Newsletter and Technical Publications
<The Councillor as Guardian of the Environment>
An
Essay and Workshop for Local Elected Leaders on Environmental Governance
with
Emphasis on Adopting Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs)
-
Training for Elected Leadership -
Part II - Workshop on the Councillor as Guardian of
the Environment
- WORKSHOP -
CONTENTS
A brief description of each learning activity is shown
below with an approximation of the amount of time required. The order of
these learning activities may be changed, something omitted, or
appropriate training material added to complement the training situation.
Exercises that are sequential steps in the environmental problem solving
process are highlighted in italics for easy identification.
- 13.1 Warm-up Exercise: A Councillor's Worst Nightmare
- Participants read an incident in which a local authority is accused
of willful and persistent damage to the local environment and decide
what they would do if faced with a similar situation. (60 minutes)
- 13.2 Trainer Presentation: Concepts and Problems
- Brief presentation to clarify the meaning of several important
environmentally related concepts - problems, hazards, risk - and
to familiarize participants with the problem formulation process (30
minutes).
- 13.3 Exercise: Environmental Problem Finding
- Participants compile a list of local environmental problems from
the pre-workshop assignment (option A) or compile the list based on a
process of sharing their collective ideas and experiences (option B).
(90 - 120 minutes)
- 13.4 Exercise: Problem Formulation
- Working in small groups, participants narrow the focus of their
groups to one high priority environmental problem based on the
application of a common set of criteria (60 minutes).
- 13.5 Trainer Presentation: Visioning
- Brief presentation on visioning as a critical step in moving from
awareness of environmental issues to the achievement of sustainability.
(30 minutes)
- 13.6 Exercise: Exploring the Future
- Using one of the risks from the pre-workshop assignment,
participants in groups prepare visions of the future. (240 minutes)
- 13.7 Trainer Presentation: Stakeholders
- Brief presentation on the importance of stakeholders to the
process of environmental sustainability and how to ensure that all stakeholders
are represented. (30 minutes)
- 13.8 Exercise: Stakeholder Mapping
- Participants use a stakeholder mapping technique to
identify key stakeholders and develop strategies for making productive
use of stakeholder interests and capabilities. (120 minutes)
- 13.9 Case Study: Revival of Hope for Krakow
- Participants read a case that involves serious potential risks to
human health and the ecology and answer questions about appropriate
governmental responses. (60 minutes)
- 13.10 Trainer Presentation: Environmental Risk Assessment
- Brief presentation on the value of regular, systematic assessment of
environmental problems and the use of assessment data to set priorities
for local government intervention. (30 minutes)
- 13.11 Exercise: Assessing Local Governmnent's Capacity for
Environmental Performance
- Participants use an audit questionnaire to evaluate the current
capacity of their local authorities to manage several common categories
of environment risk (90 minutes).
- 13.12 Exercise: Environmental Profiling
- Participants compile problem-specific, environmental data useful
in understanding the constraints imposed by the infrastructure and the
institutional framework through which the problem must be solved. (90
minutes)
- 13.13 Trainer Presentation: Options for Action
- Brief presentation on the use of environmentally sound technology to
achieve the goals of environmental sustainability. (30 minutes)
- 13.14 Exercise: Thinking about Technology, the Environment
and Sustainablity
- Participants answer questions about the environment and
technology designed to help them act appropriately, responsibly and
sustainably (120 minutes).
- 13.15 Role Play/Case Study: Evaluate a Technology for Waste
Management
- Participants take part in a role play/case study that engages them in
the process of deciding on the suitability of a prospective technology
by using criteria specifically designed to evaluate a technology's
potential impact on the environment. (240 minutes)
- 13.16 Trainer Presentation: Resources
- Brief presentation to prepare participants to evaluate the resources
available for implementing agreed upon environmental technologies and to
overcome institutional barriers to their use. (60 minutes)
- 13.17 Exercise: Resource Needs, Opportunities and
Institutional Barriers
- Participants identify innovative ways to think about the
resources needed for the successful adoption and use of environmentally
friendly technologies and institutional barriers to resource
mobilization. (90 minutes)
- 13.18 Role Play/Case Study: Taking a Stand for the Environment
- Participants take part in a role play/case study and experience
taking a stand as a council in the face of critics of the council's
environmentally-friendly policy recommendations. (90 minutes)
- 13.19 Two Case Studies: Learning from the Experience of Others
- Participants read two case studies and contrast the implications of
each for environmental policy implementation. (90 minutes)
- 13.20 Exercise: Results through Action Planning
- Participants use an action planning scheme to set the stage for
successful implementation and evaluation of their selected technologies.
(90 minutes)
- 13.21 Closing Exercise: Learning Experience Transfer
- Participants complete an exercise that helps them reflect on the
learning value of the workshop and plan the application of workshop
learnings to their duties and responsibilities as Guardians of
the Environment. (30-45 minutes)
|
Table
of Contents
