Winter Edition Vol 19 1999

CONTENTS:

Delta's environmental consultancy makes an impact

The wide range of services, products and activities that are a feature of Delta Environmental Centre has recently been expanded with the addition of an environmental consultancy service. The idea for such a service came from discussions with one of the part-time education staff who felt that there was a need for Delta to become more pro-active in broader environmental issues and expand our services to business and industry. Our educators collectively have an impressive range of skills and experience which are ideally suited to the development of such a service. After some discussion it was decided to go ahead with this new project.
Initial reactions to the project have been positive and the group is currently involved in three projects which give an indication of the type of service that we offer:-

  • A bird survey of the Kensington Golf Course, which will result in recommendations on how to increase bird species diversity and numbers during the re-development of the area.
  • The production of a brochure for the environmental education programme at Mohale's Gate Nature Reserve for the Standard Bank - the owners of the reserve.
  • A project based in the Tonteldoos/ Roossenekal district in Mpumalanga which involves working with the community around the proposed granite quarrying in the area.
    The Delta Consultancy Service was called in by the Mapochsgronde Action Group, to inform the local population about the environmental implications of mining in this area. The group has also requested an assessment of the Environmental Mining Programme Reports that have been submitted by the mining companies for any weaknesses or inaccuracies.
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New Museum Exhibit is Launched

The Trans-Caledon Water Authority officially opened their new exhibit in the Delta Museum on the 19 May 1999. Prof. Kader Asmal, then Minister of the Dept. of Water Affairs and Forestry, was on hand to unveil this new exhibit together with a number of high ranking dignitaries from Lesotho, stressing that the Lesotho Highlands Water Project is a joint enterprise between the two countries. Delta has been selected as the first site for such an exhibit because of the large
number of schools that visit the Centre. Each school that visits the Centre will receive a package that contains information on the project. A video on the construction and workings of the project has been produced and is very informative.
We look forward to making use of this interesting and informative exhibit in the future. Mr. Barnard Mokwena and Mr. George van der Merwe must be thanked for their enthusiastic support.

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Melville Koppies Education Project - Phase Two.

 Following on the success of the development of an environmental education package for Grade 7(Std5) learners and their educators using the Sotho-Twana settlement and ecology of Mellvile Koppies as the focus, The Green Trust have agreed to fund Phase 2. This involves the development, printing and distribution of educational posters that will enhance the existing material as well as that planned for the Grade 4 package. The 3 posters will feature:-
  1. Archaeology
  2. A Sotho-Twana settlement
  3. Ecology
All 3 posters have related information and ideas for educators on the reverse side thus utilising all available space.They are bright, eye catching and informative. They have been designed so that they can be used at Melville Koppies or other similar sites.
The Grade 4 package will consist of learner centred activities based on a visit to Melville Koppies, the focus being on the Hunter - Gatherers of the Stone Age and biodiversity. Information cards, artifacts and learning tools will be integrated into the programme to keep learners actively involved throughout.
Educators will be encouraged to do pre- and post - visit work that will support this programme in a meaningful way.
Nedbank and WWF - SA's The Green Trust must be thanked for their involvement in this innovative project that has been designed to suit the requirements of Curriculum 2005.

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From The Peanut Gallery

A group of Grade 5 pupils were discussing sinking sand and what ought to be done if one is trapped in it. It was suggested that one ought to keep as still as possible to avoid sinking too quickly whereupon one child was heard to say, 'The best thing to do would be to use your cellphone and call for help!!'

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WWET WWET WWET Splashes Along!!

