Farm work activities have become active recently and those activities would help understand the situations of agriculture. It will become significant for the people who don't have farm work experiences to understand the linkage between agriculture and the natural resources through farm work activities.
  What will the farm work activities make the changes to the images of agriculture of the students at university? That is a main question of this paper. According to the results of the questionnaire to the students, it came out that the images formed by indirect information such as beautiful countryside landscape and other positive images to the agriculture were decreased. Instead the images of tough work and feelings for real farm work process were increased after they had experienced farm work activities.
  And the group with more experiences in natural environment activities in their childhood than the other groups showed highly comprehension of the linkage among agriculture, natural resources and human life.
  This result suggested that the natural environment activities in a childhood helped them understand that agriculture depended heavily on the natural resources recycling system.

View full abstract

  “Environmental education” has been internationally recognized in the past as interdisciplinary education in sustainability. However, such education might be Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD focuses on more decision-making and participation for social change than change of mind which environmental education has been focusing on. Moreover, ESD does not treat only environmental problems and it includes environmental education and development education, etc. Therefore, the concept of ESD still has variety. However,“sustainable society” or “ sustainable community” might be important in ESD.
  On the other hand, environmental education has been also discussing the link between community development and education such as kougai education which the residents took the initiative in solving problems.
  Globalization after the 1990s has enabled several cross-border exchanges of capital, technology, talent, culture, etc. As a result, local identity and variety is losing its place in society. However, with the increase in number of unsustainable societies, a movement to review local resources and wisdom has been initiated.
  This study examines “local knowledge” in the activities of farmers belonging to the In-Paeng Network, an independent and autonomous unit in northeastern Thailand. Their activities are based on agricultural knowledge gained from daily practice, traditions learned from elders and friends, and personal experiences.
  In Bua, a poor village in northeastern Thailand, knowledge learned through experience includes discoveries made in everyday life, traditional cultural values, and agricultural practice. In addition, children are raised to love their homeland. They are taught the value of local flora and fauna, and other ancestral wisdom as passed down by elders. The practice of raising children to love their homeland was initiated to protect the local values, and inculcate them in the next generation children, thereby keeping village traditions alive. The understanding of values also makes children independent, brings the community together, and consequently enables community development.

View full abstract

  We have investigated the effect of a commercial solution containing various kinds of microbes (commercial microbe solution), which is used in school activities for environmental purification, by using a river model equipped with gravels of river bed on a plastic tray.
  The activity of self-purification (decomposition of sodium dodecylsulfate, NaDS) by microbes on the surface of gravels is accelerated from the third day to the fifth day by the addition of commercial microbe solution. However, the decomposition rate of NaDS by only commercial microbe solution in the river model is lower than that of only microbes on the surface of gravels.
  These findings suggest that the use of the river model and commercial microbe solution is effective for science class lessons at junior high school for understanding the relationship between the self-purfication of a river and the action of microbes on the surface of gravels on river bed.

View full abstract

  The purpose of this study is to present philosophical elements useful in re-examining the foundations of environmental education in Japan by analyzing two of Ishida Baigan's representative works: “Tohi mondo” (Dialog between Sages and Commom People) and “Kenyaku seika ron (Bringing Order to One's House through Frugality)”.
  Our findings can be summarized into the following three points. First, the relationship between humans and nature as espoused in Baigan's philosophy is founded on the philosophy of banbutsu ittai (the unity of all things). Second, a rereading of Baigan's Kenyaku ron (Frugality) and Shonin no michi (The Way of the Merchant) in the context of the first finding makes possible the following interpretations: (i) wealth represents not personal assets, but public interest within the global environment, and therefore must be used in ways that are useful to the environment; (ii) the merchant's job is to distribute wealth properly. Third, we can therefore view Baigan's philosophy as an environmental philosophy.
  From these results, we conclude that environmental education in Japan should put a high priority on “the integration into nature” based on the philosophy of “the unity of all things.” By ensuring that this integration is not obstructed in any way, we will be able to develop approaches to the environment that are based on our traditional philosophies and are easier to accept for the public. The results of this study also suggest that Baigan's practical philosophy transcends time and is therefore applicable in modern environmental education as well.

View full abstract