or school achievements, feel secure about their future prospects, and those who do not have these advantages. While there has been relatively little Australian research specifically on the age group which is the focus of the research reported in this book, surveys of environmental attitudes undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the differences in attitudes of different age groups of the Australian population. Tables 7.6 and 7.7 illustrate these differences. It can be seen that concern about environmental problems is high in all the younger age groups but that there is little difference expressed between the cohort 18–24 and the other cohorts up to 45–54. The major difference is between people under 54 and people over 54. Environmental concerns for the age group 18–24 are also not significantly different from those of the age groups below 54. Young people under the age of 24 have, however, higher levels of concern about ozone layer protection and the greenhouse effect than older age groups. In earlier Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys young people between the age of 18 and 24, more than any other age group, considered that environment protection is more important than economic growth (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1995). A study of the hopes, fears and expectations of young people aged 16 to 24 carried out for the Australian Science and Technology Council found that:

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Table 7.6 Australia: concern about environmental problems by age group, 1998 (%)

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998:11

The future most young Australians want is neither the future they expect, nor the future they are promised. Most do not expect life in Australia to be better in 2010. They see a society driven by greed; they want one driven by generosity. Their dreams for Australia are of a society that places less emphasis on the individual, material wealth and competition and more on community and family, the environment and cooperation. (Eckersley 1999:77) The survey asked young respondents for their assessments of the likelihood of change for the better or worse of nine aspects of Australian life (Tatble 7.8). Most striking is the pessimism about increases in crime and violence, deterioration of the natural environment and increases in the gap between rich and poor. Encouraging is the optimism that racism will be less prevalent Table 7.7 Australia: the most important environmental issues, June 1998

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998:12

160 David Yencken and John Fien Table 7.8 Expectations of nine aspects of Australian life in the year 2010 (%)

Source: Eckersley 1999:80

than now. Surprising is the belief among so many young Australians that, despite the expected increase in the gap between rich and poor, justice, fairness and equality will be ‘better than now’ in ten years time. As Eckersley however notes, young people’s relationships with the future are complex and contradictory, some surveys suggesting that most are optimistic others that they are pessimistic (Eckersley 1997:243). Personal optimism may be mixed with societal pessimism. We return to some of these questions in later chapters of the book. Hampel, Holdsworth and Boldero (1996) have investigated the influence of parental backgrounds on knowledge, concern and behaviour of Australian adolescents, as part of a study of adolescent environmental concerns in the state of Victoria. They concluded that there is an almost linear relationship between the social status of schools and scores of attitude, behaviour and knowledge. Parental education was significantly related to the environmental attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of boys but less so for girls. Consistent with findings elsewhere (Blum 1987) they also found that the scores of environmental attitudes of girls were generally higher than those of boys, while the environmental knowledge of boys was generally higher than that of girls. Thus direct influences on young Australian people’s environmental attitudes and behaviour include the media, schooling, especially environmental education, and parents, family and friends. Indirect influences include all the cultural, political and economic forces discussed earlier in this chapter. Significant among the indirect influences are the hopes and fears young people have about the future. Concluding commentary

The discussion in this chapter illustrates that, in Australia, contemporary environmentalism and environmental attitudes are being significantly shaped by the impacts of international capitalism on the one hand, and by

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international environmental debates on the other. The academic environmental literature in common currency in Australian universities is an international literature. School environmental education policies and curricula have been significantly influenced by UNESCO policies and, increasingly, by the international debate about sustainability. The powerful non-government environmental movement draws significantly on international sources, especially those related to issues which have global impacts (such as climate change). International conventions and protocols have been widely used, sometimes by governments and regularly by the environment movement, as benchmarks for national approaches to environmental problems. While media focus is substantially on local issues, there is regular reporting of international environmental issues. Media reporting is moreover shaped by all the above forces. The main modifying local influences have been first the distinctive characteristics of Australia’s long physical isolation, its unusual ecological history, its landforms, soils and climate and the unique flora and fauna, and ecosystems that have developed in response to these conditions. The protection of this biodiversity, and the land and waters on which it depends, is one of Australia’s most pressing problems. Draft indicators prepared by the OECD for state of the environment reporting have, for example, proved inadequate in Australia because they pay insufficient attention to these biodiversity issues. The second powerful local cultural influence has been that of Australia’s indigenous people. Aboriginal people have a fifty to seventy thousand year history of adaptation to, and care for, the Australian land, plants and wildlife. Aboriginal people and culture have, however, been significantly marginalized in modern Australia and in Australian school education; Aboriginal people have been largely invisible to most white Australians. Only now is a vigorous assertion of their rights taking place, a movement that is increasingly being joined by influential white Australians. Australia is a multicultural nation whose citizens, Aboriginal people apart, have come from many parts of the globe, often relatively recently. It has taken these new settlers a long time to understand the nature of the land and its flora and fauna, and to respect the accomplishments of its indigenous people. In a curious sense, therefore, it is the young people surveyed in this book who are the first generation of Australian schoolchildren who are beginning to be significantly influenced by international environmentalism, and who are gaining real understanding of Australia’s environmental conditions and problems and an appreciation of indigenous Aboriginal traditions. However young people, as much as their elders, are significantly concentrated in urban settlements around the coastline of Australia. Because of this, their experience of, and relationships with, the land, and understanding of the problems of biodiversity protection, land degradation and deterioration of water regimes in inland Australia are poor.

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The environmental attitudes and behaviour of young people in Australia are being shaped in a number of different ways. They are highly influenced by the media. All studies regularly report the media as the main source of their information about the environment. Formal education is a further important source. Environmental education offers great scope to extend educational influences. The socio-economic status and educational background of parents has been found to have a major influence on attitudes towards the environment, as has been illustrated. It is also likely that differing expectations of life chances among young people are also influential. The evidence from the surveys of young people in Australia, both those reported in this book and those reported in other studies, shows that key environmental concepts in common international use are beginning to be widely known, if not fully understood, and that young people have moved a long way in their beliefs towards an environmental paradigm. They are pessimistic about future environmental deterioration and about other key facets of Australian life but often personally optimistic. Their individual behaviour is not, however, significantly environmentally inspired and they are sceptical and pessimistic about their individual scope to bring about change. The challenge for environmental education in Australia, seen in its broadest context, is not only to provide young people with the skills and tools they need to bring about environmental change but also to inspire them with the belief that they really can achieve it.

8

Voices from the South West Pacific John Fien, Gewa Au, Paul Keown, Premila Kumar and Sereana Takivakatini

Our identity as human beings remains tied to our land, to our cultural practices, our systems of authority and social control, our intellectual traditions, our concepts of spirituality and to our systems of resource ownership and exchange. We are part of the environment; we live with the environment; we rely on the environment. Destroy this relationship and you damage, sometimes irrevocably, individual beings and the environment we know. (Au Gewa Renagi, Alukuni Village Elder, Papua New Guinea, September 1998)

The South West Pacific contains many of the world’s great sites of mystery and romance; the very names—Bali-hai, Espirito Santo, the Trobriand Islands, Pitcairn Island, Noumea, Tahiti, the Bay of Islands, Viti Levu and so on—have a magic all of their own. The South West Pacific covers five per cent of Earth’s surface and, of course, is mostly ocean with but a sprinkling of islands, the vast majority of which are either the peaks of deep-sea volcanoes covered in tropical forest, or coconut fringed sandy isles and coral cays. In part, the mystery and romance comes from the great distances that European and North American explorers had to sail to get to the South West Pacific. This was the last great region to be colonized, many islands in the late nineteenth century and others not until well into the twentieth century. The South West Pacific is where Gauguin retreated for new experiences of light and colour to paint, where Robert Louis Stevenson settled to write, and where James A. Mitchener was inspired to pen Tales of the South Pacific, from which Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein I I composed their Broadway musical, South Pacific. The South West Pacific stretches from the coasts of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand eastwards to include the small island states of Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Palau, the Cook Islands and Kiribati, and the French territories of Tahiti and New Caledonia. The waters of the South West Pacific have seen the great Polynesian canoe odysseys and the misnamed ‘voyages of discovery’ of James Cook on The

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Endeavour, William Bligh on The Bounty and La Perouse on The Boussole. And today, they are crossed by the bulk carriers and fishing fleets taking the resources of the region to the industrial hubs of the northern hemisphere, and by exotic cruise liners ferrying tourists through the islands of their dreams. It is here that the dream images of the South West Pacific start to falter and demand closer examination. First of all, we need to recall that the notion of mystery and romance is a Western one and, in many cases, sexist as well. The images of tropical islands and romance reflect nineteenth century European hopes for an earthly paradise away from the mired landscape of their industrial cities. The stories of beautiful South Sea women were fuelled by the paintings of Gauguin and the ethnographic photographs of missionaries that, much to their chagrin, gave physical evidence to the images of enticement and promise. These images do not reflect the experiences and voices of the people of the South West Pacific, either in the nineteenth century or today. The experience of colonialism and contemporary westernization means that the cultures that created and preserved the environments that many people around the world still find so alluring have been, and remain, under immense pressure. New Caledonia and Tahiti remain officially a part of metropolitan France. Fiji’s population is now made up equally of indigenous Melanesians and the descendants of indentured Indian workers imported by English colonizers. The Maori of Aoteaoroa (New Zealand) are now a minority in their own lands, and the people of Palau have been fighting for decades to preserve their anti-nuclear constitution in the face of economic and political pressure from the United States. Bougainville has weathered a fierce civil war caused by local opposition to central government support for a multinational mining company on traditional lands. The fishing grounds of the South West Pacific are being ravaged by industrial fishing fleets from the industrial north and the tropical forests of the region by transnational logging companies. The disruption of traditional subsistence fishing and farming livelihoods by these economic ‘developments’ has resulted in sprawling shanty towns around island ports and mass underemployment. The resultant social and economic poverty has led to distressing levels of solid waste and sewage pollution of the land and neighbouring lagoons. These problems are compounded by consumerist lifestyle aspirations that are fuelled by the cultural pollution of Hollywood films, videos, television and advertising, and which are a key driving force to people-environment relationships in the South West Pacific today. This chapter explores the range of historical, economic, educational and cultural factors that are shaping the environmental knowledge and attitudes of young people in the South West Pacific. As with Chapter 6 on South East Asia, the space limits of a book chapter such as this one do not allow a comprehensive account of the influences of all these factors throughout the many countries of the South West Pacific. The chapter focuses on the three

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most populous countries: Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Fiji. Like any three selections from the region, these countries are not representative of all the others; indeed, the unique combination of influences in individual countries means that the experiences of their young people, and their environmental knowledge and attitudes, will also be individual and particular. However, the historical, environmental and cultural experiences of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Fiji are sufficiently similar to justify their selection as a sampling of the experiences of other countries in the South West Pacific. For example, all were colonies settled for the economic benefit of the ‘mother country’ and had their economies, cultures and landscapes transformed in the process of ‘development’. Like all colonies, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Fiji had large indigenous populations when the colonizers came. Resistance was fierce; indeed so much so, that accommodations made by the colonizers meant that indigenous rights remain a central plank in national identity today, despite the fact that indigenous people in New Zealand are a minority and those of Fiji nearly so. The chapter is structured to give some weight to these indigenous voices and to trace the way in which indigenous views of the environment are still heard in Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Fiji today. Thus, the chapter begins with an overview of the nature of indigenous knowledge and its influences on traditional cultural and environmental beliefs and customs in these three countries. However, as the reality of dominant peopleenvironment relationships in the region today is at odds with indigenous views, these dominant views are considered in the next section of the chapter. This is done through an assessment of the state of the environment in the South West Pacific today. This assessment identifies a range of issues and concerns. The third section of the chapter presents an overview of the social changes that are occurring and the environmental policies that are being put in place to deal with these concerns. Education, both for basic literacy and as a support for sustainable development, is becoming a significant element of such policies. The chapter concludes that change is possible. This is illustrated by an analysis of changing attitudes to the environment in the South West Pacific, especially in relation to the notice that is increasingly being taken of the voices of resistance from culturally resurgent indigenous peoples and the influence of the environmental movement in the region. Indigenous knowledge

The indigenous people of the world, the people of the South West Pacific included, have a wide ranging knowledge of the environments in which they live and of ways of using resources in a sustainable way. Sometimes

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called ‘folk knowledge’, ‘local knowledge’, ‘traditional knowledge’ and ‘indigenous science’, this knowledge is unique to the people of a culture or society, and to the places where each one lives. Indigenous knowledge is passed from generation to generation, usually by word of mouth and cultural rituals, and—in many parts of the world and for many centuries—has been the basis of agriculture, food preparation, health care, education, conservation and the wide range of other activities that sustain a society and its environment. Where Western science and environmental knowledge tend to compartmentalize culture from nature, experience from thought, and spirituality from science, indigenous knowledge has developed as a seamless fusion of all these aspects of life; and where western knowledge is usually taught in the ‘detached setting of a classroom or laboratory’, indigenous knowledge is acquired through direct experience in the natural world (Kawagley and Barnhardt 1999:118). There is a practical edge to indigenous knowledge. After all, as Ulliwishewa, Kaloko and Morican (1997) argue, indigenous environmental knowledge is knowledge for survival. Life in hunting, fishing and gathering societies would be virtually impossible without a good knowledge of animal, fish and plant species, their growth habits and habitats, their special characteristics, and the specific uses for each one. In the same way, subsistence farming communities need a keen understanding of the local environment and the ecological processes that sustain the quality of the soil and water upon which they depend. An enormous volume of environmental knowledge has evolved from such interactions with the environments over many centuries. This knowledge not only encompasses details of the resources available in an area, but also of the sustainable management of these resources. Practices to ensure the sustainable use of resources are often enshrined in customary beliefs and rituals that provide an environmental cosmology around which social life is planned. Knudson and Suzuki (1992) have identified the key beliefs of such a world-view: • • • • • •

The universe is comprised of dynamic, ever-changing natural forces that are part of an integrated and unified life force. Spirituality is embedded in all elements of the universe. Human life is no different from all other life apart from the special responsibility of humans to maintain a harmonious relationship with the non-human nature. Resources are viewed as gifts of nature, not as a right. Wisdom and ethics are derived from direct experience with the natural world, and nature is honoured through daily spiritual practices. The purpose of human life is to participate in the orderly designs of nature, enjoying a sense of empathy and kinship with other forms of life. (Adapted from Knudson and Suzuki 1992:13–15)

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Beliefs such as these underlie the world-views of indigenous people in the South West Pacific although each community has its own variations on them and ways of translating them into local cultural and resource conservation practices. The following section provides a brief account of such world-views from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Views of the environment Fiji

Fiji lies in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, midway between the Equator and the South Pole. The nation of Fiji is made up of about 330 islands with a total land area of 18,272 square kilometres. About a third of the islands are inhabited but the population is concentrated in the two major islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Only 16 per cent of Fiji’s land is suitable for agriculture. This land is found mainly along coastal plains, river deltas and valleys. Fishing provides the major source of livelihood in coastal areas and on all the smaller islands. According to Fijian legend, the great chief, Lutunasobasoba, led his people across the seas to the islands of Fiji. The native inhabitants of these islands are predominantly Melanesians although a large number has physical similarities with their Polynesian neighbours, particularly from Tonga and Samoa. Many legends feature relations and communications between these neighbours, perhaps indicating that for early Fijians, the extent of their environment was not limited by today’s boundaries. Fiji’s modern history is very recent, dating only as far back as the early 1600s when Europeans first made contact. Traditional Fijian societies, however, predate this era by thousands of years. These societies have always depended on the natural environment for their sustenance and survival, obtaining from it food, medicine, fuel, clothing, housing, means of transportation and chemicals; it also provided material for a wide range of handicrafts and other culturally important products. However, the environment was more than a supply of resources. The Fijian term, vanua, has interrelated physical, social and cultural dimensions as reflected in the following statement by the The Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka, former Prime Minister of Fiji: ‘The reefs are part of our vanua, our identity as a people, and it is an essential element that ensures our very survival as the taukei. Without our reefs, we are sunk in every sense of the word.’ The relationship of early Fijians with the natural environment was an intimate and dynamic one (Farrell and Murphy 1978). The environment was an integral part of their physical, social, cultural and spiritual life. The environment was regarded as a source of life. It was respected and nurtured through the various ceremonies and communal activities that enhanced the custodianship of natural resources. The native calendar named months

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according to activities related to the planting and harvesting of yams, the traditional staple food, as well as other seasonal tasks and events. In this way, environmental knowledge was applied in the scheduling of fishing, agriculture and the gathering of seasonal resources. Work was usually a communal activity, which indirectly placed limitations on the use of resources by individuals or families. Certain plants and animals were totems and, as such, objects of ancestral deference whereby certain groups or kinsmen would not harm, destroy or kill them. Special taboos also existed between traditionally related groups of people that placed restrictions on what each could eat, especially in the other’s presence. For instance, chiefs would not partake of fish in the presence of warrior tribes; the latter would observe abstinence from pork. Other foods that fall into the same category include coconuts and plantain. In times of plenty, especially of seasonal crops and marine resources, surplus was stored by using conservation methods such as fermentation, salting and drying. A number of customs ensured that crops remained sustainable. For example, harvesting was carefully monitored to ensure maturity and a certain level of abundance, while the first fruits or harvest of the land had to be presented to priests and chiefs. People or groups who helped them-selves before this protocol was observed were treated with disdain. Traditional Fijian society also followed strict population control measures. Premarital sex, particularly by women, was actively discouraged. Fathers were expected to move out of the family home after the birth of a child until the child was weaned. This custom was strictly observed, and monitored by the man’s mother-in-law. It helped to space children and protect maternal and infant health. The first Europeans to land and live among the Fijians were traders, whalers, settlers, explorers and escaped convicts from Australia. The 1830s brought early missionaries whose influence made important inroads into the cultural and religious practices of indigenous people. In 1859, Ratu Seru Cakobau together with leading chiefs requested Britain to annex the Fiji Islands, even if only to relieve himself of harassment by American and other international claims for damages sustained during retaliatory raids by local people. Fiji was ceded to Great Britain in 1874 and became a new British colony. Colonialism imposed changes on the traditional way of life, with major impacts on social structure, land use, economic and industrial activities, and traditional values. The demand for large areas of land for cash and industrial crops alienated valuable farmland from the Fijians. The effects of such changes on fragile ecosystems were not considered in the eager rush for economic development, and the critical traditional balance of social, economic, cultural and environmental values was ignored. The demand for labour to service the sugar cane industry was met by indentured labourers from India. This labour importation resulted in the growth of the Indian population from an initial 450 in 1879 to around

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30,000 by 1900. This growth was in sharp contrast to the decline in the Melanesian population from an estimated 150,000 in 1874 to less than 90,000 in 1900. The cultural make-up of Fiji was changed forever. Although Indians have lived in Fiji for over a century, they have maintained their cultural and traditional values. As outlined in Chapter 5, Indian cosmology recognizes that the universe has five elements in which the divine being is present: air, water, fire, earth and space. Earth is considered as mother and all living things as her offspring. Air is recognized as breath of life or prana for all living beings. All religious ceremonies are performed in the open air and are incomplete without water. Trees and plants are the source of oxygen and the sink for carbon dioxide and are worshipped and protected. Great importance is given to trees as lords of the forest, and it is still part of Fiji-Indian culture to plant the herb tulsi (basil) in their compounds to use as a divine offering. Despite the economic, cultural and political changes brought by the experience of colonialism, the Fiji government today has ensured that ‘native land’ accounts for 83.4 per cent of Fiji’s land area (8.4 per cent is state land and only 8.2 per cent freehold). Native land is owned communally by clans. Individuals within a clan can use the land but it cannot be sold outside the clan, only leased. The sale and transfer of leases are managed by a statutory body, the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB), on behalf of native Fijian landowners. At present the NLTB manages about 30,000 leases, the majority of which are held by small scale Indo-Fijian sugar cane growers. In 1966, the Agriculture Landlord and Tenant Act (ALTA) was implemented to strengthen the security and lease period of land. Under ALTA, a first or second ten year extension may not be given to the tenant if one or more of the owners requires the land for his/her own use and greater hardship would be caused by granting extension than by refusing it. These patterns of landholding have brought security for native Fijians but insecurity for many Indo-Fijians. Indeed, whereas native Fijian attitudes to the environment have sprung from the security and abundance of their land, forests and seas, IndoFijian environmental attitudes have been shaped by insecurity and immediate needs for survival. Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the third largest island in the world, after Greenland and Australia, and a series of island chains that stretch south-east into the Pacific. The name ‘Papua New Guinea’ reflects its colonial history. The first European sailors to the island called it Ilhas dos Paapuas (Island of Fuzzy Hair). Later Dutch explorers called it New Guinea because the tropical mountains reminded them of Guinea in Africa. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the country was divided between the Dutch, the western half (today’s Irian Jaya), Germany, the north-eastern quarter which was called New Guinea, and the British, the south-eastern

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quarter. When Australia took over this quarter from the British in 1905, it was renamed the Territory of Papua. The defeat of Germany in European wars led to the Australian administration of the whole eastern half of the island under a United Nations mandate. Independence in 1975 was under the combined name of Papua New Guinea. Defining the term ‘environment’ is a difficult task in Papua New Guinea with its 700 traditional languages. However, the environment is widely understood to encompass both physical and cultural aspects of life. This includes the land, the sky, the rivers, and the plants and animals that provide clothing, food and shelter, as well as the sense of belonging to one’s culture, family and clan. These two aspects of the Papua New Guinea view of the environment are related; the sense of belonging leads to the obligation to help others and to cater for future generations by safe-guarding the Earth. It is not known when the first humans came to Papua New Guinea, but evidence of early human presence has been found in several locations. Stone tools found in New Ireland indicate human habitation more than 30,000 years old while axes excavated from volcanic ash on the Huon Peninsula are 10,000 years older again. Cave art, stone artefacts and large scale tracings on hill slopes for gardening date back thousands of years; just outside Mount Hagen in the Central Highlands, a recently discovered drainage and mounding system for wet and dry cultivation is seen as evidence of sophisticated agricultural communities that must have spread across the highlands thousands of years before European plantation owners took to cultivating the slopes and plateaux. Until contact with western influences, the people of Papua New Guinea lived in small family groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers. They depended upon family and clan groupings to protect themselves from the elements and neighbouring clans, to capture prey, to collect and harvest food, and to gather all the other resources required by the community. Clans often gathered together for a reaffirmation of place, to settle disputes, to mark the passage of important life stages for individuals and families, and to entrench a sense of identity and world-view. This worldview saw people and the environment as indivisible. Mountains, rivers, lakes, the sun and the winds had their own presiding deities, while every stone, tree and animal was imbued with a spirit. These beliefs enforced traditional conservation practices with particular species of animals protected by religious taboos. Despite the impact of colonization by Germany, Britain and Australia— and the present day reliance on plantation, timber and mineral exports—the Papua New Guinean view of the land remains strong. Ninety-seven per cent of the land is owned by customary landowners and most of this is owned collectively. Thus, much land is still managed according to time-honoured customs. Rights to use land for gardens and houses are handed down from generation to generation without written records. Land is invaluable culturally. Without a sense of belonging to a territory and the way it is

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treated and cared for, a person has no identity; and without that, no ties to cultural practices, spirituality, intellectual tradition nor to systems of authority. Thus, it is not possible for people to bequeath land to whomever they wish if this is contrary to customary practices. Similarly land cannot be sold to foreigners or even to other Papua New Guinea citizens unless they are granted the status of customary landowners by consent of the group. These practices ensure that traditional beliefs about land remain vital for the survival of family and clan units, and for the survival of the nation as a whole. New Zealand

New Zealand is renowned for its mountains and glaciers, its rivers, forests, lakes and coastline, and its geysers and mud pools. It is acknowledged as one of the most productive countries in the world, and between the 1880s and 1950s, enjoyed some of the highest living standards in the world. More recently (the early 1990s), New Zealand has been recognized as one of the world’s most efficient economies and, with low population densities, New Zealand has developed a reputation for being ‘clean, green and beautiful’ (Bell 1996). Unlike Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the indigenous people, the Maori, have not retained political control of their land. This is in spite of the Treaty of Waitangi that was signed with the British Crown in 1840. Unlike the exploitative treaties forced on indigenous people in many other countries, this Treaty guaranteed ‘to protect the Chiefs, sub-tribes, and all the people of Aoteaoroa in the unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over their lands, villages and all their treasures’. It also granted the Maori ‘the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England’. If the British and their descendants had been true to the Treaty, New Zealand today might be the ‘clean and green’ land of its tourist image. The Maori concepts of land and culture, so similar to those in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and elsewhere in the South West Pacific, could, perhaps, have ensured this. Arriving in what they called Aoteaoroa (Land of the Long White Cloud) after a series of cross-Pacific voyages up to 1,000 years ago, the Maori brought their Polynesian view of the interdependence of people and nature. They also developed specific strategies for conserving resources, such as rahui (closed seasons) that were declared and enforced by the kaumatua (elders). As tangata whenua (people of the land), the Maori people believed that they have a special relationship with the land. Traditional Maori attitudes to nature reflect the partnership of Papatuanuku (Earth Mother) and Ranginui (Sky Father); all living things are their descendants and are thus interlinked. While the Maori cleared large areas of land for cultivation, these bonds create a sense of belonging to nature, rather than being ascendant to it: humans are born from Mother Earth and return to her in death. The extract below from New Zealand’s report to the 1992 UNCED conference

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illustrates the way in which these principles are increasingly recognized in official documents and decisions on the environment. Maori view everything in the natural world as possessing Mauri (the physical life force) which is protected by a kaitiaki (spiritual guardian) or Atua (deity). The concept of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) formalizes methods of management of tribal resources. Onus is placed on present katiaki to safeguard and manage tribal resources for the benefit of future generations. There is an inherent obligation to ensure that cultural and spiritual values remain intact, while responding to the demands on social and economic development. (New Zealand Ministry for the Environment and Ministry of External Relations and Trade 1992:15) Recently, governments in New Zealand have recognized such Maori cultural perspectives, and several major pieces of resource management legislation now have provisions relating to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, which must be taken into account or given effect in their administration. These include the Environment Act 1986, the Conservation Act 1987 and the Resource Management Act 1991 (New Zealand Ministry for the Environment and Ministry of External Relations and Trade 1992:86) The state of the environment in the South West Pacific

Contradictions and tensions between indigenous views of the environment, and the views and practices of those who have come to exercise control over resource use have weakened the influence of environmentally sensitive indigenous voices. For the last one hundred years and more, the dominant voices in determining relationships between people and the land have been those of European pioneers who came to the Pacific and stayed as settlers. Their voices have been strengthened by the economic power of their modern-day equivalents, the expatriate business leaders who largely control the exploitation of fish, timber and mineral resources, and they are legitimized by the political power of the local elites whose tenure and privileges are derived from their adoption of western views. The usurpation of indigenous views has brought economic growth to the South West Pacific. Even the smallest of the small island states are connected to the rest of the world through airlines and telecommunications. Schools and medical clinics are found in most villages, even the most remote ones that can still only be reached by boat. However, as in the Western world, these benefits have not been distributed equitably, and all countries have a large underclass of alienated underemployed farming and fishing families. These people tend to gravitate to the edges of towns and ports where, today,

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despair, cultural alienation, alcoholism, domestic violence and petty crime are common. The ‘rascal’ gangs of Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, confine all but the most impoverished to living behind wireenclosed compounds, as do their equivalents elsewhere in the Pacific. Western-style education and Christianity, now the dominant religion in most of the Pacific, has failed to provide economic livelihoods to accompany the new world-views they brought to the region; many people today lack both a viable relationship with the environment and a means of using resources to satisfy immediate needs, let alone provide for future generations. Indeed, despite the positive welfare benefits of schools and clinics, Christianity has had a profoundly negative effect on the quality of life and sustainability of livelihoods throughout the South West Pacific. In Papua New Guinea, for example, it is said that no traditional beliefs and practices remain unaffected by Christianity. Many of the missionaries who arrived in the country between the 1880s and 1970s were extremely insensitive to the cultural practices and religious rites they found. They often destroyed, or persuaded their converts to destroy, artefacts and images and even the Haus Tambaran, the important spirit houses, that stood at the centre of cultural, economic and environmental management practices. Local social hierarchies and values were realigned to accord with western norms and thereby, perhaps inadvertently, prepared the way for the ‘legitimacy’ of Western economic dominance (Government of Papua New Guinea 1995:237). Such economic and religious changes were supported by colonial administrations that introduced laws negating customary law and systems of land tenure. New crops were introduced, based upon a form of economic development that forced people to give up their land so that plantation owners and cash-croppers could ‘develop’ it. The traditional system of education based upon cultural and environmental practices was replaced by western-style schools that sought to teach Papua New Guineans the ‘modern’ way of life that was deemed necessary to prepare them for citizenship in a new nation. Yet, modernization is today threatening not only the social system that united people in social units, it is leading many to see customary land tenure as a barrier to development. The collective principle that supported the ‘Melanesian way’ is being undermined by social and economic incentives to see land as economic units that can be bought and sold (Samana 1988:12). Large-scale mining, petroleum, logging and fishing developments by foreignowned companies are finding their way onto traditional land. These developments are bringing positive social and economic changes, at least in the short term, but the impacts of extractive industries on local landowning communities are already starting to be seen (Filer 1998:290). For example, the Ok-Tedi goldmine, a partnership between an Australian company and the government of Papua New Guinea, is allowing so much silt to erode into

