Recently, there has been an initiative by the government to look at the communities we live in and try and make them sustainable. They do this by transforming the area that maybe in need of transformation and make it somewhere that people want to live and stay. For many a parts of the country, they are in need of transforming, especially areas that have been documented in the media, like in documentaries or the news.
This is an example of people in an area of dire need of transforming due to recent events in the past few years:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7878360.stm
For the area I was living for the past 18 and a half years, it has been transformed over the years. It was never really a great place to live, with people who were behaving anti-socialably and crime at a level which was just below the average. But today, it has been transformed into an area where people would like to live. From experience, there are now people who belong in that area and do their upmost to keep it safe and clean for the residents and even visitors of the area.
For the 5 points on which the government think a sustainable community is (to be found here: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/143600.pdf Page 5), I think that the area that i used to live in ticks all them boxes. It has such great neighbourhood spirit with everyone knowing everyone.
My Area is situated in Ward Peterborough 017C, which there are 1,577 people living in, and the majority are males at 795, but only by about 13 with females at 782. It is a healthy area to live in, with 69.63% of the people living there are in good general health. There are 726 households in the area and the majority of people living there either have 1 or no cars in the household. This can be seen due to the good public transport in the area and since it very close to the town centre. There is also just over half of the amount of people in the area are either single or married, with 760 people being classed as single and 459 being classed as married.
As for crime, there is very little as can be seen with only 3 total fire incidents in the area, which could be crime or could be accidental. For education, 47.4% of all students received 5+ A*-C at GCSE and this is not above the national average, due to the secondary schools being quite far, but from personal experience, many students did not have a problem travelling such a long distance to get to school every day. There is one primary and one infant school in the area which both have a very good record for education, due to experience, and this is reflected from when they move onto KS3/4 where they are not far behind the national average.
Although there are a lot of positive things about the area, there are areas of the ward where improvement is needed, especially with anti-socialable behaviour in a set of council flats which have been a problem for years. The local council has not seemed to grasp this and need to help the people who live there with new inititatives to help boost the local area and bring something back to the community.
(http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/NeighbourhoodSummary.do?width=1280&a=3&r=1&i=1001&m=0&s=1236933577915&enc=1&profileSearchText=PE2+9AN&searchProfiles=Search)
Friday, 13 March 2009
Thursday, 19 February 2009
The Education for Sustainable Development
Learning about new things is important to people in every day life. You learn about new aspects of life and be able to deal with them in different ways. Todays life is looking at the pressure we are putting on this planet, and we need to do something about it. Giving an education to the people of this earth about how to deal with what is going on is the best possible measure as we can learn about how to change our lives to make sure that future generations do not suffer at the realm of a collapse of life as we know it.
Talking and learning about Sustainable development is a very good thing. It helps promote more green ideas and helps people lead a better life in the end, knowing that they do not have a bad conscious about how the world may end up if nothing happens to prevent it. We also have to consider the side of which we attract this education to people. We cannot just let people be bored to death with a guy just rambling on about how to recycle our waste, we need to get people active about this and get an idea of what we should do and how we should do it. Getting people of a young age to know about this is better as it prepares them for th challenges ahead in life. It might put more on their plate at the end of the day but better now than never.
Geography is about how the world is in its many shapes and forms and what processes there are etc and placing Sustainable development within this combines the learning of Geography with the learning of how to deal with our everyday lives and how to change it. Im currently doing a Module on Sustainable Development, and as a Geographer, i love it, because i get to know what other ideas i can do to make sure that my future and everyone elses future is safe on this planet. I also get to combine it with learning how things change if nothing happens and also spread the ideas of what i have learnt to other people and get them started.
Sustainable Development is a great idea in the form of learning about different aspects of life and how they are affecting the world as we know it. We get to learn about what is happening now and what other parts of the world are doing to deal with it, whilst we also get to know about the local communities and cities and how this country as a whole is dealing with the idea. Its not just about the environment, we also have to look at the economy and the social side of things, and learning about that interests me. It gives me ideas to spread about and make sure that people live a life that can be sustainable and also user friendly to the society that we live in.
Talking and learning about Sustainable development is a very good thing. It helps promote more green ideas and helps people lead a better life in the end, knowing that they do not have a bad conscious about how the world may end up if nothing happens to prevent it. We also have to consider the side of which we attract this education to people. We cannot just let people be bored to death with a guy just rambling on about how to recycle our waste, we need to get people active about this and get an idea of what we should do and how we should do it. Getting people of a young age to know about this is better as it prepares them for th challenges ahead in life. It might put more on their plate at the end of the day but better now than never.
