Stars and STEM Stories
Partnering for Success: New Zealand's Implementation Strategies
Kathryn Hicks and Aaron Fleming of the Royal Society of New Zealand recently assumed management of the New Zealand GLOBE Program. Since the beginning of April of 2006, they have been busy bringing New Zealand up to speed with GLOBE and are very excited about their new approach to the delivery of GLOBE in New Zealand. In just a few months, they were able to arrange a small scale training supported by GLOBE Master Trainer, Peter Hardy, of Australia. Many of you had a chance to meet them at the GLOBE Annual Conference in Phuket, Thailand. For those of you who did not have the opportunity, here is a bit about New Zealand's new approach to the GLOBE Program. We look forward to many great achievements by this team.
GLOBE New Zealand has recently undergone some major changes and is now part of the Environmental Monitoring and Action Project (EMAP) program. The objective of EMAP, which is facilitated by the Royal Society of New Zealand, is to light the spark in students and teachers for science and technology by combining the GLOBE Program and the National Waterways Project. It is funded by the Ministry of Education Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom (LEOTC) fund.
A major focus for EMAP is to improve student learning outcomes by providing curriculum support for environmental monitoring and action projects. Students are encouraged to consider the effects of land use on the environment and develop an understanding of human impact on the environment and the need for conservation and kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Students will be able to use the data they collect to create relevant action-oriented projects. This means that students are not only learning about the environment in the environment, but they are also using their knowledge to do something for the environment.
The National Waterways Project provides access to water quality monitoring activities for rivers, streams and other fresh water systems. Since its inception in 2000, this project has evolved from providing curriculum support for simple monitoring of waterway quality to consideration of data collected and taking action to enhance the water quality based on these results. The combined delivery of the GLOBE Program and the National Waterways Project provides a new delivery of environmental education in New Zealand and continues to encourage environmentally sustainable practice, reminding students that they can make a difference to the world we live in.
This combined delivery has strong links with the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and routinely incorporates their perspectives on the environment into program planning and delivery, including providing for substantive Māori content and promoting collaboration with the larger community.
This exciting project, while still new, has the scope to promote sustainable futures through environmental education and to help New Zealand's young people to develop into responsible and informed members of society taking personal responsibility for the environment. The overall result will be a more environmentally literate population in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
For more information about EMAP, please visit their temporary website at http://www.emap.rsnz.org. The first newsletter is available to download from this site. You may also email Aaron Fleming at aaron.fleming@rsnz.org.
28 August 2006