Abstract-Education is the vital link that brings about social change and generates synergies to address the interconnectedness between sustainability, society and the environment. Education empowers society to assume responsibility for sustainable living. This implies that educational processes and systems can transform perspectives and behaviour patterns, which in turn inculcates sustainable practices in all aspects of human life. Education is a precursor of change therefore educators are responsible for transforming communities and initiating social change. Developing and encouraging an awareness of sustainability in local communities further establishes patterns globally in communities' worldwide. Consequently 'glocal' synergies are created that ensure future graduates become citizens of the world with an ingrained consciousness of guardianship of the finite world. Contemporary education ought to embed core principles of sustainability which incorporates environmental, economic as well as social literacy into the curriculum. Through education, learners are creatively and critically stimulated into exploring the role of sustainable practice in all areas of human activity in society. This paper expounds the current sustainability strategy developed within a course at an institute of technology based in New Zealand. The course is designed to introduce the concepts and application of sustainability at entry level for a Bachelor's degree. In this paper an attempt is made to showcase the effectiveness of education in re-orienting student thinking to engage and instigate social change for our globalized world.Index Terms-Education for sustainability, project based learning, social change, transformative learning.
Over the past decade, the impacts of technology on the construction sector have been profound. This trend presents significant challenges for construction firms in an environment characterised by skilled labor shortages and an aging workforce that tends to struggle to accept new technology. The purpose of this research is to determine the types of technologies that are being used by Auckland construction firms, the challenges that they face as they adopt new technologies, and the impact of technology on the construction workforce.
This year marks the midpoint of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development but sustainability still remains a foreign concept in the New Zealand vocational and trade education curriculum. Thus research was conducted to gauge the existing perceptions of academics and industry and discover the reasons for the slow embedding of sustainability concepts in the curriculum. The research followed a qualitative research methodology using a case study as the method of inquiry which collected data through 8 in-depth interviews conducted with academics and industry personnel at a New Zealand vocational institute. The research found that there was no collaboration between academics and industry when it came to education for sustainability (EfS) with neither group taking responsibility for embedding the concepts into the curriculum. The overall awareness level on sustainability was very low between the two researched groups. Academics and Industry personnel alike saw no relevance of sustainability in vocational trade education. The slow progress of embedding sustainability concepts into the vocational education curriculum could be a result of this lack of collaboration between these two groups thus it is recommended that a professional development course be designed for vocational academics and industry personnel to increase awareness on sustainability concepts.
Abstract-Strategies to minimise pollution and environmental damage must start with the training of students ready to take their places in industry. These case studies show that by immersing students in the practicalities of waste management, they acquire a deeper understanding of the wider principles of pollution control. Degree students had to climb into waste bins, analyse the contents and research recycling opportunities. To investigate the extent to which this process had made an impact on them, they completed a questionnaire which explored their attitudes in relation to waste management and to the way in which they had been introduced to the topic. A second case study examined the views of International students about sustainability. Both studies showed that they considered the subject valuable and would apply wider principles of sustainability once they were employed in their chosen profession and in their own countries.
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