ABSTRACTThe poor performance of Pacific students at university is a concern for every level of society. Conventional models of teaching, learning and assessment have overlooked the cultural background of students, yet the effects of this oversight have been disastrous, alienating and disempowering. Studies of and developments in education in the Pacific and elsewhere offer opportunities to rethink the methods of teaching, learning and assessment of Pacific students in ways that are congruent with their home culture. Informed by the principle of so’a lau pule (the Samoan concept of consensus through consultation and conversation) and ethnographic research methods, this study describes an attempt to rethink ways of teaching, learning and assessing student performance in a third-year course on Resource Conservation and Management in the School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment at the University of the South Pacific. Introduced in 2007, the Student Innovative Contribution to Knowledge (SICK) allows students to participate in key decisions concerning teaching, learning and assessment. SICK is grounded in the principles of inclusiveness and participation. It takes account of the skills and abilities of Pacific students and is aligned with the philosophical basis of Pacific cultures. One hundred and fifty-eight students took part in this study over a 5-year period. Analysis was based on students’ written reviews of the semester’s work, in-depth conversation with individual students and the end-of-the-course evaluation. The findings show that, while students embrace the need for non-conventional forms of teaching, learning and assessment, the most frequently cited responses for non-participation are poor time management and varying perceptions of what is considered an innovative assessment. This study shows that understanding the cultural background of students is critical to creating culturally inclusive learning environments. 相似文献
China’s investments, financial incentives and deductions in terms of ecological conservation are based at the county level. Therefore, the monitoring and assessment of the effects of ecological conservation at the county level is important to provide a scientific basis for the assessment of the ecological and environmental quality at the county scale. This paper quantitatively estimated the dynamics of high-quality ecosystems and vegetation coverage over the past 15 years, and their relationships with the number of ecological conservation programs at the county level were analyzed. Then, the effects of ecological conservation measures on ecological changes at the county level and their regional suitability were assessed and discussed. The results showed that counties with a percentage of high-quality ecosystems greater than 50% were primarily distributed in northeastern China, southern subtropical China and the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and those with a percentage lower than 20% were mostly distributed in northwestern China, the southwestern karst region and the North China Plain. In recent decades, ecological conservation has focused on ecologically fragile regions; more than five ecological conservation programs have been implemented in most counties of the Three River Source Region in Qinghai Province, southeastern Tibet, western Sichuan, the Qilian Mountains, southern Xinjiang and other western regions, while only one or zero have been implemented in the eastern coastal area of China. Over the past 15 years, the proportional area of high-quality ecosystems has increased in approximately 53% of counties. The vegetation coverage of counties in the Loess Plateau, Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji), Sichuan-Guizhou-Chongqing, and Guangdong-Guangxi provincial-level areas has increased significantly. However, it decreased in northern Xinjiang, central Tibet, central and eastern Inner Mongolia, the Yangtze River Delta and other regions. The relationships between the numbers of ecological conservation programs and the indicators of ecosystem restoration response, such as high-quality ecosystem and vegetation coverage, do not show positive correlations. These results suggest that ecological conservation programs should be planned and implemented according to the distribution patterns of high-quality ecosystems and that restoration measures such as afforestation should follow natural principles and regional differentiation under the background of climate change. 相似文献
Habitat quality assessments are of great significance for protecting biodiversity. This study analyzes the changing habitat quality of Lashihai watershed based on SPOT satellite images. We extracted the land use data for Lashihai watershed in Yunnan province for the years 2000 and 2015, and then used an InVEST model to evaluate habitat degradation, habitat quality and habitat scarcity in the study area from 2000 to 2015. Spatial statistical methods were used to determine changes to spatial dynamics. Results indicate that the number of areas with habitat degradation was generally small, and that both the number of areas with habitat degradation and the degree of degradation had fallen noticeably during the fifteen-year study period. In general, the quality of habitats was maintained or improved, while the quality of habitats decreased in only a few areas. The scarcity of habitats for cultivated land had increased, the tension between people and land use was relatively prominent. The reason habitat quality in Lashihai watershed has improved can be attributed to three factors: 1) The policy of returning farmland to forests since 2000 has been well implemented and has achieved remarkable results. Loss of forests from logging and deforestation has basically been eliminated, and great progress has been made restoring the ecological environment. 2) High background value of quality habitat suitability benefits from the research area’s high vegetation coverage. 3) The development of the local tourism economy has transformed the area’s ecological advantages into an economic bonus, greatly increasing the income level and living standards of residents. At the same time, the ecological resource bonus has increased the enthusiasm of residents for ecological protection and has helped to promote the protection of local eco-systems, both reducing ecological degradation and improving habitat quality. At the same time, increasing conflicts between land and people should be addressed. Support is needed to promote development of the ecological economy while continuously reducing ecological degradation and further increasing residents’ income. There must be less reliance on industry and less pressure on both land and people, all the while ensuring that the local economy and ecology can more forward together in a sustainable way. 相似文献
This article shows the potential impact on global GHG emissions in 2030, if all countries were to implement sectoral climate policies similar to successful examples already implemented elsewhere. This assessment was represented in the IMAGE and GLOBIOM/G4M models by replicating the impact of successful national policies at the sector level in all world regions. The first step was to select successful policies in nine policy areas. In the second step, the impact on the energy and land-use systems or GHG emissions was identified and translated into model parameters, assuming that it would be possible to translate the impacts of the policies to other countries. As a result, projected annual GHG emission levels would be about 50 GtCO2e by 2030 (2% above 2010 levels), compared to the 60 GtCO2e in the ‘current policies’ scenario. Most reductions are achieved in the electricity sector through expanding renewable energy, followed by the reduction of fluorinated gases, reducing venting and flaring in oil and gas production, and improving industry efficiency. Materializing the calculated mitigation potential might not be as straightforward given different country priorities, policy preferences and circumstances.
Key policy insights
Considerable emissions reductions globally would be possible, if a selection of successful policies were replicated and implemented in all countries worldwide.
This would significantly reduce, but not close, the emissions gap with a 2°C pathway.
From the selection of successful policies evaluated in this study, those implemented in the sector ‘electricity supply’ have the highest impact on global emissions compared to the ‘current policies’ scenario.
Replicating the impact of these policies worldwide could lead to emission and energy trends in the renewable electricity, passenger transport, industry (including fluorinated gases) and buildings sector, that are close to those in a 2°C scenario.
Using successful policies and translating these to policy impact per sector is a more reality-based alternative to most mitigation pathways, which need to make theoretical assumptions on policy cost-effectiveness.