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the Fly River that local living conditions and potable water supplies are under threat, and the fishing livelihoods of villages many kilometres downstream all but destroyed. Such consequences were all the more worrying when the government of Papua New Guinea legislated to prevent legal action by those affected, and the legislation was found to have been largely drafted by the legal advisers of the Australian co-owner. This type of collusion has also been reported in the forestry industry of Papua New Guinea. Concern over the effects of logging was so great that a Commission of Inquiry was established. Judge Barnett reported that many logging operations were commenced illegally. Forest management plans were ignored, if they were submitted at all. Logging tracks were pushed through at the discretion of bulldozer drivers. Hillsides and river-banks were logged and immature trees clear-felled in a reckless haste to get logs down to the waiting foreign ships (Barnett 1992:90). Fiji lacks many of the demographic and economic pressures that cause serious environmental problems in other countries. However, its small size, geologically young landscapes and isolation make its environmental resources vulnerable to loss or degradation. This vulnerability is intensified in the coastal zones. These areas are ecologically complex and highly susceptible to both natural hazards and human violation. They are also the location of the vast majority of the population, industry, important infrastructure and economic activity. They will experience the greatest impacts of global warming. The experience of decolonization did not prepare Fiji adequately for economic or administrative independence. Thus, while most land is held collectively, multinational companies control the economy through their dominance of the export-oriented sugar, fishing, forestry, mining and tourism industries. Difficulties are faced by the government in managing natural resources on a sustainable basis because of inadequate policies, legislation, forward planning and administration. As a result, heritage and biodiversity values are inadequately appreciated, while losses are increasing through ill-directed development activities and lack of effective management. Pollution is effectively uncontrolled, especially around tourism resorts, and is emerging as a serious problem, while serious soil degradation is becoming prevalent in the marginal hill lands that are a potential agricultural resource base of the future. These problems reflect deficiencies in physical planning, compounded by significant urban drift that, in turn, is resulting in widespread informal development in periurban areas which host many environmental and social problems. The sustainable world-views of both the indigenous Melanesian and the Indian population seem to have been smothered by the integration of Fiji into the global economy, and this has created imperatives to ignore the social and ecological aspects of traditional values. Even the comparative economic vitality of New Zealand has not prevented great disparities in wealth and life opportunities between Maori

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who comprise less than 15 per cent of the population, and the Pakeha (AngloEuropeans) and other non-indigenous people, who comprise the remainder and control the economy (Statistics New Zealand 1997:98). The arrival of large numbers of European settlers in the nineteenth century brought the Western anthropocentric philosophy of the pioneer into ascendancy. The economy of New Zealand has since been based upon the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources of soil, timber, wildlife, minerals and water. Over 80 per cent of New Zealand was covered by fine sub-tropical forest before the arrival of people, and while Maori were responsible for a degree of land clearing, European pioneers often saw the forest as an enemy; they cleared such large areas for pastoralism and agriculture that today, forests cover only 24 per cent and farming land 52 per cent. At the same time, whales and seals were hunted almost to extinction and the introduction of exotic species, such as possum, deer, rabbits, stoats, rats and cats, have had a devastating effect on native flora and fauna. Change is possible

The situation is not, however, quite as negative as the previous section might indicate. Voices of resistance are being raised all around the South West Pacific. The media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are important voices for sustainable development, and there is a strong resurgence of indigenous voices lobbying for increased attention to conservation. Environmental policies are gradually being put in place, and school curricula are increasingly integrating environmental education into the learning experiences of young people (see Bryant 1989, Taylor and Topalian 1995). Case studies of different elements of such responses to the challenge of sustainable development, from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, illustrate the changes that are occurring in the South West Pacific. The examples focus on: national environment and education policy in Fiji; basic education and the national language and culture programme in Papua New Guinea; and the initiatives of NGOs, government, business and educators in New Zealand. Fiji

The Fiji government is responsible for improvements in the quality of life of its citizens through careful social and economic development. In theory, developments that use natural resources must keep within sustainable limits. However, Fiji has no specific environmental policies. Indeed, most of the twenty-five acts promulgated as part of economic development plans since the late 1940s were prepared specifically to qualify for financial aid from colonial donors. As a result, most legislation is not only said to be ineffective, but also very difficult to administer. In 1993, a National Environment Strategy (NES) was completed, and this

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provides an opportunity to set Fiji on the path to sustainable development through a much-needed database, improved environmental planning and management policies and legislation, and a framework for the country’s future development (Watling and Chape 1993). The Government of Fiji has taken the Strategy a step further by preparing a Fiji Sustainable Development Bill (1996), and it is envisaged that a number of problems mentioned earlier will be controlled once this bill becomes law. A National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) is being set up to oversee the implementation of the NES, draft a national environmental policy, ensure the smooth coordination of the government’s environmental management, and resolve any conflict in the implementation of the NES. The NCSD will ensure that sustainable development principles are implemented, periodically monitored and coordinated. It will seek to alleviate poverty, attain social equity and achieve sustainable economic growth focusing on policy reforms. The Sustainable Development Bill will also provide for improvements in environmental education, communication and public awareness, better environmental planning and the increased application of environmental technologies. However, the Sustainable Development Bill has been said to ignore the important social and cultural dimensions of sustainable development. For example, Castri (1995) has argued that ‘Sustainable development can work only when the economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions are of equal importance and strength with solid interactions between them provided by an adaptive institutional framework’. This may mean that the important indigenous and Indian values of sustainable living, which could provide a cultural challenge to the impacts of globalization, may continue to be ignored. The Ministry of Education in Fiji has a high regard for environmental education, as clearly stated in this description: Like other subjects in the curriculum the environmental education component in the Fiji curriculum aims at providing basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes which pupils will need in order to function to some degree of compatibility in a physical and social environment that is not static and which may pose problems of varying natures and degrees. In particular, Fiji curriculum developers have included studies of the environment appropriately across the curriculum in the hope that pupils and eventually society at large will become more aware of, and be more concerned about, actual or potential problems in their own environment. Given this initial necessary sensitivity towards environmental issues in the physical and social context, the latter especially mentioned bearing in mind the multi racialism of Fiji society, it is hoped that pupils will develop a life long set of values that will form the basis for responsible action in matters relating to the environment. (Fiji Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport 1992)

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However, there is no intention to introduce environmental education as a new subject. Efforts have been made to infuse components of environmental education into existing curricula but a recent review of environmental education at the primary and secondary school levels in Fiji revealed a wide gap between the aspirations of the Ministry of Education and the reality in classrooms (Taylor 1992). The National Environment Management Project (NEMP) commissioned a study to identify some of these deficiencies in environmental education and to propose a strategy to resolve them. The following deficiencies were identified during the study: 1

2

3

The curriculum for the primary and junior secondary years has little specific content on the marine and forest environments that make up two of Fiji’s most important sustainable resources. The recommended textbooks for environmental subjects such as biology and geography are written outside the Pacific region and therefore do not contain material that is local or relevant. The teaching methodology used for the delivery of the environmental component of the curricula is such that it fails to bring about desired behavioural change in the students.

Changes are currently under way to address some of these difficulties. The Ministry of Education has now developed a plan, Education Fiji 2020, to focus education on enhancing the quality of life in Fiji in a way that conserves the natural environment and creates a just and equitable society for all inhabitants of the Fijian Islands. One of the challenges identified in Education Fiji 2020 is environmental change. It particularly recognizes that natural resources are finite and that strategic action is necessary to ensure their conservation. As a result, school curricula are being revised so that subjects such as elementary science, social studies, health science and basic agriculture include coverage of the environment in terms of its importance, resources available, human impact and related issues. However, the curriculum still offers little on forests, one of the most important ecosystems in Fiji, economically, culturally and biologically. Nevertheless, it should be noted that from 1999, year 8 (Form 2) students will sit for a Health Education examination that will test values education (20 per cent), health (60 per cent) and environmental education (20 per cent). The Schools Broadcast Unit is also providing support for environmental education. Services include weekly programmes for teachers, students and a general audience which provide information about curriculum changes, resource availability, special environmental events such as Arbor Day or Environment Week, and addresses by Department of the Environment officers. Two specific programmes for primary schools, The World We Live In and The World Around Us, focus on environment issues.

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Papua New Guinea

Interest in environmental issues has been increasing in Papua New Guinea since the late 1980s. Following the 1992 Earth Summit, the government convened a national seminar on ‘Environment and Development in PNG up to 2000 and Beyond’. The purpose of this seminar was to develop strategies for sustainable development in Papua New Guinea and explore ways of integrating environmental and development concerns across all sectors of public policy, especially through a renewed emphasis on the use of indigenous knowledge in rural development (Mathias-Mundy 1996) and education (Baio 1996; Mogina 1996). Basic education has been identified as a fundamental strategy for achieving this. As Baio (1996) argued at the national seminar, education can offer opportunities to those currently deprived of full and effective participation in society. It provides understanding of what humanity has learnt about itself and the place of local people in the human story, and prepares people for change and to be better able to decide their own futures. The basic education policy is being implemented through a nationwide language and culture programme that makes it mandatory for children to be taught in their own village vernacular languages. This programme reflects the desire to keep alive the languages of Papua New Guinea and to reinforce traditional cultural knowledge and values. While attention to environmental education as a discrete policy initiative is not strong, the focus on traditional languages and culture provides many opportunities for focusing attention on traditional beliefs about the land and ways of using local resources in a sustainable way. New Zealand

As in other parts of the world, New Zealand has experienced a return toward increased environmental concern in recent years. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the ‘Save Manapouri’ campaign was the first of a series of high profile issues that provoked widespread public debate. Among many recent national and local debates, the questions of mining on the Coromandel, native beech and podocarp forest milling in both the North and South Island, and the Whanganui River flow controversy have been examined. Resolutions have been reached in most cases. Thus, for example, Comalco’s smelter uses Manapouri power but the scheme was altered so that the lake’s beauty was not despoiled. The Martha mine is operating at Waihi, but under strict environmental constraints. Electrocorp has been compelled to restore water flow in the upper Whanganui and generate more power elsewhere. A Forest Accord signed in 1991 between environmental groups, the government and the Forest Owners’ Associations has accorded most native forests full protection. These examples of effective sustainable development are the result of

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government and business responses to high levels of media, NGO and community activity. While scientists, religious leaders, professional associations, voluntary groups, business leaders and government agencies are all active in environmental debates, environmental pressure groups are perhaps the most influential in the public arena. A number of international groups are active in New Zealand; the most prominent include Greenpeace, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society (RFBPS). Strong local groups, such as the Maruia Society, Native Forest Action Council, Coromandel Watchdog and the Save Manapouri Committee, have also been particularly active when issues related to their areas have been under debate. The growing involvement of New Zealanders in such groups is indicated in rising membership levels. For example, the membership of RFBPS escalated from 43,800 in 1985 to 52,500 in 1993 and membership of Greenpeace from 4,000 in 1985 to 117,000 in 1993 (Pawson 1996:261). The weight of such a scale of public pressure on government has even seen the two government agencies responsible for the environment in New Zealand (the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for the Environment) engage in debate with business interests and other government departments. For example, they strongly opposed plans by Electrocorp (a state-owned enterprise) to develop hydroelectric power generation on the Whanganui River. New Zealand governments in the last two decades have embarked on a major programme of economic, administrative and social reform that has affected virtually every aspect of life in New Zealand, including environmental and educational administration. Prior to the mid-1980s, responsibility for the environment in New Zealand was widely dispersed, with over 300 statutes and regulations relevant to resource management issues, and spread across numerous arms of national and local government. Amid growing concern in the 1980s and 1990s that the environment was not being given sufficient weight in resource management decisions, and under the momentum for widespread reform, major changes were instituted. These included the formation of the Ministry for the Environment in 1986 and the Department of Conservation in 1987, a major reform of local government in 1989, and the declaration of the Resource Management Act (RMA) in 1991. The RMA has been described as one of the most enlightened pieces of resource management legislation in the world (Pawson 1996). It has a tight focus on ‘sustainable management’, a New Zealand concept that is modelled on the concept of sustainable development popularized by the Brundtland Report. The ‘sustainable management’ in the RMA emphasizes managing the environmental effects of human activities by promoting biophysical sustainability but also facilitating project development by rationalizing the maze of preceding environmental regulation. As such it has been a focus that both business and

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environmentalists have been able to support although qualifications about its effectiveness in practice remain (Pawson 1996:250). The government has also published a substantial environmental strategy known as the Environment 2010 Strategy (New Zealand Ministry for the Environment 1995). This document sets out ten ‘Principles for Integrating Environment Society and Economy’, identifies eleven ‘Environmental Goals’, and details an ‘Agenda for Action’ to achieve these. The eleven goals (in summary form) are to: • • • • • • • • • • •

maintain and enhance soil quality maintain and enhance water quality maintain and improve air quality protect indigenous habitats and biological diversity manage pests, weeds and diseases conserve and manage fisheries manage sustainably the environmental effects of producing and using energy services manage the provision for transport services in a manner that minimizes adverse effects manage waste, contaminated sites and hazardous substances in a manner that minimizes adverse effects take precautionary actions to help stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases help achieve the full recovery of the ozone layer. (Adapted from New Zealand Ministry for the Environment 1995:25–6)

The New Zealand government has also adopted a leading role in some international environmental debates. The country’s strong position on the nuclear issue is well known. New Zealand also took a leading role in finalizing the Montreal Protocol in 1987 and in setting-up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988. New Zealand has also acted to halt drift net fishing in the Pacific. However, one of the main barriers to sustainability is the reluctance of government, the business sector and consumers to take costly decisions to support sustainability goals. The business sector in New Zealand has come under criticism in this regard in a number of studies. One concluded that ‘overall the level of support for environmental values among New Zealand companies is not very high’ (Buhrs and Bartlett 1993:77). Another study undertaken by the Ministry for the Environment and the Manufacturers Federation revealed that only a third of the 380 companies surveyed had formal procedures and policies in place to manage environmental issues (Smith 1994). In a recent international study on company environmental reporting in thirteen countries it was noted that New Zealand companies were languishing at the bottom of the table with only 39 per cent of

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companies mentioning the environment in their reports, while none produced a separate environmental report (Wennberg and Larsson 1996). A recent OECD performance review found that New Zealand’s current public sector environmental information base is very limited and needs much improvement (OECD 1996). It can also be argued that public concern for the environment is not matched by a realistic understanding of what is required to protect the environment fully from the negative effects of economic growth. For example, any talk of raising fossil fuel and energy prices through the imposition of a carbon tax produces an immediate outcry (see Table 8.1). Similarly, while there have been significant moves to incorporate aspects of Agenda 21 into local environmental decision making, Van Rossem (1995:69) notes that staff in local authorities are often not supported in this by elected councillors, who afford environmental issues a much lower priority. New Zealand was also slow to realize the value of concerted action in environmental education. However, this situation is changing rapidly. A key paper by Bowling (1993) noted that the beginnings of environmental education in New Zealand emerged from a national Physical Environment Conference in 1970. This initiative was consolidated by a number of follow up conferences, and the publication of handbooks (e.g. Bowling 1979, Scott 1984). Another major step forward was the formation of a New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE) in 1984, followed by the inaugural conference of NZAEE in 1987. Dowling notes a considerable number of interesting and innovative developments in school courses during this period. In the early 1990s the New Zealand Heritage Foundation held a major environmental education conference, developed exemplar school programmes and fostered the ecoschool concept in New Zealand. At this time national educational reforms and the development of a New Zealand Curriculum Framework were in progress with new syllabuses in seven essential learning areas. Bowling identified statements and concepts in the early documents of these curriculum initiatives that appeared very promising for the future growth and development of environmental education in New Zealand. This led him to conclude his paper by asserting that environmental education in New Zealand had made a fine start. However, he added a note of caution in saying: For environmental education to capitalize on its fine start in New Zealand, a commitment to it needs now to be made by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry for the Environment. Another important need is to establish teacher training programmes in environmental education at teachers’ college levels so the pre-training and in-service training of teachers can be made…. Also, adequate funding should be made to allow for relevant resources to be developed. (Bowling 1993:30)

182 John Fien et al. Table 8.1 New Zealand: perception of the desirability of major environmental protection measures (%)

Source: after Gendall 1994

Unfortunately events over the last five years have not reflected Dowling’s advice, and his relatively optimistic view is not shared by all commentators. In a review of the progress in environmental education in New Zealand, Barker (1997) argues that there has been little progress over the previous twenty years, especially as environmental education receives only passing mention in the essential learning areas in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework. Basing his conclusions on an intensive study of sixteen primary and secondary school teachers who were enthusiastic about environmental education, Barker considers that New Zealand environmental education is ‘fragmentary’. He found that the difficulty which almost all these teachers had in volunteering a concise definition or explanation for ‘environmental education’ (either avowedly personal, or received from an identifiable source) to be an outstanding feature of the interviews. Neither the debates about philosophy which have engaged theoreticians internationally over the past twenty years, nor the fragmentary coordinating initiatives at a national level in New Zealand, had apparently provided these teachers with any form of anchoring or central focus for environmental education. In practical classroom terms, the teachers were best able to identify with ‘environmental’ aspects, and the activity-driven concerns (such as project work, and providing field trips) which this generated. Thus, apart from problems arising from the lack of a philosophical base, it is also clear that appropriate teaching methods for environmental education are much in need of development in New Zealand (Barker 1997:8). Thus, Barker concludes that:

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most of the teachers appeared to value the general notion of environmental education highly. They owned to making an effort in their classrooms, and they achieved satisfaction from doing so. It appears that the strong level of ‘teacher consent’ for environmental education noted by Scott (1984) continues in New Zealand. However…the present study has identified widespread uncertainty among teachers about what they are officially expected to do in teaching environmental education; and that clear, authoritative and enlightened statements about the scope, goals and expectations in environmental education are their paramount need. (Barker 1997:8) These findings appear to confirm the view that environmental education in New Zealand has ‘drifted’ in recent years and has not, as Dowling had hoped, built on the firm foundations established in the 1970s and 1980s. At a time when educational imperatives require teachers to demonstrate how their students are performing against nationally prescribed National Educational Goals (NEGs) and the achievement objectives of the essential learning areas, New Zealand teachers lack a statement of the place of environmental education in the curriculum and clear guidance about how school environmental education programmes can be developed. After much delay, when the Ministry of Education and Ministry for the Environment both appeared to be saying the other had the main brief for environmental education, the former commissioned the development of a set of Guidelines for Environmental Education (Law and Baker 1995). This task was completed in 1995 but the Guidelines were not published until four years later. In the absence of leadership from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry for the Environment developed a national strategy for environmental education, entitled Learning to Care for our Environment (Ministry for the Environment 1997). This suggests that two of six priority action areas are to incorporate the aims of environmental education across the school curriculum, and to develop resource materials that can be integrated into the curriculum. Nevertheless, there are signs of progress. The New Zealand Association for Environmental Education is a strong professional lobby group and has established a partnership with the Worldwide Fund for Nature to promote environmental education. Local branches of the association also hold meetings, provide resources and give support to schools while some teacher colleges and universities are doing likewise (Law and Baker 1996). Unfortunately recent studies and developments indicate that, in most New Zealand schools, environmental education is usually a low priority, and relatively little takes place. Hopefully the new guidelines will strengthen the focus on environment in the curriculum and provide some guidance for teachers on the means of improving the teaching of environmental material.

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Public attitudes and values: moving towards the environmental heritage of indigenous views

As the South West Pacific continues to emerge from its colonial past, there is evidence of a move towards the environment-centred views of indigenous people. For example, in New Zealand where settlements based upon implementing the Treaty of Waitangi are now being worked out, resources are being returned to Maori stewardship with a commensurate rise in the influence of kaitiakitanga views. While these views are not fully embraced by all New Zealanders, the rise of indigenous voices for the land does seem to be supported by the population as a whole. This is borne out in several public polls. Apart from New Zealand, the infrastructure does not exist in many parts of the South West Pacific to conduct regular surveys of adult environmental attitudes. Indeed, this western approach to research is sometimes culturally inappropriate. Ethnographic research is much more common; this has revealed both the deep concern for the environment in the indigenous knowledge of the people of the region, especially those living in villages and close to the land and the sea, and their concerns about the alienation of their urban children and relatives from what they know is simply ‘common sense’ (Au 1999:21). However, the South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment (SPACHEE) conducted a survey on the level of awareness of environmental issues in Fiji in 1991. The survey focused on four groups: people living in coastal and fishing areas (C/F), forest and wildland areas (F/ W), agricultural areas (AG) and urban areas (Urban) with consideration of ethnicity, age, social class and gender. The survey attempted to assess current levels of awareness and understanding of the following: environmental vocabulary and concepts, the present state of the environment, and the consequences of people’s actions and different development strategies on the environment. The results of this survey clearly illustrate the inappropriateness of surveys for many people of the South West Pacific. The fact that over a quarter of the forest and agricultural people of Fiji, who arguably live closest to a traditional lifestyle in Fiji, had not heard of the word ‘environment’ (Table 8.2) is significant. The importance of addressing issues of air pollution in towns, maintaining water quality, conserving forests and managing waste were also emphasized in the survey (Table 8.2). Researchers in New Zealand, on the other hand, have conducted a number of such studies in recent years, and provide a clear picture of current attitudes to the environment. A major study of attitudes and values (Gold and Webster 1990) revealed that New Zealanders see environmental protection as one of the most important social goals of the nation. This goal was rated more important than raising living standards, giving people more say in government decisions, and creating individual freedoms and

Voices from the South West Pacific 185 Table 8.2 Environmental knowledge and concerns in Fiji

Source: after South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment 1991

civil liberties. However, it rated below reducing unemployment, maintaining law and order and fighting crime. The same study also asked people to say to which areas they wished to see government spending devoted. Again environmental protection rated highly, just behind health services and education, but ahead of unemployment and training assistance, pensions, major sporting events, military and defence, single parent benefits and assistance for ethnic minorities.

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The Gold and Webster study also asked people to rank six issues in priority order. Two global issues were ranked very highly by most people. Ozone/greenhouse effect was rated first or second by more than 55 per cent and Pacific nuclear testing was rated similarly by 50 per cent. Damage to waterways (40 per cent), overfishing (30 per cent), protection of native forests (26 per cent) and protection of Antarctica (4 per cent) were the other issues in the survey. Gold and Webster comment that these results ‘testify both to the remarkable effectiveness of general environmental awareness campaigns and to the maturity of the New Zealand public’. Indeed, a question about the degree of urgency for action on environmental protection found that a large majority (85 per cent) chose the ‘urgent and immediate problem’ option while 13 per cent said it was ‘a problem for the future’ and only 2 per cent felt it was ‘not really a problem at all’. A second major study conducted by Gendall (1994), within the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), showed that 90 per cent of New Zealanders believed the environment is under threat from pollution. Most (64 per cent) thought it likely that there would be a large increase in ill health in New Zealand cities in the next ten years due to motor vehicle pollution. Similarly, 85 per cent thought finding sites to dump or burn household waste will be one of New Zealand’s most serious problems in the next twenty years. Many (84 per cent) reported making efforts to sort household waste for recycling, while 56 per cent said that they attempt to do the right thing for the environment even when it costs more or takes more time. A high number of those surveyed (40 per cent) said they always take note of environmental labelling when buying products, and a further 42 per cent said they do this sometimes. This survey indicated that New Zealanders were quite active in support of the environment and often prepared to support strong government actions too (See Table 8.1). While these studies clearly show that New Zealanders are well aware of key environmental problems and concerned about them, two areas stand out as particularly problematic in the minds of New Zealanders: fossil fuel energy emissions and waste management. New Zealanders are prepared to see strong action taken to protect the environment in some cases, but their reliance on, and love affair with, cars is reflected in the relative lack of support for taxes on petrol and their cars. Youth environmental attitudes in the South West Pacific

As with the situation concerning adults, there has been little research on youth environmental attitudes in the South West Pacific. The only country where such research has been reported, apart from that conducted for this book, is New Zealand. An early study by Renner (1979) found that the word ‘environment’ was not well understood by many students and that their interests were predominantly with the ‘natural’ environment. Human induced

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environmental problems and the processes of the environment were of much less interest. However, two more recent studies involving school pupils in three schools involved in an ‘enviro-school’ project (Keown, McGee and Carstensen 1995; Keown and McGee 1999) found that 11–14 year olds included ‘cleaning up pollution’ as one of the most important things they would want to do to make the world a better place. Younger children rated this as the most important thing to do, while older children placed pollution second behind stopping war and fighting. These two studies also asked students to rank statements on what should be done to improve society. A selection of issues related to human rights, respect for cultural and gender difference and the environment were placed before students. The results for 11–12 year old students are shown in Table 8.3. Interestingly, the results suggest that human rights issues and tolerance considerations were seen as more important than environmental issues by the students in the earlier baseline study. Conservation and countering materialism by living more simply were given low priority, while preventing pollution, the highest-ranking environmental issue, could only manage fifth ranking in the 1993 study (Keown, McGee and Carstensen 1995). The intervention stage of the enviro-school project however, appeared to have some influence on students’ opinions about the importance of acting for the environment. ‘Acting to prevent pollution’ rose to a third equal ranking in 1995 (Keown and McGee 1999). Student rankings of ‘recycling’ rose from from ninth to equal sixth, and ‘conservation’, in rising from eleventh to equal sixth, also improved strongly. However, students continued to see ‘acting to reduce materialism’ as the lowest of priorities. When asked to state ‘what we could do to show we care for the earth and the environment’, children showed a very high level of awareness of litter prevention and reducing pollution. Older children made frequent mention of recycling. However, conservation actions such as protecting forests and endangered animals and using fewer resources were suggested much less frequently. These studies suggest that New Zealand students, like their adult counterparts, are concerned to protect the environment. However, there is also evidence to suggest that their understanding of environmental issues is relatively superficial. There appears to be a focus on a general wish to ‘look after nature’ but little appreciation of the need to address underlying human attitudes and actions such as consumerism. Conclusion

The people of the South West Pacific have experienced enormous changes in the last century and a half. A shared set of political, economic and cultural changes have had profound effects on indigenous relationships with the environment. These changes, including the effects of colonization, have generally provided inadequate preparation for autonomy following independence,

188 John Fien et al. Table 8.3 New Zealand: ranking of action statements by 11–12 year old (Years 7 and 8) students

Source: adapted from Keown, McGee and Carstensen 1995; Keown and McGee 1999

and the processes of globalization that have entwined even the most remote islands of the Pacific into international flows of western culture and trade. They have disrupted patterns of knowing and experiencing the environment that stood the test of centuries. The anthropocentric views of western culture that have come to dominate and silence indigenous voices have resulted in much environmental degradation. However, there have been voices of resistance from culturally resurgent indigenous groups, the environmental movement, NGOs, and even governments. This is evident in increasing government support of international environmental initiatives and moves to enhance local environmental legislation. It is also evident in plans to ‘green’ the curriculum and to reorient education towards social and ecological sustainability in countries in the region.

