A relational approach to landscape stewardship: Towards a new perspective for multi-actor collaboration
- Cockburn, Jessica J, Rosenberg, Eureta, Copteros, Athina, Cornelius, Susanna F, Libala, Notiswa, Metcalfe, Liz, van der Waal, Benjamin
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Rosenberg, Eureta , Copteros, Athina , Cornelius, Susanna F , Libala, Notiswa , Metcalfe, Liz , van der Waal, Benjamin
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370098 , vital:66297 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/land9070224"
- Description: Landscape stewardship is increasingly understood within the framing of complex social-ecological systems. To consider the implications of this, we focus on one of the key characteristics of complex social-ecological systems: they are relationally constituted, meaning that system characteristics emerge out of dynamic relations between system components. We focus on multi-actor collaboration as a key form of relationality in landscapes, seeking a more textured understanding of the social relations between landscape actors. We draw on a set of ‘gardening tools’ to analyse the boundary-crossing work of multi-actor collaboration. These tools comprise three key concepts: relational expertise, common knowledge, and relational agency. We apply the tools to two cases of landscape stewardship in South Africa: the Langkloof Region and the Tsitsa River catchment. These landscapes are characterised by economically, socio-culturally, and politically diverse groups of actors. Our analysis reveals that history and context strongly influence relational processes, that boundary-crossing work is indeed difficult, and that doing boundary-crossing work in smaller pockets within a landscape is helpful. The tools also helped to identify three key social-relational practices which lend a new perspective on boundary-crossing work: 1. belonging while differing, 2. growing together by interacting regularly and building common knowledge, and 3. learning and adapting together with humility and empathy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Rosenberg, Eureta , Copteros, Athina , Cornelius, Susanna F , Libala, Notiswa , Metcalfe, Liz , van der Waal, Benjamin
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370098 , vital:66297 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/land9070224"
- Description: Landscape stewardship is increasingly understood within the framing of complex social-ecological systems. To consider the implications of this, we focus on one of the key characteristics of complex social-ecological systems: they are relationally constituted, meaning that system characteristics emerge out of dynamic relations between system components. We focus on multi-actor collaboration as a key form of relationality in landscapes, seeking a more textured understanding of the social relations between landscape actors. We draw on a set of ‘gardening tools’ to analyse the boundary-crossing work of multi-actor collaboration. These tools comprise three key concepts: relational expertise, common knowledge, and relational agency. We apply the tools to two cases of landscape stewardship in South Africa: the Langkloof Region and the Tsitsa River catchment. These landscapes are characterised by economically, socio-culturally, and politically diverse groups of actors. Our analysis reveals that history and context strongly influence relational processes, that boundary-crossing work is indeed difficult, and that doing boundary-crossing work in smaller pockets within a landscape is helpful. The tools also helped to identify three key social-relational practices which lend a new perspective on boundary-crossing work: 1. belonging while differing, 2. growing together by interacting regularly and building common knowledge, and 3. learning and adapting together with humility and empathy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Attitudinal difference surveys perpetuate harmful tropes: A comment on Nattrass
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Le Grange, Lesley
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Le Grange, Lesley
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370129 , vital:66300 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/8469"
- Description: We reply to the article, ‘Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences?’, authored by University of Cape Town (UCT) researcher Nicoli Nattrass1 and published in the South African Journal of Science on 27 May 2020. At the time of writing our reply the article had already received sharp criticism from the Black Academic Caucus at UCT and in a statement released on 5 June 2020, the UCT executive distanced itself from the content of the paper, inviting rigorous, respectful review of the published research. Nattrass’ article1 follows two papers published in 2019 by scholars associated with South African universities, both of which were widely denounced for the racist undertones of their content. The first article was authored by Stellenbosch University researchers who reported on low cognitive functioning of coloured women linked to education levels and lifestyles2 ; see comment by Le Grange3 . The second article was co-authored by an adjunct professor at UCT and examined the role of cognitive ability or intelligence on slave exports from Africa4 . These publications gave rise to a broader debate on enduring racism in science and the re-ascendency of race science internationally. In this reply, we focus on the methodology of attitudinal survey used for the study reported by Nattrass (and by many other scientists). There are two lines of argument that we weave together: the quality of the research as reported, and problems inherent to comparative attitudinal survey research (regardless of how well it is executed). It should be noted that the Black Academic Caucus at UCT has also critiqued the research design, identifying many of the points we make here, and they have additionally included a discourse analysis of the paper (circulated via e-mail). To demonstrate how problematic a survey design can be, particularly when it is not rigorously executed, we share data and observations that counter the apparent findings of Nattrass’ study. We then argue that the publication of this research, in this manner, is detrimental to the biodiversity sector in which the tropes being perpetuated, can cause enormous harm. In the process we hope to encourage scientists to be more reflexive about their methodology, and we encourage the South African Journal of Science to publish works that are worthy of the young people of this country - research in which they can recognise themselves, rather than being forced to look at reductionist portrayals, legitimised under the banner of science.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Le Grange, Lesley
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370129 , vital:66300 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/8469"
