Scoring and ranking farmland conservation activities to evaluate environmental performance and encourage sustainable farming

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Kathleen Lewis, John Skinner, James Finch, Tina Kaho, Marguerite Newbold, and Keith Bardon, ‘Scoring and ranking farmland conservation activities to evaluate environmental performance and encourage sustainable farming’, Sustainable Development, Vol. 5 (2): 71-77, version of record online 4 December 1998. The final, published version is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1719(199708)5:2%3C71::AID-SD61%3E3.0.CO;2-F/pdf © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.The University of Hertfordshire, in collaboration with two UK agricultural establishments ADAS and IACR-Rothamsted are developing a computerised decision support system for environmental management of arable agriculture. Part of this system is aimed towards encouraging sound farmland conservation to protect existing plants and animals, to encourage greater biodiversity and to help the farming community adopt more sustainable practices. The software aims to assess performance, help identify areas where improvements to existing habitats can be made and highlight the potential for new habitat creation. The assessment routines used determine a numerical eco-rating and textual description of performance by comparing actual practices with best practice.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Increasing The Socio-Cultural Relevance of Science Education for Sustainable Development

Socio-scientific issues should be considered in the course of students’ formal education in science as one of the ways in which science education ought to be connected to the goals of sustainable development. Approaches to education in science still perpetuate a way of thinking that is incommensurable with preparing learners to develop the understandings and skills requisite for active participation in an uncertain and complex world. In addition, uptake of science is declining worldwide, poverty is deepening, and environmental degradation is worsening. We argue herein that finding ways to link science education to issues of sustainable development could provide the basis for making science more relevant to learners, as well as better prepare learners for active participation in society. We raise the question: How can science education be more relevant, thereby enabling learners to deal with complex everyday issues and participate in decision-making oriented toward the goals of sustainable development? Drawing on experiences of interdisciplinary dialogue, we illustrate how reformulating the agenda in science education, such that it is oriented toward sustainable development, offers the basis for relevant teaching and learning vis-à-vis the engagement of learners in active learning processes.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_saarmste.htmlgv201

Rating Health and Social Indicators for Use with Indigenous Communities: A Tool for Balancing Cultural and Scientific Utility

Community participation, Health status indicators, Indigenous populations, Reliability and validity, Programme planning,