9

Young people and the environment Attitudes, knowledge and behaviour Helen Sykes, David Yencken, John Fien and Florence Choo

In this chapter we report the findings from the questionnaire surveys and from the focus group discussions in different countries. The chapter summarizes the findings from these two groups of studies. The approach to the surveys and studies was described in Chapter 2. The questionnaire surveys

Questionnaire surveys were carried out in eleven different cities in nine different countries. They were Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia; Denpasar in Bali; Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei; Hong Kong and Guangzhou in South China, Bangalore in India; Tokyo in Japan; Hamilton in New Zealand; Singapore; and Hat Yai in Thailand. While the questionnaire, the sampling method and the techniques for translation of the questionnaire were developed in a rigorous way, as was discussed in Chapter 3, there are some qualifications that need to be made about the surveys. First, two questions were adjusted in two countries to suit local conditions. These were the questions related to national goals for each country and the questions related to perceived environmental problems of the country and the world. Any differences in the questions asked are noted below. Second, the surveys were carried out over a three-year period between 1996 and 1998. Because the surveys were not all carried out at the same time, the answers to some questions are bound to reflect different cultural settings and changes in media reporting of issues. These qualifications particularly apply to any topical questions, such as the question on national goals for the country concerned. Comparisons for these questions have therefore to be treated with care. Most of the questions were, however, concerned with underlying beliefs, feelings, awareness, knowledge and past behaviour, all of which we believe it is valid to compare, despite the differences in the time of the survey. The sample sizes for each city and the time of the surveys are shown in Table 9.1. In all the tables in this chapter, data are shown under the country rather than the city for easy reference, except where surveys have been carried

190 Helen Sykes, David Yencken, John Fien and Florence Choo Table 9.1 Sample size and date of survey

out in more than one city in the country concerned. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. In some instances particular questions were not asked or the findings are not available in a comparable form. In these instances the findings for that particular country are not recorded. Where there are comparable findings for a particular table, all are reported. Statistical analysis

In the initial statistical analyses, the data were reduced to a two dimensional r x c contingency table where the number of rows represented the countries and the number of columns represented the outcome variables of interest. Pearson’s chi-square tests were used to test for independence between countries and the response to the outcome variables. For data relating to Tables 9.2 to 9.17 (the findings related to the full sample), an overall test was carried out on each set of data to determine if there were any differences between countries. For data related to Tables 9.19 to 9.24 (gender relationships), separate tests were carried out on each country to determine if there were any differences in responses between young women and young men. Following tests of independence, pair-wise tests were carried out between countries for each of these data sets to find out which pairs of groups differed. The findings of the pair-wise tests are set out in Appendix B. Each of the tests related to the full sample gave a p-value of <0.001, indicating significant differences between countries. The individual differences between pairs of countries can be seen in Appendix B. Comparisons of gender differences in different countries can be seen in Table 9.25 towards the conclusion of this chapter. In interpreting this data a distinction needs, however, to be made between these individual differences and the similarities and differences in patterns of responses. For example, in Table 9.2 which compares beliefs about the

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importance of protection of the environment and beliefs about economic growth, there are statistically significant differences between countries. However, the overall pattern of responses is similar since in every country 59 per cent of respondents upwards believe that protecting the environment is more important than economic growth. A second set of analyses was prepared of the relationships between scores for environmental beliefs, knowledge, desire to improve the environment and behaviour. Six plots were prepared of these relationships, as are also illustrated in Appendix B. There is further discussion of the relationships between these four variables in the following chapter. A third set of analyses was prepared of technological beliefs, environmental beliefs, and types and frequencies of reported behaviour. Cluster analyses were prepared for each of these data sets. The classification trees or dendrograms showing graphical relationships of the countries that are grouped together are also shown in Appendix B. Specific findings from these analyses are discussed in this and the following chapter. Beliefs

The first question in the survey asked students whether they believed that their country should ‘concentrate on economic development even if it meant some damage to the environment’ or ‘concentrate on protecting the environment even if it meant some reduction in economic growth’. Responses are shown in Table 9.2. The table shows that there is overwhelming support for protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth. Even in Hong Kong and Brunei, where support for protecting the environment is lowest, it is still nearly twice the support for economic growth. Table 9.2 Economic growth or protection of the environment (%)

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Question 2 asked students whether they believed that ‘economic growth is bound to be at the expense of the environment’ or whether they believed that ‘it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment’. The responses are shown in Table 9.3. Again there is a consistent response. A large majority of students in nearly all countries believes that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. The one exception is Japan. Many more Japanese students than respondents from other countries believe that economic growth is bound to be at the expense of the environment. Question 3 asked respondents what mix of ‘government regulation’, ‘personal lifestyle change’, ‘communities working together’ and ‘radical restructuring of society’ they believed was necessary to achieve significant improvements in environmental quality and performance. Table 9.4 shows the responses. There is some apparent recognition that measures of all kinds will be needed although a radical restructuring of society is the least supported alternative. Guangzhou and Japan are the notable exceptions. Seventy per cent of Guangzhou respondents and half of the Japanese respondents believe that a radical restructuring of society will be needed to achieve substantial improvements in environmental quality. The Balinese responses are notable for their low support for government regulation and high support for communities working together. Question 4 asked respondents to identify and rank the four most important goals for their country. Eleven alternatives formed the basic list of options. These were: creating a fairer and more humane society; protecting the environment; improving the quality of life in cities; preventing war or nuclear threats; reducing unemployment; strengthening the economy; building strong defence forces; protecting freedom of speech; improving

Table 9.3 Does economic growth have to be at the expense of the environment? (%)

Young people: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour 193 Table 9.4 Societal responses needed to improve environmental quality significantly (%)

educational standards; overcoming poverty; and limiting population growth. In Singapore, building a cohesive nation, and in India, eradicating illiteracy, were added to the list of alternatives proposed. The four or five highest ranked responses for each country are shown in Table 9.5. Responses to this question reflect the social, economic and environmental contexts of the different societies. Nevertheless protecting the environment is ranked of greatest importance by respondents in five countries and ranked second or third by respondents in nearly all the others. A fairer and more humane society, and preventing wars and nuclear threats, also scored consistently highly. In no country were protecting freedom of speech or building strong defence forces considered to be issues of any significance compared to the others. The fifth question asked the respondents to rank the four most important environmental issues for their own country from a list of twelve environmental issues including: household rubbish and garbage; soil erosion and land degradation; water pollution; cutting down of forests; damage to the ozone layer; the greenhouse effect; overpopulation; the generation of toxic wastes; endangered animals and plants; traffic congestion; air pollution; and damage to coastal waters and inlets. In the Indian survey increased urbanization, migration to the cities and large dams and power projects were added to the list. The most highly ranked responses are shown in Table 9.6. Again, responses to this question reflect different environmental issues in different countries. Of note is the importance given to household rubbish and garbage in many countries. Young people taking part in the surveys were also asked to rank the same group of environmental issues as world wide issues. Responses are shown in Table 9.7. Respondents from all countries ranked damage to the ozone layer as the

194 Helen Sykes, David Yencken, John Fien and Florence Choo Table 9.5 National priorities: rank 1 responses. The table shows the order of priority for the country concerned. (Figures in brackets show the percentage of students choosing that option.)

most important environmental problem for the world. Cutting down of forests and overpopulation vied closely as the next most important problem. Greenhouse gases (and associated global warming) was frequently ranked fourth some way behind the first three. The least important issues to the respondents were damage to coastal waters and inlets, traffic congestion, household rubbish and garbage, soil erosion and land degradation, water pollution and air pollution in that approximate order. There is much greater consistency in these responses than in responses related to individual countries. Question 6 sought to assess the degree to which the young people taking part in the survey espoused technological or environmentally supportive beliefs. Respondents were asked to place their views about twelve pairs of questions along a five point scale ranging from the most technologically oriented (and least environmentally supportive) to the most environmentally supportive (and least technologically oriented). An example of one of the twelve pairs of questions is:

Young people: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour 195 Table 9.6 The most important environmental issues for the country The table shows the order of priority for the country concerned. (Figures in brackets show the percentage of students choosing that option.)

Nature should be used to 1 2 3 4 5 Nature should be used provide goods for people for its own sake. Table 9.8 shows composite scores for the twelve pairs of questions. Among the twelve pairs of questions were four pairs related specifically to technology: Science and technology have improved our quality of life

Science and technology have worsened our quality of life

Modern technology has increased our freedom and independence

Modern technology has reduced our freedom and independence

Science and technology will always be able to find solutions to our problems

Science and technology often create more problems than they solve

196 Helen Sykes, David Yencken, John Fien and Florence Choo Table 9.7 The most important environmental issues for the world Rank 1 responses. The table shows the order of priority for the country concerned. (Figures in brackets show the percentage of students choosing that option.)

Note: *all questions asked but answers not available in comparable form

Complex technologies can be made Complex technologies will virtually risk-free through continual always be risky because of the improvement chance of human error As might be expected, many more respondents in all countries believed that science and technology have improved quality of life than the opposite, and more believed that science and technology have increased freedom and independence than the opposite. When, however, the questions turn to future applications of science and technology, respondents in nearly all countries were much more sceptical of the ability of science and technology always to find solutions or to be risk free. The only significant exception was the response from Guangzhou. Here young people of both sexes seem to have a much stronger faith in science and technology than their peers in other countries. As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, separate cluster analyses were carried out of the patterns of technological belief and environmental belief. An analysis was also made of the two sets of beliefs combined. Based on technological beliefs, countries divide into four main clusters: first, Guangzhou, second, Bali, third, India and Japan, and fourth, the

Young people: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour 197 Table 9.8 The nature of beliefs (%)

remaining countries. Based on environmental beliefs, India (according to the data received) is remarkably different from other countries. Based on combined technology and environmental beliefs, India still stands out as very different from other countries. It should, however, be noted that both the Indian and the principal researchers believe that the Indian responses to this question are suspect because of internal inconsistencies. The dendrograms (classification trees) for these analyses are shown in Appendix B. Awareness and knowledge

A number of questions was asked about awareness of significant environmental concepts and the ability of students to define them correctly. In all countries the best known concepts are ozone layer and greenhouse effect, followed in most countries by renewable resources and ecology. In all countries the least known concepts are the precautionary principle and intergenerational equity followed by sustainable development, biodiversity and carrying capacity. There are, however, considerable variations in awareness of some concepts. As an illustration of awareness, Tables 9.9a and 9.9b list the percentages of students who have never heard of the concepts. Respondents were also asked whether or not they had discussed these concepts in school. The responses to this question are shown in Chapter 12. Table 9.10 shows the percentage of correct responses to eleven questions asking respondents to define important scientific and environmental concepts.

198 Helen Sykes, David Yencken, John Fien and Florence Choo Table 9.9a Have never heard of concepts (%)

Table 9.9b Have never heard of concepts (%)

Reponses to individual general knowledge questions are shown in Table 12.2 in Chapter 12. Actions

Young people were asked to rate their desire to improve the environment. The responses are shown in Table 9.11. The table shows that in every country young people expressed a strong desire to improve the environment.

Young people: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour 199 Table 9.10 Correct responses to concept: overall mean (%)

The young people were also asked to rate their skills and knowledge to bring about environmental improvements even if in only a small way. The largest number of students assessed their skills as ‘medium’. However, many more respondents, rated their skills as high than those who rated their skills as low. Young people were asked if they had taken a number of different actions in the previous twelve months. The responses are shown in Tables 9.12a and 9.12b. The patterns of actions are quite varied. The most frequent actions taken in many countries are choosing household products that are better for the environment, recycling and reusing and reducing water consumption. In others, young people say that they have taken part in clean-up campaigns. Few young people in any of the countries write letters, sign petitions, attend meetings or make complaints. These are also the actions which they most frequently state that they would not consider taking. A cluster analysis was undertaken of the types of behaviour identified in Table 9.12. The cluster analysis shows that Brisbane is similar to Table 9.11 Desire to improve the environment (%)

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Table 9.12a Actions taken in the last twelve months to help improve the environment (%)

Table 9.12b Actions taken in the last twelve months to help improve the environment (%)

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Melbourne; Hong Kong is similar to New Zealand; and all the remaining countries seem to be quite different from each other. In all countries, except Japan, a majority of respondents stated that they had taken some deliberate action to improve the environment. In Japan only 35 per cent of respondents stated that they had taken any deliberate action. Across all the countries, of those that had taken a deliberate action, only a very few stated that they regretted or only felt ‘all right’ about taking the action. A large majority of respondents (between 70 per cent and 94 per cent) in all countries stated that they felt positive or really good about their actions. The strongest support for these actions came from others involved, followed by teachers and then immediate families. Stated support from teachers varied greatly. The highest support was in Guangzhou, Brisbane and Melbourne. The lowest support was in New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Brunei. Guangzhou students reported the highest level of support from all sources. Noting that most people do things that are damaging to the environment, young people were asked what they thought were the reasons for the actions they took that were bad for the environment. The responses are shown in Table 9.13a and 9.13b. Young people in all countries offered many different reasons for their environmentally unfriendly behaviour. Very few, however, said that they did not believe what people say about environmental damage. Similarly very few said that they were not interested in taking actions to protect the environment. The two exceptions were Japan and Hong Kong where one third of Japanese students and a quarter of Hong Kong students said that they were not interested. The two most important reasons offered by students for their environmentally unfriendly behaviour were that their actions would not make a difference, and that they felt that there were no practical alternatives, even when they knew that what they did was wrong. Sources of information

Young people were asked about their sources of environmental information. Table 9.14 shows the sources from which respondents said that they received most of their information. Television, newspapers and school are by far the most important sources of information about the environment. In some countries, environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) are also important sources of information. Table 9.15 shows the respondents’ assessments of the reliability of the same sources of information. In Australia (both Brisbane and Melbourne), China (both Guangzhou and Hong Kong), Japan, New Zealand and Thailand, environmental NGOs are given the highest ranking for reliability of information. They were also ranked highly in Singapore but not in India. Schools were also ranked

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Table 9.13a Reasons for environmentally unfriendly actions (%)

Table 9.13b Reasons for environmentally unfriendly actions (%)

Young people: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour 203 Table 9.14 Sources of most environmental information (%)

Note: *all questions asked but answers for low-ranking items not provided

Table 9.15 Environmental information sources considered very reliable (%)

Note: *all questions asked but answers for low-ranking items not provided

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relatively highly by most groups of respondents as were newspapers in some countries. Television was also ranked very highly in Brunei and Bali and relatively highly in India, Thailand and Singapore. Frequency of discussion

The last two questions concerned frequency of discussion of environmental issues. Table 9.16 shows the reported frequency of discussion outside of school. Around half of the young people in nearly all countries discussed environmental issues out of school sometimes (several times a year). The most frequent reported discussions took place in India, Bali, Brunei and Australia, in that order. The least frequent discussions took place in Japan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, in that order. Particularly striking is the lack of discussion in Japan. Table 9.17 shows the desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues in school. The greatest reported interest in discussion of environmental issues in school was in India, Bali and Thailand, in that order. The least interest in school discussions was in Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, in that order. Gender differences

Responses to the questionnaires were also separated out to assess whether there were significant differences between the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of boys and girls. The gender balances in the different samples are shown in Table 9.18. Only a sample group of responses to the questions is reported. Table 9.16 Frequency of discussion of environmental issues outside school (%)

Young people: attitudes, knowledge and behaviour 205 Table 9.17 Desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues in school (%)

There are some significant gender differences in responses in the various countries. Some are illustrated below. Table 9.19 shows differences in the views of male and female students on environmental and economic priorities. In all countries for which information was available, Bali and New Zealand excepted, female support for protecting the environment was stronger than male. The differences in nearly all instances are significant. Comparisons of knowledge are shown in Table 9.20. The table shows that there are no significant differences in knowledge of scientific and environmental concepts between boys and girls in any of the country samples listed. Table 9.21 compares male and female desires to improve the environment. The table shows that there are significant differences in desire to improve the environment in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia and Thailand, but not in other country samples. Table 9.22 shows male and female comparisons of deliberate actions Table 9.18 Sample distributions of male and female students (no. and %)

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Table 9.19 Percentage of male and female students who believed that protecting the environment was more important than economic growth

Table 9.20 Male and female comparisons: correct answers to knowledge of concept questions (%)

Table 9.21 Male and female comparisons: desire to improve the environment (strong and very strong) (%)

Table 9.22 Male and female comparisons: those who have taken deliberate actions to improve the environment in the last twelve months (%)

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taken to improve the environment. There are significant differences in some places, notably Brisbane and Hong Kong but not in others. Table 9.23 shows male and female comparisons of discussions about environmental issues out of school. The only significant differences are in the Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia, samples. The final comparison is of views about the frequency of discussion of environmental issues that young people believe should take place in schools. The most significant differences are in Brisbane, Melbourne, Bali and India, as is shown in Table 9.24. Table 9.25 shows the p-values for the various gender tables. All p-values in this table less than 0.05 signify significant differences in the responses between males and females. These values are marked with an asterisk in the table for easier comprehension. The table does not include the p-values for male and female knowledge scores since in all countries the gender differences in scores were so small. Overall, young women tend to have stronger environmental beliefs, to have taken more environmentally related actions and to discuss the environment more frequently than young men. These trends are most pronounced in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia. By contrast there is little difference evident in general knowledge scores between males and females participating in the surveys in any of the countries shown. Table 9.23 Male and female comparisons: discussions about environmental issues out of school (often and regularly) (%)

Table 9.24 Male and female comparisons: desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues in schools (often and regularly) (%)

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Table 9.25 Significant differences between males and females

The focus group discussions

Focus group discussions were held in eight of the cities involved in the overall research. Described below are some of the key points that emerged in focus group discussions in Brisbane (Australia), Melbourne (Australia), Fiji, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand. The comments of the participants are grouped under five main themes: • • • • •

hopes and fears about the future concerns about the environment sources of environmental information causes of environmental problems improving environmental quality.

Hopes and fears about the future

In all the discussions there were mixtures of personal and societal fears. In most instances the fears were more prominent than the hopes. In Australia the young people interviewed were primarily concerned about personal levels of meaning—personal relationships, careers, academic success and enjoyment—as a desire to make sense of their lives and their place in the world. Only a few participants expressed concern about the future of society or the environment. When discussing their hopes and fears, the majority of students did not seem to be overly concerned about the

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future of the world nor about their ability to do something about it. Strong levels of concern were, however, expressed about a range of environmental problems when students were specifically asked about them. In Brunei the young peoples’ hopes and fears for the future were concerned with individual success, such as attaining a better standard of living for their family and earning enough money to achieve this. In regard to society and the environment, their fears centred on a more peaceful society and a cleaner environment. There was some optimism about technology being able to solve current problems. The young people interviewed in Japan were worried about economic problems but their prime fear was about the deterioration of the environment. They had fears about overpopulation; resources running out in the future, particularly oil; the ozone layer; rising sea levels; and the fact that the environment is not in good condition. One student worried about the problems of an ageing society and the fact that the government does not look as if it is doing anything about it. Personal concerns included finding happiness, not succeeding in their chosen career and not knowing what they wanted to do in the future. The young peoples’ hopes included not being too busy to enjoy private time. One student had a little hope that scientists could contribute to help the environment. There was a more sombre tone to the discussions in New Zealand. Many young people were fearful that problems of the environment, crime, violence and unemployment would get worse. Fears were commonly expressed about a wide range of environmental and social issues. Mentioned were global warming, ozone depletion, traffic, urbanization issues, biotechnology, cloning and a decline in ethical and moral standards. Young people hoped that New Zealand would live up to, and be recognized by, the rest of the world for its clean green image, sense of fairness and commitment to equity. Some hoped that the world would find ways of deploying new technology for the benefit of the environment. In India discussions concentrated on hopes and fears specifically related to the environment. The fears expressed were wide ranging and included worries about the total destruction of the environment and fear that the present rate of environmental destruction threatened the future existence of the human race. Other concerns included the loss of topsoil and threats to crops and agriculture, genetic disorders due to excessive radiation, smog, acid rain, global warming, the extinction of plants and increases in natural calamities. The hopes included that it was not too late to stop environmental degradation and that India was still rich in natural resources. It was argued that ancient Indian cultures recognized the harmony of nature. This culture has been lost and needs to be recovered. In Fiji the hopes and fears of young people were primarily focused on economic and social issues related to Fiji. The participants were concerned about the impact of the political coup on the nation. They feared that crime was increasing at an alarming rate, that poverty was a common plight and

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that more vehicles were leading to more road deaths. They were worried about the shortage of teachers and doctors, about service standards and about the commercialization of Fijian culture. Their hopes for the future were that the two main ethnic groups (Melanesian and Indian) could unite to develop a better Fiji, that Fiji’s economy would improve, that there would be more educational opportunities and that the culture of Fiji would be preserved. Examples of individual comments follow. I fear that I won’t make something of my life. (Australian student) I’m concerned about more of the natural environment disappearing. (New Zealand student) I fear genetic disorders due to excessive radiation in the environment. (Indian student) Peace, no pollution, less problems, no traffic congestion, no economic crisis, to be protected from danger. (Brunei student) I want to increase green. I want to live in a natural area surrounded by green. (Japanese student) I hope multiracialism will be promoted. (Fijian student) I fear more incurable diseases will emerge. (Thai student) Hope for success in studies, employment and better standard of living. (Brunei student) I worry about the destruction of the ozone layer, overpopulation and these things. (Japanese student) Concerns about the environment

The young people interviewed in Thailand have strong levels of environmental concern. They identified a number of environmental problems they saw to be of major importance. These can be separated into universal issues and local issues. The most frequently stated local issues were water pollution

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and solid waste management. They were also worried about forest destruction around the country, which was causing rapid decline of the forest area and subsequently unprecedented drought. Air pollution was another problem of major concern. The students’ feelings about the environment were summed up as bad, horrible or threatening. In Melbourne and Brisbane the concerns expressed by participants were mainly about environmental problems related to their city and, to a lesser extent, region and country. In Melbourne the environmental concerns expressed were about air and water pollution. In Brisbane concerns were about local green issues, encroachments on natural areas and direct impacts on flora and fauna. The common feelings expressed about environmental problems were frustration, sadness and pessimism. In Singapore an important focus was on the consequences of industrialization and modernization. Industrialization and modernization were recognized to have brought advantages but not sufficient attention had been paid to their adverse effects. Industrialization had led to increasing pollution. Modernization had brought about changes in Singaporean lifestyles, from a past that had been community-spirited to a present day competitive ethos. A primary concern was the lack of awareness of emerging environmental problems and the consequent need for changes in attitudes towards the environment. Many young people were frustrated about their inability to do more to protect the environment. Some, however, were not particularly concerned about the environment because they did not perceive that they were affected. The young people in Japan were concerned that the environment was getting worse and would be difficult to restore. They were concerned about the rising sea level caused by global warming, destruction of the ozone layer, over-population, deforestation, worsening air pollution, water pollution and not enough places to ‘dump garbage’. Most of the students were most concerned about things that affected them directly, such as health problems to do with asthma and other allergies, air pollution and littering. These were exemplified by the level of car fumes and rubbish the students said they experienced on a daily basis. They were also concerned about endangered animals. In New Zealand the most frequently raised issues were global warming and climate change, and ozone layer depletion. Other issues regularly mentioned were over-population, depletion of natural resources, air pollution, water pollution and deforestation. Related to these and other problems, young people repeatedly expressed the feeling that people did not care deeply enough about the environment. When they were caring and concerned they did not care deeply enough to move them to action. The young people in Brunei were concerned globally about the ozone layer and locally about water pollution and air pollution. They had concerns arising from waste, including nuclear waste, and the fact that the human race might disappear. The young people were also concerned about depletion of

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raw materials because of increased population and that there may not be enough food for humans to survive. In India discussion focused on the different problems at international, national and local level. At the local level the main concerns were pollution of air and water, congestion, overcrowding, traffic and changes in weather patterns. Nationally, prime concerns were poverty, illiteracy, overpopulation, pollution of natural resources and lack of political will and leadership to deal with environmental problems. The main global issues were seen to be global warming, pollution and loss of forests. In Fiji young people expressed a deep concern about a clean, green and safe environment for future generations. Generally their concerns were about local rather than global environmental issues. Of particular concern were increasing deforestation, development and resource depletion. Pollution issues identified included factory emissions, dumping of rubbish in the sea, oil spills and vehicle emissions. The young people discussed the consequences of these trends if left unchecked. As in many other countries there was, however, a relatively limited appreciation of the social and economic relationships and implications of environmental degradation. The environment is not clean. There are more vehicles and factories causing pollution. (Fijian student) Not enough air and air might go bad again. (Brunei student) I think water pollution is the most important environmental problem, we consume pipe water which is drawn from dirty canals. (Thai student) I think air pollution is the biggest problem. We’re all exposed to it every day. (Australian student) My major concern about the environment is for the animals. Particularly the rare animals which live in specific habitats. (Japanese student) Especially in Singapore, it is global warming; because of global warming, icecaps in the poles have been melting and sea levels are rising. (Singaporean student) I wonder whether things will run out, resources. (Australian student)

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Overpopulation is a problem and the environment might not be able to cope with all the extras. (New Zealand student) At the moment my major concern is littering empty cans and how to decrease this because this occurs around me. (Japanese student)

Sources of environmental information

In Australia, young people identified the media and schools as the main sources of information about the environment. The media (with the exception of documentaries) were not, however, seen as trustworthy sources of environmental information. Although schools were identified as important sources of information, some young people were critical of the failure of their schools to fulfil their potential as providers and critics of environmental information. Young people were generally well aware of the need critically to analyse what they see in the media and hear at school, and to interpret this information in the light of their own personal knowledge and experiences. Consistently, young people identified their own personal experiences as the most reliable source of information about the environment. Students in Thailand identified five sources of environmental information: their own personal experiences; media; school; discussions with parents; and the Internet. They felt that personal experience was the most reliable source of information, being the most direct and perceivable in their daily lives. The media were also identified as a major source of environmental information, especially television. Some interesting advertisements in newspapers and magazines were also mentioned as other important sources of environmental information. The students pointed out that not all information gathered from the media was reliable. They seemed to trust most the information they obtained from television news programmes such as live pictures of forest fires. Information was also received through the teaching of environment-related subjects at school such as science, geography, chemistry and biology. Libraries were also important sources of information in schools. Environment-related exhibitions and fairs in and outside schools were also useful sources of information. For the New Zealand participants, the mass media, particularly television, was the prime source of information about the environment. The next most commonly mentioned source was school. Family, people you talk to, government departments and environmental non-government organizations (NGOs) were also frequently mentioned. Other sources mentioned were industry and consumer companies and products. The young people in Brunei had mainly found out about the environment from the media: magazines, television, newspapers and radio.