- Description: We reply to the article, ‘Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences?’, authored by University of Cape Town (UCT) researcher Nicoli Nattrass1 and published in the South African Journal of Science on 27 May 2020. At the time of writing our reply the article had already received sharp criticism from the Black Academic Caucus at UCT and in a statement released on 5 June 2020, the UCT executive distanced itself from the content of the paper, inviting rigorous, respectful review of the published research. Nattrass’ article1 follows two papers published in 2019 by scholars associated with South African universities, both of which were widely denounced for the racist undertones of their content. The first article was authored by Stellenbosch University researchers who reported on low cognitive functioning of coloured women linked to education levels and lifestyles2 ; see comment by Le Grange3 . The second article was co-authored by an adjunct professor at UCT and examined the role of cognitive ability or intelligence on slave exports from Africa4 . These publications gave rise to a broader debate on enduring racism in science and the re-ascendency of race science internationally. In this reply, we focus on the methodology of attitudinal survey used for the study reported by Nattrass (and by many other scientists). There are two lines of argument that we weave together: the quality of the research as reported, and problems inherent to comparative attitudinal survey research (regardless of how well it is executed). It should be noted that the Black Academic Caucus at UCT has also critiqued the research design, identifying many of the points we make here, and they have additionally included a discourse analysis of the paper (circulated via e-mail). To demonstrate how problematic a survey design can be, particularly when it is not rigorously executed, we share data and observations that counter the apparent findings of Nattrass’ study. We then argue that the publication of this research, in this manner, is detrimental to the biodiversity sector in which the tropes being perpetuated, can cause enormous harm. In the process we hope to encourage scientists to be more reflexive about their methodology, and we encourage the South African Journal of Science to publish works that are worthy of the young people of this country - research in which they can recognise themselves, rather than being forced to look at reductionist portrayals, legitimised under the banner of science.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Building capacity for green, just and sustainable futures – a new knowledge field requiring transformative research methodology
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Ramsarup, Presha, Gumede, Sibusisiwe, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Ramsarup, Presha , Gumede, Sibusisiwe , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- South Africa , Renewable energy sources , Climatic changes , Clean energy
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59613 , vital:27631 , http://joe.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/No_65_2016/JoE_complete.sflb.ashx
- Description: Education has contributed to a society-wide awareness of environmental issues, and we are increasingly confronted with the need for new ways to generate energy, save water and reduce pollution. Thus new forms of work are emerging and government, employers and educators need to know what ‘green’ skills South Africa needs and has. This creates a new demand for ‘green skills’ research. We propose that this new knowledge field – like some other educational fields – requires a transformative approach to research methodology. In conducting reviews of existing research, we found that a transformative approach requires a reframing of key concepts commonly used in researching work and learning; multi-layered, mixed method studies; researching within and across diverse knowledge fields including non-traditional fields; and both newly configured national platforms and new conceptual frameworks to help us integrate coherently across these. Critical realism is presented as a helpful underpinning for such conceptual frameworks, and implications for how universities prepare educational researchers are flagged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Ramsarup, Presha , Gumede, Sibusisiwe , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- South Africa , Renewable energy sources , Climatic changes , Clean energy
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59613 , vital:27631 , http://joe.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/No_65_2016/JoE_complete.sflb.ashx
- Description: Education has contributed to a society-wide awareness of environmental issues, and we are increasingly confronted with the need for new ways to generate energy, save water and reduce pollution. Thus new forms of work are emerging and government, employers and educators need to know what ‘green’ skills South Africa needs and has. This creates a new demand for ‘green skills’ research. We propose that this new knowledge field – like some other educational fields – requires a transformative approach to research methodology. In conducting reviews of existing research, we found that a transformative approach requires a reframing of key concepts commonly used in researching work and learning; multi-layered, mixed method studies; researching within and across diverse knowledge fields including non-traditional fields; and both newly configured national platforms and new conceptual frameworks to help us integrate coherently across these. Critical realism is presented as a helpful underpinning for such conceptual frameworks, and implications for how universities prepare educational researchers are flagged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Eco-Schools and the quality of education in South Africa: Realising the potential
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386487 , vital:68146 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122759"
- Description: Eco-Schools South Africa is increasingly being used by external partners as a framework for supporting environmental education in schools. This paper shares the findings of a recent evaluation of the programme in relation to the quality of education in South African schools. Do Eco-Schools activities help to improve the conditions of teaching and learning? Or do they take teachers and students away from their core focus? Evaluation of learner and teacher work in Eco-Schools found signs of the quality problems that currently plague the schools system, and there is evidence that the programme can add to the complexity to which many teachers struggle to respond. The evaluation also found, however, that the programme has significant potential to improve conditions for teaching and learning. The paper is an opportunity to reflect on how environmental education support for schools, in general, and Eco-Schools South Africa, in particular, can detract from and strengthen teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386487 , vital:68146 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122759"
