The “naturalistic” approach in teaching biology and educating children was used in the first years of the Soviet period. “The Biostation for young naturalists” was founded in Moscow in 1918 and young naturalist movement started at the same time. Such educators as B.V.Vsesvyatsky and P.P.Smolin stood at the roots of it. They could unite an inborn children’s aspiration for the study of nature and scientists’ possibilities in investigating nature. One of the founders of the Russian young naturalist movement and the “author” of the naturalistic approach in the Russian out-of-school education P.P.Smolin attributed the success of the young naturalist movement by a close contact of children with nature and an investigative approach in their studies of nature. The first Russian young naturalist groups were naturalistic in the full meaning of the word – children lived, studied in nature (lessons in the woods), and carried out research work in the woods on the specially arranged areas (camps). The first experience of combining studies and original research work in nature proved to be successful and began to extend fast throughout the country.

In the 1930s the naturalistic approach was changed into the “socialistic” one, i.e. it was necessary to develop agriculture, “to overtake and leave somebody or something behind”. The young naturalist movement was combined with the pioneer movement and had lost its unique character for many years. Only few enthusiasts kept developing naturalistic approach. They founded a network of “naturalistic” groups of children in Moscow that continue to exist up to nowadays. They are “The Club of Young Zoo-Friends” and “The Biology Club”. Second one was a branch of All-Russian Society for Nature Preservation and later and up to now – of the State Darwin Museum. “The Biology Club” is also a branch of the Moscow Society of Nature Investigators. After the Second World War the young naturalist movement spread all over the country – the “stations for young naturalists” began to appear everywhere . It’s a pity but they were characterized by an “agricultural” approach though there had been a tendency to increasing the number of groups of the naturalistic approach since 1970s.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there appeared a real boom of the naturalistic approach that coincided with the disappearing of the agricultural one. By that time the social idea of man’s place and role in nature had changed greatly – the appeal for conquering nature had been replaced by one for preserving it. The regeneration of the roots of the environmental education coincided with the “changing course” of the whole country and falling into an economic decay – all these events were reflected in shattering the establishments of the additional education. At the same time there appeared an important problem of looking for ways of attracting young generation’s attention to investigating and preserving the Nature.
The idea was not a simple one to implement. First, for many years of the pioneer domination in the young naturalist movement the educational culture itself and the ways of the environmental education of children had been lost. Second, young biology teacher succeeded naturalistic biologists of the “old school”. These new educators studied biology and geography only through books, they didn’t know real nature and some of them never took part in the field work (owing to various circumstances). The third reason for this was a rapid development of ecological science, nature-preservation methods and monitoring research. Research methods had made a great progress but almost nobody tried to put them into the educational practice. Fourth, the early 1990s were marked by a great deal of foreign influence in the environmental education that was showered on “unprepared heads” of Russian environment teachers. An insufficient development of a “naturalistic” trend in the Russian environmental education can finally be explained by these factors. The last reason had played a very important role in the present correlation of trends of the environmental education.

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The analysis of the environmental education in Russian schools for the last 10 years helps to come to the conclusion that the environmental education includes at least 5 trends: “school (theoretical) ecology“, “technical (industrial) ecology“, “socio-political ecology“, “playing ecology“, ‘field ecology“. The present classification is rather symbolic and thus we may speak of different ecology, using these word-combinations only in quotation marks and bearing in mind that we don’t speak of ecology as a whole but only of some trends of the environmental education. All these trends are characterized by different approaches to the education of children, a quite different substance forms of work and direct ways of communication with children. Moreover, each of these trends has got its own authors, its own means of communication and its own audience.

The “school (theoretical) ecology trend of the environmental education” is mainly based on studying general environment objective laws and global environmental problems. Textbooks that educators use in their teaching are written in a very “dull” and “global” manner.

The “technical” trend in the environment education is based on studying the results of the industrial influence on the environment and the ways of struggle with pollution by various technical means. As a part of professional education this sphere is certainly very important but is not the main one in forming a correct attitude of a person to the Nature.

The “sociopolitical” ecology is nature preservation through the adoption of “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle” philosophy, and its implementation in industry and everyday life. This trend though spreading quickly throughout the country is inefficient because it causes fear for the future and a social tensions as a result of searching for scapegoats. Positive aspect  sociopolitical ecology is that many people start to support the idea of preserving nature and thus can attract the attention of “powerful people of the world” to the ecological problems.

The “playing” trend in education is something new for our country and is spreading fast among educators (especially in schools). Any game including an ecological one is a fine occupation for children that aids to their maturity and an easy way of acquiring useful knowledge for adults. A foreign influence in this field contributes to an active development of the “playing” ecology in our country as our foreign colleagues have gained an enormous experience for many years and it is deprived of national peculiarities and need only a translation.

