Summary of Core Readings for Environmental Education-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theSummary of Core Readings for Environmental Education. Answer: The article revolves around the understanding of sustainability. Its introduction gives a brief knowledge of sustainability concerning three-dimensional interconnected webs of life forms and energy flow. According to the article, sustainability is described as processes or systems that operate on their own for an extended period. Systems, on the other hand, are a well-organized interconnection of elements (Heinberg, Lerch, 2010). An example of a complete system is earth, which has some interconnected systems within it. Systems have several characteristics, but the main one is that there are no wastages in a system. The energy and products go round in a closed cycle over the time, where refuse of one creature becomes dependent food for another. As per the article, the main pillars of sustainability are the triple bottom lines or the three Es. The first E stands for the environment which is supposed to be conserved for the healthy working of the system. The second E represents economic which means for the systems to survive; there must be an equal distribution of resources where every individual can meet his or her basic human needs (Kuhlman, Farrington, 2010). The last E stands for equity or the social equity. Equity is equal access to healthcare, food, water, and employment. However, extinction of species and high population pressure are some of the major problems experienced. Concerning this core reading, several ideas can be used to support the arguments of the essay. First, the definition of sustainability is concise and coherent thus the idea can be used in describing what the term sustainability is in the essay. Another important idea from the core reading is that sustainability has the various characteristics (Scheirer, 2005). Thus, while describing sustainability in the essay, its features are essential to mention. Lastly, like any other things, sustainability has its challenges. High population and extinction of species can come handy in explaining the problems facing sustainability.Core reading two: Herremans, I. M., Reid, R. E. (2002). Developing awareness of the sustainability concept. The Journal of Environmental Education, 34(1), 16-20. The article by Herremans and Reid affirm that all the educators have the mandate to make students competent environment citizens as providers of goods and services that are environmentally friendly (Herremans, Reid, 2002). Therefore, the article discusses a technique that can be introduced in the classroom to help students fully recognize, understand and implement the idea of sustainability. It presents and discusses sustainability triad as a method of teaching sustainability issues in the classroom. A short case of a park is used in the article to determine if the three central concepts of sustainability are in harmony or they are conflicting. However, the article incorporates two of the three dimensions as suggested by the School Council in the councils environment project. According to the councils suggestions, students are supposed to learn environmental issues through investigations and discovery (Morelli, 2011). Nonetheless, the new method of sustainability triad is more effective in teaching than the traditional methods. Students can apply the sustainability triad even at the local levels such as local resorts, hotels, and new development projects. The sustainability triad is helpful in understanding whether the three dimensions are congruent or conflicting. The results pave the way to the next step which is finding ways to improve the situation. Developing awareness of the sustainability concept core reading, present critical ideas that are important in developing my essay. The ideas are essential for backing up the essay body. It provides a way of determining whether the three main dimensions of the sustainability concept are in congruence or conflicting (Lozano, 2008). After understanding the status, it then becomes easy in devising the next step. Similarly, it is helpful in backing up the idea of new techniques that can be incorporated in the classroom while teaching students about the concept of sustainability. Third core reading: Brueckner, M., Durey, A., Mayes, R., Pforr, C. (2013). The mining boom and Western Australias changing landscape: Towards sustainability or business as usual?. Rural Society, 22(2), 111-124. Martin Brueckner et al. claims that mining and public reputation has changed as time goes. In the early days mining activities were castigated as being the main factors that disrupted the environment. However, the perception nowadays has changed since the ones involved in mining have significantly invested in socially responsible and sustainable mining (Brueckner, Durey, Mayes, Pforr, 2013). Sustainable mining is now experienced in WA as well as some other parts of the world. Mining cannot be dismissed since it has a lot of benefits. Some benefits according to the article are increased state revenue, increased employment and decreased economic disparities among populations (Petrova, Marinova, 2013). Although mining has some undesired negatives such as environmental degradation and effects to indigenous people, the sustainable mining seems to be the answer to such problems. The state of Western Australia and the mining companies have recently benefited from the adoption of sustainable mining. Revenue and resource extractions have increased tremendously. However, the article claims that the new mining strategy is still vulnerable and does not solve all environmental problems. The articles ideas are fundamental in developing the body of my essay. Some of the essential concepts include the benefits of mining. From the article, several advantages of mining are discussed and thus can be applied in the essay. Similarly, mining has some adverse effects. While exploring the negative impacts of mining regarding sustainability, ideas from the article can be useful. Lastly, the article also provides a good understanding of sustainable mining as well as its ability to solve some sustainability problem. Still, the article offers good ideas on why the sustainable mining could not exclusively address environmental issues. References Heinberg, R., Lerch, D. (2010). What Is Sustainability?. The Post Carbon Reader, 11-19. Kuhlman, T., Farrington, J. (2010). What is sustainability?. Sustainability, 2(11), 3436-3448. Scheirer, M. A. (2005). Is sustainability possible? A review and commentary on empirical studies of program sustainability. American Journal of Evaluation, 26(3), 320-347. Herremans, I. M., Reid, R. E. (2002). Developing awareness of the sustainability concept. The Journal of Environmental Education, 34(1), 16-20. Morelli, J. (2011). Environmental sustainability: A definition for environmental professionals. Journal of environmental sustainability, 1(1), 2. Lozano, R. (2008). Envisioning sustainability three-dimensionally. Journal of cleaner production, 16(17), 1838-1846. Brueckner, M., Durey, A., Mayes, R., Pforr, C. (2013). The mining boom and Western Australias changing landscape: Towards sustainability or business as usual?. Rural Society, 22(2), 111-124. Petrova, S., Marinova, D. (2013). Social impacts of mining: Changes in the local social landscape. Rural Society, 22(2), 153-165.