- Description: Eco-Schools South Africa is increasingly being used by external partners as a framework for supporting environmental education in schools. This paper shares the findings of a recent evaluation of the programme in relation to the quality of education in South African schools. Do Eco-Schools activities help to improve the conditions of teaching and learning? Or do they take teachers and students away from their core focus? Evaluation of learner and teacher work in Eco-Schools found signs of the quality problems that currently plague the schools system, and there is evidence that the programme can add to the complexity to which many teachers struggle to respond. The evaluation also found, however, that the programme has significant potential to improve conditions for teaching and learning. The paper is an opportunity to reflect on how environmental education support for schools, in general, and Eco-Schools South Africa, in particular, can detract from and strengthen teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Eco-Schools and the quality of education in South Africa: Realising the potential
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370511 , vital:66349 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122759"
- Description: Eco-Schools South Africa is increasingly being used by external partners as a framework for supporting environmental education in schools. This paper shares the findings of a recent evaluation of the programme in relation to the quality of education in South African schools. Do Eco-Schools activities help to improve the conditions of teaching and learning? Or do they take teachers and students away from their core focus? Evaluation of learner and teacher work in Eco-Schools found signs of the quality problems that currently plague the schools system, and there is evidence that the programme can add to the complexity to which many teachers struggle to respond. The evaluation also found, however, that the programme has significant potential to improve conditions for teaching and learning. The paper is an opportunity to reflect on how environmental education support for schools, in general, and Eco-Schools South Africa, in particular, can detract from and strengthen teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370511 , vital:66349 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122759"
- Description: Eco-Schools South Africa is increasingly being used by external partners as a framework for supporting environmental education in schools. This paper shares the findings of a recent evaluation of the programme in relation to the quality of education in South African schools. Do Eco-Schools activities help to improve the conditions of teaching and learning? Or do they take teachers and students away from their core focus? Evaluation of learner and teacher work in Eco-Schools found signs of the quality problems that currently plague the schools system, and there is evidence that the programme can add to the complexity to which many teachers struggle to respond. The evaluation also found, however, that the programme has significant potential to improve conditions for teaching and learning. The paper is an opportunity to reflect on how environmental education support for schools, in general, and Eco-Schools South Africa, in particular, can detract from and strengthen teaching and learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Editorial
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/389759 , vital:68481 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/216901"
- Description: This issue of the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education coincides with the start of the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change. COP26 in Glasgow is, like its predecessors, a Conference of Parties who will deliberate how to lower global greenhouse emissions and build adaptive capacity so as to reduce the risk and impacts of climate change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/389759 , vital:68481 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/216901"
- Description: This issue of the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education coincides with the start of the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change. COP26 in Glasgow is, like its predecessors, a Conference of Parties who will deliberate how to lower global greenhouse emissions and build adaptive capacity so as to reduce the risk and impacts of climate change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Editorial for Special Issue: Education for Sustainability in a Time of Crises
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370533 , vital:66352 , xlink:href="10.4314/sajee.v36i1.1"
- Description: There is an old and still popular saying that a crisis is an opportunity for change. The Chinese symbol for crisis is translated in Wikipedia as “danger at a point of juncture”. In the year 2020, first China and then the rest of humanity have been presented with a monumental crisis: a new and lethal virus that spread fast and far, causing actions and reactions, with dramatic consequences for social and economic life around the globe. Rebecca Solnit wrote of another crisis in her book Hope in the Dark: The Untold Story of People Power. In Grounds for Hope, a foreword to the 2015 edition (p.2), she stated: “This is an extraordinary time full of vital, transformative movements, that could not be foreseen. It’s also a nightmarish time. Full engagement requires the ability to perceive both.”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370533 , vital:66352 , xlink:href="10.4314/sajee.v36i1.1"
- Description: There is an old and still popular saying that a crisis is an opportunity for change. The Chinese symbol for crisis is translated in Wikipedia as “danger at a point of juncture”. In the year 2020, first China and then the rest of humanity have been presented with a monumental crisis: a new and lethal virus that spread fast and far, causing actions and reactions, with dramatic consequences for social and economic life around the globe. Rebecca Solnit wrote of another crisis in her book Hope in the Dark: The Untold Story of People Power. In Grounds for Hope, a foreword to the 2015 edition (p.2), she stated: “This is an extraordinary time full of vital, transformative movements, that could not be foreseen. It’s also a nightmarish time. Full engagement requires the ability to perceive both.”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Environment and sustainability education research as policy engagement: (re-) invigorating ‘politics as potentia’ in South Africa
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Rosenberg, Eureta, Ramsarup, Presha
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Rosenberg, Eureta , Ramsarup, Presha
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158230 , vital:40164 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1080/13504622.2020.1759511
- Description: Using a meta-review approach organized historically in relation to critical policy incidents, this paper critically reviews the process of developing and (re) invigorating Environment and Sustainability Education (ESE) (policy) research as ESE policy engagement over a 30+ year period in a rapidly transforming society, South Africa. It offers an example of long term policy-research meta-review in a context of policy flux. It adds to a body of international ESE policy studies that are seeking to understand and develop the ESE research/policy interface as this relation emerges under more complex conditions. In particular, we respond to the finding in the systematic review of ESE policy research undertaken by Aikens, McKenzie and Vaughter (2016) which reports a geographic under-representation of Africa (amongst other places) in ESE policy studies, and González-Gaudiano (2016, 118)’s insight that ESE policy research in current neo-liberally dominated political conditions and as political process, is essentially an “open, unsteady, incomplete, and relational process”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Rosenberg, Eureta , Ramsarup, Presha