Geography is about how the world is in its many shapes and forms and what processes there are etc and placing Sustainable development within this combines the learning of Geography with the learning of how to deal with our everyday lives and how to change it. Im currently doing a Module on Sustainable Development, and as a Geographer, i love it, because i get to know what other ideas i can do to make sure that my future and everyone elses future is safe on this planet. I also get to combine it with learning how things change if nothing happens and also spread the ideas of what i have learnt to other people and get them started.
Sustainable Development is a great idea in the form of learning about different aspects of life and how they are affecting the world as we know it. We get to learn about what is happening now and what other parts of the world are doing to deal with it, whilst we also get to know about the local communities and cities and how this country as a whole is dealing with the idea. Its not just about the environment, we also have to look at the economy and the social side of things, and learning about that interests me. It gives me ideas to spread about and make sure that people live a life that can be sustainable and also user friendly to the society that we live in.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Bad Crunch Good Crunch?
The recession has hit us all. The global spectrum as we know it is starting to fall beneath us but doesnt mean that everything has to come to a halt. The car industry has recently been in the news with job losses and less production of cars, due to new car sales plummeting. But other things like interest rates being cut and that are affecting us, but this is good for the environment right?
Well, with the reduction in production going on, this means there is a lot less waste, and with less waste, more of Britain's green grass is saved from the dreaded Landfill Monster that people have the mishap of seeing if they live near one. Recycling has become a big thing nowadays so new products can be formed from old and this is good as less is ruining the environment and people will be generally happy.
But recently at the end of the last year, there was a news report within my area talking about how recyclable waste is being stored in warehouses as it cannot be recycled fast enough. This got me thinking about how much waste we produce and how big the resources are, surely we can cope?
So during these hard times, there are pros and cons to the depression, but with regards to the environment, it seems good for it, with the waste industry being good on the recycling and keeping new things coming and old being transformed and less waste being produced in the first place.
Well, with the reduction in production going on, this means there is a lot less waste, and with less waste, more of Britain's green grass is saved from the dreaded Landfill Monster that people have the mishap of seeing if they live near one. Recycling has become a big thing nowadays so new products can be formed from old and this is good as less is ruining the environment and people will be generally happy.
But recently at the end of the last year, there was a news report within my area talking about how recyclable waste is being stored in warehouses as it cannot be recycled fast enough. This got me thinking about how much waste we produce and how big the resources are, surely we can cope?
So during these hard times, there are pros and cons to the depression, but with regards to the environment, it seems good for it, with the waste industry being good on the recycling and keeping new things coming and old being transformed and less waste being produced in the first place.
Traffic Survey
Our next assignment for our module on Learning for Sustainable Development was to look at the Green Travel Plan at the university. This is kinda interesting as it gives us the chance to see what people think of other means of transport and what the uni should do about it. So a questionnaire and a travel survey were in order, to gather the data about what people thought and how many people came into the uni in their private vehicles.
The morning was crisp and dull, but didnt stop me and my partner, counting how many people were in each car and mar them down. It was fun, yet cold, but that didnt stop me counting and commenting on the recent climate and the pros and cons of travelling with only one person. It was relatively easy to calculate the number of people in a car but it would be better if we got a better day since it was raining but maybe go one step further and compare the data that the university collected to what we collected.
The morning was crisp and dull, but didnt stop me and my partner, counting how many people were in each car and mar them down. It was fun, yet cold, but that didnt stop me counting and commenting on the recent climate and the pros and cons of travelling with only one person. It was relatively easy to calculate the number of people in a car but it would be better if we got a better day since it was raining but maybe go one step further and compare the data that the university collected to what we collected.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
How can people make a difference?
Today's world is about making a difference to what is happening around us. There are many challenges that we face and as a person, we have a duty to make a difference to how it affects our lives. War has affected our lives recently and over many a years and there are people out there who can make a difference. Climate Change is something that everyone can make a difference from. But ordinary people like me, can only really make a small but significant difference. If everyone made a difference at roughly the same time, then it would lead to a bigger difference at the end. What the guy at the end of Knight Rider says about "One Man can make a difference", he is right to an extent, just need the will power to do so.
People nowadays have control over their lives, and with that power, they are able to change things. With regards to Climate Change, there are many different things that people can do to help prevent this problem from taking a significant effect. Things like recycling and using vehicles less is a start, but everyone needs to start doing it for it to take effect. Governments can also help, by toughening laws that can help prevent climate change and help the people realise what they could do to bring about our lives from being changed by this global problem. This is just the start of what is to come....
Over many years there have been many changes from natural to man made. Natural Disasters have taken over many parts of the country, and have become more frequent, they cannot be stopped with man power, but they can be prevented. There is an extent where people can change things and natural things are pretty much out of peoples reach. It just takes a bit of knowledge and a bit of courage to bring this down and help create a much better place for generations to come.