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They had also learned about the environment from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. It was clear that parents of some of the young people were good role models for environmental behaviour. Friends and personal experience were also cited as sources of information about the environment. The young people suggested that there is not enough environmental education at school. For the participants in Singapore, the main sources of environmental information were television documentaries, magazines, newspapers and school subjects such as geography. Young people expressed the view that it was important to learn from a variety of sources. Like their Australian counterparts they placed much weight on learning by personal experience. This was, however, difficult in an island city-state such as Singapore. Only a very few were critical of what they watched on television or read in newspapers. The young people in Japan mainly received information about the environment from television, particularly the news, and at school. They learnt about the environment in several classes such as modern society, science and geography. Many students could also remember learning about the environment in primary school. Newspapers and magazines were also cited as important sources of information about the environment. Television was seen as generally reliable, some students mentioned 80 per cent reliability. The students also said that they were aware of environmental problems through their own experience of living in populated, polluted areas. They continually witnessed destruction of their environment. Some also drew on their experiences of being in the ‘natural’ environment when visiting places outside urban areas. To young people in Fiji, the media were the main source of environmental information. Television and newspapers covered both local and global issues. The Hindi and Fiji local papers were not, however, a favoured source of information about the environment. Young people preferred magazines. They identified that environmental topics had been introduced into the curriculum of many subjects in their schools, particularly science and social science subjects. Young people also discussed the way their parents and grandparents had provided information about traditional cultural practices. Some, such as using plant poison to catch fish and slash and burn agricultural methods, they recognized as detrimental to the environment. I think probably nowadays what we learn about the environment you can learn from almost anywhere because now they call this the green decade. (Singapore student) Personal experience. I know where I live used to be all bush. In the last five years it has all been chopped down. (Australian student)

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My parents don’t burn openly so I don’t. (Brunei student) I found out about the environment through daily newspapers, television, books and conversation with family members and friends. I trust information from newspapers and television. (Singaporean student) If you see a beach polluted with rubbish you’re going to trust that more than some media report. (Australian student) We get quite good information from the school about the world and about the problems. We often get a bit more of the background and the detail than we do in the news. (New Zealand student) At school, information is reliable but boring. (Brunei student) Watching environment issues on TV. Also when I was junior high school student, I had an assignment to investigate the environment and the recycling of waste. (Japanese student) From geography class (Fijian student)

Causes of environmental problems

‘People’ that is everyone, with more emphasis on the people in charge, cause environmental problems according to the young people in Japan. They suggested that politicians did not understand the importance of protecting the environment. Problems such as depletion of resources and littering were linked to consumption and increases in population. Peoples’ selfishness and laziness and their desire for convenience cause environmental problems. ‘Some people ignore the problems.’ The students also pointed out that the problems are serious and complex. In Australia, young people overwhelmingly identified ‘people’ as the major cause of environmental problems. Negative human characteristics were identified as laziness, lack of care, greed and ignorance. Similar characteristics were identified in government and industry. Overpopulation was seen as the cause of problems at both a global and local scale, because of the impact increasing numbers of people are having on consumption and

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resources. While government and business were not seen as the primary causes of problems, they were seen as the main places where change could be brought about. For the most part, however, young people did not recognize either the structural or the individual influences on collective and personal behaviour and the way they contribute to, and might help to solve, environmental problems. Few young people seemed willing to acknowledge how their own lifestyles might contribute to environmental problems. In the New Zealand discussions, the factors that were most consistently mentioned (often strongly expressed) were ignorance of environmental issues, the widespread and deep seated urge to make money, the development of new and powerful technologies, the human drive to develop, laziness, the desire for comfort and convenience, and the consumer society with its advertising and lavish packaging. Some students argued that population growth and the size of human populations were underlying causes of many problems. Some also argued that human arrogance, overconfidence and preoccupation with self rather than the earth were major underlying causes. Students in Thailand almost unanimously agreed that humans were the root of all environmental problems. They identified human characteristics such as desire, negligence and disobedience to laws together with the attitude of government and industry. Environmental awareness has not been taught sufficiently and the government was weak with respect to laws preventing the rapid decline of forests. The young people could see that when attention is paid to the environment ‘it is already too late’. To the Singapore students, human beings—their lack of responsibility, selfishness and greed—were the main cause of environmental degradation. The older generation was perceived to hold less environmentally supportive attitudes than younger people. Consumers’ lack of demand for green products was seen as a cause. There was recognition that poor people were often forced to exploit nature in order to survive. Many young people believed that the government had an important role to play in ameliorating environmental problems. Young people in India identified ignorance, selfishness and greed, urbanization and industrialization, wrong uses of science and technology, and corruption and lack of leadership and political will as the main causes of environmental degradation. The students in Brunei said that human attributes and the development needs of the country are the main causes of environmental problems. Other causes mentioned included combustion, over fishing and cutting down trees. Fijian students expressed strong views that people were ignorant, lazy, and lacked initiative and knowledge, all of which made very large contributions to environmental problems. They felt that people were more concerned about themselves than about environmental degradation. They considered that both governments and individuals contributed to

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environmental problems and that neither government nor individuals were doing enough to solve them. People don’t know what to do. There is no guidance. (Fijian student) Governments contribute to the rapid decline of the forest, by allowing law and regulation implementation to be weak. (Thai student) Brunei is in a developing stage. It needs to produce more food now but the environment may suffer. (Brunei student) Us, people just living. It’s just our human nature. (Australian student) Ignorance of the effects. The effects of a lot of things are sort of kept secret, hidden so they can’t find out. (New Zealand student) Lack of political will and leadership for environmental protection. (Indian student) People’s selfishness. (Japanese student) Thinking someone else is going to fix it. (Australian student) The major cause is the lifestyle and attitude of people. Many want to enjoy life and have the best goods, clothes, services etc. They do this without any care or concern for the environment. (Singapore student)

Protecting the environment and improving environmental quality

In Australia, there were mixed responses in the discussions about the best means of protecting the environment. Consistently, however, young people suggested that changing people’s attitudes was the major change needed. Government and business were seen to have a fundamental role by setting examples in their own activities and by making environmentally friendly products. Recycling was the most commonly cited environmental action

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suggested. Few participants acknowledged personal responsibility for causing environmental problems. Rather it was suggested that increased awareness and education of others was necessary. Although the participants believed that it was very important for everyone to do something, there was a limited sense of agency or efficacy in the discussions. Often there were expressions of powerlessness. It was said that it was hard to do more than they were now doing. In New Zealand young people expressed the view that there were plenty of good ideas around but there was a lack of commitment and money from individuals, business and government to improve environmental quality and a lack of willingness to pay extra for green goods and services. People were not prepared to forgo convenience and their lifestyle preferences to help the environment. For some students, the perceived negative attitudes of green groups and green thinking was also a problem. The young people believed that there was need for more education, particularly more emphasis on environmental education. They thought that there should be more media advertising about the environment. Individuals needed to change their lifestyles and to be prepared to take personal and institutional action. The young people in Thailand contended that the single most important element was to change people’s attitudes and behaviour, and their lifestyles. Sincere cooperation of all concerned parties is crucial if environmental problems are to be successfully solved. The young people suggested that environmental awareness and education programmes should start with families and schools. The message that a better environment is everyone’s business was clear. It was also noted that government must be more serious about solving obvious problems such as discharging untreated waste water into natural water bodies. In Brunei, the young people felt that people should take more responsibility for looking after the environment. They recognized that, in addition to quality of life issues, there were economic imperatives, including the need to increase tourism. They were optimistic that technology can be used to make things better. The young people pointed out that change is needed. There should be more emphasis on important issues, not trivial matters such as money. They said that government should work more efficiently and more education about the environment is required. Even though their personal efforts might be minimal and in some areas non-existent, Singapore students unanimously agreed that they were themselves making, and others were currently making, inadequate efforts to improve the environment. They rated their own personal skill to improve the environment as medium. Most of their actions involved household behaviour such as recycling. Some students believed that government had to take the lead through legal and regulatory means and fiscal incentives. All students, however, agreed that public awareness programmes were key to

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changes in behaviour, even when strong environmental laws were in place. Many students seemed unprepared to make changes in personal behaviour, even though they knew the changes were needed and their own knowledge of environmental concepts and issues was good. Some young people in India thought that the time had come to act. A new awareness needs to be created through education. People need to be made aware that they are responsible for damaging the environment and have to work to improve it. Population growth has to be controlled. Science and technology needs to be applied for environmental purposes. Incentives should be given to encourage eco-friendly habits. We now need to control our greed and selfishness. Fijian students felt that they did not have the ability to bring about improvements to the environment. It was politicians, government and big business that had the scope and power. They felt that change was difficult because people were lazy. There was not enough common support for change. Money was needed to organize environmental activity. Everyone had to work together to make the environment better. The young people agreed that they would like to solve environmental problems but did not have the knowledge, experience and confidence to do something. The comments about lack of confidence, initiative and problem solving skills are likely, in part at least, to reflect norms of Fijian culture where young people are discouraged from asking questions because it is seen as a lack of respect for their elders. There was a strong belief amongst the young people in Japan that if there is a collective will to do something for the environment then it can be done. People have to want to do it. Some students felt that they could personally do something to help the environment, such as recycling, and that individuals need to take responsibility for the impact of their actions. Generally there needs to be more knowledge about and awareness of the environment to motivate people to get involved in caring for the environment. There needs to be more attention to environmental issues in peoples’ daily lives. It was also suggested that there should be more reliability on science and technology, and that new ways of doing things need to be found. Government also has to do more. When I start work I will be in a better position to give financial support to improve the environment. (Singaporean student) I believe that we have to look at the smallest things, such as making scribble paper from old paper, refusing disposable chopsticks at restaurants and plastic bags at supermarkets. We have to look at all the things we take for granted. (Japanese student)

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Government should provide a recycling centre and educate everyone. (Brunei student) Environmentally friendly products should be made cheaper to encourage people to use them and make people realize the long term advantage in using these products. (Australian student) The government and public must work together. (Indian student) What need to change most are our individual attitudes. We both need more information but also more will to do something about it. (New Zealand student) If only the government can change the old legislation and enforce the laws. (Indian student) If everyone did something like pick up their rubbish we would be so much better off. (Australian student) I think that it is important for people who live on the earth to take responsibility for the environment. I’m not sure, but I think that Japan doesn’t destroy the environment itself but encourages environmental destruction elsewhere. (Japanese student) Discussion of the findings

The findings from the questionnaire surveys and the discussions in the focus group meetings have been summarized above. We now turn to the implications of these findings. Aspects of attitudes to nature, and the way environmental attitudes and behaviour have been shaped and influenced in different cultures, were discussed in earlier chapters. In the last two chapters we attempt to draw all these different threads together. The next chapter discusses the implications for environmentalism and environmental action of these various components of our research. The final chapter discusses the implications of the research for environmental education in individual countries and for the Asia Pacific region. It also seeks to draw out lessons for environmental education everywhere.

10 Young people and the environment The implications for environmentalism David Yencken

In Environmental Change in South-East Asia Parnwell and Bryant (1996) note that sustainable development—seen as an ideology and initiating process— has been incorporated into attitudes and beliefs in most South East Asian countries. Many people no longer accept, if they ever did, that economic growth and environmental degradation must go hand in hand. Tolerance thresholds have been surpassed…. People are protesting against environmental abuse, environmental pressure groups are mushrooming, school children are learning about the environment, the media are championing environmental causes and practitioners are trying hard to right environmental wrongs. (Parnwell and Bryant 1996:330) Why then, Parnwell and Bryant ask, is the problem growing? The possible answers offered are: there is a wide discrepancy and a time lag between awareness and action; not everyone is environmentally aware; many people are aware but do not care; and there are many people who are aware and do care but are powerless to act. Although these are all significant reasons, even more important is the reason identified by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook that ‘environmental problems remain deeply embedded in the socio-economic fabric of societies in all regions’ (1997:3). Environmental problems and the personal and structural difficulties in dealing with them are therefore shared throughout the AsiaPacific region, as they are in all countries in the world. Global Environmental Outlook notes that ‘the environment has continued to degrade during the past decade’, that ‘progress towards a global sustainable future is just too slow’ and that ‘a sense of urgency is lacking’ (UNEP 1997:3). The degradation of the environment in the Asia-Pacific region is among the worst in the world, as Chapter 1 illustrated. To reverse adverse environmental trends, and to set the region and the world onto a sustainable path, will therefore require much new thinking, considerable adjustment to

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economic and social systems, and action at every level from the personal to the institutional. Young people need to be fully prepared to face these challenges because the crucial actions will be those taken in all societies in the next thirty to forty years. Education has a primary role to play in preparing young people to tackle environmental problems with insight and commitment. Parnwell and Bryant note David Pepper’s belief that education could be a solution for our environmental ills both to provide information and to start to change values (Pepper 1993). They also cite Schumacher’s (Schumacher 1974) view that education is humanity’s greatest resource in this endeavour because it maintains and strengthens not only human dignity, initiative and constructive activity but also regard for nature. What kind of education is needed, though? What about the other influences on environmental attitudes and behaviour? What grasp of the environmental pressures do young people have? Chapter 1 of this book explained why a good conceptual framework is critical. Do young people have a good conceptual understanding of environmental issues? In Western countries governments have taken environmental action, to the extent that they have, not generally from their own initiatives but in response to popular concern and active environmentalist pressure. In some countries there is a real price to pay for speaking out, if speaking out implies criticism of ruling elites. What linkages do young people see between freedom of speech and environmental issues? Is there any evidence that young people have any understanding of the way environmental problems are embedded in the social and economic fabric of their and other societies? The World Conservation Union’s Strategies for Sustainability: Asia (CarewReid 1997) emphasizes the critical importance of linking environmental and developmental strategies to prevent the marginalization of environmental strategies. Do young people recognize the way in which environmental and economic policies and actions must be connected? In the face of the diverse interests within each nation state and the shared interests of resource users that transcend national boundaries, Hirsch and Warren in The Politics of Environment in Southeast Asia (1998) argue, as many others do, that environmental internationalism is a significant imperative. What evidence is there among young people of a recognition of the global nature of problems and the need for international action? The first general question explored in this chapter is: ‘What light does the research described in this book cast on these matters?’ Several related questions were posed at the conclusion of Chapter 1. They were: • •

To what degree is there a common awareness and understanding of environmental concepts in the region? To what degree are there shared environmental belief systems within the region? Are these belief systems changing at different rates within different countries in the Asia-Pacific?

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To what degree are there shared attitudes about relationships between the environment and the economy? To what degree is personal behaviour different?

Two underlying questions were also posed: • •

What have been and what are likely to be the influences of traditional attitudes to nature in different cultures? To what degree is there emerging within the region (and by implication globally) a shared cultural model about the environment or a global ideology of nature?

In this chapter we discuss some overall conclusions that might be drawn from the research findings. The chapter begins with a review of cultural influences on the environment, the state of the environment, political influences and government responses in different countries. It then turns to the surveys to explore what the surveys have to tell us about attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of young people in different societies. It examines what further light is shown on these issues by the focus group studies. It concludes with a review of the main research questions. The cultural influences on environmental attitudes in individual countries

The regional and country chapters that form the main part of this book have described the cultural influences on environmental attitudes for the societies concerned. Brief commentaries are made below on three themes: traditions of stewardship and care for the environment, pressures leading to the environmental conditions now found in each country, and the types of responses to be observed in each country. Many different cultural traditions have been described in this book. The richness and diversity of these traditions, and the manifold ways in which they have embodied notions of stewardship of, and human relation to, nature are very striking. Stimpson is right to insist that cultural correlations tend to be weak and fuzzy and a matter of interpretation, and that there is always a risk of deducing what one hopes to find (ch. 3 this volume). There are, nonetheless, some summary points that can be made about the discussion of cultural influences on environmental attitudes in this book. In every country involved in the research there are long standing traditions of care and responsibility for the environment. Ravindranath and Iyer-Raniga describe the way nature is seen in India as an all encompassing reality. Although nature is approached through humanity, Indian culture embraces all that is living from plants to animals. Everything in nature is considered sacred and worshipped. In each of the three great Indian religious traditions, Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, humans are asked to show

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reverence and respect for nature, and conservation of nature is emphasized in their teachings. Reflecting these long standing concerns, India has included the protection and improvement of the environment in its constitution. It was the first country in the world to do so. In Bali, another Hindu culture, traditional principles for a meaningful life include tri hita karana, the need for a harmonious relationship between God, human beings and nature. Bali has long been recognized for its sustainable agriculture and balance between development and conservation of nature. In Chapter 6, the Balinese were described as having a deep sense of belonging, stewardship and responsibility to their island and its environment. In Islamic traditions, reflected in countries such as Brunei, in parts of India and many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the relationship of humans to nature is not one of mastery of nature but rather of stewardship. Nature is not seen as exclusively for human use. The Quran requires humans to obey what God has ordered. Since all living things were created by God with different functions they need to be looked after and protected. Humans are warned against the abuse of natural resources and of consequent imbalances in nature. In the three main cultural traditions of China, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, there are different reflections of respect for nature. Stimpson discusses the notion of stewardship implied by Confucian principles of reciprocity and balance (Stimpson Chapter 3 this volume). He also describes the way the Chinese have traditionally perceived the world as a unity or balance of conflicting opposites. Moral precepts are supported by practical techniques. It is a longstanding practice to site buildings in harmony with nature. Favourable locations, reflecting the hidden forces of the earth, can be determined by feng shui techniques. Barrett, Abe, Harako and Ichikawa (Chapter 4 this volume) describe the subtle awareness in Japanese culture of human kinship with the natural world and Japanese perceptions of nature and culture as mutually embedded. In Christian religions, often condemned for their anthropocentric emphases, there are alternative traditions, such as the Franciscan tradition, which have advocated stewardship of the environment and care for other living things. Indigenous knowledge of the environment, as the authors of the chapter on New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji illustrate, was knowledge for survival. ‘Life in hunting, fishing and gathering societies was virtually impossible without a good knowledge of animal, fish and plant species, their growth habits and habitats, their special characteristics and specific uses.’ In all or nearly all these traditions there are, however, countervailing beliefs and traditions. Christianity is famous for its concepts of imago dei, humans created in the image of God and dominium, humans charged to have dominion over the earth. In Confucianism, as described by Stimpson,

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‘conflicting arguments can be deduced; some imply environmental disregard, some respect’ (Stimpson Chapter 3 this volume). As was discussed in Chapter 1, feng shui can be seen in some of its applications to be closer to Western capitalism than to Western environmentalism. In other traditions the same ambivalence is regularly found. In Japan, as Kalland argues, the love of nature in an idealized form may not pay adequate attention to ecology and ‘nature in the raw’ (Kalland Chapter 1 this volume). There is little evidence from the discussion of environmental trends in this book to suggest that these cultural traditions have been able, on their own, to prevent deterioration of the environment in any of the countries reviewed. Even before the impact of the industrial economy began seriously to be felt, no matter how strong the cultural traditions, none was strong enough to prevent environmental degradation in the face of great population pressure, limited resources and poverty. The countries which, in the past, have achieved the greatest balance between culture and nature, have had either richly endowed natural resources compared to their population, such as Bali, very limited population pressures such as Aboriginal Australia, or some mix of each. This is not to say that religious and cultural influences have been unimportant. It is likely that in both Bali and Aboriginal Australia cultural influences have been very important. They are not, however, the only or necessarily the decisive forces. Pressures on the environment have greatly increased in the last century. The two main pressures have been population growth and global (Western) capitalism. The regional and country chapters in this book all reflect the ways in which capitalist development has impinged on every society and the way in which governments in all countries have been forced to compete for new developments and foreign exchange. The Indonesian central government has, for example, set very high targets for tourist visits to Bali, targets greatly in excess of the already very high visitation rates, because of the great importance of international tourism to the Indonesian economy. The spiral of economic growth has placed extraordinary new pressures (and ever increasing pressures) on all the countries discussed in this book. Where the drive for growth has been combined with other pressures, such as intense population pressures and pressure to exploit already depleted or vulnerable resources, the environmental consequences have often been disastrous. Even in countries which for the reasons explained have not been under such pressures in the past, the possibility of serious future degradation is very real. Environmental degradation is now widely shared. All countries have their own environmental problems and all contribute to threats and damage to the global commons. The first chapter summarized, and the individual country and regional chapters illustrated, the nature of environmental problems in the countries and regions discussed in the book. The response to the growing recognition of these problems has had very similar ingredients in every country, even if the weight and emphasis is

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different in each country. In all countries there has been government response (in the form of national policies, legislation and programmes), participation in international conventions and protocols, the growth of an environmental movement (exemplified by the presence of international, national and local environmental NGOs) and widespread media reporting of environmental issues. In all countries there is growing environmental awareness. Where opinion polls and surveys of the adult community have been undertaken, there is clear evidence of significant environmental awareness and concern. Countries throughout the region are now all being strongly influenced by international environmental debates, agreements and action. International influence has been exerted through major international conferences such as the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, major international reports such as Our Common Future (World Commision on Environment and Development 1987), international conventions, protocols and recommendations and many specialist programmes. Increasingly countries are being asked to carry out serious assessments of the state of their environment and increasingly their environmental performance is being evaluated by international bodies. An example is the initiative taken by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, discussed in Chapter 1, to develop state of the environment reporting protocols and environmental performance reviews of its member countries. National and state or provincial governments have introduced legislation and established environmental agencies and developed new programmes, often modelled on earlier pioneering initiatives in other countries, particularly the United States. Environment protection acts and agencies have, for example, closely followed the model of the US Environment Protection Authority and its act. Often the legislation and authorities have the same names. Media reporting of environmental issues and problems is now regular and widespread. Environmental NGOs are influential in all countries. Sometimes the major international groups, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Greenpeace, dominate the scene and have been a force for the establishment of national and local groups. Sometimes the national and local groups predate, and have had greater influence than, the international bodies (Princen and Finger 1994; Potter 1996). Both, however, are now regularly present. Environmental education forms a part of the curriculum in all countries. Green consumerism has added a new pressure on corporate behaviour in all countries. There are therefore common general ingredients in all countries. At the same time, however, there are distinctively different traditions and pathways along which various societies have travelled to reach their current positions. There is furthermore ‘a myriad of political, social cultural and economic

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ingredients of environmental change in the region’ (Parnwell and Bryant 1996:330). Political and institutional responses in the region can also be seen as representative of different political discourses about the environment. As discussed in Chapter 2, Drysek (1997) has identified a range of discourses in political debates about the environment. At one end of the scale is the socalled Promethean response with its assumptions about growth forever, without concern for limits to resources. At the other is the so-called ecological modernization approach, with its belief in the need for conscious and coordinated intervention to develop societies whose economies are transformed to minimize resource use and environmental impacts. (Drysek also discusses other ‘romantic’ discourses that are not discussed here, although they may be very influential in other ways.) In between, there are political discourses related to the incremental solution of environmental problems as and when they appear. The political systems in the Asia-Pacific region fall within this middle band. There is widespread recognition of the seriousness of environmental problems, there are many significant initiatives to protect the environment, but economic rationalism still prevails. However, these approaches are manifestly not solving regional and global environmental problems although they may in some countries be abating some of their worst local effects. There is little evidence yet within any of the countries reviewed in this book of a strong commitment to ecological modernization. The need for it should form part of active debates with young people. The surveys

Research into beliefs, knowledge and behaviour of the kind reported in this book poses three sets of important questions. The first set concerns the strength of environmental beliefs, the extent of environmental knowledge, and the level of environmental behaviour found in each of the countries participating in the research. The literature related to this first set of questions is primarily concerned with ways of identifying and measuring attitudes, knowledge and behaviour. There is here a very significant literature, the relevance of which to our research has been discussed in Chapter 2. The findings reported in the previous chapter illustrate the beliefs, the environmental knowledge, the behaviours, and the sources and perceived reliability of environmental information identified by respondents in the surveys in the different countries. Highlights are summarized in this chapter. The second set of questions concerns the relationships found between belief, knowledge and behaviour in the different countries. The literature related to the relationships between attitude, knowledge and behaviour is also substantial and growing. It is the focus of much recent attitude and behavioural research because of the great significance many researchers

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place on better identification of antecedents to, and predictors of, supportive environmental behaviour. The third set of questions concerns the similarities and differences between findings derived from cross-cultural research in different countries. This literature is as yet sparse and limited. In this section we begin the discussion of the findings of the surveys with a summary of some of the key similarities and differences. Key differences and similarities

The responses to the questionnaire surveys illustrate some significant differences and some striking similarities. While there are statistically significant differences between the findings for all questions, there are significant patterns of agreement about many issues. In every country a significant majority of young people (ranging from 59 per cent to 83 per cent) believes that it is more important to protect the environment, even if it means some reduction in economic growth, than it is to concentrate on economic growth even if it may mean some damage to the environment. There is a similar agreement (ranging from 73 per cent to 89 per cent with Japan excepted) that economic growth does not need to be at the expense of the environment and that it is quite possible to have both a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. In every country the destruction of the ozone layer was most frequently ranked the most important environmental issue for the world. Cutting down of forests, overpopulation and the greenhouse effect were ranked second, third and fourth in nearly all countries, although the order in which they were placed varied. When environmental and technological beliefs were compared, in every country young people beliefs were strongly aligned with the environmental paradigm. India was the only exception, and in India there was a mixture of pro-environmental and technological beliefs expressed in answers to the paired questions seeking views and beliefs about environmental and technological paradigms. As was discussed in the previous chapter, there are also questions about the validity of the responses reported for this part of the Indian survey. While awareness of many concepts varied considerably, the best known concepts and the least known were shared in nearly all countries. Nearly all students were aware of the greenhouse effect and ozone layer depletion. By contrast intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle were concepts which had been little heard of in nearly all countries. A significant majority of young people in all countries reported a strong or very strong desire to improve the environment while only a very small percentage (less than 10 per cent in all countries) reported a very weak or weak desire.

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More than half of the young people in all countries surveyed (other than Japan) report that they had taken some action to improve the environment. Despite the variability of responses there are some clear patterns to the types of actions taken. Deciding to reuse or recycle, choosing environmentallyfriendly household products, reducing water use, and encouraging someone else to change his or her behaviour were the most frequent actions taken. Writing letters, signing petitions, going to meetings and making reports or complaints were the least frequently reported actions, and the actions young people most frequently stated that they would not consider taking. Other actions that were relatively infrequently reported were trying to get environmental information for the student’s own interest, and making a gift or donation to support an environmental cause. Television followed by newspapers and schools were the main sources of information about the environment in all countries. In most countries the most reliable source of information was perceived to be environmental nongovernment organizations (NGOs) followed by schools and newspapers. Girls in many countries were more strongly environmentally aligned than boys, and in no countries were boys more environmentally aligned than girls. This was reflected in attitudes towards environment and economy, belief systems, past actions, desire to improve the environment, discussions about environmental issues out of school, and desired frequency of discussion of environmental topics in school. These gender differences were much more pronounced in Australia than in Asian countries. There are also intriguing differences between the findings in the different countries. There are unsurprising differences in assessments of national priorities between country samples. Illiteracy is ranked highest in India, population in Guangzhou (China), strengthening the economy in Thailand, a fairer and more humane society in Singapore, Bali and Hong Kong, preventing war in Brisbane and protecting the environment in the rest. There are also predictable differences in the environmental issues identified as the most important for each individual country. Population is considered the most important issue for China (both Guangzhou and Hong Kong respondents), India and Bali. Household rubbish is considered the most important environmental issue for Japan, Brunei and Singapore. Damage to the ozone layer is considered the most important issue for Australia (both Melbourne and Brisbane respondents) and New Zealand, possibly because young people in these countries recognize that they live closest to the thinning in the ozone layer over the South Pole. Of these priorities household rubbish might seem the most surprising from a Western viewpoint but not, no doubt, from the viewpoint of those who have to live close to the dumping of waste and the effects of wastes on water tables and courses. There are significant differences in awareness of environmental and scientific concepts, and in the extent of reported discussion of the concepts in

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school. By contrast, scores for correct answers to definitions of concepts are not greatly different. The exception is Japan. These findings are further discussed in an educational context in the next chapter. While young people in all countries report that they receive most of their environmental information from the media (television, newspapers and radio) and from schools, there are intriguing differences in the evaluation of the reliability of television and newspapers, although both are considered more reliable than radio in all countries. In Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore newspapers are considered more reliable than television; in Brunei, Guangzhou, and Thailand television is considered more reliable than newspapers. No doubt these different opinions reflect different assessments of the quality of reporting in these two forms of media. Also of interest are the assessments of the reliability of information received from school and government. While most countries responses are generally clustered together, Indian respondents followed by Singaporean and Balinese respondents assessed schools as much more reliable, and Japanese students assessed schools as much less reliable than the general mean. Singaporean, Hong Kong and Balinese students also assessed government sources as much more reliable and Indian and Japanese students considered government sources much less reliable than the mean. Indian students, followed by Balinese students, reported that they discussed environmental issues out of school much more frequently, while Japanese students reported that they discussed them much less frequently than other students. Other students who had relatively infrequent discussions were Chinese, Japanese, Singaporean and Thai students. The highest desired frequency of discussion of environmental issues during school is also amongst Indian and Balinese students and the lowest among Japanese followed by Chinese and New Zealand students. Is there therefore a relationship between frequency of discussion in school and out of school? One other distinctive difference in response is worthy of special note. The responses of Japanese students were distinctively different to the responses of other students in a significant number of areas. Far more Japanese students believed that economic growth must be at the expense of the environment than other students (45 per cent compared to the next highest rating of 22 per cent in Singapore). Fifty-one per cent of Japanese students believed that a radical restructuring of society would be needed to bring about significant improvements in environmental quality compared to the next highest score of 24 per cent in India. (Guangzhou is the exception, where belief in the need for a radical restructuring of society is even higher.) More Japanese students had never heard of sustainable development, renewable resources, interdependence and carrying capacity than students from other countries. Japanese students had the lowest overall correct scores for definitions of key scientific and environmental concepts. In Japan only 35 per cent of students reported that they had taken any action to help the environment over the previous twelve months

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whereas over half the students in all other countries reported taking some action. Fifty per cent of Japanese students listed ‘I don’t understand’ and 34 per cent listed ‘I’m not interested’ when asked for their reasons for taking environmentally unfriendly actions. These were the highest percentages for both these reported explanations of environmentally unfriendly behaviour. More Japanese students ranked their schools and government as unreliable sources of environmental information than any other groups of students. Japanese students had less frequent discussions about the environment out of school than any other students, and less desire for discussion of environmental issues in school than any other students. These are strikingly different responses. They have also to be contrasted with the very high percentage of Japanese students (83 per cent) who believed that protecting the environment was more important than economic growth as well as the decisively significant ranking (41 per cent compared to the next highest ranking of 22 per cent for preventing war and nuclear threats) that Japanese students gave to protecting the environment as the most important national goal for Japan, and strong statements of desire to improve the environment. There are indications from a related survey in Korea using the same instrument that Korean students have some similar views to Japanese students (Choi, Kim and Lee 1997). Korean students also discussed environmental issues infrequently out of school and Korean students reported taking personal actions much less frequently than other country groups. Yet Korean students shared with Japanese students the strongest convictions that protecting the environment is more important than economic growth. There are also differences. Knowledge of environmental concepts was, for example, higher among Korean than Japanese students and comparable to that in other countries. Some responses to questions from the Korean survey are not, however, available so a more detailed comparison is not possible. There are also mixed responses to be found in the overall survey findings. National priorities are an example. There are likely to be two distinct groups of influences on attitudes towards national priorities. The first is recognition of particular problems facing individual countries. These might include issues such as population pressures, illiteracy, severe economic problems, unemployment and the like. The second are more general concerns that could be expected to be underlying concerns of any society. These might include issues such as protection of the environment, creating a fairer and more humane society, and preventing war and nuclear threats. Clearly these two sets of influences overlap. In any given place at any given time the perceptions of issues such as the environment, social equity and threats of war will be stronger or weaker. Notwithstanding these cautions, it is possible to discern in the responses some shared underlying concerns. Of the general issues identified as of underlying concern, the patterns of responses suggest that, across all the countries, protecting the environment is the greatest

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underlying concern. The next most important underlying concerns are fairer and more humane societies, and preventing war and nuclear threats. Thus the differences in responses are many and varied, and raise many intriguing questions. As also noted, there are statistically significant differences between countries for all individual questions. Nevertheless, the most striking overall findings are the similar patterns of responses to many questions. With such a diversity of cultural backgrounds, it might have been assumed that young people in the different countries would have widely divergent viewpoints and behaviour. The outstanding single finding of the research is, however, the degree to which there is general agreement among young people about environmental beliefs, commitment to environmental paradigms, assignments of priority to the environment amongst other national goals, assessment of the most important global environmental problems, conceptual knowledge, sources of environmental information and personal behaviour. Examples of shared beliefs, knowledge and behaviour have already been illustrated. The most likely explanation of these patterns of agreements is that similar pressures on the environment, the widespread evidence of environmental problems, similar responses, and the development of global telecommunications have begun to fashion views which have much in common in all countries. As discussed above, Japan is the only country in which there are distinctively different responses. But even in Japan there are very strong views expressed about the importance of environmental problems. Young people in Japan clearly believe that protecting the environment is a national issue of great significance, one that is considerably more important than strengthening the economy, unemployment, fairness and humanity or even peace and the prevention of nuclear wars. They agree with young people in other countries that damage to the ozone layer is the most important environmental problem facing the world. The differences between the beliefs, knowledge and behaviour of Japanese students and other students are not therefore because Japanese students think that the environment is less important than others do. The differences seem to stem from norms about nature in Japanese society, youth culture in Japan, views young people in Japan appear to have about their own society, and a possible lack of exposure to or teaching about some aspects of ecology and sustainability. Knowledge, beliefs and cultural values

The research has much to say about the environmental beliefs of young people. Consistently across a wide range of different questions in the questionnaire survey, and during the focus group discussions, the responses show that a large majority of young people now hold environmentally supportive beliefs. When asked the twelve paired questions about tech nology

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and development on the one side and environment on the other, very little support was shown for any views which could be read as opposed to, or even doubtful about, environmental imperatives and the need to do something about them. Consistently students expressed the view that it was more important to protect the environment than to concentrate on economic development, even if one would be at the expense of the other. These views were held as strongly in rich as in poor societies. Related to the role of science and technology itself, there was widespread agreement that technology had benefited the human race and only slightly less support for the proposition that technology increased human freedom and independence. But when asked about the role of science and technology in the future there were more sceptics than optimists in most countries. Only in Guangzhou were students seemingly unquestioning of the positive role of science and technology. The large majority of young people in all countries could now therefore be said to hold beliefs consistent with the environmental paradigm proposed by Dunlap and van Liere (1980) with its support for ecology, limits to growth and life in harmony with nature. They have correspondingly moved a long way from any previously prevailing technological paradigm with its belief in progress, technology, development and exploitation of nature. Triandis, Bontempo, Leung and Hui (1990:302–3) argue that most researchers agree, whatever their differences in defining culture, that culture is shared and learned and that for the study of cultural constructs a distinction needs to be made among cultural, demographic and personal constructs. Cultural level constructs are those shared by speakers of a particular dialect, living in geographical proximity during the same historical period. Demographic level constructs deal with the same topics as cultural level constructs but are shared by particular demographic groups, such as men or women, within the culture. Personal level constructs result from a pattern of construct variation that are unique to the individual. They further argue that a cultural value can be defined as an idea that at least 50 per cent of a sample agree with and a cultural disvalue is an idea that at least 50 per cent disagree with, although to say that people share a construct would typically require higher percentages (Triandis et al.: 304). These assumptions, and methods developed from them, have been used for the comparison of shared values among University of Illinois and University of Hong Kong students. Although the research approaches are different, the respondents to the surveys reported in this book fit the specification proposed by Triandis et al. for the evaluation of shared cultural beliefs and values, since the respondents from each country sample were speakers of a particular dialect and living in geographical proximity during the same historical period. Statements reflecting cultural beliefs and values shared by more than 50 per cent of respondents in each country are shown in Table 10.1, Table 10.2 and Table 10.3.

