A Critical Policy Analysis of Environmental and Sustainability Education in Canada

Despite calls to re-orient school systems toward sustainability, there has been uneven progress toward mainstreaming of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) into Kindergarten-Grade 12 (K-12) schooling. This doctoral dissertation examines the state of ESE policy research internationally, as well as policy and practice in ESE in the Canadian K-12 public schooling system. The research falls under the umbrella of critical comparative policy studies, with theoretical and methodological approaches derived from both policy mobilities and policy enactment research. Each manuscript chapter is animated by a different analytic framework; in chapter 2, we use a systematic review to critically assess the status of policy research within the international field of ESE; in chapter 3, we employ a policy mobilities framework to textual analysis of provincial ESE policies; and in chapter 4, I focus on policy enactment in four schools within the province of Manitoba. Findings in Chapter 2, a systematic review of policy research, provide impetus for the subsequent two manuscripts: the empirical foundation of policy research in ESE was found to be limited; there existed no comparative studies of ESE policy within Canada; and most studies focused on classroom implementation of curriculum. Chapter 3 examined the mobilization of international ESE policy across six provincial and territorial ministries of education in Canada. We documented three distinct policy clusters in provincial ESE policy, related to sustainable development, environmental education, and Indigenous education, each emphasizing different foci and different relationships to a global ESD assemblage. Chapter 4 used comparative case study analysis to examine ESD policy enactment in four schools within the province of Manitoba. I focused on the relationship between actors and their material contexts, including school buildings and school grounds, to explore how particular ESD policy enactments are produced in specific places. This chapter examined policy enactment in relation to a provincial eco-certification program, which functioned as a policy apparatus through an encouragement and rewards model. Chapter 4 highlights the role of “relational” leadership, which is distributed amongst different school-based actors and reliant on material infrastructures. Overall, this dissertation provides critical foundational research with respect to a) the status of ESE policy research internationally; and b) ESE policy mandates across Canadian provinces and their enactment trajectories

A National Census of Sustainability in K-12 Education Policy: Implications for International Monitoring, Evaluation, and Research

This paper reports on the first nationwide census examining sustainability uptake in policy initiatives in Canadian K-12 education. Included in the study are each of Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial ministries of education, and all 374 public school divisions across the country. Sustainability was defined as including, at minimum, consideration of environmental issues, with the study also encompassing use of other related terminologies. Data were collected on three types of policy initiatives: (a) the existence of sustainability-specific policy, (b) participation in sustainability certification programs, and (c) the existence of sustainability staff, which were examined in relation to a range of geographic and institutional variables. Sustainability-specific policy was examined across five domains of a whole institution approach to sustainability: governance, curriculum, facilities and operations, research, and community outreach. We found that 54% of ministries of education and 59% of school divisions in Canada had sustainability-specific policy, most commonly in the curriculum domain at the ministry level and in the operations domain at the school division level. In addition, 43% of school divisions had participated in a sustainability certification program, and 25% had sustainability staff. We discuss implications for policy making in Canada as well for intergovernmental UN policy programs, in particular regarding new policy development and monitoring and evaluation efforts

Heterogeneity in a temperate forest canopy: describing patterns of distribution and depredation of arthropod assemblages

Resource quality/availability differ throughout vertical space in the forest. It is expected that arthropod communities distribute themselves in relation to these different resources while also avoiding predators. I investigated small-scale heterogeneity in the vertical distribution of spider and beetle communities in a sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) canopy. Comparing across four strata (understory through upper canopy crown), I documented gradients in density, diversity and species composition, with a stronger response to vertical gradation exhibited by spider assemblages compared to beetle assemblages. I used the concept of refuge from natural enemies to explore how impacts of predators vary in vertical space. Bird exclosure experiments demonstrated an impact of avian foraging that increased with distance from the forest floor, while bait trial experiments indicated strong predation pressure from invertebrate predators in the lower canopy. Taken together, these results indicate that heterogeneity in vertical space is able to produce differences in arthropod communities over small spatial scalesLa disponibilité et la qualité des ressources diffèrent à travers le gradient spatial vertical d'une forêt. On prédit que les communautés d'arthropodes se distribuent suivant ces ressources tout en évitant les prédateurs. J'ai investigué la distribution verticale à petite échelle des araignées et des coléoptères dans la canopée d'une érablière à sucre (Acer saccharum Marsh.). En comparant quatre strate d'élévation (de la strate arbustive à la haute canopée), j'ai documenté les gradients de densité et de diversité ainsi que la composition en espèce, incluant une plus forte réponse au gradient vertical de la part des assemblages d'araignées. J'ai employé le concept de refuge des ennemis naturels pour explorer comment les impacts des prédateurs varient dans l'espace verticale. Des expériences avec des exclos aviaires ont démontré que les pressions de prédation aviaire augmentent en s'éloignant du sol, alors que celles utilisant des appâts indiquent une forte pression des prédateurs invertébrés dans la basse canopée. Mis ensemble, ces résultats indiquent que l'hétérogénéité spatiale verticale peut produire des différences dans les communautés d'arthropodes à de petites échelles spatiales

Disrupting the 'business as usual' approach to educating for health and sustainability

The article below is a follow-up to a recent panel discussion held at the 2020 ACNEM online conference - Environmental and Viral Disruptors: Rising to the Challenge, Reducing Risk, Future Proofing Humanity. The panel was convened to discuss the provocation 'Are new models of education needed for human survival? A discussion amongst educators'. The lead author, Leahy, was one of the educators on that panel. The ensuing discussion expands on the various points raised in the panel conversation to argue that we need to disrupt the business as usual approach to education if we are serious about rising to the challenges we currently face with regards to health, sustainability and climate change