'Listen!' exclaimed one of the explorers. 'What is that beautiful sound?' They could not hear anything. The explorers see the beautiful scenery in front of them as the sun painted the hills a rosy red. 'Listen!' Repeated the explorer. 'What is that beautiful sound?'
During the April school holiday, the Water Wise Education Team (WWET WWET WWET) took 30 Rand Water high school staff children on a 'Water Wise Expedition'. This 7 day camping expedition saw them exploring the passage of Gauteng's water from it's mountain sources; to the network of dams; to the purification plants; to the sewerage works, and finally back to the rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. They spent 2 nights at the Royal Natal National Park in the Drakensberg, 2 nights at Golden Gate and 2 nights at Emfuleni Recreation Resort on the Vaal River. Highlights of the expedition included the Vaal-Tugela Water Transfer Scheme, the Basotho Cultural village, the Working for Water Project, the Zuikerbosch Purification Station and many others.
The programme involved a series of games, competitions and nature discoveries where each explorer was placed in a team of 6 members with a facilitator. Each team was named after various dams and rivers in the catchment area, i.e. Tugela, Katse etc. On the 1st day each team was given a trunk of 'goodies' such as face paint, balloons etc. On the last evening each team had to present a 'Water Wise
Extravaganza'where they had to portray a 'Water Wise' message and something that they had learned during the expedition. These were great fun and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.
The Water Wise Expedition was a huge success with the explorers discovering many new places and making many new friends. Each explorer returned home as an enthusiastic ambassador for Rand Water and the 'Water Wise' message.
Do you know the meaning of the Water Wise message?
  1. To have the utmost respect for water and all life.
  2. To use water carefully and not waste it.
  3. To not pollute our rivers with liquid and solid waste
  4. To identify water problems and to solve them
  5. To conserve water, and thereby conserve our environment.
Jacana Education has recently launched a new booklet, Environmental Education, which they are hoping will empower people to take action in their environments and help them to address issues and solve problems.
The booklet encourages active involvement, suggesting ways in which communities can make their environments safe places to live and work in. It is filled with ideas and information for different communities. The aims of the booklet are:-
  1. to help solve environmental problems.
  2. to inspire new, innovative project work in schools and communities
  3. to become a versatile, multi-use resource and get people thinking and talking about Environmental Education ( E.E.).
  4. to provide information about what E.E. is all about.
  5. to help teachers, learners and education policy makers to integrate E.E. principles into their work and decision making.
The booklet is divided into sections for schools, communities, businesses, health and justice. They are brightly illustrated with clear information and planning sections. A glossary is provided where necessary. I feel that it is going to become a useful tool.

For more information contact:
Jacana Education
Tel:-(011)648 1157
or
Fax: (011) 648 5516

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Don Macey - Man in a Million!

Don was born and educated in Birmingham in the U.K. He was always a keen sportsman and particularly enjoyed playing soccer and at a young age became a Class 1 soccer referee. He is still an ardent
supporter of Aston Villa!! Don continued to be involved in the soccer world at the top level in South Africa, refereeing the Embassy Cup Final in 1974. He then began coaching at the Randburg Football Club and became Club Chairman. He watched the teams increase over the years from 2 to 32 teams when he left in 1985! Last year he was approached by the Premier Soccer League to become the Independent Chairman of the Referee Appointments Committee, a post which he accepted in November 1998.
After completing his schooling in 1955 he became a trainee in Lloyds Bank Here he met his wife, Elizabeth who was a young South African working in the U.K. She persuaded him to visit South Africa ( she was not enjoying the weather in the U.K. much!). In 1963 he went to an interview in London and was offered a job at the Strand St. Branch of the Standard Bank in Cape Town. He accepted the job and continued working there as Managers Clerk until 1969 when he was promoted and transferred to

