Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The idea of the biosphere reserve emerged from UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments, launched in 1971. “Ramat-Menashe Biosphere Reserve” (RMBR), was recognized by UNESCO in 2011 due to the unique attributes of this region including its rural communities’ characters and its wide variety of landscapes. To the best of our knowledge, research of biosphere education principles is limited. Therefore the aim of this study was to define the term ‘biospherical education’ and to identify indicators for measuring its success in RMBR. Based on our preliminary research of the RMBR’s documents, our interview guide was focused on four subjects: RMBR education system, RMBR education graduates, community relationships, and relationships with the Ministry of Education. Semi structured interviews were held with eight key leaders of the biospheric education program: representatives from the education office of RMBR, professional educators from the Oranim academic College and from the Israeli Ministry of Education. Interviews analysis showed four central themes, which define the significance of biospheric education: a common language for all education systems, Awareness to and taking responsibility of the environment, constructivist education, cultivation of community, and sense of belonging. In addition, we identified fifty-six practical varied indicators that can be used to assess the success of biospheric education according to three aspects: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. These indicators may serve as a basis for future assessment of education in other biosphere reserves.