Season total densities of arthropods (total and individual groups) on caged & control branches in four vertical strata

<p>Data from a 2007 field study in the Morgan Arboretum, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec.</p> <p>Associated with a published paper (https://peerj.com/articles/138/).</p> <p>This dataset has 11 columns and 160 rows of data.</p> <p>Column titles:</p> <p>TRT = cage (caged branch) or control (no cage)</p> <p>Stratum = one of four vertical strata (UN = understory; LC = lower canopy; MC = mid canopy; UC = upper canopy)</p> <p>Rep = tree identity; 20 mature sugar maple trees were used, with control and caged branches in each stratum (i.e. 8 branches per tree)</p> <p>The next 8 columns contain the densities of the various groups on each branch. Note that density is provided as individuals per gram of dry leaf weight.</p> <p>ART = all arthropods combined</p> <p>Ara = spiders (Araneae)</p> <p>Col = beetles (Coleoptera)</p> <p>Der = earwigs (Dermaptera)</p> <p>Hem = true bugs (Hemiptera)</p> <p>Hym = ants, bees & wasps (Hymenoptera)</p> <p>Lep = caterpillars (Lepidoptera)</p> <p>Opi = harvestmen (Opiliones)</p> <p> </p> <p>Note that two branches contain NAs - the cages on these branches were lost during the study.</p> <p> </p

BEETLES (COLEOPTERA) OF SCATARIE ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA BEETLES (COLEOPTERA) OF SCATARIE ISLAND 19

Beetles were collected as part of a biodiversity survey of Scatarie Island. Ninety-four species of Coleoptera have now been recorded from Scatarie Island, including 81 native and 13 introduced Palaearctic species. Seventeen species are recorded for the first time for Cape Breton Island. Of these five, Atheta remulsa Casey, Baeocera youngi (Cornell), Cyphon confusus Brown, Scirtes tibialis Guérin-Méneville, and Trixagus carinicollis (Schaeffer) are recorded for the first time in Nova Scotia. Other noteworthy records include the coccinellid Hyperaspis brunnescens (Dobzhansky), previously known from the American Midwest; an undescribed weevil in the genus Parenthis, and Atheta (Datomicra) acadiensis Klimaszewski &amp; Majka, a recently described aleocharine rove beetle known only from the Maritime Provinces. The composition of this fauna is briefly discussed in the context of introduced species, flightless species, and island biogeography and biodiversity benchmarks in the province and region. Preliminary indications are that no more than (and possibly considerably less than) 2/3 of the predicted fauna on Scatarie Island has this far been documented. The composition of this island fauna is compared to the &quot;source&quot; fauna found in Cape Breton County to determine how representative the Scatarie Island fauna may be of the beetles found on the adjacent mainland. Des coléoptères ont été prélevés dans le cadre d&apos;une étude de la biodiversité de l&apos;île Scatarie. À ce jour, 94 espèces de coléoptères ont été recensées dans l&apos;île, dont 81 espèces indigènes et 13 espèces paléarctiques introduites. Dix-sept de ces espèces sont recensées pour la première fois dans l&apos;île du Cap-Breton et cinq de ces dix-septespèces, soit Atheta remulsa Casey, Baeocera youngi (Cornell), Cyphon confusus Brown, Scirtes tibialis On discute ici brièvement de la composition de cette faune dans le contexte des espèces introduites et des espèces aptères, et aussi de la biogéographie et des indices de référence en matière de biodiversité dans la province et dans la région. D&apos;après les indications préliminaires, on aurait documenté jusqu&apos;ici tout au plus les 2/3 (voire une proportion bien plus basse) de la faune qu&apos;on pense trouver dans l&apos;île Scatarie. Pour déterminer dans quelle mesure la faune de cette île est représentative des coléoptères présents dans la péninsule adjacente, on a comparé sa composition à celle de la faune « source » se trouvant dans le comté du Cap-Breton

Impact of using a broad-based multi-institutional approach to build capacity for non-communicable disease research in Thailand

Abstract Thailand’s transition to high middle-income country status has been accompanied by demographic changes and associated shifts in the nation’s public health challenges. These changes have necessitated a significant shift in public health focus from the treatment of infectious diseases to the more expensive and protracted management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in older adults. In 2010, in response to this shift in focus, the University of Michigan and colleagues at the Praboromarajchanok Institute for Health Workforce Development in Thailand began work on a broad-based multi-institutional programme for NCD research capacity-building in Thailand. To begin to build a base of intervention research we paired our programme’s funded Thai postdoctoral fellows with United States mentors who have strong programmes of intervention research. One direct impact of the programme was the development of research ‘hubs’ focused upon similar areas of investigative focus such as self-management of cancer symptoms, self-management of HIV/AIDS and health technology information applications for use in community settings. Within these hubs, interventions with proven efficacy in the United States were used as a foundation for culturally relevant interventions in Thailand. The programme also aimed to develop the research support structures necessary within departments and colleges for grant writing and management, dissemination of new knowledge, and ethical conduct of human subject research. In an effort to capitalise on large national health datasets and big data now available in Thailand, several of the programme’s postdoctoral fellows began projects that use data science methods to mine this asset. The investigators involved in these ground-breaking projects form the core of a network of research hubs that will be able to capitalise on the availability of lifespan health data from across Thailand and provide a robust working foundation for expansion of research using data science approaches. Going forward, it is vitally important to leverage this groundwork in order to continue fostering rapid growth in NCD research and training as well as to capitalise upon these early gains to create a sustaining influence for Thailand to lead in NCD research, improve the health of its citizens, and provide ongoing leadership in Southeast Asia.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/173184/1/12961_2019_Article_464.pd