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The National Environmental Education Programme is a collaborative project coordinated by the Department of Education. Its purpose is to support teachers in implementing environmental education at schools, and integrate it with the outcomes-based curriculum. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) supports NEEP with resource materials on contemporary environmental issues.

A brief history about NEEPH

The NEEP-GET project is the culmination of a lot of work that has been done by many involved in environmental education in South Africa over many years. In 1993 a conference was held a Dikhololo, marking the beginning of the process to incorporate environmental education into formal curricula. Many committees, working groups and individuals have worked hard to contribute to this process. Various projects have piloted different approaches, and many resources have been developed to help participants to get to grips with this issue of environmental education. At first there was the EEPI (Environmental Education Policy Initiative), which was a committee established at Dikhololo. The EEPI attempted to influence the policy and curriculum development activities around environmental education. The EEPI was followed by the EECI (Environmental Education Curriculum Initiative) which was an interest group established at a conference held by the Environmental Education Association for Southern Africa (EEASA) The EECI impacted on the curriculum development process of Curriculum 2005 and strengthened other curriculum development activities in colleges and universities. The EECI also took part in resource development and research.

Two very recent research based projects need special mention as they provided the basis for the development of the NEEP-GET project. In the months preceding the start of the NEEP-GET project a research project was undertaken in 6 provinces concentrating on the use of resources and research based approaches in environmental education. The findings of this NEEP Pilot Project inform the processes of the NEEP-GET. Another project which preceded the NEEP-GET was the Learning for Sustainability Project which piloted environmental education with teachers and focused on school based environmental education curriculum development, innovations in environmental education, as well as an appropriate professional development model. The findings of this project also inform the NEEP-GET, particularly in its approach to professional development. You can download the LFS resources from www.ibis.dk/ee/resources/learning/

What does NEEP-GET aim to achieve?H

The immediate objectives of the NEEP-GET Project are:

Environmental learning is integrated throughout the curriculum for the General Education and Training (GET) band.
Group 1 provincial departments of education have the capacity to implement environmental learning in participating districts and schools, thus providing a foundation for expanding environmental learning to all other districts and schools.
Group 2 provincial departments of education have increased capacity to implement environmental learning in schools.

These objectives will be reached through 7 major project outputs:

Output 1
Initiatives have been taken to integrate environmental learning in the curriculum for the GET band

Output 2
Professional development programme for Provincial EE Coordinators to facilitate, extend and sustain the process of enabling provincial and district CS staff to integrate environmental learning in their work, is implemented.

Output 3
Professional development programme for provincial and district CS staff to facilitate, extend and sustain the integration of environmental learning in schools is implemented

Output 4
Professional development programme for teachers to support them with the integration of EE into learning areas is implemented

Output 5
Guideline Documents and resource materials to support the integration of environmental learning are developed and produced.

Output 6
Initiatives have been taken to influence pre-service teacher education regarding environmental learning.

Output 7
Co-ordination of school-focused environmental learning initiatives is improved at National and Provincial levels

The NEEP-GET Project's strategy:

• Curriculum design and revision
  Contributing to and shaping national curriculum development implementation policy and strategy will help to ensure wide scale implementation of environmental education in South Africa. Work to date has included participating in the process of revision and streamlining of C2005. It is also intended to stimulate teacher training institutions to engage in curriculum discussions around environmental education in teacher education curricula.
• Resource based learning
  The project will emphasise the importance of resources in learning. Teaches and CS staff will be exposed to learner support materials(LSM) which are likely to foster environmental learning in schools. The selection and adaptation of LSM to suit contexts in which teachers work and to broaden their knowledge and experience of environmental issues will be highlighted. The barriers to the effective use of resources will receive attention in research which will be conducted.
• Professional development of provincial and district staff and teachers
  NEEP-GET will implement a professional development for CS staff and teachers to influence environmental teaching and learning in schools in the context of Curriculum 2005. The model that the project will use will be based on reflection and the development of sophistication of understanding. It is a cluster-based model that will operate on work-in and work-away tasks. NEEP-GET aims to develop, test and implement an accredited in-service environmental education professional development programme.
• Improvement of environmental learning in schools
  The project will work towards promoting improved environmental learning in schools through the incorporation of school based environmental activities into the curriculum. Schools participating in the project's professional development clusters will be the major focus for this initiative. Participating teachers will be encouraged to initiate activities and projects that support environmental learning, including the development of school environmental policies and management plans, and incorporation of enviro-days into their OBE curriculum plans.

The following principles underly our project:

• Participation, ownership and sustainability.
• Responsiveness to context.
• Reflexive and applied competence (integration of theory and practice).
• Utilisation of existing resources.
• An integrated, collaborative and co-ordinated approach.

The structure of NEEPH

One of the principles of the NEEP-GET is to work towards the sustainability of environmental education in the mainstream education activities, as a project in it's very nature has a beginning and an end. This project will end in December 2003. The project structure is one that renders support at crucial points in the structure of the department.

