1.17 Comparison of Control and Toxic Reference Data between Honey Bee Laboratory Studies Conducted in Germany and in Spain over the Last Decade

The Draft EFSA Bee Guidance Document (2013) describes various types of bee studies to be part of the risk assessment. Eurofins Agroscience Services (EAS) has been conducting acute toxicity and chronic feeding studies with adult bees over the last decade and larval acute and chronic studies over the last 5 years in Germany and in Spain. The studies are conducted with different subspecies and in different times of the year in the two countries.The aim of the comparison is to find out if season and geographical origin of the bees have any influence on the test outcome, i.e. control/solvent control mortality and reference item 24 h LD50 range with controls and toxic reference data collected over multiple years. The results give an indication how relevant the testing of different subspecies is for the registration of plant protection products in Europe.The Draft EFSA Bee Guidance Document (2013) describes various types of bee studies to be part of the risk assessment. Eurofins Agroscience Services (EAS) has been conducting acute toxicity and chronic feeding studies with adult bees over the last decade and larval acute and chronic studies over the last 5 years in Germany and in Spain. The studies are conducted with different subspecies and in different times of the year in the two countries.The aim of the comparison is to find out if season and geographical origin of the bees have any influence on the test outcome, i.e. control/solvent control mortality and reference item 24 h LD50 range with controls and toxic reference data collected over multiple years. The results give an indication how relevant the testing of different subspecies is for the registration of plant protection products in Europe

Youth’s Concepts on Quality of Life between Materialism and Environmentalism. An Empirical Study in the Context of (Education for) Sustainable Development

Neue Lehrpläne, Bildungsstandards und Kompetenzmodelle für das Unterrichtsfach Geographie (und Wirt schaftskunde) fordern zunehmend ein, das Thema Lebensqualität (LQ) im engen Zusammenhang mit Grundge danken der nachhaltigen Entwicklung zu behandeln. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden die Ergebnisse eines For schungsprojekts präsentiert, das untersucht, inwiefern Schülerinnen und Schüler durch die Teilnahme an einer Forschung-Bildungs-Kooperation zum Thema LQ und Nachhaltigkeit, die sich am Grundgedanken des moderaten Konstruktivismus orientiert, dazu inspiriert werden, etablierte subjektive Vorstellungen darüber, was ein qualitativ hochwertiges Leben ausmacht, zu hinterfragen. Im Rahmen einer Querschnittsuntersuchung werden zunächst 195 Schülerinnen und Schüler zu ihren LQ-Vorstellungen befragt. 76 dieser Jugendlichen aus vier Schulklassen in Nord- (Österreich) und Südtirol (Italien) nehmen im Anschluss über ein gesamtes Schuljahr an einer Forschungs Bildungs-Kooperation teil. Die Veränderungen in ihren LQ-Vorstellungen werden im Rahmen eines Pre-Posttest Vergleichs untersucht, wobei zwei zentrale Merkmale näher betrachtet und typisiert werden: der Stellenwert von Materiellem/Finanziellem und intakter Umwelt/des Naturraums für die LQ. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass bei einem Großteil der Jugendlichen eine Reflexion der LQ-Vorstellungen hinsichtlich dieser beiden Merkmale initiiert werden kann. Aus den Ergebnissen werden Schlussfolgerungen und Ideen für die Praxis des Geographie (und Wirtschaftskunde)-Unterrichts im Sinne einer Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung abgeleitet.New curricula, educational standards, and competence models related to the subject of geography (and eco nomics) emphasize the necessity to address the topic of quality of life in strong association with the basic principles of sustainable development. In the article at hand, we want to present results of a study investigating to what extent students are inspired to question established concepts of quality of life after having participated in a research-education-cooperation, focusing on quality of life and sustainability and implementing principles of moderate constructivism. In a cross-sectional study, 195 students aged 15-17 years were asked about their individual concepts of quality of life. 76 of these students from four classes in Northern (Austria) and Southern Tyrol (Italy) then participated in the research-education-cooperation. The changes in their concepts of quality of life were investigated in a pre-post-test comparison. The analysis of the students’ concepts focuses on the significance of materialistic/financial aspects and of an intact natural environment for quality of life. The results show that the majority of the students are encouraged to reflect upon existing concepts in relation to both of these characteristics. Ideas for the practical implementation in geography (and economics) lessons contribu ting to Education for Sustainable Development are derived from these results.Peer Reviewe

Interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit im Rahmen von Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung. Österreichische und indische Jugendliche forschen gemeinsam zum Thema intragenerationale Gerechtigkeit.. GW-Unterricht|GW-Unterricht 141|

Dieser Beitrag beschreibt die theoretischen Hintergründe, den Ablauf und die Zielsetzung des Forschungsprojekts „AustrIndia- 4QOL“. Schüler/innen einer 7. Klasse AHS aus Vorarlberg arbeiten über digitale Medien mit Gleichaltrigen aus einer Schule in Nordindien zusammen und setzen sich gemeinsam mit Fragen zur Schaffung hoher Lebensqualität unter dem Gesichtspunkt intragenerationaler Gerechtigkeit auseinander. Durch moderat konstruktivistisch gestaltete Lernsettings wird versucht, bei den Jugendlichen das Bewusstsein und die Handlungsbereitschaft für eine nachhaltige Lebensweise zu stärken

“I Wanted a Profession That Makes a Difference”—An Online Survey of First-Year Students’ Study Choice Motives and Sustainability-Related Attributes

Higher education institutions are obligated to facilitate students in the development of sustainability competencies, which enable them to act as “change agents” in their future profession-specific environment. Therefore, students’ study motives, prior knowledge, attitudes, and experiences regarding sustainability should be considered when designing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programmes. The present study compares first-year students in teacher training with first-year students in other study programmes and explores their study choice motives as well as sustainability-related conceptions, engagement and self-efficacy beliefs using a semi-standardised online questionnaire. Results show that the choice of study is dominated by intrinsic factors and the relevance of extrinsic factors differs by degree programmes with lower extrinsic values for the teacher training students. Regarding sustainability, we find simple and often unelaborated concepts. Teacher training students show significantly higher scores than non-teacher training students regarding the sustainability-related behavioural domain and self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, a gender gap increasing with age and with lower sustainability scores for older males could be identified but only for teacher training students. In conclusion, the results show valuable starting points as well as challenges that should be considered when designing target-oriented learning processes in (inter)disciplinary sustainability courses at higher education institutions