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Environmental Education & Outreach

Environmental Education & Outreach

Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it is sometimes used more broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc. Environmental outreach is an umbrella term for a variety of activities by research institutes, universities, but also institutions such as science museums, aimed at promoting public awareness (and understanding) of environmental science and making informal contributions to environmental science education.

CMap

Collaboration and partnering refers to working together to achieve a goal. Contact Uses, such as biological additions, physical damage, and biological harvesting, are activities in which humans create pressures through direct contact with the ecosystem. Cultural policies are responses that impact the distribution and functioning of cultural sectors, including tourism, recreation, education, and social organization. Cultural protections are designed to preserve or protect buildings, landscapes, artifacts, or species of cultural or historic significance. Cultural services are the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, recreational opportunities, aesthetic experiences, sense of place, and educational and research opportunities. Culture sectors contribute to the social, emotional, and intellectual well-being of the community. Discharges are the intentional or unintentional distribution of chemicals, debris, or other pollution, into the environment as a consequence of human activities. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems . The Education and Information sectors consists of schools, colleges, instruction and training programs that provide instruction in various subjects, organizations that conduct scientific research, and organizations that collect and distribute information. Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. Funding is to provide resources, usually in form of money or other values such as effort or time, for a project or to private or public institutions. Landscape Changes are alterations of the natural landscape through human activities, including coastal development, shoreline armoring, impervious surfaces, deforestation, or soil disturbance, which can alter water flow patterns and lead to pollutant runoff into coastal systems. The Reef Ecosystem includes a suite of abiotic variables that form the physical and chemical environment. Pressures are human activities that create stress on the environment. Provisioning services are the products or ecosystem goods obtained from ecosystems, including seafood, genetic and biochemical resources, pharmaceuticals, ornamental resources, and water resources. The state of the Reef Ecosystem is the condition, in terms of quantity and quality, of the abiotic and biotic components including physical, chemical, and biological variables. Reef Life is the abundance, distribution, and condition of the biological components of the coral reef ecosystem. Regulating Services are benefits obtained from ecosystem processes that regulate the environment, including erosion regulation, natural hazard regulation, and climate regulation. Responses are actions taken by groups or individuals in society and government to prevent, compensate, ameliorate or adapt to changes in Ecosystem Services or their perceived value. Social Organizations are devoted to improving social well-being, and include churches, grant making organizations, and charities. Socio-Economic Drivers include the sectors that fulfill human needs for Food & Raw Materials, Water, Shelter, Health, Culture, and Security, and the Infrastructure that supports the sectors. Supporting services are ecological processes that indirectly benefit humans by maintaining a functional ecosystem for the production of other ecosystem goods and services. Tourism & Recreation sectors operate facilities and provide services for the varied cultural, entertainment, and recreational interests of residents and tourists. Tourism and recreation policies can be use to control the distribution and intensity of recreational activities such as through advertising, incentives, or visitors centers.

CMap Description

A change in the provision of ecosystem services, or a desire to improve provision of ecosystem services, may elicit responses to manage the distribution and functioning of cultural sectors. Cultural sectors, particularly tourism and recreation, create pressures on the reef ecosystem through primarily through contact uses, but also drive coastal development, which can lead to landscape changes and increasing pollution. Cultural sectors benefit from reef ecosystem services, including recreational and educational opportunities. Environmental education and outreach, including classwork, field trips, public advertising campaigns, and brochures, can be used to increase environmental awareness and to teach the public about the value of ecosystem services, or to modify public behavior.

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