ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS COURSE NQF L5 (12 CREDITS). UMGENI VALLEY NATURE RESERVE. 14 to 18 July 2014 WESSA SustainEd ran the Environmental Educators NQF L5 course at Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve last week which was mainly co-ordinated by Claire Warner (WESSA SustainEd Business Unit Leader) with sessions run by SustainEd SANBI Groen Sebenza pioneers. The uniqueness of this particular course was that all the candidates were solely funded by the SANBI Groen Sebenza Project organised by Sarah Alcock, WESSA HR Manager. The participating candidates were Lance Anders, Lwandisa Fada, Kimera Evans (Blue Flag Project), Katlego Msindo (Eco-Schools Bloemfontein), Phakamile Zungu, Philani Cindi (Umgeni Valley Environmental Education), Zama Dlamini (WESSA Project Management Office) and Pumezo Cingo (MSc by Dissertation Project: Climate change implication in the Drakensberg Alpine Centre, Lesotho based in East London). A range of both theoretical and practical methods and approaches to environmental education were presented and the group actively participated in an interpretative trail, water study (including the Mini SASS) at Shelter Falls, Grassland study at Umgeni Valley and sensory activities at the Pines (Umgeni Valley). The Eco-meal which provides a guideline to sustainable living by choosing the correct packaging and food items was a huge hit. Each group created scrumptious sustainable meals prepared in the Goldfields kitchen and added exceptional flair to their table settings! The water audit facilitated by Nokwanda Ndebele (WESSA SustainEd) was extremely professional, and brought together at the end of the 5 contact tutorial days by showing accurate projections of each participants water usage during the week. The participants had very impressive results and received an awareness of how fast water is utilised without precaution. The “WOW” factor of the Enviro Eds course was the visit to a household sustainability commons at Elderslie (property owned by Wayne and Clare Peddie). The importance of this visit enabled the participants to experience a sustainable lifestyle as created and practiced by Wayne and Clare. Wayne took the participants through the property and presented the practices involved with conserving water from rainfall, creating methane gas for cooing via an impressive biodigester, solar and wind powered energy, a parabolic cooker, a “donkey” providing hot water with fire, a geyser heated by the energy of the sun, a wonder bag/hot box cooking system, composting and growing vegetables in a sustainable way. The reality of building and living this lifestyle wasn’t “sugar coated” whereby Wayne explained some of the challenges experienced, and the continual process of improvement that the couple adhere to. This honesty was definitely appreciated by the participants and many have been geared to contribute towards a more sustainable lifestyle. This field trip was funded by the USAid Stepping Up to Sustainability. The next Environmental Educators NQF L5 (12 Credits) course will be held at Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve from the 8 to 12 September 2014.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 14:10:29 +0000
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