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158230 , vital:40164 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1080/13504622.2020.1759511
- Description: Using a meta-review approach organized historically in relation to critical policy incidents, this paper critically reviews the process of developing and (re) invigorating Environment and Sustainability Education (ESE) (policy) research as ESE policy engagement over a 30+ year period in a rapidly transforming society, South Africa. It offers an example of long term policy-research meta-review in a context of policy flux. It adds to a body of international ESE policy studies that are seeking to understand and develop the ESE research/policy interface as this relation emerges under more complex conditions. In particular, we respond to the finding in the systematic review of ESE policy research undertaken by Aikens, McKenzie and Vaughter (2016) which reports a geographic under-representation of Africa (amongst other places) in ESE policy studies, and González-Gaudiano (2016, 118)’s insight that ESE policy research in current neo-liberally dominated political conditions and as political process, is essentially an “open, unsteady, incomplete, and relational process”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Evaluating and reflecting on coproduction of protected area management plans
- Roux, Dirk J, Nel, Jeanne L, Freitag, Stefanie, Novellie, Peter, Rosenberg, Eureta
- Authors: Roux, Dirk J , Nel, Jeanne L , Freitag, Stefanie , Novellie, Peter , Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370550 , vital:66353 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.542"
- Description: Protected areas are complex social-ecological systems, hence their management should be guided by engagement and co-learning with diverse stakeholders. The challenge of effective stakeholder participation has generated a body of literature on the design and facilitation of coproduction processes. In this study, we used this literature to develop a principle-based framework for assessing coproduction. We then applied this framework to evaluate how well “adaptive planning” (a sub-process of adaptive management used for visioning and objective setting with stakeholders), as applied to the Garden Route National Park in South Africa, aligned with the ideals of coproduction. Our analysis revealed shortcomings in the adaptive planning process, which could be improved through broadening the agenda beyond the mandate and control of national parks, empowering collective agency among a wider stakeholder network, and embedding co-learning with stakeholders as an ongoing journey. A significant finding was that adaptive management does not align well with the ideals of coproduction, which may be better supported by an adaptive comanagement approach. The latter is particularly necessary in complex national parks that are diverse in terms of both ecosystems and stakeholders, and where governance may be contested.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Roux, Dirk J , Nel, Jeanne L , Freitag, Stefanie , Novellie, Peter , Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370550 , vital:66353 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.542"
- Description: Protected areas are complex social-ecological systems, hence their management should be guided by engagement and co-learning with diverse stakeholders. The challenge of effective stakeholder participation has generated a body of literature on the design and facilitation of coproduction processes. In this study, we used this literature to develop a principle-based framework for assessing coproduction. We then applied this framework to evaluate how well “adaptive planning” (a sub-process of adaptive management used for visioning and objective setting with stakeholders), as applied to the Garden Route National Park in South Africa, aligned with the ideals of coproduction. Our analysis revealed shortcomings in the adaptive planning process, which could be improved through broadening the agenda beyond the mandate and control of national parks, empowering collective agency among a wider stakeholder network, and embedding co-learning with stakeholders as an ongoing journey. A significant finding was that adaptive management does not align well with the ideals of coproduction, which may be better supported by an adaptive comanagement approach. The latter is particularly necessary in complex national parks that are diverse in terms of both ecosystems and stakeholders, and where governance may be contested.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Is education blithely producing unemployed graduates?: A reflection based on a review of environmental skills initiatives 2016-2021
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370619 , vital:66360 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i89a08"
- Description: A statement from the president of the Black Business Council (BBC) that "our education system continues to produce the unemployed graduates" (NewZRoomAfrika, 2021) because "the courses they are doing are not required by industry" reflects the perennial perception that South Africa's education system is a cause of unemployment. In this paper, I explore aspects of this perception through a meta-review of environmental skills-related studies conducted over the past five years. Data used in these studies include graduation trends based on higher education, employer surveys, analyses of skills needs in the workplace compared to courses offered, and case examples of internships and teacher development. Using an ecological-systems model, I relate the findings, in a layered critical realist analysis, to the socio-cultural milieu in South Africa. I challenge the conception of relevant graduate education evident in the BBC's statement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370619 , vital:66360 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i89a08"
- Description: A statement from the president of the Black Business Council (BBC) that "our education system continues to produce the unemployed graduates" (NewZRoomAfrika, 2021) because "the courses they are doing are not required by industry" reflects the perennial perception that South Africa's education system is a cause of unemployment. In this paper, I explore aspects of this perception through a meta-review of environmental skills-related studies conducted over the past five years. Data used in these studies include graduation trends based on higher education, employer surveys, analyses of skills needs in the workplace compared to courses offered, and case examples of internships and teacher development. Using an ecological-systems model, I relate the findings, in a layered critical realist analysis, to the socio-cultural milieu in South Africa. I challenge the conception of relevant graduate education evident in the BBC's statement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Journal development, scholar development and quality