Johannesburg Head Office. He took up the position in the Credit Division and eventually moved into Public Relations, his real interest. This led to becoming Manager of the Standard Bank Foundation ( Corporate Social Investment ) and this is where his involvement with Delta began in 1977! As Manager of the Standard Bank Foundation he was approached by Norman Bloom to sponsor the initial phase of
development of Delta. Standard Bank was the first major sponsor at that time, sponsoring R15000. Don went on to motivate other donors to get involved and he has been doing this ever since! He has watched Delta's development with interest and given much of his precious time to guiding the leadership over the past 24 years of Delta's existence. Today he is Chairman of Delta's Board of Directors. His constant encouragement and approachable manner have led many people to request his advice and guidance leading to an invitation to become a guest lecturer in Communications. at Damelin This was such a success that he eventually became a regular part time lecturer at Damelin and is still involved today. When talking about this , his love for his subject and the people he works with is very evident. He really loves this work and strongly believes that studying Public Relations can foster effective communications both in the work place and in one's personal life. He hopes to continue lecturing for the time being as he finds this fulfilling and satisfying.
In 1996 he was made a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa and is presently serving on the examinations committee of this body.
Although Don retired form the Bank in April this year he is still consulting part time in Public
Relations and, particularly, Corporate Social Investment. Don is involved in numerous other worthy causes. He is a Trustee of the Children's Hospital Trust in Cape Town ( this being the only hospital that focuses solely on children and is the premier paediatric training Hospital in Sub Saharan Africa), He is on the Board of Governors of Bishop Bavin School and he is Trustee of the Right to Hope Trust (an organisation which gets actively involved in troubled areas around the world)
When he is at home he enjoys working in the garden and walking the dog in the park, as well as spending time with his first grandchild, Jessica. He and Elizabeth are members of the Jhb. Bach Choir which they both find relaxing and enjoyable. Don sees life as an opportunity to contribute actively and
positively to the future world, and education, especially, as a crucial ingredient in providing a future for the disadvantaged.
Don is confident about Delta's future as he feels that the business world is realising that the environment has to be taken into account if there is to be a future. Delta offers good, quality products and therefore enjoys support from a wide range of corporate sponsors both in South Africa and abroad.
Don we salute you! You truly are Delta's 'Man in a Million' !


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Delta And DANCED In Action

  1. Delta has given R290.00 to the Johannesburg Society for the Blind towards a skills training programme they have implemented recently.
  2. 4 DANCED Expo's have been held at Pretoria, Germiston, Benoni and Delta. They were very successful. A large number of teachers and District Office officials attended and were very impressed with the teachers' work and learning programmes.
  3. The final session of the Rhodes University Teachers' Course was held on the 1st and 2nd May concluding with the Certification Ceremony. 24 teachers qualified for certificates and it was encouraging to note that 7 of teachers have been involved in the DANCED Training Project as well.
  4. Wenda is negotiating with the Spider Club to upgrade the Spider exhibit in the museum so that it will form part of the 'new look' museum.
  5. The new information panels are now installed in the museum and have already been put to good use!! Thanks to the Mazda Wildlife Fund for their support and Wenda and Geoff for their efforts.
  6. Rina continues to offer Teacher Training workshops in the NW Province based on Curriculum 2005 and EnviroTeach.
  7. Adeline, Henry and Palesa visited the N Province and held some successful workshops on Curriculum 2005 and the School Environmental Policy Pack.
  8. Delta received an award from The Habitat Council for 'their sustained contribution to Environmental Education' on the 4th June 1999. Thanks to Vincent and Jane Carruthers for attending the presentation ceremony and to all staff and Directors for the role they have played over the past 24 years!
  9. Congratulations to Norman Bloom on his Eightieth Birthday!!

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Partners in Environmental Education.

For many years Delta Environmental Centre has been the only urban Education Centre of it's kind in South Africa. Recently, some other Centres have come into being in Pretoria and the Western Cape. They both operate from premises in an urban setting and offer a variety of programmes.
The Centre for Conservation Education in Aliwal Rd., Wynberg, Cape Town, is run under the auspices of the Western Cape Education Dept. Their aim is to foster conservation consciousness amongst learners and teachers, and to encourage schools to become involved in practical activities that will benefit their communities. The programmes are adapted to fit in with the new outcomes based education and their services are largely free of charge. They offer a variety of services to teachers, learners and individuals.
For further information they can be contacted at:-

Tel: (021) 762 1622 or
Fax:- (021) 762 8690


The Inner City Enviro Centre on the corner of Bosman and Visagie St. in Pretoria is the other
Environmental Education Centre operating from an old house in an urban area. They are presently running a 'naming competition' as the centre has ,as yet, no name. It has links with a network of Museum Park institutions and will be running many interesting projects and activities. They are also planning a resource centre and hope to run teacher workshops from their premises. Further information can be
obtained by contacting Rina Vogler at:-

Tel - (012) 361 2448
Fax - (012) 348 0049
E-mail - rinavglr@cis.co.za

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BOOKMARK

The ICI Resource Centre has acquired a number of new books since the last newsletter.