From Today, there should be people helping to make a difference to many people and natural beings. Creating a better life for us and our children to live in. There are many different things to conquer and it takes not just one man to do it, but takes many people to do it. It many only be a small solution, but it may, in time, lead to a bigger difference.
People nowadays have control over their lives, and with that power, they are able to change things. With regards to Climate Change, there are many different things that people can do to help prevent this problem from taking a significant effect. Things like recycling and using vehicles less is a start, but everyone needs to start doing it for it to take effect. Governments can also help, by toughening laws that can help prevent climate change and help the people realise what they could do to bring about our lives from being changed by this global problem. This is just the start of what is to come....
Over many years there have been many changes from natural to man made. Natural Disasters have taken over many parts of the country, and have become more frequent, they cannot be stopped with man power, but they can be prevented. There is an extent where people can change things and natural things are pretty much out of peoples reach. It just takes a bit of knowledge and a bit of courage to bring this down and help create a much better place for generations to come.
From Today, there should be people helping to make a difference to many people and natural beings. Creating a better life for us and our children to live in. There are many different things to conquer and it takes not just one man to do it, but takes many people to do it. It many only be a small solution, but it may, in time, lead to a bigger difference.
Thursday, 20 November 2008
United Nations Debate
One of our assignments was to prepare for a United Nations style debate, and there were 14 pairs, each assigned a country. Me and Hannah got Columbia. Now, Columbia is not the most advanced country in the world, nor is it the safest, but it seems to have a grip on most things, like disease and the economy is taking a turn for the better. Being a UN style debate, it was going to be tough, talking about the country and what its sustainable development goals are, and then being asked questions about what we have said or about the country itself. Preparing it was tough, we managed to work as a team and collect facts about the country but getting information about its sustainable development goals were a bit more tough, as they were all in Spanish, and me or Hannah not being able to speak any Spanish, were not able to translate. But we looked at the facts and figures and recognised what we think the goals would be. After talking with a few people in other groups, it surprised me on how much people recognise sustainable development across the world. Even LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries, for anyone who hates Human Geography and didnt pay attention in a-level) had some goals drawn up and put in place to help save the planet.
Throughout the whole debate, i was nervous, safe to say, but whilst i was listening to other groups, i was astonished to see what other countries had in place. For example, Denmark was at the cutting edge of agricultural farming and recycling, and had many goals in place, which in the end, lost them the money because they were way in the lead with Sustainable Development, but if that was me, i would have given them a little bit more money to develop more goals and put them into place to make it a very sustainable country. I honestly felt i had let Hannah down from being such a pillock standing in front of 27 people and talking a load of random facts, which somewhere, had goals in there. I felt bad because everyone else had prepared better and i wish that i could have done more of that, and prepared what i was going to say when. Nerves got the better of me, and i think it got to Hannah as well.
The UN debate i thought was quite fun, we need more activities like that to keep us going, it is better than just reading off a powerpoint and taking notes. Geography is all about getting out there and exploring the world and what the world is about. I would be happy to do another UN style debate if they would let us, and give us better countries (sorry faith and greg, you did do your best, which we appreciate). Also whilst listening to everyone talk about their countries, it gave me an insight into countries that i had never even heard of. Places like the Solomon Islands and Belize, these countries were new to me, but once the representatives talked about them, it helped me picture what life would be like there. The whole debate was great as it helped bring people together more and get to know each other more, and it also gives us more charisma as we have to stand up and present what we have found in front of 27 people and i thought it was good, even though i was nervous. Activities are all about getting together and learning more, without being bored and write notes. We need more of these and if they do happen, i think Geography would be much more fun, as well as educational.
Throughout the whole debate, i was nervous, safe to say, but whilst i was listening to other groups, i was astonished to see what other countries had in place. For example, Denmark was at the cutting edge of agricultural farming and recycling, and had many goals in place, which in the end, lost them the money because they were way in the lead with Sustainable Development, but if that was me, i would have given them a little bit more money to develop more goals and put them into place to make it a very sustainable country. I honestly felt i had let Hannah down from being such a pillock standing in front of 27 people and talking a load of random facts, which somewhere, had goals in there. I felt bad because everyone else had prepared better and i wish that i could have done more of that, and prepared what i was going to say when. Nerves got the better of me, and i think it got to Hannah as well.