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Togo, Muchaiteyi
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Togo, Muchaiteyi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67314 , vital:29072 , https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.1
- Description: publisher version , In reflecting on the contributions to Volume 33, it is evident that a variety of theories about learning and social change inform the scholars in environmental education, ranging from behaviourist, to social behavioural, constructivist and social constructivist learning theories, social and critical realism, and more. What unites these papers is a shared concern about learning in relation to the future well-being of the planet and its people. New scholars entering the field of environmental and sustainability education have the task of mastering not only the social– ecological subject matter of the field, but also their chosen learning theories. In this regard, drawing on the back copies of the SAJEE can be of great value. Much research and writing has already been done on curriculum, education and learning inside and outside of formal institutions, yet many more questions remain. The field is best advanced by noting and building on, challenging and advancing past studies and existing scholarship. The fact that all 33 Volumes of the SAJEE are available online, just a ‘few clicks away’ from any student or supervisor with Internet access, is therefore an enormous boon. We encourage readers and future authors to draw on the work in this and other environmental education journals as they conceptualise, design and reflect on their own studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Togo, Muchaiteyi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67314 , vital:29072 , https://doi.org/10.4314/SAJEE.V.33I1.1
- Description: publisher version , In reflecting on the contributions to Volume 33, it is evident that a variety of theories about learning and social change inform the scholars in environmental education, ranging from behaviourist, to social behavioural, constructivist and social constructivist learning theories, social and critical realism, and more. What unites these papers is a shared concern about learning in relation to the future well-being of the planet and its people. New scholars entering the field of environmental and sustainability education have the task of mastering not only the social– ecological subject matter of the field, but also their chosen learning theories. In this regard, drawing on the back copies of the SAJEE can be of great value. Much research and writing has already been done on curriculum, education and learning inside and outside of formal institutions, yet many more questions remain. The field is best advanced by noting and building on, challenging and advancing past studies and existing scholarship. The fact that all 33 Volumes of the SAJEE are available online, just a ‘few clicks away’ from any student or supervisor with Internet access, is therefore an enormous boon. We encourage readers and future authors to draw on the work in this and other environmental education journals as they conceptualise, design and reflect on their own studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Journal Development, Scholar Development and Quality
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Togo, Muchaiteyi
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Togo, Muchaiteyi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/127235 , vital:35980 , https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v.33i1.1
- Description: Recently, the 33-year journey of the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education (SAJEE) was the subject of reflection during an Open Access Publishing week convened by Rhodes University Library Services. Two former and current editors-in-chief shared the SAJEE’s story of publishing ‘from the margins into the centre’. In the early 1990s, the Journal was mailed to the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) membership from the foyer of the Rhodes Education Department (which had the floor space for stuffing and stacking A4 envelopes). In the first decade of this century, the Journal arrived at a symbolic ‘centre’ with digital distribution, first on the EEASA website and then from the Open Access platform provided by African Journals Online (AJOL). The digital move was vital for sustained and increased distribution in a time of shrinking budgets and growing costs. The results, shared with the EEASA Council earlier this year, were nothing short of spectacular: In March 2017, the SAJEE received more than 1 250 article downloads (www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee), and the number of downloads have stayed above 500 each month subsequently (Figure 1). Views and downloads are recorded around the world including,
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Togo, Muchaiteyi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/127235 , vital:35980 , https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v.33i1.1
- Description: Recently, the 33-year journey of the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education (SAJEE) was the subject of reflection during an Open Access Publishing week convened by Rhodes University Library Services. Two former and current editors-in-chief shared the SAJEE’s story of publishing ‘from the margins into the centre’. In the early 1990s, the Journal was mailed to the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) membership from the foyer of the Rhodes Education Department (which had the floor space for stuffing and stacking A4 envelopes). In the first decade of this century, the Journal arrived at a symbolic ‘centre’ with digital distribution, first on the EEASA website and then from the Open Access platform provided by African Journals Online (AJOL). The digital move was vital for sustained and increased distribution in a time of shrinking budgets and growing costs. The results, shared with the EEASA Council earlier this year, were nothing short of spectacular: In March 2017, the SAJEE received more than 1 250 article downloads (www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee), and the number of downloads have stayed above 500 each month subsequently (Figure 1). Views and downloads are recorded around the world including,
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Monitoring and evaluation in a changing world: A Southern African perspective on the skills needed for a new approach
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Kotschy, Karen
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Kotschy, Karen
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370711 , vital:66369 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/ 10.4102/aej.v8i1.472"