  1. Environmental Education Catalogue - Teacher Support for Outcomes Based Education compiled by Nicola Jenkin and Ingrid Schudel. This publication comes with activity pamphlets of which Delta has the following:- Anti-litter and Environmental Improvement Programme, Water and Waste and Doorstep Environment.
  2. A Place Called Home - Environmental issues and low cost housing. by M. Sowman and P. Urquhart.
  3. Level 1 and 2 Reading Scheme - locally written stories and information series - Cambridge University Press
  4. Flexi-Think - D. Evans, B. Wallace.
  5. Vanishing Waters - B. Davies, J. Day.
  6. Red Data List of S.A. Plants - C. Hilton -Taylor

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* SPONSORSHIP * SPONSORSHIP * SPONSORSHIP * SPONSORSHIP

S.A. Breweries Beer Division, Alpha Ltd., The Bidvest, Nestle S.A., B.P. South Africa, Sappi Ltd., Shell S.A.,WWF South Africa, Swiss Re Southern Africa, Dept. of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Liberty Life Group,Gencor Development Trust, Ceres Fruit Juices, Pick 'n Pay, The Ford Foundation, M.S.Parker Trust, Basil Read, Murray and Roberts, Samancor Ltd., Consol Group, UBUNTU National Development Trust, Blue Circle, ICI South Africa, Bilston Investments (Pty) Ltd., Nampak Management Services, Tongaat - Hulett Group Ltd., NBS (Germiston), DANCED, Rand Water, TOTAL S.A., S.A. Reserve Bank, Northern Metro Local Council, Clicks, Fedsure,Mazda Wild Life Fund, Anglo American, and DeBeers Fund Educational Trust, Standard Bank Foundation, National Recycling Forum S.A., National Parks (Honorary Rangers, Johannesburg), SASOL, Truworths, IDC., Sandton Rotary Club, The Tony and Lisette Lewis Foundation, Coca Cola Southern Africa, The Green Trust and Nedbank, UNESCO.

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Learning to live Sustainably Through Awareness and Action!!
By Carolyn Reid

Today more and more people are becoming aware of their environment and the need for resources to be used wisely. This awareness has spilled over into our new education policy in South Africa in that 'Environment' has been identified as a phase organiser and is a part of the new curriculum. This is marvellous and bodes well for our future environmental health, but there is a need for some sort of structure to be introduced in order to set the wheels in motion in our school communities. To this end a School Environmental Policy and Management Plan Pack has been developed which provides a basic framework for schools to use. This takes the form of a resource pack to support teachers in implementing an environmental policy in their schools. It was initially developed by Share Net and piloted in KwaZulu Natal and has since become available in the other provinces. Using this pack a school community will develop a school environmental policy ( a statement of intentions and principles for a school's environmental performance). This will involve the staff, governing body and the learners, making the whole school community part of the process so that all participants can take action and become experienced in taking on the responsibility of using environmental resources wisely.
How does this work?
The school is encouraged to 'audit' exsisting environmental activities and to set, evaluate and review the goals and actions for many key curriculum and extramural activities. In doing this they will look at what their environmental priorities are and how they plan to tackle them. Having decided on these basic needs and setting up a workable framework, the whole school community takes an active role in solving the problems, and in many cases the outside community is drawn into the process, thus spreading
environmental awareness to a broader community and gaining valuable partnerships. Some Gauteng schools have already begun to implement this with great success and others are planning to follow suit in the near future.

Through encouraging school communities to engage with their environments we are building greater awareness and empowering communities to take responsibility and action to solve local environmental issues. It is through active participation now that the future of our environment will be secured.


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SIGNS OF THE TIMES!

