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Share-Net
Newsflash –August 2008
Greetings from Share-Net.
2008 WESSA-Mondi National Interschools Environmental Quiz
An exciting evening was held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Pietermaritzburg, on Friday, 1 August 2008, at the national finals of the WESSA-Mondi National Interschools Enviro Quiz. High schools from Gauteng, the Eastern Province, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal participated in an environmental quiz with questions ranging from global warming and alien plants to indigenous knowledge and animal and plant identification.
Ten categories of questions, with ten questions in each category, eventually saw KwaZulu-Natal school and defending champions from last year, St Charles College, take the honours.
Share-Net supports National Arbor Week 2008
Arbor Week, which runs from 1 to 7 September, is a special week that has been set aside for the planting and caring of trees. In South Africa, Arbor Day started in 1983 and in 1997 it was extended to a National Arbor Week. Every South African Arbor Week celebration highlights two specific trees - one common and one or two rare species. In 2008, the common tree is Harpephyllum caffrum (Wild Plum) and the rare trees are Diospyros whyteana (Bladder-nut) and Markhamia zanzibarica (Bell Bean Tree).
Share-Net has put together an exciting package of resources to support activities, both in and out of the classroom, during Arbor Week.
Please see attachment.
Eco-School News
Now that the mid-year holidays are behind us, the rest of the year is speeding on and not much time remains before your Eco-reports / portfolios need to be completed and handed in by the 31 October. Don't forget to refer to your reporting guidelines to help you along the way and submit your portfolio to your regional co-ordinator or the national Eco-Schools office if you don't have a co-ordinator in your region. For questions and queries on the Eco-Schools programme, contact Bridget Ringdahl bridget@wessa.co.za or 033 330 3931 ext 145.
WWF TV channel launched
WWF has launched its own dedicated television channel to bring high quality campaign and conservation videos to a worldwide audience. The WWF channel can be accessed at the leading on-line environmental television site green.tv at http://www.green.tv/WWF . Viewers can also access it from the ‘Channels' tab on the homepage of green.tv. The channel can also be accessed via the WWF website www.panda.org
WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. The organisation has a long track record of using film and video to raise awareness of environmental challenges and using the web to inspire audiences and create change.
WWF's films will be available to view at any time anywhere in the world on green.tv as part of its video on demand functionality. In addition to all WWF films being available via the dedicated WWF channel, viewers will also be able to search for them using green.tv's search functionality.
The Volvo Adventure begins again …
A campaigning project to rescue an endangered and environmentally-sensitive urban park in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod has won the 2008 Volvo Adventure and the US$10 000 first prize, the five students of the ‘Green Sail' team, beating off stiff competition at the World Final in Gothenburg, Sweden this May. We are now searching for the 2009 winners – could it be your project representing your country? Could it be you? If you have a project involving young people between 13 and 16 years old, working in groups of two to five people and actively involved in devising and managing the project, then you can enter.
There is also a Great Big Bob the Bunny Cartoon competition for the under 13 years of age. Young people are invited to create a cartoon picture using Bob the Bunny and send it to Volvo. The best cartoons will be collated into a book of environmental messages and the team of people with the best cartoons will be invited to Sweden in 2009.
All you need to do to get started is to go to the Volvo Adventure website – www.volvoadventure.org . There you will find everything you need to register your project. You will receive a start-up package with instructions on how to proceed. We look forward to seeing your network's projects! Good luck.
Calling all indigenous tree enthusiasts ….
The popular Elsa Pooley Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and the Transkei is being completely updated and revised under its new title Trees of Eastern South Africa. Trees of Eastern South Africa , by Richard Boon and Elsa Pooley, is the most comprehensive and informative reference of its kind. It will include 1100 descriptions and full colour photographs of indigenous and invasive alien tree species (previously 780) as well as lots of additional information. Please see attachment for more details.
Tag your Tree!
If you would like your indigenous trees identified and labelled, please visit www.treetags.co.za for more details. Labels are a green anodized aluminium or plastic containing the following information: National tree list number, botanical name, English, Afrikaans and African names.
A dictionary of environmental terms ...
An A-Z dictionary of environmental terms has been compiled by the City of Cape Town. The dictionary is also available in Afrikaans and Xhosa.
See attachment.
With very best wishes from all of us at Share-Net.
Clare, Jim, Rhona, Ernest, Nathi and Tsepang
Environmental Education Courses + Meetings for 2008 and 2009
- The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) is an accredited education and training provider under the ETDP SETA (Accreditation number ETDP5190) and offers accredited courses for environmental education and training providers and practitioners. For further information on any of the WESSA accredited courses please contact Debbie Perry, Tel: 033 330 3931 extension 118, Fax: 033 330 4576, E-mail: debbie@wessa.co.za
- WESSA Four-Day Environmental Educators Course: Bookings are open for the Environmental Educators Course to be run from 7 - 10 September 2008. This accredited course develops capacity of people working in the field of EE. Please contact Sally Cumming on sally@wessa.co.za
- WasteCon 2008: 6 - 9 October 2008 , at the International Convention Centre – Durban. For more information, visit the WasteCon 2008 website: www.wastecon2008.co.za
- The 7th Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens will take place in Durban, South Africa from 1-6 November 2009. The title of the Congress is Action Learning: places, spaces and partnerships for biodiversity and human well-being. Everything you need to know about the congress is on the website www.ebg2009.org.za .
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Rhodes University will be running a Masters Degree in Environmental Education in 2009/2010 . The degree programme has been revised and addresses a range of critical issues for environmental education in South Africa and in Africa more widely, including quality of education, the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and new challenges such as how education can contribute to resilience, creativity and responsiveness to ecological degradation and climate change issues.
For further information see the document attached, and contact Prof. Heila Lotz-Sisitka on h.lotz@ru.ac.za
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Best of Both Worlds Conference 2009. International Conference on Environmental Education and Sustainability: Challenges and Best Practices. 19 – 22 April 2009. The convening of a third international Best of Both Worlds Conference is in support of the UN's Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) initiative. Five years into the Decade, this conference is as a forum for practitioners, teachers and those involved in education and communications to meet and share experiences in strengthening the framework for sustainable living. For more details, visit website www.unisa.ac.za/bestofbothworlds
Useful Places for updated information
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