- Description: Background: As science and modern technology have brought many advances, we have also come to overshoot planetary boundaries, while still falling short of development goals to eradicate poverty and inequality. A growing recognition of the complexity of development problems and contexts calls for new framings, including a new approach to monitoring and evaluation (M and E) as one of the mechanisms by which modern societies aim to steer towards a more sustainable future. New approaches to M and E mean new skills for the M and E practitioner. Objectives: This article proposed a framing for M and E skills, comprising of technical, relational and transformational (T-R-T) competences. Method: Adapted from the literature, this competence framework was tested in a broader learning needs assessment and then applied retrospectively to author’s experience in developmental evaluations in complex social–ecological contexts in southern Africa. Results: The emerging insights were that not only technical competence is needed, but also relational competence that goes beyond interpersonal skills, to enable the production and uptake of evaluation findings. In addition, the limitations of mainstream M and E methods in the face of complexity seemed to create a need for ‘transformational’ competence, which included evaluators’ ability to develop credible M and E alternatives. Conclusion: The T-R-T framework helped to advance the notions of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills and expanded on existing M and E competence frameworks. Recommendations included a call for innovative educational and professional development approaches to develop relational and transformational competencies, in addition to training for technical competence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Kotschy, Karen
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370711 , vital:66369 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/ 10.4102/aej.v8i1.472"
- Description: Background: As science and modern technology have brought many advances, we have also come to overshoot planetary boundaries, while still falling short of development goals to eradicate poverty and inequality. A growing recognition of the complexity of development problems and contexts calls for new framings, including a new approach to monitoring and evaluation (M and E) as one of the mechanisms by which modern societies aim to steer towards a more sustainable future. New approaches to M and E mean new skills for the M and E practitioner. Objectives: This article proposed a framing for M and E skills, comprising of technical, relational and transformational (T-R-T) competences. Method: Adapted from the literature, this competence framework was tested in a broader learning needs assessment and then applied retrospectively to author’s experience in developmental evaluations in complex social–ecological contexts in southern Africa. Results: The emerging insights were that not only technical competence is needed, but also relational competence that goes beyond interpersonal skills, to enable the production and uptake of evaluation findings. In addition, the limitations of mainstream M and E methods in the face of complexity seemed to create a need for ‘transformational’ competence, which included evaluators’ ability to develop credible M and E alternatives. Conclusion: The T-R-T framework helped to advance the notions of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills and expanded on existing M and E competence frameworks. Recommendations included a call for innovative educational and professional development approaches to develop relational and transformational competencies, in addition to training for technical competence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Navigating Multiple Tensions for Engaged Praxis in a Complex Social-Ecological System
- Cockburn, Jessica J, Palmer, Carolyn G, Biggs, Harry, Rosenberg, Eureta
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Palmer, Carolyn G , Biggs, Harry , Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/127886 , vital:36052 , https://doi.org/10.3390/land7040129
- Description: Recently, the 33-year journey of the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education (SAJEE) was the subject of reflection during an Open Access Publishing week convened by Rhodes University Library Services. Two former and current editors-in-chief shared the SAJEE’s story of publishing ‘from the margins into the centre’. In the early 1990s, the Journal was mailed to the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) membership from the foyer of the Rhodes Education Department (which had the floor space for stuffing and stacking A4 envelopes). In the first decade of this century, the Journal arrived at a symbolic ‘centre’ with digital distribution, first on the EEASA website and then from the Open Access platform provided by African Journals Online (AJOL). The digital move was vital for sustained and increased distribution in a time of shrinking budgets and growing costs. The results, shared with the EEASA Council earlier this year, were nothing short of spectacular: In March 2017, the SAJEE received more than 1 250 article downloads (www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee), and the number of downloads have stayed above 500 each month subsequently (Figure 1). Views and downloads are recorded around the world including,
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Palmer, Carolyn G , Biggs, Harry , Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/127886 , vital:36052 , https://doi.org/10.3390/land7040129
- Description: Recently, the 33-year journey of the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education (SAJEE) was the subject of reflection during an Open Access Publishing week convened by Rhodes University Library Services. Two former and current editors-in-chief shared the SAJEE’s story of publishing ‘from the margins into the centre’. In the early 1990s, the Journal was mailed to the Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) membership from the foyer of the Rhodes Education Department (which had the floor space for stuffing and stacking A4 envelopes). In the first decade of this century, the Journal arrived at a symbolic ‘centre’ with digital distribution, first on the EEASA website and then from the Open Access platform provided by African Journals Online (AJOL). The digital move was vital for sustained and increased distribution in a time of shrinking budgets and growing costs. The results, shared with the EEASA Council earlier this year, were nothing short of spectacular: In March 2017, the SAJEE received more than 1 250 article downloads (www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee), and the number of downloads have stayed above 500 each month subsequently (Figure 1). Views and downloads are recorded around the world including,
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Short Course Handouts Bundle for the Training of Trainers Course: Introductory course to facilitating social learning and stakeholder engagement in natural resource management contexts
- Weaver, Martin, Rosenberg, Eureta, Cockburn, Jessica J, Thifhulufhelwi, R, Chetty, Preven, Mponwana, Maletje, Mvulane, P