The department has employed 9 EE co-ordinators. These persons are government employees and are based in the curriculum units of provincial departments of education. They will still be there when the project ends.

The project has employed a chief technical advisor who runs the project on behalf of the implementing agency, Ibis. He is Cliff Olivier and his office is in the schools directorate in the National department of education in Pretoria.

The project has also employed 7 technical assistants. Edgar Neluvhalani's office is also in the Schools Directorate of the national department of Education. He is responsible for the national co-ordination of the EE co-ordinators.Kith Hansen and Jens Foltved are based in the curriculum nit of the Kwazulu Natal Department of Education. Palle Svendsen and Kasee Mhoney are based in the curriculum unit of the Free State Department of Education and Ole Moeslund and Vivian Molose are base in the curriculum unit of the Northwest department of Education.

For the life of the project the technical assistants and the EE co-ordinators are considered as project staff.

The project director is the Minister's advisor for Environmental Education Dr Razeena Wagiet.

The project is managed by the project management group, which consists of the Project director, The director of schools education in the national department of education and the CTA. The CTA is responsible for the day-to-day running of the project.

The project has special structures to allow stakeholders to take part in project activities. One such structure is the reference group which will:

• Consult widely on issues affecting Environment in the curriculum.
• Serve as a forum for co-ordination between stakeholders in environmental education at a national level.
• Advise the NEEP-GET project steering committee(PSC)
  The reference group operates on a national level.

The second opportunity for interaction with partners is in the provincial forums. In provinces where such forms already exist, the project staff will take part in those forums. In provinces where there are no forums the project staff will establish them. It is envisaged that the largest part of the collaboration with partners will be on the development of materials.

The policy environment in South AfricaH

South Africa is a relatively new democracy, and consequently many of its policies are in a state of flux. NEEP-GET is a response to and offers support for new educational policies within the framing context f South African environmental policy.

Some important policy documents:
The Constitution on the Republic of South Africa
The Bill of Rights enshrines the right to an environment that is not detrimental to the health and well-being of citizens

The National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) - 1998
Commits the South African government to sustainable development, and emphasises the need for environmental education and capacity building in all sectors of South African society

The White paper on Education and Training (1995)
Notes the need to integrate environmental education at all levels and phases of the education and training system

The Norms and Standards for Educators policy (2000)
Previously known as the COTEP document, this policy requires teachers to identify and respond to social and environmental issues through their educational practice

Curriculum 2005 (C2005)
Designed to set out an implementing framework for the outcomes-based education system advocated in the White Paper on Education and Training, Curriculum 2005 has come under heavy fire. While still in use up until 2003, C2005 (but not outcomes-based education) is currently under review, and a new, simplified and streamlined curriculum will emerge over the next year.

Revised and streamlined curriculum. When this document went to print, the Revised National Curriculum Statement was not available yet. A draft document was published on which the project made substantial comments. This process is followed closely and any further developments will be reported in the NEEP-GET website.

"Environmental education, involving an interdisciplinary, integrated and active approach to learning, must be a vital element of all levels and programmes of the education and training system, in order to create environmentally literate and active citizens and ensure that all South Africans, present and future, enjoy a decent quality of life through the sustainable use of resources" (White Paper on Education and Training, 1995:18).

An important reason for linking 'environment' and 'education' in South Africa is that environmental education can contribute significantly to transformation and development. Environmentally literate citizens are able to consider the ecological sustainability of development, to actively work to reverse environmental degradation, and to manage and use the country's natural resource base more wisely and democratically. They can use information, legislation and community action to protect and improve human and environmental health. Environmental education also contributes to transformation through better education. Education can be improved significantly by promoting active learning in and about the environment through outcomes-based education which deepens the relevance of classroom learning and strengthens school-community links. The development of environmental literacy should be a key concern in an emerging democracy, for it is only when people are knowledgeable about environmental issues and competent to address them that they can consider appropriate development options and contribute to sustainable living patterns in an informed way. Being able to participate as a responsible citizen in the life of local, national and global communities, another of the critical cross-field outcomes of the new curriculum, strongly depends on an awareness of how environmental issues affect communities, and the action competence to address them.

Environmental learning and NEEP-GETH

NEEP-GET considers the major aim of environmental learning to be the development of the ability to identify, analyse and respond to environmental issues in context. Aspects of this aim and skills and competences that contribute to achieving it include the ability to:

• identify and solve environmental problems
• understand interconnectedness between systems (political, economic, ecological, cultural, social)
• develop a historical perspective on environmental issues
• use science and technology appropriately without detriment to life sustaining systems
• develop action competence to address environmental issues
• develop environmental literacy (an understanding of current environmental key concepts)
• understand the contextual and constructed nature of environment and environmental issues
• develop a deeper understanding of how people come to perceive of environment and the consequences of their perceptions and actions
• clarify their personal values and perceptions on environment and environmental issues
• access, evaluate and use environmental information.