Environmental advocacy has a difficult position within environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). Proponents of pluralistic approaches to education see advocacy as a form of indoctrination. However, pluralistic education itself can be seen as a form of indoctrination. Its normative assumptions are based on the neo-liberal capitalist values that tend to view environmentalism as a threat to the established norms. In this paper I will argue that environmental advocacy is in fact essential for educating critical citizens capable of addressing sustainability challenges. This argument will be supported by the written reports on the documentary film about the radical environmental movement presented to the students of International Business Management Studies (IBMS) of The Hague University of Applied Science (HHS). This case study will provide an example of how environmental advocacy and the objective of pluralistic education can be reconciled and explore the advantages of combining business education with education for deep ecology. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJISD.2014.066621 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Social scientists of conservation typically address sources of legitimacy of conservation policies in relation to local communities’ or indigenous land rights, highlighting social inequality and environmental injustice. This chapter reflects on the underlying ethics of environmental justice in order to differentiate between various motivations of conservation and its critique. Conservation is discussed against the backdrop of two main ethical standpoints: preservation of natural resources for human use, and protection of nature for its own sake. These motivations will be examined highlighting mainstream conservation and alternative deep ecology environmentalism. Based on this examination, this chapter untangles concerns with social and ecological justice in order to determine how environmental and human values overlap, conflict, and where the opportunity for reconciliation lies, building bridges between supporters of social justice and conservation. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319713113#aboutBook LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The economic recession has hit especially hard the residential building sector in the EU region, e.g., the number of the housing completions has decreased -49% and the total residential output has been squeezed down by -24% between 2007 and 2014 (Euroconstruct, 2015). In turn, the aim of our paper is to suggest a set of radical, novel programmes for developing the national residential building sectors within EU member countries up to 2025. We have applied the framework of strategic niche management (SNM) to the diagnoses of the current portfolios of the innovation, R&D programs in our two member country contexts. In the case of the Northern Finland, the prime example is Hiukkavaara, the largest district to be built in the City of Oulu. Homes will be constructed for 20,000 new residents. Hiukkavaara is a model for climate- conscious design in the northern hemisphere. Energy and materials are conserved, nature is valued and human beings adapt to their environment. One sub-programme involves Future Buildings and Renewable Energy Project. In the case of the Netherlands, the prime example is Energiesprong (Energy Leap), i.e., the innovation programme commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior. The aim is to make buildings energy-neutral and boost large-scale initiatives. The sub-programmes are targeting homes owned by housing associations, privately owned homes, office buildings, shops and care institutions. This programme is about ensuring new supply by encouraging companies to package a variety of technical sub-solutions, full services and financing options as well as about asking clients to put out tenders and ask for quotes in novel ways, with the government making changes to the rules and the regulations. Experiences on which the Dutch case in this paper focuses are sub-programmes for residential buildings, which include de Stroomversnelling, LALOG and Ons Huis Verdient Het. Based on the emerging Finnish and Dutch evidence, we are suggesting key elements to be incorporated into future national residential programmes within EU member countries on: (1) radical direction with balanced stakeholder groups, trustworthy advocates, contextual goal-setting and barriers management, (2) radical networking with entrepreneurial roles and causal links, novel expertise, transparent choices and digital platforms and (3) radical learning processes to arrive at better informed markets on user preferences, co-innovating, new rules and regulations, higher performance/price ratios, higher quality, new roles and responsibilities assignments.
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