- Authors: Weaver, Martin , Rosenberg, Eureta , Cockburn, Jessica J , Thifhulufhelwi, R , Chetty, Preven , Mponwana, Maletje , Mvulane, P
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: Social learning , Stakeholder management , Natural resources Management , Community education
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/338822 , vital:62456 , ISBN
- Description: This document is a compilation of the course handouts (materials) developed and produced for the “Training of Trainers” Short Course – the full title of which is the: “Introductory course to facilitating social learning and stakeholder engagement in natural resource management contexts”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Weaver, Martin , Rosenberg, Eureta , Cockburn, Jessica J , Thifhulufhelwi, R , Chetty, Preven , Mponwana, Maletje , Mvulane, P
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: Social learning , Stakeholder management , Natural resources Management , Community education
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/338822 , vital:62456 , ISBN
- Description: This document is a compilation of the course handouts (materials) developed and produced for the “Training of Trainers” Short Course – the full title of which is the: “Introductory course to facilitating social learning and stakeholder engagement in natural resource management contexts”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
The green economy learning assessment South Africa: Lessons for higher education, skills and work-based learning
- Rosenberg, Eureta, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Ramsarup, Presha
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Ramsarup, Presha
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182765 , vital:43872 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-03-2018-0041"
- Description: The purpose of this paper is to share and analyse the methodology and findings of the 2016 Green Economy Learning Assessment South Africa, including learning needs identified with reference to the competency framings of Scharmer (2009) and Wiek et al. (2011); and implications for university and work-based sustainability education, broadly conceptualised in a just transitions framework. The assessment was conducted using desktop policy reviews and an audit of sustainability education providers, online questionnaires to sector experts, focus groups and interviews with practitioners driving green economy initiatives. Policy monitoring and evaluation, and education for sustainable development, emerged as key change levers across nine priority areas including agriculture, energy, natural resources, water, transport and infrastructure. The competencies required to drive sustainability in these areas were clustered as technical, relational and transformational competencies for: making the case; integrated sustainable development planning; strategic adaptive management and expansive learning; working across organisational units; working across knowledge fields; capacity and organisational development; and principle-based leadership. Practitioners develop such competencies through formal higher education and short courses plus course-activated networks and “on the job” learning. The paper adds to the literature on sustainability competencies and raises questions regarding forms of hybrid learning suitable for developing technical, relational and transformative competencies. A national learning needs assessment methodology and tools for customised organisational learning needs assessments are shared. The assessment methodology is novel in this context and the workplace-based tools, original.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Ramsarup, Presha
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182765 , vital:43872 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-03-2018-0041"
- Description: The purpose of this paper is to share and analyse the methodology and findings of the 2016 Green Economy Learning Assessment South Africa, including learning needs identified with reference to the competency framings of Scharmer (2009) and Wiek et al. (2011); and implications for university and work-based sustainability education, broadly conceptualised in a just transitions framework. The assessment was conducted using desktop policy reviews and an audit of sustainability education providers, online questionnaires to sector experts, focus groups and interviews with practitioners driving green economy initiatives. Policy monitoring and evaluation, and education for sustainable development, emerged as key change levers across nine priority areas including agriculture, energy, natural resources, water, transport and infrastructure. The competencies required to drive sustainability in these areas were clustered as technical, relational and transformational competencies for: making the case; integrated sustainable development planning; strategic adaptive management and expansive learning; working across organisational units; working across knowledge fields; capacity and organisational development; and principle-based leadership. Practitioners develop such competencies through formal higher education and short courses plus course-activated networks and “on the job” learning. The paper adds to the literature on sustainability competencies and raises questions regarding forms of hybrid learning suitable for developing technical, relational and transformative competencies. A national learning needs assessment methodology and tools for customised organisational learning needs assessments are shared. The assessment methodology is novel in this context and the workplace-based tools, original.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Understanding the context of multifaceted collaborations for social-ecological sustainability: A methodology for cross-case analysis
- Cockburn, Jessica J, Schoon, Michael, Cundill, Georgina, Robinson, Cathy, Aburto, Jamie A, Alexander, Steve M, Baggio, Jacopo A, Barnaud, Cecile, Chapman, Mollie, Llorente, Marina G, Garcia-Lopez, Gustavo A, Hill, Rosemary, Speranza, Chinwe I, Lee, Jean, Meek, Chanda L, Rosenberg, Eureta, Schultz, Lisen, Thondhlana, Gladman
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Schoon, Michael , Cundill, Georgina , Robinson, Cathy , Aburto, Jamie A , Alexander, Steve M , Baggio, Jacopo A , Barnaud, Cecile , Chapman, Mollie , Llorente, Marina G , Garcia-Lopez, Gustavo A , Hill, Rosemary , Speranza, Chinwe I , Lee, Jean , Meek, Chanda L , Rosenberg, Eureta , Schultz, Lisen , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370725 , vital:66371 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11527-250307"
