Spreading the message of environmental science education in Southern Africa and beyond

- Sibongile Mokoena, SAEON Education Outreach Coordinator

SAEON's Sibongile Mokoena and Joe Sibiya, Education Outreach Officer of the SAEON Ndlovu Node, attended the EEASA (Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa) 2006 conference which was held in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Hosted by the Zimbabwe Environmental Education Consultative Forum (ZWEECF) and supported by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the conference was attended by delegates from countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and even from as far afield as Malaysia.

EEASA is an opportunity to interact, learn and share information with a broad spectrum of environmental educators from across the SADC region. The programme was tightly packed with 36 sessions per day consisting of presentations, workshops, round-table discussions or discussion papers. Keynote speakers, mostly university staff and government departments, were part of the daily plenary sessions in Environment & Tourism; Education; and Sport & Culture.

Environmental education vs environmental science education

The SAEON presentation by Joe and Sibongile - entitled 'Extra-curricular environmental science education and monitoring: using ecological research for delivery' - attracted considerable attention. Delegates were intrigued by the particular emphasis that was placed on science. Sibongile and Joe interacted with the audience to make them understand that the SAEON programme is more than environmental education; it is environmental science education. They had to explain that the programme focuses on the scientific skills of monitoring and on developing the scientists of the future.

The delegates also had the opportunity to visit community projects like paper making and permaculture, as well as the botanical gardens.


Sibongile Mokoena shares information on SAEON's education outreach programmes with delegates (Picture © SAEON)	Joe explains to delegates that the SAEON education outreach programmes are directed at developing the environmental scientists of the future (Picture © SAEON)

Sibongile looks at some of the school projects on display (Picture © SAEON)	Serious about nature. A girl paints elements of nature during a school project at the EEASA Conference (Picture © SAEON)