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Table 10.1 shows that there are shared cultural beliefs in every country about the need to protect the environment, even if it means some reduction in economic growth and in every country, except Japan, shared cultural beliefs about the possibility of having a prosperous economy and a healthy environment. Table 10.2 shows that there are shared beliefs, except in India, that science and technology have improved our quality of life. There are not, however, shared beliefs for any of the three propositions, ‘Science and technology have increased our freedom and independence’, ‘Science and technology will always be able to find solutions to our problems’ or ‘Complex technologies can be made virtually risk free’. Neither are there shared beliefs for any of the three alternative propositions ‘Science and technology have reduced our freedom and independence’, ‘Science and technology create more problems than they solve’ or ‘Complex technologies will always be risky because of the chance of human error’. Table 10.3 illustrates a striking range of shared environmental beliefs in all countries other than India. As, however, noted in the previous chapter, the Indian findings for this suite of questions are suspect because of their internal inconsistencies, as well as their remarkable differences to findings from other countries. Although support for the statement ‘Nature should be preserved for its own sake’ is lower than for other statements of value and belief, it is still an important finding that in so many countries a majority of students hold such an ecocentric belief and so few the anthropocentric belief that ‘Nature should be used to produce goods for people’. Awareness of, and knowledge about, key scientific and environmental concepts is mixed. Awareness of the concepts is illustrated in Table 10.4. Table 10.1 Shared cultural beliefs about the relationship between the economy and society (% agreeing)

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Table 10.2 Shared cultural beliefs about science and technology (% agreeing)

The two best known concepts were ozone layer depletion and the greenhouse effect. Nearly all students had heard of these concepts. The two least known concepts were the precautionary principle and intergenerational equity. Around two-thirds of students in all countries had never heard of these concepts. Close to half of the students in most countries had heard of interdependence, the carbon cycle, sustainable development, biodiversity and carrying capacity, but here there is much more variability between country groups. When knowledge of the concepts was tested the scores across all countries except Japan fell in the band between 42 per cent to 63 per cent correct. Japanese students had the lowest scores in the knowledge tests and also reported less familiarity with most concepts in the middle bands of Table 10.4, although their familiarity with ozone layer depletion and the greenhouse effect was as great as that of other students. Thai students reported much greater familiarity with all concepts than other student groups but performed no better than others when their knowledge of the concepts was tested. From these findings it can be inferred that there is reasonable awareness and a reasonably good understanding of many key environmental concepts. The concept of sustainable development is not nearly as well known or understood as it might be, given its central position in environmental debates internationally and nationally. The precautionary principle and intergenerational equity also need much greater exposure and discussion because of their significance in environmental thinking.

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Table 10.3 Shared cultural beliefs about relationships to nature (% agreeing)

More than 50 per cent of respondents in all countries other than Japan and New Zealand reported having taken some action to improve the environment in the previous twelve months. The most frequent actions taken were personal actions such as choosing household products good for the environment, and reducing water use, and the most infrequent actions were those that involved some interaction with those in authority such as

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Table 10.4 Levels of familiarity of concepts

writing letters, signing petitions and making reports or complaints. A surprisingly large number of respondents reported that they had encouraged others to change their behaviour. The great majority of those who had taken some action felt positive or really good. Given the limited scope available to young people to act, these are reasonably positive results. Beliefs, knowledge and behaviour of young people all therefore generally show an awareness of environmental issues, a strong belief that protecting the environment is one of the most important issues if not the most important issue facing their country, reasonable knowledge of key environmental concepts and a willingness to act if only in some small way to help protect the environment. These similarities suggest that throughout the region and across nearly all cultures there is growing environmental awareness, that the beliefs and value systems of young people are now strongly environmentally aligned, that there is a strong desire from most young people to do something about environmental problems. Relationships between attitudes, knowledge and behaviour

Several surveys have shown that ecocentrism (the valuing of nature for its own sake) is a predictor of an awareness of conservation while anthropocentrism (valuing nature because of the material or physical benefits it can provide for humans) is correlated to apathy towards environmental issues (Gagnon Thompson and Barton 1994). Similarly it has been found in other studies that a perception of interdependence and common fate between humans and animals and concern for the environment are closely correlated (Liu et al. 1997); also that an emotional affinity to nature, together with indignation, and interest in nature, are powerful predictors of natureprotective behaviour (Kals et al. 1999). Other studies have shown that risk perception, the perception of risks associated with environmental degradation and threats to health, are correlated with pro-environmental behaviour (Lévy-Leboyer et al. 1996; Baldassare and Katz 1992). Not surprisingly, the

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strongest attitude-behaviour relationships have been found between ecological behavioural intention and ecological behaviour. By contrast weak or no relationships have been found between factual environmental knowledge and ecological behaviour, although the correlation appears to be stronger when knowledge is about an ecological behaviour. The ‘new environmental paradigm’ as a single component measure of environmental attitude has also been shown to have variable relationships to environmental behaviour, sometimes no more than weak to non-existent (e.g. Scott and Willits 1994). Kaiser et al. (1999), however, argue that previous studies exploring the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviour have had three shortcomings. The first is the lack of a unified concept of attitude embracing environmental knowledge, values and behavioural intention. The second is the lack of consistency in measurement (e.g. general attitudes used to attempt to predict specific behaviour rather than general attitudes used to predict general behaviour). The third is the lack of consideration of behavioural restraints outside of the individual or the group’s control. Kaiser et al. argue that their research shows that, if these three shortcomings are fully accounted for in research methods and approaches, environmental attitude can be seen as a powerful predictor of environmental behaviour. Other studies have examined attitude, knowledge and behaviour of school students. These are of particular interest for our research. Lyons and Breakwell (1994) surveyed 217 respondents chosen from a larger UK study of 1,089 thirteen to sixteen year old students. The students were selected as representative of the concerned on the one hand and the indifferent on the other. They found no gender difference in levels of environmental concern, contrary to some other studies. They did, however, find a higher level of selfreported knowledge from boys than girls. They also found that the environmentally concerned were more likely to come from higher social class backgrounds. These two latter findings correlate well with findings in the Australian research carried out by Hampel et al. (1996) and described in Chapter 7. Parental level of education and male gender were also found to relate to student levels of knowledge of environmental issues in a study in the US carried out by Gambro and Switzky (1999). Gambro and Switzky also found that the number of high school science courses taken by students was related to knowledge of environmental issues. In a study of 2,150 students in Hong Kong, Yeung (1998) found that, where there were conflicts with personal freedom or where physical effort, expressions of opinion or attempts to influence other people were demanded, most respondents did not show much willingness to take an active role in environmental protection. A study of 9,000 Dutch students conducted in 1992 found that the relationship between environmental knowledge and attitudes and behaviour was very weak (Kuhlemeier et al. 1999). There was, however, a substantial relation between environmental

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attitude, willingness to make personal sacrifices and environmentally responsible behaviour. These various studies illustrate the complexity of the relationships between attitude, knowledge and behaviour. In our research we have not set out to identify predictors of environmental behaviour, nor have the relationships between attitudes, knowledge and behaviour been a primary research question. From different parts of the findings of the research some comparisons can, however, be made. Table 10.5 compares beliefs, knowledge, desire to improve the environment and behaviour in individual countries. Beliefs are summarized from the twelve pairs of questions related to belief in alternative paradigms. Knowledge is shown as the overall percentage of correct answers to questions concerning environmental concepts. Desire to improve the environment is the sum of respondents having strong or very strong desires to improve the environment. Behaviour is illustrated by the percentage of those who answered that they had taken a deliberate action to protect the environment. The plots of the relationships between desire to improve the environment and beliefs, knowledge and behaviour (shown in Appendix B) show little relationship between beliefs and desire to improve the environment or between beliefs and behaviour. There is a slightly greater relationship between knowledge and desire to improve the environment. The strongest relationships are between environmental knowledge and environmental behaviour, and desire to improve the environment and environmental behaviour. Japan is the clear exception for the last relationship. Although desire to improve the environment and behavioural intent are not identical, they are related. In this sense, this finding supports Table 10.5 Environmental beliefs, knowledge, desire and behaviour

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others that the strongest relationship between behaviour and the different components of attitude examined here is that between behaviour and behavioural intent. The finding in our research of a pronounced relationship between knowledge and behaviour is different from that of other adult surveys. Perhaps knowledge is a particularly significant for this age group. If so, this finding has important implications for environmental education. The findings also pose interesting questions for further research within individual countries. In Japan, for example, what does the seeming correlation between low levels of knowledge and low levels of action imply? Comparisons with other cross-cultural surveys

There have been a few notable attempts to gather information about international public opinion related to the environment. Examples are the survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates in 1988–9 (Louis Harris and Ass. 1989) which gathered data from 8,325 people in sixteen countries and the Gallup ‘Health of the Planet Survey’ (Dunlap et al. 1992) which surveyed 29,618 people in twenty-four countries. Other cross-national surveys that collect environmental information as part of a more general data set include the Eurobarometer which has been running since 1982, covering the member states of the European Community. In the ‘Health of the Planet Survey’ a question was asked about environmental protection versus economic growth which is nearly identical to the question asked in our surveys. Respondents were asked whether they believed that ‘Protecting the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of slowing down economic growth’ or that ‘Economic growth should be given priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent’. In twenty of the twenty-two nations a majority of people believed that protecting the environment should be given priority. The highest level of support for protecting the environment was in Denmark, West Germany, Finland, Norway, Mexico and Brazil (77 per cent to 71 per cent). The lowest levels were in India and Turkey (both 43 per cent). Respondents from the high-income countries ranked protecting the environment higher on average than those from the middle and low-income countries, but this was not a consistent finding. Among the Asian countries surveyed, the support for protecting the environment was: South Korea 63 per cent, the Philippines 59 per cent, Japan 58 per cent and India 43 per cent. Air pollution was the most frequently mentioned environmental problem facing each nation, followed by water quality, pollution generally and waste disposal. Of the global environmental problems examined, water pollution and loss of rain forests were the most frequently seen as very serious, followed by ozone depletion, air pollution, loss of species, global warming and contaminated soil. The very serious ratings given these problems by respondents in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines were lower on

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average than in most other countries, mainly falling in the band 40 per cent to 49 per cent. Key conclusions from the survey were that: • • • • • • • •

While economic problems dominated people’s lives, many people felt trapped by environmental problems and expressed deep concern about them. People in virtually all nations believed that environmental problems would be at the very top of the list of key problems in twenty-five years’ time. People in both rich and poor countries gave priority to environmental protection over economic growth. People were not exclusively concerned with human health and well being. Large percentages in most nations surveyed revealed deep concern about the loss of plant and animal species. To a remarkable degree, citizens of both developing and developed countries accepted a share of responsibility for environmental problems. High levels of support were found in developed countries for government action even when there were costs involved in those actions. Respondents believed that citizen efforts can contribute significantly to a healthier planet. In many nations the people seemed to be more deeply concerned and more ready to take action than their leaders.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published summaries of the findings of opinion polls in its member countries (OECD 1993) and compared the findings of similar (but not identical) questions in these polls. It too found consistently higher level of support for protecting the environment than for economic growth. It also found consistently high levels of concern for damage to the marine environment, nuclear waste disposal, industrial waste disposal, water pollution and air pollution. These are examples of cross-cultural opinion polls on the environment. Some more detailed cross-cultural research studies have also been reported in the literature. Gooch (1995) reported a study of environmental beliefs attitudes and policies in Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. In this study Gooch found the following: no significant correlations between local environmental concern and post-materialism; not very strong correlations between support for the beliefs in the ‘new environmental paradigm’ (NEP) and the perceived seriousness of local environmental problems in the Baltic States and Sweden, and no correlations between attitudes to science and technology and local environmental concern except in Sweden. Gooch, however, did find that NEP scales are the only ones significantly correlated to environmental concern in all the countries.

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Gooch notes that it is not perhaps surprising that there are large differences in these findings about belief systems in Latvia and Estonia and those reported in U S research, given the radically different cultural backgrounds of the different countries. He hypothesizes that two entirely different belief systems may be being studied, the first concerned with global perceptions of environmental risk, the second concerned with the immediate living space. Differences in the area seen by the individual or group as constituting the horizon of environmental concern may account for the discrepancies in the results from the Swedish and Baltic samples. In another comparative study of individual attitudes and behaviours towards the environment carried out in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom, the researchers reported both quantitative and qualitative differences in pro-environmental activities (Lévy-Leboyer et al. 1996). They conclude that there are no general rules that could be applied to all the countries to develop pro-environmental behaviour. If these differences are found in five industrialized European countries, it is likely that they would be even more pronounced in a more diversified sample. Common trends reported were the importance of risk perception and subjective knowledge in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour. A multinational study was carried out with a total of 958 college students in Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Spain and the United States by Schultz and Zelezny (1998) to examine the relationships between values, awareness of the consequences for environmental damage, ascribed responsibility and pro-environmental behaviours. The study found that values are important variables for the prediction of environmental behaviour. Schultz and Zelezny argue that there are three alternative value orientations for environmental behaviours: a concern for self (egoism), a concern for the welfare of others (social altruism) and a concern for all living things (biospherism or environmental altruism). In their study, environmental altruism (behaviour that benefits the natural environment without any expectation of anything in return) was significantly related to pro-environmental behaviour in all countries except Peru, where the relationship was still positive but not statistically significant. By contrast a concern for self (egoism) was negatively correlated to pro-environmental behaviour. As in the Lévy-Leboyer et al. study, awareness of the consequences or risk awareness was also assessed using the ‘new environmental paradigm’ measure developed by Dunlap et al. (1992), the assumption being that individuals who were high in awareness of consequences and high in ascribed responsibility, that is high in a sense of self responsibility for these consequences (the normactivation model), would be likely to have higher pro-environmental behaviour. This assumption was confirmed in their research. An earlier study was carried out of students’ environmental knowledge and beliefs in the United States, Australia, England and Israel (Blum 1987).

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This study found that the mass media was the main source of environmental information and that school was a less common source in all countries. Both levels of factual and conceptual knowledge and beliefs were described as surprisingly similar among students in all countries, although they were largely different from those of a control panel of environmentalists. These appear to be the main cross-cultural research projects carried out to date. There is little evidence of other cross-cultural studies of this nature. No others are identified by the researchers discussed above. Schultz and Zelezny describe their study as ‘the largest multinational survey of environmental behaviours, attitudes and values published to date’ and as one of ‘the few recent attempts to understand environmental attitudes, beliefs and behaviours across cultures’ (Schultz and Zelezny 1998:554–6). The environmental surveys that have been carried out therefore include some large cross-national opinion surveys, a very few multinational studies of environmental attitudes, values and behaviours and even fewer crossnational surveys of environmental attitudes, values and behaviours of young people. The findings from this limited body of studies that are of greatest interest for our research are: •

•

• •

The perceptions in ‘The Health of the Planet Survey’ that people have of key environmental issues for their nation and the world. Both are significantly different in emphasis from the perceptions of the young people in our research. This could reflect the differences in the timing of the surveys. It might also reflect differences in perceptions of young people and adult samples. The shared agreement that exist between respondents to the ‘Health of the Planet’ poll, respondents in the polls surveyed by the OECD and respondents in our research that protecting the environment is a higher priority than economic growth even when there are costs involved. In our research there are, however, even stronger feelings from young people in nearly every country about the importance of protecting the environment. The significance of the findings about the relationship between environmental altruism (as opposed to egotism and to a lesser degree social altruism) and pro-environmental behaviour. The emphasis in the Lévy-Leboyer et al. and the Schultz and Zelezny studies on the importance of risk perception and environmental altruism as determinants of pro-environmental behaviour. These are not, however, issues that we were able to explore in our research. Nevertheless it could be inferred that respondent who have strong environmental beliefs on the ‘new environmental paradigm’ scales used in our research are likely to have a high level of risk perception. This is the assumption in Schultz and Zelezny’s research based on the finding by Stern et al. that high levels of awareness measured on NEP scales are

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‘almost indistinguishable from a scale of awareness of consequences of general environmental conditions’ (Stern 1995:723). The differences in belief systems and the discrepancies in correlations between environmental beliefs, post-materialism and attitudes to science and technology in Baltic countries from those identified in US research found by Gooch in his surveys in Sweden, Latvia and Estonia. The common findings about the relative roles of the media and schools as sources of environmental information for young people in the fournation survey of young people reported by Blum.

The focus group discussions

Direct and specific comparisons are not easy to make about the focus group discussions since the viewpoints expressed are the individual and personal responses of a relatively small number of participants. However, from the reported discussions it is possible to compare moods, imagery and ways of expressing beliefs and feelings related to the environment by participants in different countries, which go some way to explaining the findings from the questionnaire surveys. The hopes and fears expressed by different participants ranged from the personal to the global. Despite the span of the responses, there are no striking inconsistencies. Australian students mainly concentrated on personal issues, Fiji students mainly on local issues and students in other countries on local and global issues. However, when Australian students were invited to consider national or global issues, the form of their responses was similar to those in other countries. Widespread concern was expressed about environmental trends. A common feeling was that things were getting worse. This feeling was not confined to the environment. It included unemployment, crime, violence and poverty. The hopes of young people were that it was not too late to stop these trends, that communities could find ways of working together, that a sense of fairness would prevail and that ancient cultures which recognized the harmony of nature could be revived. When specifically asked about their concerns about the environment, the concerns expressed again ranged from the local to the global. In Brisbane, Melbourne, Singapore and Fiji the main focus was on local or regional environmental problems. These understandably reflected local or regional contexts and problems. In India the discussions ranged across problems at the local, national and international scale. In New Zealand the discussions were mainly focused on global problems such as global warming and ozone layer depletion. Reflected in all these responses, however different the focus might be, were very real concerns about environmental issues. When students were asked about their sources of information about the environment, the media were identified in all countries as the prime source

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of information. Amongst media forms, television was by far the most important source. Quite some discrimination was shown by many students about the reliability of media sources. Television documentaries, magazines and newspapers were identified by many students as the most trustworthy sources. Many students expressed the view that, these specialist programmes and articles apart, media sources were not reliable sources of information. Schools were identified as the next most important source of information about the environment, especially school subjects such as science and geography. Some students were, however, critical of their schools for their failure to fulfil their potential as providers of information and as critical commentators on the environment. Of particular interest were the beliefs expressed by many students in Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore that personal experiences were the most important and reliable sources of information about the environment. When asked about the causes of environmental problems there was much similarity in the responses. Particularly striking is the similarity of the language and expressions used by young people in all countries. Human ignorance, laziness, greed, selfishness, lack of responsibility were all terms that were regularly used across the discussions in all countries as the underlying causes of environmental degradation. Population growth and pressure were also regularly mentioned. ‘People’ were thus identified as the core problem. Other causes mentioned were the consumer society, urbanization and industrialization, misuses of science and technology and lack of leadership and political will. There was, however, limited evidence that students recognized that their own lifestyles might be important contributors to environmental problems. When asked about ways of bringing about environmental change, there were consistent references from Australia and New Zealand students to the need to change people’s attitudes. Environmental education was therefore considered to be of great importance. The significance of public awareness and the need for environmental education were also shared views among students from other countries. It was regularly said that government had to take the lead. Recycling was often mentioned as a personal action all people could take. Some of the responses from Indian students were particularly purposeful. Statements included: ‘The time had come to act.’ ‘Population growth has to be controlled.’ ‘We now need to control our greed and selfishness.’ In nearly all other countries, however, students expressed a sense of powerlessness. Many also seemed unwilling to make changes in their personal lives. Few seemed to take personal responsibility for causing environmental problems or for change to more environmentally friendly behaviour. Great ambivalence is expressed about the relationships between personal responsibilities, other people’s responsibilities and collective societal responsibilities.

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Gaps in environmental understanding

The research reveals some important gaps in young people’s understanding of environmental issues. In the questionnaire survey many young people in all countries acknowledged that they knew that their actions were wrong but that there was no practical alternative to them. Many also stated that they did not believe that their actions would make a difference. These were strong indicators of an underlying pessimism and frustration that was most clearly revealed in the focus group discussions. The common concern about human characteristics that were the root cause of environmental problems and the remarkable similarity of the terms used (laziness, greed, ignorance, lack of concern) to describe those characteristics are most striking. Young people consistently showed little awareness of the way in which their own lifestyles might be a significant contribution to environmental degradation. They also showed little awareness of the relationship of their lifestyles to prevailing norms and systems. There is little indication that young people were able to draw out the implications of social, economic and institutional frameworks on ecological degradation and sustainability. There seemed little evidence that young people are able make connections between different views that they might hold. There was, for example, widespread agreement to the following three propositions in the questionnaire survey. • • •

Environmental problems are real and significant. Protecting the environment is more important than economic growth even when trade-offs are required. It is possible to have both a healthy environment and a prosperous economy.

If all three beliefs are consistently held, it must follow that some important societal changes will be needed. In particular it will be necessary to transform present economies to economies that can prosper without disruption of ecological systems. This in turn requires much greater attention paid to ecological economics, the study of the ways in which the economy can be made compatible with the maintenance of ecosystem processes and of the balances of major natural cycles. The study of ecological economics, or at least an introduction to ecological economics, ought therefore to have an important place in school curricula. Second, these three propositions, if read together, are manifestly not views shared by political leaders. Governments may generally accept that protection of the environment has to have a place on political agenda but do not give it pride of place as a core requirement on which all aspects of the

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society and economy depend. They invariably put economic growth first. There is little evidence that young people recognize these incongruities. An important conclusion from the research is that young people need to debate and understand in what way current systems will likely need to change to achieve ecological sustainability, in what way their own lifestyles and those of their peers reflect prevailing systems and paradigms, and in what way their own actions can contribute purposefully to safe and secure futures based on societies living harmoniously with nature. In this way some of the pessimism, negativity and cynicism might be dissipated, a much better understanding of the nature of the problems and their likely solutions might be achieved, and some young people at least might be motivated to play an active part in helping to bring about these changes. Young people have to be persuaded that they can bring about the changes needed. They need to be given a much greater sense of agency and potentiality. The key research questions

The first four questions posed at the end of Chapter 1 concerned awareness of and understanding of environmental concepts, the extent of shared environmental belief systems, shared views about the environment and economy, and personal behaviour. Summarizing the discussion in this chapter, although awareness and knowledge of individual environmental concepts varies considerably, it could nevertheless be said that there is at least some awareness in every country of all the concepts discussed in the research. These concepts included: the carbon cycle, sustainable development, biodiversity, renewable resources, ecology, intergenerational equity, the precautionary principle, the greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion and carrying capacity. Even intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle, the least known concepts, were known to at least 20 per cent of students in all countries for which data was available and to many more in some countries. Environmental beliefs are widely shared by young people across all countries. Many different questions were asked about environmental beliefs in both the questionnaire survey and during the focus group discussions. These questions were very consistently answered. In all the countries participating in the research the great majority of students expressed strongly environmentally supportive views and beliefs. It could therefore be said that young people in all countries have moved decisively towards the adoption of an environmental paradigm. There is furthermore little evidence of significant differences in the rate of development of these belief systems. Young people in all countries share very similar views about the relationship between the environment and the economy. A large majority in every country believes that it is important to concentrate on protecting the environment even if it means some reduction in economic growth. A large

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majority also believe that that economic growth does not have to be at the expense of the environment. These views are as strongly expressed in poorer as in richer countries. Individual behaviour aimed at helping to protect the environment clearly varies very greatly. However the patterns of responses have many common characteristics. In all countries, other than Japan, at least half of the students claim to have taken some action to protect the environment. Even in Japan, a third of the students say that they have taken some action. When they have done so they mostly feel good about it. The nature of the actions taken are also similar. The types of actions most frequently taken and those least frequently taken are shared across all the countries surveyed. In the light of these findings what then could be said about the two last underlying questions: • •

What have been and what are likely to be the influences of traditional attitudes to nature in different cultures? To what degree is there emerging within the region (and by implication globally) a shared cultural model about the environment or a global ideology of nature?

First what significance and influence could be assigned to traditional attitudes to nature in different cultures? The country and regional chapters show an extraordinary range of environmentally supportive traditions. But, as has been argued in this chapter, these traditions have been parallelled in most cultures by opposite and opposing forces. Even before the massive impacts of population growth and the capitalist growth and development of the twentieth century had been experienced, environmentally supportive traditions were not sufficient on their own to withstand significant pressures, especially where resources were scarce or the environment vulnerable. This does not mean that local traditions are unimportant. Faced with the environmental problems of the late twentieth century, all religions have gone back to search out examples of environmentally supportive traditions and to reinterpret doctrines that might imply anthropocentric traditions. This is most strikingly evident in the Christian churches, given the challenges posed by traditional Christian precepts. When international religious leaders have come together, they have reached very similar views about the moral responsibilities that must now be assumed by humankind towards nature and other living things. The development of an Earth Charter, as described in Chapter 1, as a set of moral precepts agreed across different cultures, to guide the relationships between human beings, other living beings and their collective environment would be a highly desirable outcome of these disparate reviews of cultural traditions. The churches have already taken some steps towards the adoption of such a shared moral position.