The NMLC's Parks Dept. have had new signboards placed at the well used entrances to Delta Park. These signs are attractive, clear and environmentally friendly green boards that blend in with the park, whilst giving useful directions to places and indicating what may or may not be done in the park. Syd Clark, Chris Boucher, Willem van der Merwe, Briij Savage and Theuns van Schalkwyk are to be thanked for their interest and commitment to keeping the park in good shape despite enormous constraints from within the NMLC (especially as far as the budget is concerned!)
Councillor Don Forbes and Councillor Lorna Bishop ( both of whom serve as honorary Directors of Delta Environmental Centre) are also fully supportive of all efforts by all concerned in attempting to maintain Delta Park as a very necessary 'green lung' in the Johannesburg area.

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SPECIAL THANKS!!
  1. To Arlene Cameron of EarthYear Environmental Comunications, for the preparation of a press release, 'Twenty Years ahead of it's Time, Delta Environmental Centre'. This was distributed to the media nation wide, courtesy of Alpha Ltd.
  2. To Food Gardens Foundation, Wildlife and Environment Society of S.A., Eco-Access, Waste Aware and Trees for Africa for exhibiting at the DANCED Expo's.
  3. Dulcie Liebenberg for the delicious refreshments provided for the Delta Staff.
  4. CONSOL Ltd. for the second recycling igloo placed in the Delta Recycling Area.
  5. Rand Water for the mulching of the flower beds alongside the Sensory Trail.
  6. Blesston and First Paper House for, once again, co-sponsoring this newsletter.
  7. ICI support for the Bookmark and Resource Centre
  8. Nedbank/WWF - S.A's The Green Trust for their continued support of the Melville Koppies Education Project.
  9. Earth Year magazine for supplying 500 copies of each edition for distribution to teachers.

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SUSTAINABLE GARDENING.

'The kiss of the sun for pardon'
The song of the birds for mirth;
You are nearer to God in the garden
Than anywhere else on earth!'
( taken from a plaque in the Botanical Gardens Emmarentia)

There is no doubt that a beautiful garden is a city slicker's escape from the 'concrete jungle', shopping mall and office where one can relax and enjoy the cool tranquility that it offers. Maintaining such a garden can be an expensive pastime - this need no longer apply if one uses 'Water Wise' gardening techniques! Using the following simple guidelines can save you money and give you a beautiful garden.

  1. Lawns are water guzzlers - cut down on the amount of lawn - especially parts used as traffic areas, rather put down some sort of pathway.
  2. Group plants that have similar watering needs together, thus saving on unnecessary watering of plants that don't need much water.
  3. Mulching around your plants cuts down on evaporation and protects from frost damage in winter. Organic mulches (wood chips, bark, leaves and clippings) can become part of a natural composting process. Composted soil holds water for longer periods and keeps soil healthy.
  4. Water in the early morning and late afternoon to avoid excess evaporation. Make sure that you are watering plants, not paving or pathways!! Water with a watering can where possible. Do not over water.
  5. Plant water loving plants in containers where you can control watering more easily and suitable placement of the plant is also easier. Make use of water absorbent granules that hold water in the soil for longer.
  6. Use local indigenous plants where possible, they are hardy and use less water. By trying these techniques in your garden you will be saving yourself money and gaining a beautiful sustainable garden!
GOOD LUCK and GREENFINGERS to you !!


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Teacher Workshops in Gauteng and Beyond!!

Delta Environmental Centre has been involved in the running of Teacher Training and Workshops for the past 10 years.


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Teacher Workshops and Expo's 1999

In the past 2 years Delta Environmental centre and The Gauteng education Department have been involved in a partnership called 'Environmental Education in Teacher Training and Skills Development' which has been proudly sponsored by DANCED. 13 districts have been targeted in the Gauteng Region and the aim is to assist Foundation Phase teachers to integrate environment into the formal curriculum. The teachers were assisted through workshops and school visits to implement this and the first 18 month phase of the project culminated with 4 Environmental Curriculum Expo's. The participating teachers exhibited their work and shared their experiences with other teachers. These Expo's were very well received by the district officials, stakeholders and teachers who found the work inspiring and innovative. The pictures, taken at the Expo's and workshops, indicate the high level of enthusiasm and interest shown by the participants.



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