The Councillor as Guardian of the Environment


About UNEP	UNEP offices	News centre	Publications	Calendar	Awards	Milestones	UNEP Store

United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics

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 -

PRE-WORKSHOP ASSIGNMENT

Instructions

As a registrant for a Guardian of the Environment workshop, you may be asked to complete this environmental data-collection assignment before leaving home for the workshop and to bring the information with you to the workshop. If this is the case, your assignment is to identify and record information about existing and potentially hazardous environmental problems observed during a 30 minute walking or riding tour inside the boundaries of your local authority. Please include in the tour several different areas of your community (e.g., residential neighborhoods, commercial districts, industrial complexes, and open space areas with either streams, rivers, estuaries, wetlands or shorelines). The worksheet on the following pages is for use in recording your observations.

Conditions described in the left column of the worksheet are common examples of environmental problems found in urban areas. Serving only as illustrations, they are not meant to exclude other problems that you may encounter during your own tour. Blank rows are provided at the bottom of the worksheet to add information on environmental problems for which no example is given. The second column is for your use in rating the importance of each problem as a risk to the local environment. The greater the risk, the larger the number. The third column is to identify one or more area of negative environmental impact that the problem represents for the community. The final column is to record your opinion about the degree of urgency in taking action to lessen the risk of the problem to people or the natural environment. Again, the greater the urgency, the larger the number.

We urge you most strongly to complete the worksheet in the field while the experience is still fresh in your mind. Avoid the temptation to commit your observations to memory for recording at a later time.

Don't forget to bring the completed worksheet with you to the workshop. This is important! Data from the worksheet may be used for individual and small group planning activities during the workshop. The assignment is meant to demonstrate that environmental problems exist in every community, and that these problems can be identified readily by observant councillors. Home-generated data will heighten the realism and immediacy of the workshop experience for you and other participants. It is believed that councillors who complete back-home, pre-workshop assignments adapt more quickly to the workshop environment and make more effective use of the learning experience after returning home from the training.

Environmental Awareness Worksheet

What is the environmental problem?	What level of importance is this problem? Low - Med - High	Which of these areas is affected by this problem? Human health - Ecology - Economy	How high a priority should be given to solving this problem? Low - Med - High
Uncollected and rotting garbage on the streets or walkways
Under maintained and visibly deteriorating road ways
Congested vehicular traffic
Water distributed through public taps or water vendors
Drainage channels restricted by refuse and waste
Houses or small businesses built on steep and unstable slopes
Loss of vegetation and erosion of hillsides
Housing, public buildings and infra-structure built in river valleys and flood plain areas
Overcrowding in settlements without building density controls

Environmental Awareness Worksheet - Page 2

What is the environmental problem?	What level of importance is this problem? Low - Med - High	Which of these areas is affected by this problem? Human health - Ecology - Economy	How high a priority should be given to solving this problem? Low - Med - High
Burning of refuse accompanied by heavy smoke and rank odors
Sewage disposed of through pit latrines, septic tanks, rivers
City streets clogged with trucks and busses pouring out noxious fuel emissions
Lagoons and wetlands filled in to provide family housing or increased agricultural activities
Loss of farmland caused by illegal squatter settlements and sub-dividing land
Natural green spaces displaced by urban transport links
Absence of open spaces for recreation and practicing urban agriculture
Open dumps that are unsightly and seemingly unmanaged

Environmental Awareness Worksheet - Page 3

What is the environmental problem?	What level of importance is this problem? Low - Med - High	Which of these areas is affected by this problem? Human health - Ecology - Economy	How high a priority should be given to solving this problem? Low - Med - High
Industrial effluents causing severe corrosion of the infrastructure
Poorly controlled emissions from power plants, industries, heating plants, and vehicles
Surface waters contaminated by municipal sewerage, mine discharges and seepage
Low income housing projects carried out without adequate foundations and drainage
Soils in urban extension lands contaminated by inappropriate solid waste disposal
Pollution of beaches or scenic lake areas that restricts their recreational use
Undisposed waste, solid or liquid, resulting from roadside activities (vendors, food kiosks, garages, etc.)

Environmental Awareness Worksheet - Page 4

Other (enter description) _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
Other (enter description) _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
Other (enter description) _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
Other (enter description) _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________
Other (enter description) _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________

Environmental Awareness Worksheet - Page 5

Review the environmental problems identified above and select the three problems which you believe represent the most serious existing or potential hazard to the community. Describe the three problems in the space below. To the right of each problem, classify it by the environmental category to which it belongs (e.g., air, water, noise, solid waste, transportation, overcrowding, overbuilding).

Priority Environmental Problems / Category

1. __________________________________ 1. __________________________________

2. __________________________________ 2. __________________________________

3. __________________________________ 3. __________________________________

Table of Contents

Brochure

International Year of Forests

World Environment Day

UNEP Campaign