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This reinterpretation and reawakening of traditional respect for nature taking place across many different cultures provide a critically important ground for a contemporary approach to the environment. One part relates to local knowledge and experience. Local knowledge, individual personal experience, and local community action are all key requirements for a sustainable future. The other part relates to traditional values. Religious traditions, broadly defined, have in the past provided the moral standards for all societies. Religious authority at the beginning of the twenty-first century is now much diminished. The ethical grounds for respect for nature have been significantly debated and refashioned outside religious traditions. Traditional religions and traditional beliefs are, however, far from insignificant. The reinterpretation and resurrection of traditional values of respect for nature are very important parts of the change needed for a sustainable future. Change, particularly significant change, is much easier to accommodate if it is associated with longstanding cultural traditions. The notion of an Earth Charter brings us to the final question: ‘To what degree is there emerging within the region (and by implication globally) a shared cultural model about the environment, a global environmental discourse or a global ideology of nature?’ The conclusion from the research is that there is undoubtedly emerging amongst young people a shared cultural model or a global discourse about the environment. As we have shown, there is striking evidence of shared beliefs, growing awareness of environmental concepts and patterns of behaviour. If effective environmental action requires environmentally supportive beliefs and contemporary answers to contemporary environmental pressures and problems, together with a renewal of interest and awareness of local knowledge and traditions, the evidence is there that the ground has been well and truly laid. Environmental problems are, however, increasing not diminishing. One last question therefore needs to be answered. It is ‘What do the findings imply for environmentalism?’ Environmentalism is here defined to mean effective action to stop environmental degradation worldwide and locally. What does this mean for environmentalism?

The research provides some important insights about environmentalism. First, young people, by and large, do not have to be persuaded that environmental problems are significant and increasing nor do they have to be persuaded to change their views to more environmentally friendly belief systems. Many already hold these beliefs and they are held very consistently across cultures. Knowledge of underlying concepts important for the achievement of sustainability is already fair, given the age groups involved. It is, however, important that this knowledge is systematically increased, so that all the concepts needed to form a strong conceptual structure for the understanding

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of environmental problems, and the nature of the solutions required for those problems, are fully emotionally and conceptually internalized. The findings in this research of the positive relationships between knowledge and behaviour across different countries give added weight to the significance of improving the quality and depth of environmental education. Young people need to explore how their own personal behaviour can be linked to and contribute to the solutions of the large environmental problems facing the world. Many of these problems seem complex and very remote. The very large and the very small need to be effectively connected in young people’s minds. Above all, young people need to learn about the way that environmental problems are embedded in existing political, economic and social systems. They need to discuss these issues frequently and widely. They need to be introduced to ecological economics as a cross-disciplinary study that is likely to be of very great importance in the next century. Particularly in richer countries, they need to be able to relate their own lifestyles to these systems and to discuss and understand in what way personal lifestyles may embody unsustainable practices. Many other linkages also need to be better understood. Freedom of speech has proven a powerful tool to persuade governments and industry to introduce environmental measures and change practice. Freedom of speech is in turn linked to political structures and ideologies. Young people especially need to learn that there are pathways out of our current predicament and to recognize how prevailing norms and systems can adapt. They need to learn how small changes can lead to larger changes. Those that would like to participate actively in such changes need to learn how they can do so effectively. They especially need to be given hope. They also cry out for leadership.

11 Listening to the voice of youth Implications for educational reform John Fien

It is widely agreed that education is the most effective means that society possesses for confronting the challenges of the future. Indeed, education will shape the world of tomorrow. Progress increasingly depends upon the products of educated minds: upon research, invention, innovation and adaptation. Of course, educated minds and instincts are needed not only in laboratories and research institutes, but in every walk of life. Indeed, access to education is the sine qua non for effective participation in the life of the modern world at all levels. (UNESCO-EPD 1997:15)

The Commission for Sustainable Development is the United Nations’ newest agency. It was formed after the 1992 Earth Summit to review international efforts to implement Agenda 21, the action plan that was agreed at the Summit. However, the task of coordinating and promoting the various elements of the action plan has been allocated to appropriate UN agencies. Thus, responsibility for Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 on ‘Education, Training and Public Awareness’ has been allocated to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the international agency responsible for catalysing educational innovation around the world. One of UNESCO’s first tasks in carrying out its duties on Chapter 36 was to develop a position paper on education as a ‘force for the future’ in helping advance the transition towards sustainable development. The quotation at the head of this chapter comes from this paper (UNESCO-EPD 1997). The purpose of this chapter is to explore ways in which the educational experiences of young people in the Asia-Pacific region might be reoriented so that they come to understand and appreciate the importance of sustainability as a foundation of social, economic and political life. The cultural studies reported in Chapters 3 to 8 indicate that the social fabric of the countries in the region is becoming supportive; while the empirical studies reported in Chapter 9 show that young people across the region are very interested in learning more about the environment and sustainable development. However, these studies also indicate that there are a number of

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barriers to sustainability in the Asia-Pacific region. This chapter explores how those within education itself might be overcome. This is done through a discussion of three themes. The first is a review of the current status of environmental education in the region, as reported in the case studies in Chapters 3 to 8, especially in relation to the tensions that exist between the ‘official’ and ‘hidden’ curriculum and the emerging philosophy of education for a sustainable future. The second theme involves an analysis of several key findings from the surveys and focus group interviews reported in Chapter 9. These findings tend to be common across the region and give rise to several implications for curriculum and pedagogical reform. The third theme builds on this discussion of educational reform and points to broader changes in the rationale and processes of secondary education that are necessary to enable education to become a ‘force for the future’ as suggested by UNESCO. Environmental education in Asia and the Pacific: towards education for a sustainable future

Most countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and elsewhere in the world, can point to ways in which their education systems have been responding to the challenges posed by environmental degradation. Indeed, many of their initiatives precede the Earth Summit and are the result of the active International Environmental Education Programme led by UNESCO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) since 1975. However, increased scientific understanding of the scale and severity of environmental problems over the last two decades has led to heightened levels of environmental reporting in the mass media, public awareness of issues, and popular support for environmental campaigns. These, in turn, have encouraged increased national and international activity in the formulation of strategies for sustainable development. As was revealed in the country and regional case studies in Chapters 3 to 8, education has a key role in many such strategies. This reflects both the general role of education as an instrument of public policy and the particular expectations of governments and their citizens that schools should help prepare young people to respond positively to the opportunities offered by wide public understanding of, and support for, sustainable development. This increased demand for environmental education in schools has resulted in many educational initiatives in Asian-Pacific countries. These include: the development of curriculum guidelines and new teaching materials, the revision of syllabuses to infuse environmental perspectives, the adoption of whole-school approaches to curriculum planning for environmental education, and the establishment of specialized environmental education centres. Despite these initiatives, several outstanding issues and problems remain. In most countries in the region, for example, these initiatives have remained

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embedded within pre-Earth Summit conceptions of environmental education. These tend to favour nature conservation, especially through the study of science and geography, rather than the multi-disciplinary bases of sustainable development and the holistic imperatives that education for sustainability should serve. Consequently, most initiatives to promote environmental education in the Asia-Pacific have tended to come from ministries of environment, agriculture or natural resources rather than ministries of education. While welcome, the efforts of such ministries tend to be directed to specific environmental issues rather than a whole-ofgovernment commitment to sustainability. They also tend to concentrate upon information and awareness-raising campaigns directed at individual behavioural change rather than broader educational or sustainability goals. Indeed, sustainable development is not well understood as a concept outside of limited environmental circles in most countries and, certainly, is only rarely being pursued as a whole-of-government commitment. Several countries in the region also still lack national policies or guidelines for environmental education. The result of this set of problems has been a lack of coherence and long term planning for educational approaches to sustainable development. Indeed, even in those countries that do have environmental education policies, very few have been revised to incorporate the broad social, economic and political, as well as conservation, aspects of sustainable development. The general lack of interest in matters of sustainability by ministries of education has tended to marginalize environmental education from mainstream education policy. Most countries therefore lack a coherent plan for progression in environmental education from kindergarten to college level. As a result, it is often not a priority, especially where the curriculum is overcrowded. In addition, the low profile of environmental education and sustainable development in external examination subjects contributes to a lack of status for this area of learning. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that many teachers, students and parents do not perceive it as a curriculum priority. In some countries the innovative teaching methods of environmental education conflict with the traditional cultures of schooling. This problem is particularly acute in countries where the curriculum emphasizes the recall of content and external examination performance rather than the development of thinking and problem solving skills. Such problems are intensified by a general lack of awareness and support for environmental education from many education policy makers, school administrators and academics in teacher education institutions. This makes the introduction of both in-service and pre-service teacher education for sustainability difficult and, unfortunately, when in-service courses are provided, they tend to be attended by teachers who are already committed to environmental education. As a result, the official as well as the ‘hidden curricula’ of schools are often not sympathetic to the social vision of education for a sustainable future. Indeed, while the official curriculum is

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often deficient in these matters, the ‘hidden curriculum’ is often an even greater barrier to sustainable development. The ‘hidden curriculum’ is a major concern for researchers and educators interested in influences on young people (Jackson 1968, McCutcheon 1988). Students often learn things at school that are not necessarily the result of the official curriculum intended in syllabus documents and textbooks. For example, students can learn many lessons about social relationships, power, and the environment from the way decisions are made about what they will, and will not, have an opportunity to learn. They can also learn important lessons from the social vision that underlies different teaching methods, from the way teachers treat them, and from the way a school cares for its environment. Some of these unofficial lessons from the ‘hidden curriculum’ can be very positive and help encourage young people to think about their responsibilities for sustainable development. For example, if their school is aware of the influence of the ‘hidden curriculum’, students can learn about the importance of democratic decision making, care and respect for others, individual responsibility and environmental stewardship. Some of the lessons, perhaps far too many, are negative. The lessons that students take from the ‘hidden curriculum’ may contradict, and even undermine, the intended or official curriculum. Unfortunately, this seems too often to be the case in relation to environmental education and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific. For example, the results of the surveys reported in Chapter 9 indicate that there are very marked differences between the present frequency of class discussion of environmental issues and students’ preferred amounts of environmental education. Table 11.1 shows that students in every country surveyed wanted their schools and teachers to pay much more attention to this important area of learning than they are currently doing. Perhaps students are used to the fact that schools often ignore their perceptions of their needs and interests. But what lessons do students take from this situation? Do they learn that their views on what is worthwhile learning are not important? Do they infer that their teachers, other adults and the governments who are almost totally responsible for this situation are not as interested in the environment as they are? And do they learn that studying the environment is deemed to be less important for examination success and their long-term futures than more frequently taught topics? Such lessons may not be intended but students could perhaps be forgiven for coming to such conclusions from this situation. Similarly, what lessons have students learnt at school—and from society’s other avenues for learning and socialization—when they tell us in focus group interviews in different countries that: I think it’s great that someone is listening to us. No one has ever asked us what we think before.

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Table 11.1 Current and desired frequency of class discussion of environmental issues (%)

You can go through school and not learn anything. We’re aware but we don’t know anything. Unless you do biology or geography you don’t really cover it. Even in biology we only have looked at the basic structure of plants and maybe a bit about habitat. We did something on ozone. A lot of things we did on the environment was not very memorable because they [the lessons] were so boring. It comes down to what subjects you’re doing. For example, economics is having a big influence on my opinion of the environment—it’s never talked about in economics so you don’t think it’s that important.

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Governments should make things that aren’t good for the environment more expensive. How do you expect young people to take the government seriously when a litre of coke costs more than a litre of petrol? What have the curriculum planners, textbook writers and teachers of the region said and done—or not said and done, as the case may be—that students in their final years of secondary school in so many cities across the region should feel so cynical and disempowered, but also just so appreciative that someone at long last—even if it was only a visiting researcher—was willing to listen to their views about the environment? Jane Martin (1982) once asked the intriguing question, ‘What should we do with the “hidden curriculum” when we find it?’ This question lies at the heart of the reforms to curriculum planning and methods of learning and teaching that can lead to a reorientation of education towards learning for a sustainable future. Martin also pointed out that not so much of what is called the ‘hidden curriculum’ is really all that unintended. What young people learn at schools is a product of many influences, both within and without the school, but all those within the purview of the school are the result of choices about purposes of education and associated decisions about curriculum priorities, pedagogical approaches and the use of resources. Decisions not to prioritize environmental education, or to privilege teaching towards particular outcomes (e.g. factual recall over environmental citizenship), may not have been made overtly, or even consciously, but they are decisions nevertheless. And, as the findings outlined in Chapters 9 and 10 indicate, they have had significant impacts on the educational experiences of young people. Thus, this chapter also explores the implications of the findings of the study related to the official curriculum. As such, the aim of the chapter is to identify ways in which learning and teaching can be refocused, first, to better respect the knowledge and attitudes that students bring to the experience of education and, second, to respond more consciously and more effectively to environmental imperatives in order to better prepare students for the responsibilities of global citizenship. It would be most inappropriate to be prescriptive about how these educational goals should be achieved, especially within a region as large and populous, and so historically, culturally, politically and economically diverse, as the Asia-Pacific. While Chapters 9 and 10 illustrate that many aspects of young people’s environmental knowledge and attitudes were shared across almost all countries in the study, there was also significant diversity in some areas; many were related to national cultural and economic influences and to local educational priorities. As a result, this chapter has been written in a spirit of caution. Readers are invited to engage with the ideas that follow in a shared journey of speculation and reflection on the possibilities for a curriculum that could orient students towards a life committed to working with others for a sustainable future.

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With this caveat in mind, it is possible to explore several ways of developing an educational response to key findings from the national studies. This is done in the next two parts of the chapter. The first explores the implications for curriculum and pedagogy of a number of key findings that are relatively common across the studies. These relate to: • • • •

levels of student awareness and interest in environmental matters the learning of environmental concepts the development of an ethic for living sustainably the willingness and ability of students to practise lifestyles consistent with such an ethic and to share civic responsibility to care for the Earth and its human and non-human inhabitants.

The final part of the chapter looks to ways in which innovations in the structures and processes of education systems can support and enhance the learning outcomes of reforms in both the formal and ‘hidden curriculum’ on these four points. The two parts of the chapter are united within the framework of the emerging concept of education for a sustainable future. This framework, as yet tentative and incomplete, has been evolving since the Earth Summit in 1992, and is a response to the call in Agenda 21 that: Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues…. It is critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective public participation in decision-making. (UNCED 1992, Chapter 36:2) Education for a sustainable future seeks to integrate concepts and principles of sustainable development into all opportunities for social learning in such a way that people—and, in our case, school students—develop a commitment to fulfilling their life roles in a sustainable way. A life role perspective in education encourages reflection on the relevance and usefulness of schools to the everyday experiences and responsibilities of students. It sees learning as a process of clarifying and building on these experiences of everyday life to develop an appreciation of alternative ways of living. It also the ability to make and follow choices between these alternatives, which students are able to explain within their growing understanding of what it means to live sustainably. Education for a sustainable future seeks to encourage and empower students to choose to advance the transition to sustainable development through the ways they live, for example as a worker, consumer and citizen, in finding a place to live and enjoy recreation, and in life-long learning. For

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example, it means learning how to make informed and ethical decisions about issues such as: •

As a worker

•

As a consumer

•

As a citizen

•

As a resident

•

At leisure

•

As a learner

Where to find work; the effects of various modes of travel to work; and the costs and benefits of environmental controls on industry. Where to shop; alternative transport modes; and whether to purchase goods that might be over-packaged or produced by socially unjust or environmentally unsound means. How to analyse the social and environmental implication of political decisions; evaluate alternative forms of social action; and encourage others to participate in conserving the environment and redressing social injustice. Where to rent or buy a house in relation to family, work and recreation patterns. Where and when to holiday and how to use leisure time for the benefit of self, the community and the environment. How to acquire information, evaluate and interpret information and make rational decisions. (after AGTA 1988:3)

Thus, education for a sustainable future is a framework for educational reform that can involve teachers in what Huckle (1991) calls ‘a shared speculation’ with their students on the nature and impacts of different ways of living. The purpose is to help young people learn how to ‘reflectively construct and reconstruct their social world’ and, in so doing, develop into the kind of ‘critical and active citizens who are capable of bringing about the transition to sustainable development’ (Huckle 1991:61). This chapter is written to illustrate some ways in which such a framework for education might be implemented. Educational responses to common findings of the international study

This section of the chapter explores a range of possible educational responses to the four common findings identified in the previous section. The first of them relates to the high level of student awareness and interest in environmental matters. Levels of student interest in the environment

Several aspects of the national studies indicate that young people in the AsiaPacific region have a high level of awareness and a strong interest in learning

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about environmental matters. The data illustrated in Table 11.1 shows that students want to discuss the environment in class much more often than they do currently. Several findings reported in Chapter 9 reinforce this conclusion. Between 59 per cent and 83 per cent of all those surveyed stated that their country should ‘concentrate on protecting the environment even if it meant some reduction in economic growth’ whereas only between 32 per cent and 44 per cent believed that the economy was more important than environmental protection (Table 9.2). Similarly, when the survey participants were asked to identify and rank the four most important goals for their country from eleven alternatives, protecting the environment was in the chosen list in every country and was ranked first or second in all cases but three (where it was either third or fourth). Only preventing war and creating a fair and humane society came close to protecting the environment as a priority (Table 9.5). These conclusions are supported by the findings about the nature of the belief systems held by the young people in all the countries (Table 9.8). One question needs to be asked, however. If the levels of student awareness of environmental issues, interest in learning more about them, and desire to improve the environment are so high, why were the results of questions about environmental knowledge and willingness to work for environmental improvement relatively lower? The answer might lie in the lack of explicit focus on environmental education in the curriculum. This is especially the case in secondary schools where the learning experiences of young people are governed by timetables and examinations, and the academic study of discrete disciplines still dominates. Thus, in the focus group interviews, students from several countries reported that they had ‘learnt hardly anything at all about the environment since primary school’ and did not believe that it was fair for environmental education to be provided only for those students who study biology or geography in their senior secondary school years. These perceptions point to the need for reform on at least three levels. Firstly, there is a need for many more subjects than biology and geography to focus on environmental issues. Much work has been done on the environmental dimensions of all subjects in other parts of the world (e.g. WWF-UK 1988) and, in the Asia-Pacific region, on environmental education in primary schools and teacher education (e.g. see NIER 1993; Fien and Tilbury 1996). However, little work has been done to develop an explicit focus on environmental education in secondary schools in this region. Secondly, teachers and students need increased flexibility for choosing topics and issues to investigate so that they may concentrate on the life role relevance of schooling. However, this will require loosening the grip of discipline-based subjects and nationally or centrally determined examinations on the secondary school curriculum. Thirdly, there are enormous barriers to the reorientation of education towards sustainable development, barriers that cannot be addressed by the efforts of individual

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teachers or even schools, no matter how committed they might be. Effectively addressing barriers such as these requires an appreciation of the role of education in the processes of social continuity and change, the diverse and sometimes contradictory roles of governments, and the correspondingly multiple purposes of education. The consequent need for a major philosophical reorientation of secondary education is discussed in the third section of this chapter. The learning of environmental concepts

The second set of common findings relates to the concepts that students understand and the way these are taught to them. Table 9.9 outlined the concepts students were presently learning about in school, and that they were therefore familiar with. These were limited to traditional concepts from biology and geography, such as renewable resources, ecology, interdependence and carbon cycle, and the two major climate change issues of ozone layer depletion and the greenhouse effect. Students reported that they were partially familiar with the concept of sustainable development but that they were not familiar at all with the related concepts of biodiversity, carrying capacity, precautionary principle and intergenerational equity. As reported in Chapter 9, when students were asked to define this set of concepts, their knowledge scores (except Japan) fell in the band between 42 per cent to 63 per cent correct. It can be inferred from this that there is a reasonably good understanding of many key environmental concepts. However, there was a direct relationship between students’ expressed levels of awareness and familiarity of concepts and their ability to define them correctly. Thus, as Tables 11.2 and 11.3 illustrate, students in all countries fared much better in defining traditional concepts from biology and geography (Table 11.2) than they did in defining the concepts of sustainable development, biodiversity, carrying capacity, the precautionary principle and intergenerational equity. This second set require much greater exposure because of their significance in environmental thinking. This situation points to the urgent need to integrate such themes into syllabuses in the region so that students can begin to develop an understanding of concepts central to sustainable development. While only five such concepts were used in the survey, many others from the fields of political ecology and ecological economics could have been used. These include: ecological footprint, ecospace, natural resource accounting, lifecycle analysis, environmental assessment, eco-efficiency, sustainable consumption and so on. A fuller set of concepts such as these (and their definitions), and which could form the basis of a contemporary approach to environmental education, is provided in Table 11.4. While a curriculum organized around concepts such as these could be described as more relevant to contemporary social and environmental needs, it must be accompanied by a reform of the methods of learning and

Listening to the voice of youth Table 11.2 Concepts: relatively high level of awareness and knowledge

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Table 11.3 Concepts: relatively low level of awareness and knowledge

Listening to the voice of youth Table 11.4 A suggested set of concepts for reforming the content of secondary education

continued overleaf

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Table 11.4 (continued)

teaching that are used in secondary schools. This is because the nature of the learning experiences provided for students has a significant influence on the outcomes they achieve irrespective of the concepts, themes and topics that are the focus of learning. As Whitty (1985) remarks, whether or not particular lessons are ultimately reproductive or transformative (i.e. contributing to empowerment for participation in society) is essentially a matter of how they are worked on pedagogically, and how they are articulated with other issues in and beyond the school. Issues of pedagogy are therefore vital in the reorientation of education towards sustainability. Pedagogy involves more than the traditional concept of instructional practices; it also subsumes the teacher’s visions of what education is for and how society might be. Thus, reorienting education for a sustainable future involves two related processes of pedagogy: the organization of knowledge around a range of critical concepts and values so that students can explore the implications of the issues under investigation, and the participation of students in community affairs so that they might become active members of society. These two aspects of pedagogy relate to the educational implications of the remaining two common findings from the country studies. The development of an ethic for living sustainably

As a focus for education, sustainable development not only requires new concepts for thinking about the world but also new attitudes and values for making ethical judgements about the state of the environment and alternative propositions for enhancing its sustainability. This directs attention to the need to identify an appropriate ethic for living sustainably that can be integrated

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into the curriculum to help ensure student learning is holistic and has a moral base. Eight values or principles that might be considered in such an ethic were suggested in the 1991 IUCN, UNEP and WWFN report, Caring for the Earth. These eight may be categorized into two groups of four: values related to human responsibility to care for nature (or ecological sustainability) and values related to our responsibility to care for each other (social justice). These eight are detailed in Table 11.5. Exploring and evaluating the relevance of such an ethic for living sustainably can help students come to informed decisions about issues of ecological sustainability and social justice in local, national and global contexts. However, ethics are not just a matter of attitudes and values. Ethics also involve moral reasoning and critical thinking, and it is this aspect of ethics that renders them an essential concern of pedagogy. To have a set of values, however ethical, and teach them to students in an uncompromising way is indoctrination. However, it is possible to teach in a professionally ethical way with a commitment to sustainable development (see Fien 1993, 1997). This involves viewing pedagogy as a process of encouraging students to explore questions, issues and problems, especially in contexts relevant to them and their communities, and the development of student-centred and interactive enquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning. Such approaches do not preclude the use of teacher-centred methods such as exposition, narration and demonstration, where appropriate. However, it does mean that, wherever possible, student learning should be based in the community and should use the environment and community as a resource for learning. It should also involve such activities as debating controversial issues, role play, simulation games, values clarification and analysis, and discovery learning as well as a range of creative and experiential activities (see Fien, Heck and Ferreira 1997). Naish, Rawling and Hart characterize such an enquiry-based pedagogy as an approach to teaching and learning which: • • • • • •

identifies questions, issues and problems as the starting point for enquiry involves students as active participants in a sequence of meaningful learning through enquiry provides opportunities for the development of a wide range of skills and abilities (intellectual, social, practical and communication) presents opportunities for fieldwork and classroom work to be closely integrated provides possibilities for open-ended enquiries in which attitudes and values may be clarified, and an open interchange of ideas and opinions can take place provides scope for an effective balance of both teacher-directed work and more independent student enquiry

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Table 11.5 Eight suggested values in an ethic for living sustainably

Source: Fien 1993; adapted from IUCN, WWF and UNEP 1991

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assists in the development of political literacy such that students gain understanding of the social world and how to participate in it. (Naish, Rawling and Hart 1986:46)

The focus on issues and problems in this enquiry-based approach to pedagogy may cause worry and concern for some students if not handled well. However, as evident in the case studies in Chapters 3 to 8, young people across the region are already seriously concerned about the future of the environment and their place in it. Thus, in a discussion of the importance of action competence in developing students’ capacities for environmental citizenship, Jensen and Schnack argue, ‘It is not so much a question of creating anxiety during environmental education. The problem is more [one of] how to handle the anxiety and worry which students already feel’ (Jensen and Schnack 1997:164). Thus, Jensen and Schnack give primacy to the regular involvement of students in learning how to resolve problems, developing and evaluating visions of alternative futures, and actively working in and with the community on problems that are of significance to them. These three aspects of an action-focused pedagogy emphasize the importance of actively involving students in projects to build sustainability in their local communities discussed in the next section. Without regular experiences such as these, the reorientation of objectives, curriculum themes, and concepts for sustainability will be in vain. Empowerment to work for sustainability is the raison d’être of reorienting formal education towards sustainable development. The willingness and ability of students to practise civic responsibility to care for the Earth

The fourth and, perhaps, most disheartening finding of the research reported in this book was the ambivalence that the young people showed towards making lifestyle changes and practising civic responsibility in accord with their high levels of expressed concern for the environment (Connell 1997). While the young people in every country expressed a strong desire to improve the environment (see Table 9.11), few students reported a past record of active environmental citizenship or a willingness to work for environmental protection in the future. Recycling and reusing, choosing household products that are better for the environment, and reducing water consumption were cited as regular activities. Some young people also said that they had taken part in tree planting and clean-up campaigns. However, only a very small minority of young people in any of the countries said that they had written letters, signed petitions, attended meetings or made formal complaints. These ‘political’ actions are also the actions that most said that they would not consider taking in the future. This is despite the fact that a large majority of respondents (between 70 per cent and 94 per cent) in all countries stated that they felt ‘positive’ or

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‘really good’ when they took pro-environmental actions, and that they generally experienced positive reactions and strong support from others involved, their teachers and their immediate families. This paradox cannot easily be explained. There are many cultural and political barriers to Western styles of active citizenship in several counties in the Asia-Pacific region. However, there is a strong indication in the survey findings that the nature of common educational experiences also plays an influential role. For example, most young people said that they had poor skills and knowledge for bringing about environmental improvements, even if in only a small way. When they were asked to rate their knowledge and skills in this area, the highest response in all countries was only a medium ranking. Indeed, students in all the countries studied said that the two most common reasons for not acting in an environmentally-friendly way were beliefs that (i) their actions would not make a difference, and (ii) that there was no practical alternative even when they knew that what they did was wrong (Table 9.13). This reflects not only a lack of knowledge of possible alternatives but also a failure of schools to provide students with experiences that teach such knowledge and skills. It also indicates that students have rarely had the opportunity to work with others on practical environmental projects and develop confidence in their individual and collective abilities successfully to bring about change. A reaffirmation of the contribution of education to civil society would mean that one of the central goals of education would be to help students learn how to identify elements of unsustainable development that concern them and to address them. This would involve students learning to reflect critically on their place in the world and considering what sustainability means to them and their communities. It would also involve practice in envisioning alternative ways of development and living, evaluating alternative visions, learning how to negotiate and justify choices between visions, making plans for achieving desired ones, and participating in community actions to bring such visions into effect. These are the abilities that Jensen and Schnack (1997) describe as ‘action competence’. Democratic action competence is the opposite of predetermined behavioural change as a goal for education, and aligns education for sustainability as part of the process of building an informed, concerned and active civil society. In this way, education for sustainability can contribute to education for democracy. Education for action competence or active citizenship has another implication for conventional thinking in education, especially in relation to environmental education. Traditionally, environmental education has been justified as a contribution to environmental problem solving; environmental education has often been evaluated according to its success in bringing about environmental improvements. However, the action competence approach in education for sustainability emphasizes educational changes and learning, not solving environmental problems per se. Of course, it is desirable for students to solve the environmental problems that concern them; this can

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contribute both to sustainability and to a sense of self-esteem and empowerment. However, this is not the ultimate goal of education for sustainability. This is because education for sustainability is ultimately about ‘education’ and capacity building and only secondly about environmental problem solving. As Schnack argues: It is not and cannot be the task of the school to solve the political problems of society. It is not the task to improve the world with the help of the pupils’ activities. These must be assessed on the basis of their formative value and thus according to educational criteria. A school, regarded as a school, does not become ‘green’ by conserving energy, collecting batteries or sorting waste. The crucial factor must be what the pupils are learning from participating in such activities. (Schnack 1996:11)

Reforming the rationale and processes of secondary education

Central to the reorientation of secondary education discussed in the previous section is an understanding of the roles of schooling in social reproduction, and the ways in which common structures of secondary education reproduce, albeit unintentionally, unsustainable development. These structures also provide the context for identifying opportunities and strategies to reorient education towards the development of a civil society based upon the values and practices of sustainability. Schools serve many purposes today beyond academic ones. Schools are generally public institutions and, in most cases, are subject to the directions of government and its policy-making processes. However, one characteristic seems to be common in all countries. This is that governments have multiple and sometimes contradictory roles and these are manifested in diverse ways in educational policies and practices (Carnoy and Levin 1985; Schlechty 1990). On the one hand, governments need to ensure that education systems socialize and educate citizens in ways that will enable them to contribute to desired economic activities and goals. This includes vocational knowledge and skills, but also the attitudes of responsibility, diligence, punctuality and social cohesion that will maintain and promote these goals. This is the ‘reproductive’ role of the state and education. On the other hand, governments particularly in democratic countries, need to take action to maintain their public legitimacy by anticipating trends that may challenge national well-being and by responding to public concerns about social problems, such as racism, poverty, public safety and, increasingly, the environment. Education is one way in which governments seek to achieve this goal, generally by developing educational policies which enhance the capacities of citizens to respond to anticipated challenges and to contribute as

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active and informed citizens to solutions by participating in discussions about them and other public issues. This is the role of the state and education in ‘constructing civil society’. The curriculum is a product of both the ‘reproductive’ and the ‘civil society’ roles of governments. Unfortunately, the pressure of short-term political and economic priorities has given ascendancy to the reproductive roles of secondary education. There are historically embedded reasons for this because many education systems in Asia and the Pacific developed to serve the economic needs of colonial empires for factory workers, technicians, clerks and administrators in the colonies. In the post-colonial period, the drive for economic development and growth has reinforced these structures. This has resulted in education systems characterized by hierarchical patterns of knowledge which privilege literacy, mathematics and abstract science; hierarchical relationships between teachers and students; teacher-centred processes of teaching and learning; and competitive assessment and certification practices that favour the social differentiation and the reproductive roles of schooling. These processes also contribute to present day patterns of unsustainable development (see Trainer 1990; Orr 1992; Fien 1993). Whereas a sustainable society requires a balance between self interest and the common good, a spirit of cooperation, a desire to participate, and civic responsibility, many aspects of secondary education encourage individualism, material progress and the values that underlie unfettered economic development. While not all of the following practices are found in all education systems in the region following recent educational reforms in many countries, a sufficient number remains in most countries reinforcing present patterns of unsustainable development. Some of these practices include: •

•

Assessment systems that prepare and select students for differentiated roles in employment and society by providing the certificates that are the main determinants of where people end up in the competition for jobs. People are socialized to accept their resultant unequal positions on the grounds that they are ‘deserved’ in the light of their educational achievements. Schools are often hierarchical and authoritarian institutions in which power is exercized from above, self-regulation and responsibility discouraged, and most decisions about what and how to teach and learn are made by those outside the institution or by administrators and teachers. Those with most at stake, the students, have little say. Hence, the ‘conditions of work’ in secondary schools often correspond to those traditionally associated with the industrial workplace and fail to encourage the skills in group decision making, collective responsibility and democratic participation necessary to work for sustainable development. This is paradoxical since such participatory skills are increasingly a requirement of

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•

•

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successful economic enterprises, which associate them with efficiency and competitive advantage. Schools place great importance on personal achievement and describe success in individualistic terms such as ‘getting-ahead’, ‘rising to the top’, and ‘doing well in the world’. This is because academic success remains a key to higher incomes, status and consumer power. Thus, secondary education tends to condition students to accept competition as natural, and to reinforce the desirability of excelling over others by measuring success in terms of outcomes for oneself rather than in terms of the means used to achieve it and the needs and rights of those less fortunate. This discourages the values of a sustainable society such as friendliness, cooperation, ethical discernment, and care and concern for others. The academic curriculum treats knowledge as objective and universal rather than as relative, tacit and contextual. Further, because of the political economy of knowledge production and textbook publishing in the world today, schools tend to teach the superiority of Western economic processes and political systems with a consequent emphasis on technical answers to social and environmental problems. This process continues the undermining of local and indigenous knowledge and value systems begun by colonialism. Academic success in secondary schools serves as a filter to determine who will become scientists, technologists and managers who will be paid handsomely, and who will be promoted on the basis of the profitability of the products and services they develop. Rarely are students taught to appreciate the social contexts of science, technology and business, criteria and techniques for evaluating the social and ecological impacts of new products and production processes, or the ethical discernment needed for making judgements about such matters.

