Title: Education
1Educations Role in Water Management
- Kevin J. Coyle, President
- National Environmental Education Training
Foundation www.neetf.org - Coyle_at_neetf.org
2Water ManagementWithout Education!
- Does education improve water management? Show
results? - Will future water management be the same or
harder without stronger education?
3A Personal Map
- Your place on the belief (that education can
work) continuum? - Your place on the awareness (vs. education)
continuum?
4Outreach or Education?(or both?)
- Awareness as a goal to itself and the knowledge
debate - What awareness, by itself, can achieve (one-step
vs. two steps)
5Awareness Impact
- 31 more likely to conserve water (61)
- 10 more likely to save electricity (85)
- 10 more likely to buy green products (50)
- 50 more likely to avoid (somewhat) the use of
chemicals in yard care (39) - 50 more likely to recycle (65)
6Common Ingredients for Awareness Impact
- Small changes in ongoing behaviors
- Very little dot connecting
- A sense of togetherness
7Dot Connecting and Water Management
- Leading cause of water pollution (eg.) how many
steps? - Does complexity keep the public from learning new
answers?
8Roper/NEETF 98 -- Main source of oil pollution
in U.S. waters?
9NEETF/Roper 1999 -- Emerging issues -- what is
the most common cause of water pollution?
10Watershed RunoffEducation Points
- Reduce run-off
- Manage vegetation
- Comprehend drainage spatial relationships
- Understand ecological sensitivities
11Common Sense Toward the Audience
- Farming and dot connecting
- Rural does not automatically mean knowledgeable
of resources - Urban usually means clueless
12Reason for Hope
- Ropers Two Groups of Community Movers and
Shakers - True Blue Greens
- Community Influentials
- A surprising overlap
- Numbers and attitudes toward learning
13Awareness vs. Education(Self Assessment)
- Spell out causation?
- Stories and sequence
- Back up and cover underlying principles?
- Definitions
-
- Display spatial relationships
- Visuals
14Awareness vs. Education(Self Assessment -- cont.)
- Teach application?
- Skills
- Enough time to absorb?
-
- Offer some hands-on experience?
15Summation
- Water education will increase in importance as a
part of any local strategy - Does the information you seek to teach require
awareness or deeper education? - How good are you at a) explaining cause-effect,
b) stepping back to cover definitions and c)
using visuals. - How good are you at reading the knowledge levels
and attitudes of your audience? - Are you looking toward the Influentials?
- Can we achieve improved water management without
stronger education? -