Our Future : Our World

The series Our Future : Our World
Written by: Mark Manuel, Barrie McElroy and Roger Smith
and published by Cambridge University Press

	The books in this series are: Coastal Conflicts Tourism Hazards Environmental Issues
Australian Branch, 477 Williamstown Road, (Private Bag 31), Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3207   Telephone: +61 (0)3 8671 1411   Facsimile: +61 (0)3 9676 9955 Email:   CUP Information and sales Web:     Cambridge University Press (UK)	Information about the books: Full colour High quality paper Coastal Conflicts ……ISBN 0 521 42625 1 Tourism ……ISBN 0 521 42626 X Hazards ……ISBN 0 521 42624 3 Environmental Issues …… ISBN 0 521 42623 5

Our Future : Our World : An up-to-date study approach

It is the intention of the Our Future : Our World series to help students to use the process of investigation and the values of social justice, ecological sustainability, and democratic process recommended by the ‘Statement on Studies of Society and Environment for Australian Schools (1994)’.

This series has been written with modern, school curricula in mind. It is particularly suited to Australian courses in Geography, Environmental Studies and Studies in Society at middle to senior secondary levels. The series may be found to be of considerable value in some curricula in England and Wales at GCSE and A level. The books may be found useful in Geography curricula, particularly those based on the Bristol or Geography 16-19 Projects. Students of Global, World or Environmental Studies at GCSE level also will find the series helpful.

Enquire, decide, act


The books in the series, Our Future : Our World introduce a variety of issues that students should investigate and understand if they are to make good decisions about our world and so ensure that their future is one that best serves them, the rest of humankind and the environments in which they live. Most importantly it helps them to know how to research any issue of concern and how to do something about it in effective and democratic ways. Students are encouraged to study issues of local and global concern in such a way that they not only understand how the issue has arisen and aspects of it function, but also how it was, or could be, resolved so that the interests of all are properly considered.

The process of decision-making and subsequent action requires people to gather the information necessary to make good decisions and to act wisely. Finding out and making decisions are essential before doing anything about an issue.

Issues arise whenever there are conflicting opinions about anything. There may be a tension between different proposed responses such as permanently evacuating a city destroyed by a volcano as opposed to rebuilding on the same site. This conflict is the basis of all issues and requires us to carefully examine the opinions and motives of every person involved in the issue.

In order to properly examine an issue students have to know :

• what the issue is that requires investigation and resolution.
  
• what is at the particular place they are investigating.
  
• where the aspects of the issue are precisely located and when they occur.
  
• who is involved in the issue how the issue might be resolved and whose interests may be served by any solution.
  
• how they would respond in that situation and how they would be able to justify our stance.
  

All stakeholders have a vested interest of some kind which students need to understand in making their judgements. They also need to examine the varying degrees of power that people have in responding. For instance the very poor who were forced from their land by the eruption of Mt Pinatubo have a different and very limited range of options compared to the wealthy of the district.

The Issues questions below are fairly self-explanatory and provide a very useful model for tackling an issue. These are used throughout the series, Our Future : Our World, to help students to inform and structure their enquiry, decision-making and action.


Issues questions

• What prompts our interest in this issue?
  
  
• What is the issue?
  
  
• What is at this place and why?
  
  
• Where are the human and/or environmental phenomena of this place located precisely?
  
  
• Who uses this place?
  
  
• Who is involved in the issue?
  
  
• How and why has the issue arisen? What conflicts are involved in this issue?
  
  
• When do these events mostly occur there? (Chronology/sequence)
  
  
• What alternative decisions can be made? What impacts would each have?
  
  
• How is the issue likely to be resolved? How should be issue be resolved?
  
  
• How would you respond? How would you justify this response?

Return to top

All text & graphics © 1997 Manuel/McElroy/Smith or Cambridge University Press