Course ideas from
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
Education for
sustainability workshops
Below are a four proposed workshops which could be run ‘in house’ by
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. At present they are only draft frameworks which
can be expanded on should delivery be a possibility. Elements of all the
sessions are taken from work which the Trust and its staff have considerable
experience of delivering.
Sessions 2 and 3 would probably be delivered more effectively at the
Trust’s Cellarhead Environmental Centre, although
there may be other suitable venues. 1 and 4 are more flexible and could be
delivered at any suitable venue.
1.Development Issues – human
impact on the environment.
Based on the work of the Development Education Centres, of which there are
several nationally, this session would use the Development Compass Rose as a
tool to encourage young people to look at an environmental issue. The
Development Compass Rose provides an innovative way of looking at the natural
(N), social (S), economic (E) and political/’who decides’ (W) aspects of a
particular problem. This could be used to look at a local issue, for example,
the development of a car park on local open space. It could also be used to
contrast issues in different countries – an often used example of this is
deforestation in
The session would demonstrate the use of development Compass Rose and other issues around development/sustainability education
Half-day session
2. Art as a tool in environmental education
Making use of work in different materials the session will explore involving young people in arts based projects which aim to provide them with a greater understanding of environmental issues, involve the in environmental action and/or encourage them to celebrate the natural environment.
Could be run as half-day or full-day session
3. Materials/sustainable woodland crafts
The Cellarhead Centre’s staff have considerable expertise in making practical use of natural materials. The session will provide an insight into the use of materials – where do the materials that we use in every day life originate? It will show how a natural (renewable) resource such as wood can be used at a local level. There will be an opportunity to learn new skills. The session will provide an opportunity to demonstrate in practical way, the concept of sustainability.
Full day session
4. The Neighbourhood survey – campaign – task.
Making use of cameras, video and other media – demonstrating approaches as to how young people might undertake a community audit of the local environment – engaging other local people and hopefully encouraging the development practical project ideas which will improve environmental quality.
Half-day session.
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