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Can we avoid inheriting serious issues from research related to environmental education when the researcher community is addressing education for sustainable development? This paper identifies and discusses three main issues: if an explicit and coherent concept of environmental education or education for sustainable development is missing; if the field is dominated by researchers with an environmental science background; and if the research is aiming at improving practice through prescriptive, normative recommendations. The elaboration of the issues is taking a point of departure in the World Environmental Education Congress 2007 in Durban with perspectives for future ESD research and traces the historical roots of some of the trends and issues. It is argued that the overall question is related to a basic dichotomy: is the researcher seeing the role as a support to solving environmental problems here and now, or is the researcher seeing long-term empowerment through education as the main idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces the concept of ecosystem services for a broad scientific readership in South Africa and contends that its attendant research offers a theme for the engagement of a diverse range of scientific disciplines and stakeholders in the development of sustainability science. It then provides an overview of published ecosystem service studies that have dealt with the country, revealing that there were large gaps in the information on these services. Research shows that human activities are contributing to a decline in the quantity and quality of these services. If the potential of research on ecosystem services are to be realized, more direct interaction and development of an interdisciplinary understanding between the different domains of science are required .

Sustainability Assessment is a recent addition to the environmental assessment toolbox that is not currently applied in South Africa in any formal way. However, there appear to be remarkable similarities between what is commonly proposed as Sustainability Assessment and how Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been conceptualised and promoted in South Africa. This paper therefore investigates the following questions: • Could the South African concept and application of SEA be what is required for Sustainability Assessment? • If Sustainability Assessment is "dressing up" SEA, is there really a need to introduce a new tool? • If there is a need for a new tool, are there lessons learnt from the application of SEA in South Africa, which can be used to inform the further development and indeed practice of Sustainability Assessment? This paper identifies from the literature some key criteria that should underpin Sustainability Assessment that are then used to identify some of the shortcomings of SEA, both as promoted and as practised in South Africa. Two sets of criteria form the basis of the analysis: one relating to sustainability assessment processes and the other to the concept of sustainability itself. As a result of this analysis, the paper makes recommendations as to how the practice of SEA in South Africa may be improved to better align with the principles of Sustainability Assessment. These recommendations are also likely to be relevant to other countries seeking to develop Sustainability Assessment processes based upon SEA. Finally, the potential for the emerging field of sustainability science as an underpinning body of knowledge is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 2002. Earth-system science; Indication that the global environmental crisis has changed the parameters of scientific research; New burden on the scientific community as it inevitably expands its influence over political decision-making; Organizational base of earth-system governance; Financing of earth-system governance.

WORLD LEADERS DEFINED A CLEAR agenda for sustainable development with the adoption of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment anal Development, and the UNCED-related conventions. Ten years later, however, progress towards the goals established at the Rio Earth Summit has been slower than anticipated. Some advarice has been made in adopting measures to protect the environment through science and technology, but conservation measures are far from satisfactory. Agenda 21 and the principles established in Rio remain as relevant today as they were in 1992, but the global context has changed. The Science and Technology Community (S & TC)§ has to take into account globalization, the paradigm leaps in information and communication technologies, social dislocation in many parts of the world, and the spread of HIV/AIDS. In meeting the challenges of Agenda 21 and beyond, the S & TC is aware that political will is the key to success. Practical steps are needed to establish the credibility of the Johannesburg Summit in carrying forward the sustainable development agenda in meaningful and measurable ways. Partnerships with a variety of stakeholders are essential for ensuring the commitment of all parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]