As I am a University student while working as a freelance teacher, my personal action plan mainly focuses on educating public on various environmental issues. The educational system of Burma is operated by the government Ministry of Education. Universities and professional institutes from upper Burma and lower Burma are run by two separate entities, the Departments of Higher Education (Lower Burma and Upper Burma), whose office headquarters are based in Yangon and Mandalay respectively. And the education system is based on the United Kingdom's system, due to nearly a century of British and Christian presences in Burma. Nearly all schools in Burma are government-operated, but recently, there has been an increase in privately funded schools (which specialized in English). Our Schooling is compulsory until the end of elementary school, probably about 9 years old, while the compulsory schooling age is 15 or 16 at international level.
In Burma, some environmental organizations offer environmental workshops, trainings and courses in Yangon and some rural areas. But, there are lots of people who are not aware of environmental issues. Many people do not yet see the country's environmental problems as very serious, as well. Even among educated Burmese, knowledge about environmental problems is scarce and incomplete. However, there are students who deserve the creation of their future which could be the best time to begin now. Therefore, to help students learn about and get involved in environmental issues, to serve as a resource for higher education, to reduce the environmental impact, near in the future, I am planning to establish an education center in my hometown. I believe my school could promote environmental movements, continuity and provide resources and training, institutionalize students’ role in environmental and educational change. Also this could increase the visibility of environmental efforts on my hometown or other towns, which will draw in new recruits, thereby sustaining our town environmental movements.
To reach my goals, I need to setup the ingredients of success based on the Eco-tipping point concepts indeed.
Outside stimulation and facilitation.
Hopefully I already have an environmental club of students to work with to start an Environmental Education project. If not, this is essential! I will propose my idea to existing friends and others. After that, my second step is to stimulate and facilitate them on what services other Environmental Organizations provide and what functions they serve. Then, we have to set out our visions, goals and the actions.
Transforming waste into resources.
This is the third step that we can contribute our goals into reality. We might focus on degraded land, abandoned buildings, garbage, sewage, or marginalized students in schools, universities, colleges or public areas such as parks and public gardens. It’s our goals.
Rapid results.
We have to make it happen by building a critical mass of work which we could not get less interests on our project. It’s a hard and the most important part to start. But, after this, it’s become sure all gets done!
A powerful symbol.
The key is to find one person at the University or other places that supports us. This person can be our faculty member, an administrator, or a Student Government leader. In this way, we will get a lot of good ideas for what will and will not work on our projects, and it’s likely that at least one of these people will enthusiastically support our proposal.
Overcoming social obstacles.
The quickest way to solve any problem is to find its root cause. What is at the very source of the issues such as the government, the policy, the law, and or the cultural conflicts,…etc? Although we determine exactly what it is about the action we are taking, it may makes them afraid or unavailable. So, we just have to make sure we understand the problem clearly and completely to get it resolved quickly.
Social memory.
How did people handle environmental problems? We had lost of lessons from previous natural disaster, Nargis, which show that the shift from emergency relief to (early) recovery needs had to be planned early on. So, by learning our history and how our leaders faced the same memories, we could better understand our ways to success.
In Burma, some environmental organizations offer environmental workshops, trainings and courses in Yangon and some rural areas. But, there are lots of people who are not aware of environmental issues. Many people do not yet see the country's environmental problems as very serious, as well. Even among educated Burmese, knowledge about environmental problems is scarce and incomplete. However, there are students who deserve the creation of their future which could be the best time to begin now. Therefore, to help students learn about and get involved in environmental issues, to serve as a resource for higher education, to reduce the environmental impact, near in the future, I am planning to establish an education center in my hometown. I believe my school could promote environmental movements, continuity and provide resources and training, institutionalize students’ role in environmental and educational change. Also this could increase the visibility of environmental efforts on my hometown or other towns, which will draw in new recruits, thereby sustaining our town environmental movements.
To reach my goals, I need to setup the ingredients of success based on the Eco-tipping point concepts indeed.
Outside stimulation and facilitation.
Hopefully I already have an environmental club of students to work with to start an Environmental Education project. If not, this is essential! I will propose my idea to existing friends and others. After that, my second step is to stimulate and facilitate them on what services other Environmental Organizations provide and what functions they serve. Then, we have to set out our visions, goals and the actions.
Transforming waste into resources.
This is the third step that we can contribute our goals into reality. We might focus on degraded land, abandoned buildings, garbage, sewage, or marginalized students in schools, universities, colleges or public areas such as parks and public gardens. It’s our goals.
Rapid results.
We have to make it happen by building a critical mass of work which we could not get less interests on our project. It’s a hard and the most important part to start. But, after this, it’s become sure all gets done!
A powerful symbol.
The key is to find one person at the University or other places that supports us. This person can be our faculty member, an administrator, or a Student Government leader. In this way, we will get a lot of good ideas for what will and will not work on our projects, and it’s likely that at least one of these people will enthusiastically support our proposal.
Overcoming social obstacles.
The quickest way to solve any problem is to find its root cause. What is at the very source of the issues such as the government, the policy, the law, and or the cultural conflicts,…etc? Although we determine exactly what it is about the action we are taking, it may makes them afraid or unavailable. So, we just have to make sure we understand the problem clearly and completely to get it resolved quickly.
Social memory.
How did people handle environmental problems? We had lost of lessons from previous natural disaster, Nargis, which show that the shift from emergency relief to (early) recovery needs had to be planned early on. So, by learning our history and how our leaders faced the same memories, we could better understand our ways to success.