Summarizing points such as these, Orr draws attention to the powerful influences of academic teaching methods on the ‘hidden curriculum’ and the ways in which the ‘hidden curriculum’ undermines the values of a sustainable society: Process is important for learning. Courses taught as lecture courses tend to induce passivity. Indoor classes create the illusion that learning only occurs inside four walls isolated from what the students call, without apparent irony, the ‘real world’. Dissecting frogs in biology class teaches lessons about Nature that no one would verbally profess. Campus architecture is crystalized pedagogy that reinforces passivity, monologue, domination, and artificiality. (Orr 1991:101)

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However, these problems are not the only effects of secondary education: reproduction is never even or complete. There are many reasons for this. One is the role of the state and schools in constructing civil society as outlined above. Another is that public schools today are not usually elitist institutions: they do welcome academic success by children from all social classes. Indeed, the empowerment and expanded life chances that can come from education even in basic literacy, especially for girls, are a major contribution to capacity building for sustainability. Similarly, the increasing recognition that the complexity of many contemporary social, development and environmental problems requires the promotion of cognitive flexibility, relational thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills among young people and future employees is beginning to reform traditional educational practices in an increasing number of countries. However, such reforms are slow and uneven and, because of the dominance of the competitive academic curriculum in most countries, many schools continue to define education in ways that make academic success difficult for children from low-income families and particular social groups, and render many parts of the curriculum uninteresting and irrelevant. Thus, the process of reorienting education towards sustainability is a broader and more pervasive task than that of revising syllabuses and devising new teaching and learning materials that incorporate principles and examples of sustainability, necessary as these reforms are. Orr (1992:83) notes that the crisis of unsustainability ‘cannot be solved by the same kind of education that helped create the problems…. Schools, colleges and universities are part of the problem’. Thus, reorienting education towards sustainability requires significant educational reform or what Cuban (1988) calls ‘second-order change’. First-order changes seek to improve the effectiveness or efficiency of educational processes through new courses or materials without disturbing the basic organizational or instructional milieu of education. However, second-order change seeks to reform the fundamental ways in which educational systems and institutions function to include new goals, structures, and roles for schools, teachers and students. Two tasks for second-order change in the reorientation of education for sustainable development may be identified. First, there is a need for major changes to the balance of emphasis in education between reproduction and capacity building for civil society, and a consequent reconfirmation of commitment to the reconstructionist tradition in education. This implies major changes not just in education but also in many conventional conceptualizations of environmental education. Second, it requires a revision of the objectives and content themes of subjects so that sustainability is a central concern. It also requires teaching and learning processes which emphasize moral virtues, ethical discernment, learning how to learn, reflection, creativity, civic mindedness, and the motivation and abilities to work with others to help build a sustainable future for human and nonhuman nature. Some suggestions for doing this were outlined in the previous

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section of this chapter. As Smyth (1995:18) remarks, ‘It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that many have reached that education should be largely recast’ when the wide scope of the task of reorienting education towards sustainability is considered. The multiple roles of education to reproduce politically endorsed (and mostly economically motivated) values, practices and institutions and to empower students to play an informed and active role as members of civil society have already been discussed. These are not mutually exclusive roles, and education is designed to promote both. However, without a whole-ofgovernment commitment to sustainable development in most countries, schools have tended to reproduce an unsustainable culture that intensifies environment and development problems rather than one that empowers citizens to work towards their solution. This situation of unbalanced priorities calls for a reaffirmation of the role of education in building civil society by helping students, one, develop criteria for determining what is best to conserve in their cultural, economic and natural heritage; two, discern values and strategies for creating sustainability in their local communities; and three, work with others to build sustainability outwards to include national and global contexts. This is the contemporary version of what Dewey (1916) called the ‘reconstructionist’ tradition in education. This is not to say that the economic imperatives that underlie the reproductive functions of formal education are to be ignored. Economically sound, ecologically sustainable and socially just forms of development are to be encouraged; indeed, appropriate development is a core principle of a sustainable society. However, a reorientation of education towards sustainability calls attention to the problematical effects of inappropriate development and unfettered economic growth, and also to the ways that these are perpetuated through dominant patterns of schooling and the narrow and limited range of knowledge, attitudes and skills students learn as a result. Building upon students’ strong levels of awareness of, and concern for, environmental quality in this way can be a major contribution to building a politically literate civil society. Indeed, as Orr argues, ‘I see no prospect whatsoever for building a sustainable society without an active, engaged, informed, and competent citizenry’. This, he says, requires ‘an unwavering commitment by educational institutions to foster widespread civic competence’ (Orr 1992:84). The reforms to curriculum and pedagogy that flow from a reorientation of education towards sustainability, if implemented, would provide a significant challenge to the negative impacts of the roles of schooling in social and economic reproduction. However, the likelihood of such innovations being successfully adopted is low, unless they are supported by reforms to many current patterns of curriculum development and assessment in the Asia-Pacific region. For example, the centralized control of teaching and learning through nationally mandated syllabuses, textbooks and assessment in many countries does not readily support the localization of curriculum

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themes or encourage student participation in local action research projects. Indeed, the local control of the curriculum has diminished in many countries over the last decade due to educational reforms aimed at centralizing curriculum development and mandating standards of student performance. Caution is needed to ensure that such reforms, which can serve the purposes of accountability and efficiency, do not undermine the pedagogical imperatives in reorienting the curriculum for sustainability. Two ‘second-order changes’ are especially needed to support these imperatives. First, there is a need to decentralize many aspects of curriculum decision making to the local level, especially to individual schools and teachers. Second, there is a need to establish processes of monitoring and moderation so that assessment and certification can be managed at the level of the local school. Such changes will provide a context of empowerment and responsibility for teachers to respond to the need to maximize student and community participation in negotiating what and how students learn and for what purposes. Such devolution of curriculum planning to the local level does not mean that central or national curriculum guidance is not important, or that syllabuses are not necessary. The reverse is the case. Syllabuses can be prepared as ‘broad framework documents’ and provide clear aims and objectives for subjects as well as an overview of key concepts and content themes to be studied, appropriate learning experiences, relevant resource materials, and criteria for assessing student learning. This type of syllabus provides centralized accountability but leaves schools, teachers and students, as appropriate, free to make choices about specific learning experiences, the relative depth and breadth of treatment for different topics, the particular case studies, examples and educational resources to be used, and approaches to assessing student achievements. Many aspects of this approach to curriculum development and implementation are presently used in primary and tertiary education all around the world. Generally, it is only at the level of secondary schooling that major reforms are still needed. However, secondary schools fulfil a major certification and occupational filtering function in many countries, usually through systems of external examinations. Thus, there is a need to develop forms of assessment which test higher order reasoning skills and allow students to show what they have learnt from reflecting and acting on the implications for sustainability in their lives and communities. It is also necessary to find ways of devolving responsibility for assessment in secondary education to the school level, balanced by appropriate procedures for local and national moderation of results and standards. These reforms to curriculum development and assessment processes can help to empower teachers to take responsibility for planning learning experiences that can enhance the capacities of students to participate effectively as member of civil society in the interests of sustainable development. However, successfully inducting teachers into the new roles envisioned for them requires a recognition that educational change is

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multi-dimensional. Thus, effective changes to classroom practice require change in at least three areas: one, the preparation and adoption of new curriculum guidelines, syllabuses, teaching activities and educational materials; two, changes in teachers’ familiarity with, and use of, new forms of pedagogy and assessment; and three, the reflective development of teachers’ beliefs or practical theories of education (Fullan with Stiegelbauer 1991). The clarification of teachers’ commitments to education for sustainability—together with the development of their willingness and capacities to adopt new roles as curriculum developers, facilitators of student learning and assessors—make teacher education, at both the pre-service and the in-service levels, a vital aspect of the reorientation of education for sustainability (see Fien and Tilbury 1996). Conclusion

Reorienting education towards sustainability is a process of educational reform and innovation. This will involve critical reflection from individual countries, education systems, schools and teachers on the suggestions for curriculum and pedagogical reform and the more significant second-order changes to national priorities, educational goals and approaches to curriculum development, implementation and evaluation outlined in this chapter. It will also involve interpreting these suggestions for action in national and local contexts. It is possible that pre-Earth Summit forms of education could be considered a ‘failed innovation’ despite the initiatives that could be cited. As Fullan with Stiegelbauer (1991:354) lament, ‘We have a huge negative legacy of failed reform that simply cannot be overcome simply through good intentions and powerful rhetoric.’ Reorienting education for sustainability is powerful rhetoric and a wonderful aspiration. However, there is much to be learnt about the processes of educational innovation and change. Learning from the successful experiences of other educational reform movements, and interpreting their lessons to education for sustainability, must become the new priority of priorities for education. There are now many who, like Orr, view sustainable development not only as ‘a permanent feature on the public agenda’ but ‘as the agenda’. No issue of politics, economics and public policy will remain unaffected by the crisis of resources, population, climate change, species extinction, acid rain, deforestation, ozone depletion, and soil loss. Sustainability is about the terms and conditions of human survival…. Those presuming to educate should not stand aloof from the decisions about how and whether life will be lived in the twenty-first century. To do so would be to miss the Mount Everest issues on the historical topography of our age, and condemn ourselves to irrelevance. (Orr 1992:83, 14)

Appendix A The questionnaire survey form

YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES

Questionnaire

Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Building The University of Melbourne

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Griffith University

The questionnaire survey form

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Appendix A

The questionnaire survey form

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Appendix A

The questionnaire survey form

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Appendix A

The questionnaire survey form

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Appendix A

The questionnaire survey form

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Appendix A

The questionnaire survey form

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Appendix B Plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons

Plots 1 Beliefs and behaviour

Key for all plots: BA GZ IN MB SG

Bali China, Guangzhou India Melbourne Singapore

BB HK JA NZ TH

Hong Kong Japan New Zealand Thailand

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 289

2 Knowledge and behaviour

3 Desire and behaviour

290

Appendix B

4 Desire and beliefs

5 Desire and behaviour

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 291

6 Desire and knowledge

Cluster analyses 1 Behaviour types

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Appendix B

2 Technology and environmental beliefs

3 Environmental beliefs

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 293

4 Technology beliefs

Pairwise comparisons Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.2

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Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.3

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.4

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.5 (protecting the environment)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 295

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.7 (ozone layer)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.7 (forests)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.7 (population)

296

Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.7 (greenhouse)

Pair-wise comparisons for Question 6e

Pair-wise comparisons for Question 6h

Pair-wise comparisons for Question 6i

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 297

Pair-wise comparisons for Question 6j

Pair-wise comparisons for Question 6l

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (carbon cycle)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (sustainable development)

298

Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (biodiversity)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (renewable resources)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (ecology)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 299

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (inter-generational equity)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (precautionary principle)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (inter-dependence)

300

Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (greenhouse effect)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (ozone layer)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.9 (carrying capacity)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 301

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.11

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (choosing environmental household products)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (uniting letter, etc.)

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Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (deciding to reuse or recycle)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (encouraging someone else to change behaviour)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (taking part in clean-up campaign)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 303

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (making a report or complaint)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (reducing water use)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (trying to get information for own interest)

304

Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (taking part in tree planting)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.12 (making a gift)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (I don’t understand)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 305

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (cost)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (I’m not interested)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (I don’t have time)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (It’s more convenient not to worry)

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Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (My actions won’t make a difference)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (I don’t believe what people say about damage)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (I don’t like being told what to do)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 307

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (I don’t want to do things different from my friends)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.13 (no practical alternative)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.14 (television)

308

Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.14 (newspapers)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.14 (school)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.14 (environmental NGOs)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 309

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.14 (government environmental information)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.15 (television)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.15 (newspapers)

310

Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.15 (school)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.15 (environmental NGOs)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.15 (government environmental information)

plots, cluster analyses and pair-wise comparisons 311

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.16

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.17

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.19 (female only)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.21 (female only)

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Appendix B

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.24 (female only)

Pair-wise comparisons for Table 10.25 (female only)

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Index

Abe, O. 91, 224 Aboriginal groups: see indigenous groups acid rain 10, 43, 64, 72, 89, 96, 150, 209, 275 Addison, J.T. 121 Agarwal, B. 110 age 36, 76, 95, 158, 184 Agenda 21 xiv, xv, 51, 83, 127, 181, 251, 257 agriculture 8, 22, 25, 31, 52, 82, 107, 116, 117, 150, 151, 167, 168, 170, 175, 184, 224; subsistence 118, 164, 166, 170 air pollution 9, 12, 25, 51, 59, 60, 64, 66, 73, 89, 90, 95, 96, 100, 102, 109, 117, 126, 133, 150, 151, 159, 184, 185, 193, 194, 195, 196, 209, 211, 212, 240 Ames, R. 14, 15, 16, 18, 55, 57 animal rights 90, 96 Antartica 186 anti-pollution measures 65, 84–6, 88, 116, 126–7, 131, 144, 178 Appadurai, A. 24 approaches: ecocentric 65, 140; proactive 61, 62, 97; radical 42; reactive 61; reformist 42, 227; topdown 60, 61, 62, 65, 68, 74, 95, 123, 128, 140, 179 Ashio Copper Mine Incident 80–2 Australia 1, 43, 53, 63, 135–62, 169, 173–4, 189–220, 225, 229, 230, 238, 242, 244, 245; Daintree wet tropics, Queensland 143, 145; education 138, 152–8; environmental politics 143–50; political parties

139, 140, 144–5, 147; Murray Waters 145; National Conservation Strategy 144; Natural Heritage Trust 147, 148; National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development 144; population 136–7; Senate 140; South West Wilderness 143; states and territories 143–8, 153–5; wealth of species 135; see also indigenous groups Australian Bureau of Statistics 136 Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council 147 Australian Research Council xvii Austria 24 awareness, increasing 39, 41, 58, 61, 63, 69, 73, 82, 84, 86, 87, 90, 95, 127, 140, 151, 176, 178, 184, 186, 221, 252; and public pressure 85 Baker, E. 183 Bali 114, 118, 123–5, 189–220, 224, 225, 229, 230 Baltic States 241–2, 244 Bangkok 117, 128 Bangladesh xii Barker, M. 182, 183 Barren, B. 80, 83, 87, 224 Batchelor, M. 119 behaviour 1, 15, 22, 27, 28, 36–7, 69, 73, 95, 122, 129, 160, 198–201, 211, 221, 223, 242, 268; and attitudes/ beliefs/knowledge 15, 16, 28, 29, 35, 39, 95, 97, 133, 227, 237–40, 250; and culture/tradition 22, 28, 29, 35,

Index 36, 37, 75, 109, 120–6, 223; and social tendencies/background 35, 75, 97, 160, 162; see also young people beliefs 6, 7, 16, 23, 24, 25, 27, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 55, 133, 191–7, 222–3, 229, 232–7 Bentler, P.M. 39 Best, D. 36 Bhat, J.L. 104 biodiversity 5, 8, 22, 24, 31, 64, 72, 99, 115, 118, 124, 127, 140, 146, 148, 149, 150, 161, 180, 197, 198, 235, 237, 247, 260, 262–3, 266 Birch, C. 139 bird protection societies, membership 88 birds, migration 53 Blum, A. 160, 242 Bohr, N. 31 Boldero, J. 160 Bond, M.H. 56 Bontempo, R. 233 Boster, J.S. 24, 25, 42, 45 Braidotti, R. 110 Breakwell, G. 238 Broadbent, J. 81, 86, 87 Brown, K. 119 Brundtland Commission 4, 107, 139, 145, 154, 179, 226 Brunei 1, 114–34, 189–220, 229, 230 Bruun, O. 16, 17, 18 Bryant, J. 221, 222, 227 Buddhism: see religion Buddhist Institute 23 Burns, L. xvii business 65, 88, 109, 140, 179, 180, 203; industry 82, 131–2, 144, 172; partnerships with local groups 89; small companies 58 Callicott, J.B. 14, 15, 16 Cambodia xii, 23 Campaigns: Chipko Andholan 20, 108, 110; information 74, 130; Namadar Sarovar 108; Save Manapouri 178; Save Nilgiri Biosphere 108; Save Western Ghats 108; Silent Valley 108, 110; see also interest groups, protests Canada 53, 109 capitalism 6, 24, 52, 55, 81, 139, 160, 225, 248

331

Capra, F. 31 carbon dioxide 11, 89, 90, 169 carbon monoxide 89, 150 Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living 154, 155, 265 carrying capacity 5, 130, 197, 198, 230, 235, 237, 247, 260, 262–3 Carson, R. 13, 139 Castri, F.D. 176 centres/institutes: Australian field study/ education centres 155; Canadian International Development and Research Centre 73; Centre for Environmental Technology (CET) (Hong Kong) 58; Indonesian centres of environmental study 130; National Institute for Education Research (Japan) 93; pollution research institutes 85; Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) 101; Heinrich Boell Institute 23 CFCs 64 Chan, P.C.P. 55, 58, 61 change xii, 83, 175–83, 192–3; attitudinal 38–9, 59, 65, 88, 245; cultural xii, 39, 55, 173, 187; social xii, 92, 173, 179, 222, 230, 246; see also values chaos theory 31 Char, D. 103 Chatwin, B. 135 Cheng,V.W.M. 71, 72 China xii, 1, 2, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 12, 51–74, 189–220, 230; Academy of Social Science 12; Agenda 21 51; Education Department 68; Environmental Education Professional Teachers Committee 67; growth 54; Guidelines on Environmental Education in Schools 68; National Congress on Environmental Education 67; National People’s Congress 60; Open door policy 52; State Education Commission 59, 67; State Planning Committee 51, 52, 60, 67 Chipko Andholan 20, 108, 110 Choi, P. 61, 231 Choo, F. xvii Christianity: see religion

332 Index Christoff, P. xvii, 140, 144 cities 76, 192, 194; mega 10, 52; pollution 12, 25, 89, 117 Clammer, J. 120 climate change 31, 32, 51, 180, 211, 212, 260, 275; see also greehouse effect, ozone layer coastlines/coastal areas 9, 89, 100, 116, 118, 119, 127, 151, 174, 184, 185, 193, 194 Cobb, J.B. 13, 14 codes: Buddhist 23; of Calantiao 123; of environmental ethics 23; of Sumakwel 123 collective action: see protest colonialism: administration 58, 61, 68, 106, 173; impact/legacy 15, 59, 107, 116, 119, 124, 140, 164, 165, 168–9, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 187, 270, 271 committees: Environmental Protection Action Committee (EPCOM) (China) 61; Private Sector Committee on the Environment (PSCE) (Hong Kong) 58–9; South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment (SPACHEE) 184; World Heritage Committee 144 conferences and commissions: Brunei 132; Commission on Sustainable Development 83, 251; Education and the Environmental Crisis (Australia) 152; International Commission on Sustainable Development 129; International Panel on Climate Change 180; Physical Environment Conference, New Zealand 181; Resource Assessment Commission (Australia) 145, 147; Stockholm conference on the Human Environment (1972) xiii, 144, 226; UNESCO International Governmental Conference on Environmental Education, Tbilisi (1977) 152; United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development xiv; United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 8; see also Brundtland Commission, Rio Earth Summit

Confucianism xii, 2, 55–7, 78, 80, 120–1, 224 Connell, S. xvii, 38, 267 consumerism 65, 73, 164, 187, 215 consumption, environmental 74, 88–9, 98n6, 109, 186, 187, 200, 216, 220, 226, 229, 236, 267 Convention of International Trade for Endangered Species (CITES) 129 court actions/declarations 86; Australia 141, 143; The Big Four Lawsuits (Japan) 75, 82; Supreme Court of India 108, 111 crime 159, 173, 185, 209, 244 cross-cultural comparison 28, 37 cross-cultural misconception 19, 25 cross-cultural values 29, 33, 34 cross-cultural/national research 1, 3, 24, 30–7, 44, 50, 228, 240–4 Cuban, L. 272 cultural consensus/constructs 24, 27, 42, 223, 233–4; see also paradigms cultural context 28, 29, 30, 32, 35, 37, 102–6, 113, 133, 184, 223–7, 242; and knowledge 31, 35, 232–7 cultural generalization/differentiation 54 cultural influences xv, 1, 13, 22, 24, 27, 28, 37, 54–9, 109, 120–6, 133, 163, 171, 173, 223–7; Chinese ‘high’ 55 curriculum 59, 66, 67–8, 71, 74, 91, 111, 130, 153–4, 176, 177, 182, 188, 252, 260, 269–75; content 70; hidden 153–4, 256, 257, 270–1 cycles: carbon 198, 235, 237, 247, 260; energy 32 Daly, H. 6 de Broglie, L. 31 deforestation xiv, 9, 11, 12, 14, 25, 32, 53, 80, 81, 82, 90, 96, 100, 102, 115, 116, 118, 133, 150, 151, 159, 164, 175, 185, 193, 194, 195, 196, 211, 212, 216, 217, 228, 240, 275; reforestation 64 Dei, G.J.S. 133 Denmark 109, 240 desertification 11 development/growth 68, 76, 82, 100, 120, 126, 172–3, 176, 247, 270; and environment 46, 47, 51, 60, 63, 65, 68, 69, 73, 79–80, 94, 97, 106–7,

Index 116, 124–5, 127, 134, 145, 146, 158, 174, 178, 181, 184, 191, 192, 206, 221, 224, 116, 228, 230, 233, 234, 240, 241, 243, 246, 247; economic xii, 2, 6, 9, 10, 53, 132, 192, 193, 194; limits to 42, 73, 74, 92, 227; policy 59; rates see China, Guangzhou, Hong Kong Dewey, J. 273 discourse analysis 42–4 Dodson, M 142 Doughty, R.W. 133 Dowling, R. 181, 182, 183 Doyle, T. 145 Dreyer, J. 119 drought 102, 211 Drysek, J. 43, 140, 227 Dubos, R. 123 Dunlap, R.E. 39, 41, 42, 47, 108, 233 dust levels 64 Earth Charter 23, 33, 248 East and West: attitudes to nature 14–15, 21, 55; citizenship 268; inappropriate transfer of practices 11, 110; intellectual colonisation 15 Eckersley, R. 140, 159, 160 eco-feminism 6, 21, 43 ecological distribution conflicts 26 ecological economics 6, 26 ecological footprint 24, 263 ecology 5, 6, 24, 32, 34, 44, 129, 161, 166, 174, 197, 225, 232, 233, 246, 247, 250, 260, 261; ecological justice 25; see also environmental degradation, sustainability ecosystems 5, 23, 52, 96, 99, 102, 110, 112, 115, 116, 125, 127, 141, 151, 159, 168; urban 126 eco-technology xiv Edmonds, R.L. 52, 54, 63, 66 Educating for a Sustainable Future xv education xiii, xiv, xv, 1, 2, 51–74, 109, 138, 172, 173, 178, 185, 194, 269– 75; examinations 71, 130, 177, 253, 254, 259, 274; Gandhi’s ‘new’ 107; hidden curriculum 153–4, 256, 257, 270–1; informal xv, 130; methods 70, 72, 93, 94, 107, 112, 130, 152–3, 154, 155, 156–8, 177, 265, 267; science xiv

333

education, environmental 3, 26, 28–9, 33, 35, 37, 50, 59, 60, 65, 66–74, 91–4, 111–2, 129–31, 133–4, 152–5, 156–8, 176, 181, 182, 188, 192, 214, 221, 226, 140, 252–8, 260–4, 273–5; divided responsibility for 183; ecoschools/enviroschools 93, 181, 187; evaluation of 71–3, 130–1, 155–6, 177, 183; objectives 68–9; place in curriculum 91, 93–4, 112, 129, 177, 182, 253, 259, 260; schools of excellence 157–8; studies of 155–6, 181; Tbilisi definition of 68; text books 72, 177; see also curriculum Education Fiji 2020 177 effluent: see sewage Einstein, A. 31 Elston, K. 128 Emerging Asia, Changes and Challenges xviii, 9, 10, 25 energy consumption 8, 9, 11, 94, 95; carbon tax 181; conservation 58, 84, 131, 180, 181 Environment 2010 Strategy (New Zealand) 180 environment: definition of 83, 170; state of 7–19, 61, 63–5, 89–90, 100–5, 115–19, 150–1, 172–5 environmental accounting 26 environmental attitudes, knowledge etc. xvi, 1, 2, 3, 23, 30, 36, 39–45, 55–6, 65, 69, 90–1, 126, 164, 169, 182, 184–6, 189–220, 227, 228, 232–7, 250; Asia-Pacific 13–19; belief systems 6, 27, 78–9, 229; China 51–74; East and West 4–27; governmental influences on 74; Hindu 104–5, 110, 223–4; India 100–6, 107–11, 223–4; Japan 75–98; local 4, 22, 27, 35, 140, 210–12, 248, 249; and personal cost/sacrifice 66, 67, 71, 73, 88, 91, 95, 97, 180, 186, 202; and personal goals/self-seeking 74, 132, 215–6; and science 151, 166; cultural/political/social influences on 59, 72, 160, 162, 223–7; religious 23, 55–7, 113, 119, 123–5, 224, 225; shared 27, 44, 45, 119, 222, 248; traditional/cultural 4, 6, 22, 27, 28, 35, 54–9, 75, 83, 91,