The UN debate i thought was quite fun, we need more activities like that to keep us going, it is better than just reading off a powerpoint and taking notes. Geography is all about getting out there and exploring the world and what the world is about. I would be happy to do another UN style debate if they would let us, and give us better countries (sorry faith and greg, you did do your best, which we appreciate). Also whilst listening to everyone talk about their countries, it gave me an insight into countries that i had never even heard of. Places like the Solomon Islands and Belize, these countries were new to me, but once the representatives talked about them, it helped me picture what life would be like there. The whole debate was great as it helped bring people together more and get to know each other more, and it also gives us more charisma as we have to stand up and present what we have found in front of 27 people and i thought it was good, even though i was nervous. Activities are all about getting together and learning more, without being bored and write notes. We need more of these and if they do happen, i think Geography would be much more fun, as well as educational.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Recycling Today
Recycling is a very important thing nowadays. There are a lot of materials that people today throw out which are recyclable and made into something else that is useful. Im a big fan of recycling. Now that i have moved into a new life in University, it has made me realise how aware people are about recycling. When i first walked into my kitchen, i saw 3 bins. I was aware that one was for general waste as it had a black bin liner, but there were 2 others, a green and a blue one. I then noticed a poster on the wall about which materials to place in what bin and what not to put in there. I was amazed by how much can be recycled. A few years back and recycling was only just beginning and the bins were small when i was back home and as the awareness came about, the council had realised that recycling was becoming more popular so bigger bins were needed. When i went back home, it was recycling bin day and when the lorry went past, i was even more amazed to see more things can recycled, like glass. if you put glass in the recycling a few months ago, the council wouldnt have taken your rubbish and then within one week, the bin would be massively full. At least i now dont have to carry heavy bags full of glass to the bottle bank now.
Today in the Northamptonshire area, recycling rates have soared since the start of the century. There has been greater awareness of recycling all that you can so there is less landfill waste to deal with. Recycling helps create new products from old and this is great as it means that our landscape is less susceptible to eyesores like landfill. Over the whole of the Northamptonshire area there are variations which show that some places maybe doing more recycling than others, but the figures show that one third of all recycling in Northamptonshire is recycled. That is a pretty good figure but there are targets to make that even greater. With all this recycling, it helps the strain on getting raw materials to make things easier as the material is there, just in a different form. Also, the rates being high can also be down to the times in which the recycling is collected and this is like a ongoing operation which runs like clockwork. Supplies are always in demand and with collections every 2 weeks maximum, whoever wants this material, gets it in such a short amount of time.
But recycling has its flaws. There are many people out there who still do not recycle everything they can. Some ignore the recycling prospect and this can harm the figures, which seem to be going well. There have been many tv and paper adverts showing how much recycling can help society today. The government really needs to get the message across that would grab everyones attention, like a picture of what could happen if recycling doesnt happen. That would be a way of getting to people, showing how they are affecting future generations and then show what they could do about it as well.
In the lecture last week, we had a visitor from an organisation that helps look at waste management in business. I was shocked by the fact that legislation from the government stops companies from giving waste to other companies that may find it useful. It states that transporting any waste across to another company requires a licence and this can take ages with forms to fill etc. This is the kind of legislation that needs to be put down as it is hindering recycling rates and like the old saying goes: 'one man's rubbish is another man's treasure'.
But im happy with what society is doing to help keep resources in tact and how most people are seeing the benefits that recycling does and recycling. Just some laws need to be modified slightly and for everyone to really start looking at recycling what they can and get the most out of what we have today.
Today in the Northamptonshire area, recycling rates have soared since the start of the century. There has been greater awareness of recycling all that you can so there is less landfill waste to deal with. Recycling helps create new products from old and this is great as it means that our landscape is less susceptible to eyesores like landfill. Over the whole of the Northamptonshire area there are variations which show that some places maybe doing more recycling than others, but the figures show that one third of all recycling in Northamptonshire is recycled. That is a pretty good figure but there are targets to make that even greater. With all this recycling, it helps the strain on getting raw materials to make things easier as the material is there, just in a different form. Also, the rates being high can also be down to the times in which the recycling is collected and this is like a ongoing operation which runs like clockwork. Supplies are always in demand and with collections every 2 weeks maximum, whoever wants this material, gets it in such a short amount of time.
But recycling has its flaws. There are many people out there who still do not recycle everything they can. Some ignore the recycling prospect and this can harm the figures, which seem to be going well. There have been many tv and paper adverts showing how much recycling can help society today. The government really needs to get the message across that would grab everyones attention, like a picture of what could happen if recycling doesnt happen. That would be a way of getting to people, showing how they are affecting future generations and then show what they could do about it as well.
In the lecture last week, we had a visitor from an organisation that helps look at waste management in business. I was shocked by the fact that legislation from the government stops companies from giving waste to other companies that may find it useful. It states that transporting any waste across to another company requires a licence and this can take ages with forms to fill etc. This is the kind of legislation that needs to be put down as it is hindering recycling rates and like the old saying goes: 'one man's rubbish is another man's treasure'.
But im happy with what society is doing to help keep resources in tact and how most people are seeing the benefits that recycling does and recycling. Just some laws need to be modified slightly and for everyone to really start looking at recycling what they can and get the most out of what we have today.
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