ABSTRACT:In this article, the environmental content of the textbooks used for the teaching of natural sciences in Greek primary schools was examined. Specifically, by employing the method of content analysis, both representational (metaphors, depictions, values, etc.) and cognitive (ecological concepts) elements, building images of nature, and shaping our opinion and attitudes towards the environment were examined. The results of the analysis revealed that a coherent whole was produced, where nature was in a condition of oscillating balance, with everything being connected with something else, and humans having absolute control over a nature whose only value was its usefulness as a resource for food and raw material. However, seen qualitatively, the edifice included many contradictory elements and inconsistencies, which, having evolved out of a specific context, might spread confusion and deprive pupils from critical thinking. On the other hand, the image of nature dominating disagreed with both a standpoint advocating an equal relationship between humans and nature and with that supporting a relationship of stewardship and care for nature, while it failed to provide students with proper and sufficient environmental knowledge.
This article offers qualitative insights into the way visitors to a Greek reserve negotiate the duality of ecotourism in visitors books. This is a neglected issue in general, and within ‘Ecocritical Discourse Analysis’ in particular. Using as ‘map’ a Content Analysis undertaken in a previous study, we now conduct a lexical analysis to two of the major discourses drawn for the shaping of images of the natural environment of the reserve (tourism and environmentalist discourses), in order to reveal the conceptual organization of such images. By also using the descriptive tool of ‘macro-speech acts’, images are positioned within a ‘tourism-environmentalism continuum’. The results of the analysis indicate that although in the visitors book of the information center environmentalist images dominate, in that from the observation site, tourism images prevail. Moreover, the two samples differ in the way they shape environmentalist images. In conclusion, with very few images being positioned at the middle of the continuum, the two social practices do not function in a complementary way, leading to a dualism rather than a duality of ecotourism.
This article presents the design of a fuzzy decision support system (DSS) for the assessment of alternative strategies proposed for the restoration of Lake Koronia, Greece. Fuzzy estimates for the critical characteristics of the possible strategies, such as feasibility, environmental impact, implementation time, and costs are evaluated and supplied to the fuzzy DSS. Different weighting factors are assigned to the critical characteristics and the proposed strategies are ordered with respect to the system responses. The best strategies are selected and their expected impact on the ecosystem is evaluated with the aid of a fuzzy model of the lake. Sensitivity analysis and simulation results have shown that the proposed fuzzy DSS can serve as a valuable tool for the selection and evaluation of appropriate management actions.
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