334 Index 103–6, 109, 110, 163, 170–1, 172, 178, 187, 188, 214, 223–7, 249; trends 65–6, 83; see also behaviour, media, nature, young people environmental charter 88 environmental degradation xiv, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10–11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 22, 51, 52, 60, 61, 65, 73, 100, 110, 112, 118, 144, 146, 151, 159, 161, 162, 174, 180, 181, 187, 209, 221, 225, 245, 246, 249 environmental disasters 13, 82; see also Ashio Copper Mine Incident, Minamata Bay, Smokey Mountain environmental groups 58, 87–8, 148, 178, 179, 221, 225; Australian Conservation Foundation 145, 148; Hong Kong Conservancy Association 58; membership 179; Wilderness Society (Australia) 145, 148; see also Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, interest groups environmental policy 1, 59–62, 69, 144–8 environmentalism 15, 19–23, 24, 25, 27, 55, 61, 144, 179, 225, 249–50; strands of 31, 94 equity: intragenerational 263; intergenerational xv, 5, 24, 32, 69, 96, 109, 146, 170, 197, 198, 212, 228, 235, 236, 237, 247, 260, 262, 264, 266; interspecies 90, 96, 266 erosion 11, 12, 52, 64, 100, 116, 150, 159, 185, 193, 194, 195, 209, 275; rate 118; see also environmental degradation, land degradation ethics xiv, xv, 6–7, 69, 91, 107, 209, 257, 264–9, 272; environmental 6, 32, 67 (draft code of 23) ethnic groups xiii, 77, 78, 123–4, 137, 142, 184, 185, 210 exchange, ecologically unequal 21 family planning 66, 109 feminism 30, 110; see also eco-feminism Feng Shui 16, 17, 18, 53, 56, 224, 225 fertility rates xiv fertilizers 64, 96, 118, 120 Fien, J. xvii, 94, 259, 265, 266, 270, 275 Fiji 1, 43, 163, 164, 167–9, 174, 175–7, 184, 224, 244

fish stocks 25, 61, 174, 186; drift nets 180; industrial fishing 164 fisheries 17, 84, 118, 180 fishing 20, 164, 167, 168, 172, 173, 174, 184 flooding 64, 82, 84, 102, 185 focus groups 39, 48–9, 207–20, 259 food: additives 96; demand 64; organic 149; pollution 66; quality 150; security xiv, 60 forest fires 63, 127 forestry 8, 22, 149, 174, 186; see also logging Foucault, M. 30, 42, 44 Francis of Assisi 14; Franciscans 224 freedom of speech: see human rights Friends of the Earth 58, 68, 148, 214 funding/resources for environment 62, 83, 126, 127, 128, 131, 219 Fung Shui-Wing 51 future generations: see equity, intergenerational Gambro, J. 238 Gandhi, M. 106–7, 109, 112 Gendall, P. 186 gender xiii, 152, 160, 184, 187, 190, 204–8, 229, 238 General Agreement on Tarriff and Trade 129 generation gap: see age Georgescu-Roegen, N. 6 Germany 44, 88, 240, 242 Giddens, A. 23 Gleeson, B. 140 global environmentalism 55, 61 Global Environment Outlook 221 global issues 25, 51, 51, 81, 82, 84, 90, 146, 188, 193, 196, 210–12, 225 global solidarity/ideology xiv, 2, 23–5, 27, 248, 249 global thinking 54 global warming xiv, 149, 174, 194, 209, 211, 212, 240, 244 globalization 6, 13, 23, 24, 55, 118, 174, 176, 188 Gold, H. 184, 186 Gooch, G. 241–2 government discussion papers/white papers: Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) (Australia)

Index 145–7; on environment (Japan) 89; Pollution in Hong Kong; Green Challenge for the Community (Hong Kong) 62 Grassby, A. 138 green movement 43, 74, 88, 140, 218; schemes 58 Greenall, A. 152 greenhouse effect 63, 148, 149, 158, 159, 180, 186, 193, 194, 196, 197, 198, 228, 235, 236, 247, 260, 261 Greenpeace 63, 148, 148, 179, 214, 226; membership 179 green products: see consumption, environmental green revolution 118 Guangzhou 51–74, 189–220, 229, 230, 233; growth 54 Guha, R. 6, 18, 19, 20, 31, 43, 107, 110 habitat loss 52, 64, 100 Habito, C. 25–6 Hajer, M. 44 Hall, D. 18 Hampel, B. 160, 238 Harako, E. 224 Harding, S. 30 Hart, C. 267 Hartley, J.A. 24, 25, 42, 45 health: care xiv, 60, 166, 168, 172, 185, 210; hazards 54, 64, 98n3, 102, 116, 117, 186, 211, 237 heavy metals 89 Heck, D. xvii, 265 Heinrich Boell Institute 23 Hills, P. 54, 58, 61, 62 Hinduism see religion Hinton, K. 121, 122 Hirsch, P. 222 Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis, The 13, 14, 139 Hollick, M. 146 Hong Kong 16, 51–74, 189–220, 229, 230, 238; growth 54 housing 60, 62; public 116, 126 Hsu, F.G. 55 Huckle, J. 258 human rights xiii, 33, 185, 187, 192, 193, 222, 250, 264, 266 human-nature relationship 16, 93, 112, 142, 166; anthropocentric 19, 21.

335

44, 56, 57, 72, 74, 75, 92, 123, 153, 175, 188, 195, 224, 234, 237, 248; ecocentric 18, 42, 43, 55, 56, 57, 72, 78–9, 100, 103, 104–5, 110, 124–5, 133, 165, 166, 167, 170, 171, 184, 209, 224, 234, 236, 237, 242, 243, 249; damaging 90, 215–17 hygiene: see sanitation Ichikawa, S. 224 ideologies 19, 23–5, 27, 35, 55, 39, 40, 72, 139 illiteracy 107, 193, 194, 212, 229, 231 imperialism 19; toxic 21; see also colonialism incineration 89–90, 117 income xii, 51–2, 63, 65, 109; and environment see Kuznets curve; per capita 54, 59 India xii, 1, 2, 11, 14, 19, 20, 22, 53, 99–112, 189–220, 223–4, 228, 229, 230, 234, 240, 245; caste 110; Constitution 106, 224; culture 103–6; diversity 99; environmental movement 20; land use 101–2; National Policy on Education 111; patriarchy 110; population 99, 100–1, 112; Supreme Court 108, 111; urbanization 102; women 22, 106, 110, 111 indigenous groups 188; Australia 136, 140, 141, 161, 225 (world-view 135, 141); Fiji 165; Japan 77, 98n2; New Zealand 165, 171–2, 174–5; Papua New Guinea 165, 170; rights of 141–2, 165, 171, 184 indigenous knowledge 21, 22, 118, 130, 142, 161, 165–7, 167–8, 172, 178, 184–6, 188, 224, 271; see also worldview Indonesia xii, 1, 2, 12, 53, 63, 113–34 industrialization 19, 24, 51, 52, 64, 65, 76, 80, 81, 106, 107, 112, 116, 117, 118, 211, 216, 236, 245 industries: construction 116, 117, 126; machine building 107; mining 20, 80–2, 102, 107, 143–4, 164, 173–4, 178; oil/gas 107, 127, 173; petrochemical 82 inequality xiii, 138, 159, 172–3, 174–5 infant mortality 116

336 Index information: campaigns 74, 130; database 176; dissemination 84; gathering 84, 86, 229, 258; sources 149, 242, 244–5; see also media, public trust infrastructure 65, 66, 101, 184 interdependence 5, 56, 105, 125, 171, 230, 235, 237, 260 Irokawa, D. 75, 82 Islam see religion ISO 1401 compliance 88 Israel 242 Italy 242 Iyer-Raniga, U. 223 Jacobs, M. 6 Jakarta 12, 117 Japan xii, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17–18, 44, 53, 75–98, 109, 189–220, 224, 228, 229, 232, 230, 231, 234, 236, 239, 240, 248; Agenda 21 83; Cooperative Association 88; Council of Ministers for Global Environmental Conservation 98n4; Environment Agency (JEA) 83–4, 89, 93; history 75–82, 83; dealized view of nature 17, 18; international conventions 84; Kyoto Protocol 84, 98n5; Ministries 84, 93, 94; NGOs 88; wealth of species 75–6 Jensen, B.B. 267, 268 Kaiser, F. 238 Kalland, A. 17, 18, 78 Kaloko, A.A. 166 Kellert, S.R. xvii, 34, 44, 91 Kempton, W. 24, 25, 42, 45 knowledge: accuracy 91–2, 197–8, 206, 207, 228, 229, 230, 231, 234, 235, 239, 260; and attitudes 68; and culture 31, 32; dominant systems 22, 271, 273; shared xv, 27, 33; traditional 4, 6, 22, 25, 35, 166, 172, 173, 178, 214, 232–40 Knudson, P. 166 Kohn, M. 35, 36 Kong, L. 116, 120, 122, 126, 133, 134 Korea 10, 16, 109, 231, 240 Kuhn, T. 30–1, 35 Kuznets curve 10–11, 13, 26, 52, 100, 117

Kwan, T.Y.L. 59, 71 labelling, environmental 186 lakes 9, 25, 32, 89, 178 Lam, C.C. 59, 67, 72 land clearance 64 land degradation 25, 52, 101, 102, 151, 157, 161, 185, 193, 194; rate of loss 101–2 land ownership 79, 123, 163, 169, 170, 173, 174; see also property rights land use 117 languages xii, 28, 29, 30, 42, 43, 46, 99, 136, 170, 178, 184 Lau, S.K. 56 law enforcement 60, 65, 105, 117, 123, 133, 185, 217, 218, 220; see also court actions, taboos lead 11, 12, 150, 151; leaded petrol 102, 123 Lee, J.C.K. xvii, 72, 73, 74 Lee, M. 51 Lee, W.O. 66, 95 legal actions: see court actions legislation 60, 65, 67, 69, 81, 94, 109, 182, 220, 225, 226; Australian 141–2, 144; Brunei;117; China 60; Fiji 169, 175, 176; India Air Act 105–6, 111; Indonesia 128; Japan 82, 83, 85, 88; New Zealand 172, 179, 182; Papua New Guinea 174, 11; Thailand 129 Leo, J.B. 120 Leung, K. 233 Lévy-Leboyer, C. 50, 237, 242, 243 liability 82 Li Peng 51 Lidstone, J. 59, 71 Ling, T.O. 113 Litfin, T. 44 lobbying 58, 95, 97, 108, 132, 183, 199, 200, 229, 236–7, 267 local authorities 9, 83, 84–6, 179, 181; partnerships 89; regulation 60 local knowledge etc. 2, 20, 22, 27, 29, 31, 35, 140, 168, 171–2, 173, 174, 210–12, 248, 249, 271 Lodwick, D.G. 39, 42, 47 logging 20, 102, 118, 150, 164, 172, 173, 174, 178 Lovrich, N.P.. 91

Index Low, N. 140 Lyons, E. 238 Lyotard, J-F. 33 Maclean, R. xviii McKean, M.A. 82, 87 Malaysia 63 Maldives, the xii Man, S.W. 61, 72 Manopimoke, S. 128 Maori 164, 171–2 Martin, J. 256 Martinez-Alier, J. 6, 20, 21, 31, 43, 107, 110 Mathews, F. 140 Mattar, A. 122 media 41, 58, 59, 62–3, 66, 74, 83, 86–7, 108, 143, 148, 149–50, 160, 162, 179, 213, 218, 221, 226, 242, 244, 252, 264; educational broad-casts 108, 157, 177; newspapers 111, 149, 201, 202–4, 213, 2114, 229, 230, 245, (circulation 86); ownership 150; radio 86, 111, 149, 203, 213, 230; TV 86, 108, 111, 149, 158, 164, 201, 203, 204, 213, 214, 229, 230, 245; see also public trust meetings/seminars: Assissi 1986 23; Buddhist Institute, Cambodia 1997 23; Fiji national seminar on development 178; see also conferences and commissions Melanesians 164, 167, 168–9, 174 Mexico 240, 242 migration 16, 24, 53, 76, 119, 136–7, 138, 142, 161; Chinese migrants 16, 53, 58, 136; from country to city see urbanization; Indian migrants 164, 168, 174 Minamata Bay 22, 98n3 mining: see industries Misra, R.P. 104, 105, 107 Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization 24 modernization xii, 69, 76, 83, 120, 122, 124, 126, 133, 134, 173, 211 monitoring 8, 11, 63, 84, 86, 88, 89, 97, 127, 144, 176, 184, 226 Muir, J. 19 multiculturalism 53, 138–9, 140, 141, 142, 152, 161, 176, 210

337

Nair, C. 58 Nandy, A. 110 Nash, R.F. 6 national goals/priorities 47, 183, 192–3, 229, 231, 259 natural capital/resources xiv, 5, 10, 24, 32, 73, 79–80, 94, 96, 100, 107, 109, 112, 127, 129, 172, 177, 198, 209, 211, 212, 215, 230, 236, 247, 260, 261, 265 nature, attitudes to 13–25, 165; Asian 14, 16, 25; Chinese 14, 56; Eastern 14, 18, 19; Indian 20, 103–6, 176, 223–4; innate 33–4, 36; Japanese 17, 18, 78–83, 90–1; JudeoChristian 13–14, 123, 141, 224; Native American 14; need for change in 13–14, 65, 96, 217, 218, 220, 245; Western 13–14, 16, 19, 21, 55, 56, 139, 142, 188; Zen Buddhist 13–14; see also humannature relationship Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy 14–15 Netherlands 108 negligence 82 New Caledonia 163, 164 New Zealand 1, 8, 43, 53, 171–2, 174–5, 178–83, 184–6, 189–220, 224, 229, 236, 244, 245 Newspapers; Bulletin (Australia) 149; The Canberra Times 149; The Courier Mail (Australia) 149; Financial Review (Australia) 149; The Mercury (Australia) 149; Nishiodogawa Pollution Lawsuit Plaintiffs and Counsel News 75; South China. Morning Post 51, 62, 63, 65, 70; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Times of India 108, 109 Ng, G.T.L. 73 Ngan, L. 72 NGOs xv, 9, 26, 37, 58–60, 66, 68, 70, 87–8, 108, 128, 130, 131–2, 133, 143, 145, 148–9, 161, 178, 179, 188, 201, 203, 213, 225, 226, 229; financing 87; number of 87, 108, 131, 132, 148 Nicaragua 242 Nikkei Industrial Consumption Research Institute 88

338 Index nitrogen dioxide 64, 89, 90 nitrous oxides 9 noise 64, 66, 84, 94, 109, 117 Norway 240 nuclear concern 63, 131, 180, 186, 192, 193, 231, 232, 241 Oelschlaeger, M. 43 oil: spills 13, 20, 149, 212; see also industries Olsen, M.E. 39, 42, 47 Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) 8, 9, 83, 89, 95, 161, 181, 226, 241, 243 O’Riordan, T, 65 Orr, D. 270, 272, 275 overextraction 118 overgrazing 101 ozone layer xiv, 43, 64, 73, 95, 96, 151, 158, 159, 180, 186, 193, 195, 196, 197, 209, 210, 228, 229, 235, 236, 240, 244, 247, 255, 260, 261, 275 Pakistan 12 Papadakis, E. 148, 149 Papua New Guinea xii, 1, 43, 163, 169–71, 173–4, 178, 224 paradigms 24, 34, 39, 40, 41–2, 47, 80, 139, 162, 247; environmental 41–2, 91, 92, 95, 97, 228, 232, 233, 238, 241, 242, 243; religious 16; scientific 30–1, 32–3; social 33, 41–2 Parnwell, M. 221, 222, 227 particulates 9, 11, 12, 64, 89, 150 Passmore, J. 139 Pawson, E. 179, 180 Pedersen, P. 16, 18, 23 peer groups 38, 39, 158, 160, 202, 203 Pepitone, A. 36 Pepper, D. 79, 139, 222 Peru 242 Philipines, the 1, 12, 25, 53, 108, 114–34, 240 Piaget, J. 36 Pierce, J.C. 91 Pinchot, G. 19 Planet Earth 23 planning: Brunei 127, 128; China 51, 52, 60, 67; Fiji 175–6, 177; India

107; Indonesia 107, 125, 130; Japan 83; Singapore 116, 126; Thailand 128, 130; town planning 84 Plumwood, V. 140 Politics of the Earth, The 42 polluter pays principle 60, 61, 83, 129; emission charging 60 pollution 69, 75, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 91, 95, 105, 128, 174, 186, 187, 240; see also acid rain, air, anti-pollution measures, cities, noise, particulates, rivers and lakes, sea/ocean, soil, traffic, waste, water Pongsapit, A. 120 population xii, 10, 63, 74, 112, 136, 185, 193, 194, 195, 196, 209, 210, 211, 213, 215, 225, 226, 231, 275; control 66, 168; density 52, 76, 99, 100–1, 172; growth 10, 52, 59, 63, 66, 81, 94, 96, 99, 100–1, 109, 116, 127, 130, 193, 212, 225, 228, 245, 248; policy 59 Portugal 242 poverty xiv, 10, 100, 107, 132, 133, 164, 176, 192, 194, 209, 212, 216, 225, 244, 269; rural 52, 53, 107 powerlessness, sense of 66; see also young people, sense of (dis) empowerment) Prasad, B. 106, 107 precautionary principle 5, 24, 32, 197, 198, 228, 235, 237, 247, 260, 262 preservationism 43 pressure/state/respose model 8 pricing policy 26 private sector 11, 26, 58; privatization 95, 147 property rights 11, 26 prospect/refuge theory 33 protected areas/parks 9, 19, 53, 61, 62, 73, 84, 97, 117, 1126, 143, 149, 151 protest 20, 21, 82, 86, 87, 108, 110, 131; fasting 110; see also environmental groups public opinion: see awareness public trust in information sources 148, 201, 203, 213, 229, 230, 231, 245 racism 159, 269; environmental 21 radiation 209, 210

Index rainforest destruction 72, 96; see also deforestation Rao, U.R. 101 Ratanachai, C. xvii recycling 58, 73, 89, 123, 186, 187, 199, 200, 217, 218, 219, 220, 229, 245, 267; rates 89–90, 131 religion: animism 121–2, 123, 124, 133, 170; Baha’i 23; Buddhism xii, 2, 14, 23, 55, 78, 80, 81, 103, 113, 119–20, 122, 133, 137, 224; Christianity xii, 2, 13, 14, 23, 55, 78, 81, 82, 103, 114, 120, 123, 133, 137, 141, 173, 248; ecumenism 23, 248; Hinduism xii, 16, 23, 103–5, 106, 110, 114, 120, 124, 223–4; indigenous 2; Islam xii, 2, 16, 23, 78, 103–4, 106, 114, 120, 123, 125, 133, 137, 224; Jainism xii, 23, 103, 104, 223–4; Japan 75, 78–9; udaism 23, 103, 141; Melanesian 2; Parsi 103; power struggle 80; sectarianism 121–2; Shinto 78, 81; Sikhism xii, 23, 103; South East Asia 119– 26; Taoism xii, 2, 56, 120–1, 224; temple sanctuaries 120, 124; Western world 14, 21, 103; Zen Buddhism 13–14; see also Confucianism renewable energy/resources: see natural capital Renner, J.M. 186–7 responsibility 69, 242; blame 217–19, 245, 246; individual 65, 72, 95, 96, 97, 126, 133, 218, 241, 245, 254 rich and poor 20–1, 25, 51–2, 240 Rifai, M.A. 115, 118 Rights of Nature, The 6 Rio Earth Summit (1992) xiii, 129, 154, 178, 226, 251, 252, 257; Rio Review Conference (1997) xiii, 4 risk perception 242, 243 rivers 9, 25, 84, 97, 102, 157; pollution 32, 63, 32, 64, 116, 117, 126, 127 Rose, D.B. 135 rural areas: see agriculture, poverty, urban-rural contrast Ruther, N. 36 sanitation 11, 107, 110, 116, 126, 133; see also sewage

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Sankey, H. xvii Savage, V.R. 126, 133 Schnack, K. 267, 268 Schultz, P.W. 242, 243 Schumacher, E.F. 222 science: and general perceptions 151; gendered/male-dominated 22, 33; teaching of 32, 67–8, 112; trust in 47, 90, 91, 92, 96, 107, 194, 195, 196, 202, 216, 218, 233, 234–5; Western 15, 55, 80, 81, 139, 142, 166 scientific assumptions 30–3 Scott, G. 181, 183, 238 seas/oceans: level xiv, 10, 209, 211; pollution 4, 89, 92, 150, 151, 159, 212, 241 Seager, J. 21–2, 30 sewage 9, 11, 54, 61, 64, 74, 84, 101, 107, 117, 118, 126, 127, 164 Shiva, V. 22, 109, 110 Shoozan, S. 80 Silent Spring 13, 139 silting 64, 174 Singapore 1, 16, 114–34, 189–220, 229, 244, 245 Singapore Census of Population 120 Singer, P. 140 slums 101, 116, 133, 164 Smokey Mountain 117 Smyth, J. 273 social justice xiii, xiv, xv, 6, 20, 25, 129, 146, 154, 155, 176, 192, 193, 194, 229, 231, 232, 259, 265, 266 social morality 36 social norms 39, 97, 173 social priorities 74 socialism 53, 57, 69, 82, 139 soil pollution 11, 92, 100, 157, 159, 174, 185, 240 solar energy, 108, 149 ‘spaceship Earth’ 13, 92, 236 Spain 242 species 115, 151, 263; exotic 175; India 99; Japan 75–6, 90; loss of xiv, 9, 25, 32, 90, 96, 102, 159, 175, 193, 195, 209, 211, 212, 240, 241, 275; protected 117 Spork, H. 156 Srinivasan, K. 101, 102 Stern, P. 243–4

340 Index stewardship 41, 55, 58, 105, 124, 130, 166, 167, 172, 184, 223, 224, 253, 265 Stimpson, P.G. 54, 70, 72, 73, 74, 223, 224, 225 Strauss, C.L. 135 sulphur (di) oxide 9, 11, 64, 89, 150 surveys 108, 184, 240–4; Attitude and Behaviour Concerning Environment; (ISSP Japan 1993) 90, 91, 98n7; Australian Bureau of Statistics 149, 151, 152, 158; Australian Science and Technology Council 158; Botanical and Zoological Surveys of India 102; Eurobarometer 50, 240; Gallup (Health of the Planet) 240; Gallup 50, 108–9; UNEP (1988) 50; Gendall (ISSP New Zealand) 184–6; Gold and Webster, (New Zealand) 184; Harris 240 sustainability xiii, xiv, xv, 1, 2, 4–7, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 46, 60, 68, 69, 82, 110, 124, 125, 127, 129, 139, 140, 145, 146, 154, 165–6, 167, 175, 176, 178, 179, 188, 197, 198, 221, 224, 230, 235, 246, 247, 251, 252, 260, 262–3, 266, 270 Suzuki, D. 166 Sweden 24, 244 Sweeting, A.E. 53, 62 Switzerland 109 Switzky, H. 238 Tacey, D. 136 Tahiti 163, 164 Taiwan 16, 57 taxes 181, 182, 218 Tbilisi definition of environmental education 68 teacher training xv, 72–3, 93, 111, 128, 156, 158, 181, 182–3, 253, 275 Tetsuru, W. 79 Thailand 1, 12, 53, 114–34, 189–220, 229, 230, 235 Tibet 16 Tilbury, D. 72, 259, 275 tourism 117, 118, 125, 164, 174, 218, 225, 226 trade 26, 31, 53, 118, 168, 173, 174 tradition 13, 18–19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28,

29, 35, 43, 53, 55, 57, 58, 107, 109, 110, 112, 163, 171, 174, 223, 248, 249; loss of xii, 107, 163, 168, 173, 174, 209 traditional knowledge 4, 6, 22, 25, 35, 166, 167–8, 172, 173, 178, 214 traditional rights 107 traditions of thought, Asian 15, 25 traffic congestion xiii, 117, 193, 194, 195, 210, 212 traffic/vehicle pollution 9, 63, 64, 84, 90, 94, 102, 108, 151, 186, 209, 211, 212 Triandis, H. 36, 233 Trivedi, R.N. 100, 102 Tsurutani, T. 91 Tuan, Y.F. 133 Turkey 108, 109, 240 Ulliwishewa, R. 166 unemployment 158, 164, 172, 185, 192, 194, 209, 231, 232, 244; environmental blackmail 21 UNESCO xii-xiii, xv, xviii, 141, 161, 251, 252 United Kingdom (UK) 53, 88, 238, 242 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 4, 8, 50, 154, 155, 221, 252, 265 United States (USA) 19, 20, 24, 42, 44, 53, 91, 226, 238, 242, 244 urbanization 52, 53, 59, 64, 76, 81, 101, 102, 107, 115, 116, 117, 120, 126, 134, 141, 161, 173, 174, 193, 209, 216, 245 urban-rural contrasts xiii, 52, 53, 107, 117, 133 values 29, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 58, 65, 67, 72, 113, 120, 123, 168, 176, 180, 232–7, 242, 249; change 56, 83, 91, 120, 122, 134, 139, 173, 222, 249; conservative 56; resurgence of 53, 55, 188; ruralagrarian 56 van Liere, K.D. 41, 233 Van Rossem, J.E. 181 Visvanathan, S. 110 Warren, C. 128, 222 waste disposal/management problem 5,

Index 9, 25, 32, 61, 63, 64, 65, 73, 84, 89, 94, 96, 109, 110, 117, 118, 125, 126, 127, 131, 133, 151, 158, 164, 180, 184, 185, 211, 218, 240, 241; amounts 54, 63, 117; domestic 20, 96, 117, 159, 186, 193, 194, 195, 211, 220, 229; radioactive 72, 95, 96, 211; toxic 21, 63, 64, 66, 90, 117, 125, 159, 180, 193 water: conservation 66, 199, 229, 236; management 84; pollution 64, 73, 89, 92, 94, 95, 96, 100, 102, 109, 117, 118, 119, 126, 151, 159, 161, 174, 185, 193, 194, 195, 196, 210–11, 212, 218, 240, 241; quality 54, 61, 63, 64, 66, 101, 117, 133, 145, 150, 180, 184, 212, 240; resources 8, 9; shortage 11, 12, 52, 61, 100, 107, 118; tables 100, 229 Webster, A. 184, 186 Wee, V. 121 West, the: attitudes to East 14, 18; attitudes to NGOs; damage to environment 13, 16, 140, 188 Westernization xii, 15, 164, 172, 173 Wetchapitak, S. 120 White, L. 13–14, 15, 16, 123, 139 Whitty, G. 264 wilderness 19, 43, 142 wildlife preservation 29; impact on villages 19 Wilson, E.O. 34 women xiv, 21–2, 30, 106, 110, 111, 131, 168; expertise 22 World Bank 8, 12, 54 World Conservation Strategy 4, 139, 144 World Conservation Union 8, 222 World Heritage List 141, 143, 144, 145, 148 World Media Handbook 86 World Watch Institute 8 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF— formerly World Wildlife Fund) 4,

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22, 58, 148, 149, 154, 155, 179, 183, 226, 259, 265 world-view 14, 39, 40, 41, 42, 166, 174; Buddhist 14, 223–4; Chinese 14, 16, 17; Indian 14, 169, 223–4; indigenous 42, 135, 141, 167, 170, 171, 174; Japanese 14; Native American 14; see also nature, attitudes to Wright, J. 136 Xu, H. 72 Yang, K.S. 56, 57, 73 Yeung, P.M. 73, 74 Yeung, S. 238 yin and yang 56, 57 young people xiv, xv, xvi, 1, 2, 13, 27, 34; attitudes, awareness and knowledge 2, 6, 13, 35, 36, 47, 73–4, 94–8, 109, 133, 152–3, 158–60, 184, 186–7, 189–220, 222, 228–40, 243, 249, 258–60, 266–9; behaviour 35, 36, 48, 69, 73–4, 95, 97, 198–202, 206, 211, 218, 219, 229, 230–1, 236, 239, 248, 250, 267; beliefs 2, 6, 42, 47, 133, 191–7, 229, 232–7; desires 47, 192–3, 199, 206, 230, 237, 239, 245, 267; discussion 48, 95, 97, 197, 204, 206, 229, 230, 231, 254, 255; families 48, 158, 160, 201, 203, 213, 214, 215, 238; gender differences 160, 204–87, 229, 238; influencing others 200, 218; information 149 47, 129, 200, 201–4, 213–15, 229, 258; sense of (non) empowerment 47, 74, 96, 97, 162, 199, 201, 202, 218, 219, 241, 245, 246, 247, 256, 268, 269; skills 47, 129, 152, 156, 176, 199, 265, Yuen, H.P. xvii Zelezny, L. 242, 243 Zhu, J. xvii, 18