- Description: There are limited approaches available that enable researchers and practitioners to conduct multiple case study comparisons of complex cases of collaboration in natural resource management and conservation. The absence of such tools is felt despite the fact that over the past several years a great deal of literature has reviewed the state of the science regarding collaboration. Much of this work is based on case studies of collaboration and highlights the importance of contextual variables, further complicating efforts to compare outcomes across case-study areas and the likely failure of approaches based on one size fits all generalizations. We expand on the standard overview of the field by identifying some of the challenges associated with managing complex systems with multiple resources, multiple stakeholder groups with diverse knowledges/understandings, and multiple objectives across multiple scales, i.e., multifaceted collaborative initiatives. We then elucidate how a realist methodology, within a critical realist framing, can support efforts to compare multiple case studies of such multifaceted initiatives. The methodology we propose considers the importance and impact of context for the origins, purpose, and success of multifaceted collaborative natural resource management and conservation initiatives in social-ecological systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Schoon, Michael , Cundill, Georgina , Robinson, Cathy , Aburto, Jamie A , Alexander, Steve M , Baggio, Jacopo A , Barnaud, Cecile , Chapman, Mollie , Llorente, Marina G , Garcia-Lopez, Gustavo A , Hill, Rosemary , Speranza, Chinwe I , Lee, Jean , Meek, Chanda L , Rosenberg, Eureta , Schultz, Lisen , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370725 , vital:66371 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11527-250307"
- Description: There are limited approaches available that enable researchers and practitioners to conduct multiple case study comparisons of complex cases of collaboration in natural resource management and conservation. The absence of such tools is felt despite the fact that over the past several years a great deal of literature has reviewed the state of the science regarding collaboration. Much of this work is based on case studies of collaboration and highlights the importance of contextual variables, further complicating efforts to compare outcomes across case-study areas and the likely failure of approaches based on one size fits all generalizations. We expand on the standard overview of the field by identifying some of the challenges associated with managing complex systems with multiple resources, multiple stakeholder groups with diverse knowledges/understandings, and multiple objectives across multiple scales, i.e., multifaceted collaborative initiatives. We then elucidate how a realist methodology, within a critical realist framing, can support efforts to compare multiple case studies of such multifaceted initiatives. The methodology we propose considers the importance and impact of context for the origins, purpose, and success of multifaceted collaborative natural resource management and conservation initiatives in social-ecological systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Women farmers leading and co-learning in an agroecology movement at the intersections of gender and climate
- Chanyau, Ludwig, Rosenberg, Eureta
- Authors: Chanyau, Ludwig , Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373873 , vital:66730 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2023.2239313"
- Description: This study, carried out in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, was particularly interested in women farmers’ access to social learning spaces for expanding their knowledge about farming in the context of climate change. Small-scale women and peasant farmers face historical intersectional inequalities as a result of the colonial and apartheid past which has continued to disadvantage women in the present through exclusion, limited or no access to finance, insecure or no land tenure, little bargaining power and unequal access to water. The gender prejudices and unequal access to resources experienced by women is brought into sharp relief by climate change. The article provides a case study of an agroecology movement led by women farmers that promotes climate-appropriate, low-cost farming practices using community and home gardens. The practices are tried out and further developed by women farmers themselves, relying on agroecology-informed extension services, open dialogue and the support of communities of practice. Unlike traditional top-down approaches to farmer learning common in public extension services, extension officers in the movement participate in creating conditions for co-learning and co-construction of new knowledge − that is, social learning − thus responding directly to their needs as farmers. The lead researcher joined in and observed farming and learning activities following an ethnographic approach. Farmers and other movement members were engaged in semi-structured interviews which explored the value derived from social learning (Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner Citation2020). The article concludes that the movement is responding to many of the intersectional challenges that women farmers in the Eastern Cape face. Further, its social learning approach holds potential for expanding women farmers’ ability to provide for themselves and their communities and inform their climate change adaptation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Chanyau, Ludwig , Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373873 , vital:66730 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2023.2239313"
- Description: This study, carried out in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, was particularly interested in women farmers’ access to social learning spaces for expanding their knowledge about farming in the context of climate change. Small-scale women and peasant farmers face historical intersectional inequalities as a result of the colonial and apartheid past which has continued to disadvantage women in the present through exclusion, limited or no access to finance, insecure or no land tenure, little bargaining power and unequal access to water. The gender prejudices and unequal access to resources experienced by women is brought into sharp relief by climate change. The article provides a case study of an agroecology movement led by women farmers that promotes climate-appropriate, low-cost farming practices using community and home gardens. The practices are tried out and further developed by women farmers themselves, relying on agroecology-informed extension services, open dialogue and the support of communities of practice. Unlike traditional top-down approaches to farmer learning common in public extension services, extension officers in the movement participate in creating conditions for co-learning and co-construction of new knowledge − that is, social learning − thus responding directly to their needs as farmers. The lead researcher joined in and observed farming and learning activities following an ethnographic approach. Farmers and other movement members were engaged in semi-structured interviews which explored the value derived from social learning (Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner Citation2020). The article concludes that the movement is responding to many of the intersectional challenges that women farmers in the Eastern Cape face. Further, its social learning approach holds potential for expanding women farmers’ ability to provide for themselves and their communities and inform their climate change adaptation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
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