NATO SCIENCE FOR PEACE AND SECURITY PROGRAMME
This meeting will bring together international scientists and practitioners from NATO member, Partner and Mediterranean Dialogue countries to identify the key weaknesses in higher education for addressing issues of environmental security and sustainability challenges. This workshop will: 1) inform university professors how to adapt their curriculum and teaching strategies, 2) produce university graduates that are more capable of prioritizing, evaluating and managing environmental issues through exposure to a holistic approach to solving environmental problems, 3) strengthen ties among practicing environmental scientists, managers, and government officials, and 4) increase collaboration among faculty in higher education and between colleagues in NATO member, Partner and Mediterranean Dialogue countries. The teaching of environmental studies is well developed in North America and Western Europe where the principles of sustainable development are taken into account in teaching environmental problem solving. The approach is interdisciplinary with a focus on integrating the physical and natural sciences with the social sciences. Yet, these countries face additional challenges to address issues of unsustainable resource use, which in the area of energy, for example, poses an enormous risk to environmental security. In transition countries, this teaching approach has yet to develop and mature. Most environmental teaching focuses heavily on the sciences with little integration with other disciplines, specifically the social sciences. This workshop will begin to develop a broader based approach to the teaching of environmental studies by identifying the most significant health and environmental issues; addressing environmental security and sustainability issues within the local socio-economic constraints; identifying and prioritizing the most cost-effective educational strategies; promoting effective decision-making; and, making the best use of limited resources to achieve the greatest net environmental benefit.
These goals will be achieved by holding several sessions that: identify and discuss methods, results and strategies for conducting environmental and sustainability education; identify and present methods and techniques to use non-traditional methods of environmental education to focus on priority issues to achieve the greatest environmental and educational benefit; and, identify and discuss the most advanced pedagogic tools that can be implemented within the constraints faced by individual countries. In addition, there will be two working group sessions that discuss these issues and reach consensus on the best methods for prioritization, assessment and management of issues, for incorporation in the workshop book. A field trip to a nearby recently designated national park facing pressures of agriculture, forestry and recreation will serve as the basis of small-group case study work in interdisciplinary problem-solving with multiple stake-holders.
The ARW will contribute to the international knowledge related to prioritization of environmental education for promoting environmental security and sustainability issues. While the focus will be to assist transition countries, the tools will be equally important in developed countries through the cross-fertilization of ideas and experiences. Members of the organizing committee have active collaborations in developing countries, and many of the invited participants are expected to establish close working relationships. In fact, it has been proven that these meetings promote close working relationships between participating scientists which will continue long after the conclusion of the workshop, and which should further advance the application and realization of approaches developed during the workshop. For example, the idea to organize this ARW arose during Working Group sessions at the NATO ARW workshop on Enhancing Environmental Security in Transition Countries (Sibiu, Romania, 2006).
To our knowledge, there has been no specific effort that addresses the role of higher education in promoting environmental security, and no venue for academics and government policy makers to jointly discuss how to conduct research and teach students such that all countries, and especially transitional countries, will be more equipped to tackle complex matters of environmental security. Meetings and workshops in professional organizations rarely bring together academics and policy makers. This NATO-sponsored ARW would allow us to identify and convene the best educators, thinkers, and policy makers in this area to collectively address this very important pedagogical shortcoming in higher education and in environmental security.
Workshops (PDF).