Nowadays the sphere of the “field” ecology turned out to be a less developed and less simple form of the environmental education in Russia. And it is quite evident: the teachers who have got a special natural sciences education are engaged in the sphere of the “school” ecology. The former engineers and educators of technical colleges are engaged in the “technical” ecology. Everybody can be engaged in the “socio-political” and “playing” ecology including former active members of youth communist movement. But everything mentioned above is insufficient for a “field” ecology educator. The person must combine the qualities of a scientist, an outdoor guide and an entrepreneur to successfully teach “field” ecology.

by Alexander S. Bogolubov

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Environmental and Housing Movements: Grassroots Experience in Hungary, Russia and Estonia

The vast empty plains of the Russian steppe may seem inhospitable to many, but for some it offers the chance to return to a simple life and escape from today’s pressures and problems. Sergey Boriso…
Rodnoe – Eco-village of Kin’s domains
Recently in Russia there has been an increase in the number of people who, preferring life in nature to the hustle and bustle of the city, have moved to Eco-villages…and are creating “Kin’s domains.” They have given up the use of fertilizers, heavy agricultural machines, and grow all their food themselves.

Technorati Tags: Adobe House, Agricultural Machines, Bustle, Country Domains, Creation, Domain, Domains, Earth Celebration, Eco villsge, Eco-village of Kin's domains, Escape to the country, Fertilizers, Film 1, Growing Plants, Hectare, Hungary, Nature, Personality, Plots Of Land, Quiet Life, Rural Areas, Russia, Russian Steppe, Simple Life, Summer Time

How Permaculture Water Harvesting Works? Geoff Lawton founding Director of the Permaculture Research Institute talks about Permaculture Water Harvesting techniques, swales and sillways. PERMACULTURE: A Designers’ Manual

Technorati Tags: Designers, Drylands, Geoff Lawton, How It Works, Permaculture Research Institute, Permaculture Water Harvesting, Rainwater, Rainwater Harvesting, Swales, Water Harvesting Techniques

see more info on seal hunt ban in Russia

Russia looks to boost energy efficiency

Baltic pipeline fuels ecology row

Russian ministry takes Ecology seriously

Russia is the biggest country in the world and the wealthiest when it comes to natural resources. Developing these resources are at the heart of the Russian economy. But is the development sustainable? According to governmetn data, 40 million people in this country live in unfavourable environmental conditions. What are the authorities doing to improve the situation? To tell us more is the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, Yury Trutnev.

Belarusian Energy and Ecology Congress …

Belarusian Energy and Ecology Congress says Belarus will upgrade all the largest power stations by 2010. Leading enterprises of Belarus, visitors from Russia and Baltic States discuss energy security

Life in Russian Eco-village

As the world wakes up to the affects of climate change, more and more Russians are ditching city life for some fresh country air. They are taking the usual ‘dacha’ living one step further by living cities…

Technorati Tags: Baby Seal, Baltic States, Belarusian, Climate Change, Dacha, Eco News from Russia, Eco Village, Ecology, Energy Efficiency, Energy Security, Environmental Conditions, Hunt Ban, Minister Of Natural Resources, News From Russia, News Russia, Rt News, Russia, Russia Russia, Russian Economy, Russian Ministry, Russians, Seal Hunt, Security Life, Social justice, Survival, World Ecology

Organization
The sovereign body is the 650-member Co-operative Congress, its delegates elected from across the individual co-operatives. The annual general assembly elects a governing council which has day-to-day management responsibility and appoints senior staff. For each individual business, there is also a workplace council, the elected President of which assists the manager with the running of the business on behalf of the workers.

Current developments
In the 1980s, the various companies responded to pressures of globalisation by joining together as the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation. The MCC is now the Basque Country’s largest corporation, the seventh largest in Spain. It is considered the world’s largest worker co-operative. In 2006 the MCC contributed 3.8% towards the total GDP of the Basque Country.

Education has always been key to MCC and its development, hence the conversion of the old school into the University of Mondragón in the 1990s, a private university to promote further development. Some 4,000 students attend the university campuses in Oñati , Eskoriatza and Mondragón.

MCC now constitutes over 150 companies, with important manufacturing and engineering interests, as well as retail, financial and educational arms. Its supermarket arm, Eroski, is the largest Spanish-owned retail food chain and the third largest retail group in Spain.

The Basque government and the tax authorities of the Basque provinces have special measures to help co-operatives. The Deba county around Mondragón has kept a very high employment rate even during Basque industrial crisis.

Mission
MONDRAGON’s mission combines the basic objectives of a business organisation competing in international markets with the use of democratic methods in its organisation and with special emphasis on job creation, the promotion of its workers in human and professional terms and a commitment to the development of its social environment.

MONDRAGON’s mission combines the basic objectives of a business organisation competing in international markets with the use of democratic methods in its organisation and with special emphasis on job creation, the promotion of its workers in human and professional terms and a commitment to the development of its social environment.

Listen to video presentation about Mondragón here:
www.socialprofitnews.org

Can coops go global? Mondragon is trying. (Mondragon cooperatives in Spain’s Basque region)(includes related articles on Italian and Mondragon cooperatives)

Technorati Tags: Basque Country, Basque Government, Basque Provinces, Business Organisation, Cooperative Corporation, Coops, Current Developments, Day Management, Economic crisis, Employment Rate, Industrial Crisis, Management Organization, Management Responsibility, Private University, Retail Companies, Retail Food, Retail Group, Self Management, Sovereign Body, Tax Authorities, the humanity at work, University Campuses, Worker Cooperatives, World economy