Southern African Journal of Environmental Education

Development of Sustainable Local Food Economies: A conceptual tool

2023-02-13T08:01:59+00:00

The transition towards sustainable, localised and just food economies requires fundamental structural changes within the skills development system. South Africa’s current skills models remain siloed and inadequate for addressing the food system’s complex social, technical and ecological dynamics. To address this gap, this article draws on the social skills ecosystems framework to develop an integrated mapping tool that examines skills as an enabler between verticalities (policies and hierarchical structures) and horizontalities (collaborative networks and local actor relationships) within local food economies. Th e tool was trialled across three South African case studies in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Initial desktop-based mapping results reveal a systemic bias in regional education and training towards large-scale commercial agriculture, alongside a generic short-course culture lacking clear learning pathways. These models marginalise smallholder farmers and informal traders and provide limited support for sustainable practices such as urban farming and agroecology. Findings further highlight a policy-implementation gap, with municipalities often lacking the capacity to translate local strategies into action, resulting in reliance on under-supported non-state actors. We argue that transitioning to a just food system requires moving beyond linear, individualistic supply-and demand approaches. The mapping tool off ers a practical mechanism for grounded, place-based skills planning that strengthens collaboration between policy frameworks and local implementation to support sustainable living, working, and learning.

Keywords: skills ecosystems, just transition, local food systems, skills planning

Complex Contradictions as Drivers of Expansive Learning in Water Resources Co-management in the uMzimvubu Catchment

2025-09-20T14:02:39+00:00

The aim of this article is to understand complex contradictions which are involved in collaborative management of water resources at a catchment level in South Africa, where numerous water challenges exist including security of supply, degradation of ecological infrastructure, poor landscape governance and resource pollution. To address water related challenges, South Africa has defi ned several Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs), one of which is the uMzimvubu catchment in the Eastern Cape. The uMzimvubu catchment is located in the former Transkei homeland, and the river system runs along the northern border of the Eastern Cape Province. The study draws on Cultural History Activity Th eory (CHAT) and it analyses contradictions within and between activity systems in the uMzimvubu catchment. In this theory, contradictions are the source of expansive learning; they are the focus of co-engagement to resolve identifi ed contradictions using formative intervention methodology. Change Laboratories (or Change Labs) were used in this study as hubs for learning and the methodological approach was informed by the expansive learning cycle. In the uMzimvubu catchment, co-management of water resources is characterised by complex contradictions and these stem from deep-seated structural dynamics where historical, cultural, political, ecological and social aspects intersect.

Keywords: co-management; activity systems; contradictions; expansive learning; isiphithiphithi

Pre-service Teachers’ Understandings and Practices of Climate Change

2025-10-04T15:48:39+00:00

Globally, climate change (CC) is one of the most critical challenges of the 21st century with far-reaching environmental social, economic and political impacts. Climate change education (CCE) is essential to educate citizens about CC, its eff ects, adaptations, and mitigations, including how lifestyles need to be adjusted. Educators at both schooling and higher education levels therefore should be informed and wellequipped to educate about CC. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) need more exposure to both climate science content and pedagogical content knowledge relating to climate science teaching. Research on how pre-service teachers’ understandings and practices are influenced by their learnings about CC is lacking. Th is study investigated 40 preservice science teachers’ understandings and practices on CC, before and after a Biological Science for Educators module, in a Bachelor of Education undergraduate programme, at a South African university. Th e data generation methods in this qualitative, interpretive study included questionnaires and in-depth individual and focus group interviews. The findings indicate an improvement in the PSTs’ understandings and practices about climate change in their local environments and their conceptual knowledge, after the module teaching. Th eir climate change practices were, however, embedded only in their immediate contexts. Th e module teaching approach to climate change education requires change as limited aspects of CC were taught and more action-oriented activities should be included. Thus, a holistic (rather than piecemeal) approach to CCE is needed to deepen pre-service teachers’ understandings and practices and this study proposes an adaptable, action-oriented CCE model for PSTs.

Keywords: climate change, climate change education, pre-service science teachers, understandings, practices, mitigation, adaptations

Emergent Voices and Collective Actions of Environmental Rangers against Peatland Degradation Challenges

2025-11-23T14:19:13+00:00

Peatland degradation in South Sumatra, Indonesia, has become a critical environmental challenge driven by large-scale agricultural expansion, deforestation, and recurrent fi res, resulting in substantial carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic impacts on local communities. Th is study explores the environmental awareness, motivations and collective actions of high school students actively engaged in student-led and community-based environmental organisations addressing peatland degradation challenges. Employing a qualitative approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 27 students and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that student environmental rangers develop a multidimensional form of environmental awareness that integrates ecological literacy, emotional attachment to peatland landscapes, and moral responsibility, and this awareness functions as a catalyst for sustained collective action. Th is awareness is translated into concrete initiatives, including environmental education campaigns, peatland restoration activities, and policy-oriented advocacy. The study highlights the role of youth environmental organisations as critical spaces for nurturing agency, solidarity, and action-oriented environmental stewardship. Strengthening institutional support and cross-sector community partnerships is therefore essential to sustain and scale youth-led environmental action in peatland conservation contexts.

Keywords: environmental activism, peatland conservation, student engagement, youth organisations, youth-led movements