History of Environmental Education and Environmental Policies Essay

History of Environmental Education and Environmental Policies - Essay Example Today, an Environmental Education includes not only the technical impact that technology has presented, but also the responsibility that industry and individuals have in their approach to maintaining a sustainable geography that is productive as well as healthy. Modern attitudes towards an Environmental Education have been the result of an evolution in thinking towards the environment that has spanned the last two and a half centuries. Environmental Education traces its roots back to 1762 and the publication of Emile, a novel on educational philosophy that argued that education should focus on the environment (McRea). Wilbur Jackman's 1891 publication of Nature Study for the Common School initiated the Nature Study Movement that was pioneered by the American Nature Study Society headed by the naturalist Liberty Hyde Bailey (McRea). A greater environmental awareness was fostered in the United States by the Romantic Nature Movement and the Progressive Education Movement led by John Dewey (Haskin). In essence, "Environmental education did not spring forth fully formed from any one discipline, but rather as a product of a co-evolutionary process within science, public awareness of environmental issues, and educational ideas" (Haskin). The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was accompanied by an even greater awareness of our environment and the need for conservation and sustainability. The movement towards toda... Movement was spearheaded by Aldo Leopold, a Wisconsin educator that advocated an "an approach to science that merged environmental thinking, science and life practice" (Haskin). This thinking led to the first college degree in conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1946 and the coining of the phrase 'environmental education' by Thomas Pritchard, Deputy Directory of the Nature Conservancy, at a meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Paris in 1948 (McRea). The next decade would see a greater public awareness of nature and the natural surroundings and a call for increased sensitivity and responsibility in our actions that affect our world's environment. These attitudes were brought into greater focus by the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, a critical review of the devastating effects that man and technology can have on the environment (Haskin). The modern environmental movement had been born and the first Earth Day in 1970 can be considered the birth of the modern national policies on Environmental Education, as well as environmental law and policy. Since the 1970s, environmental education has been addressed in the US and around the world based on a few basic principles. 1977 marked the world's first intergovernmental conference on environmental education held at Tbilisi, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia (Archie and McRea). The conference set forth five broad objectives for environmental education that the EPA agreed to and continues to support. These five principles are (1) Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges; (2) Knowledge and understanding of the environment and environmental challenges; (3) Attitudes of concern for the environment and motivation to

Competitive Forces and Strategic Issues in the Smartphone & Tablet Assignment

Competitive Forces and Strategic Issues in the Smartphone & Tablet Industry. Apple Inc - Assignment Example According to Utterback and Abernathy (1975) such a shift in a company’s strategic focus can be a major challenge but also have important competitive benefits. The challenge arises for example from the need of organizational restructuring and acquiring new capabilities to enable a successful transition from products to processes. The important benefits in this case were that the change in strategic shift allowed the organization to take advantage of the effects of the technological discontinuities to the industry. The emergence of the mobile Web and related technologies initiated a new technology cycle that shifted the consumer electronics industry towards smartphones and tablets. These gadgets have consolidated functions that previously required use of multiple devices such as cameras, music players, video players, computers and telephones into a single device. Industry lifecycle theory has long postulated that industries evolve through distinct phases and that each phase is associated with different basis of competition at the firm level. In the traditional industry lifecycle model the basis of competitive strategy changes from product innovation to process improvement as the industry evolves (Utterback & Abernathy 1975). However, in the enhanced model, Cusumano et al. (2006) proposed service as an important component of this shift in strategy as the industry evolves. ... The challenge arises for example from the need of organizational restructuring and acquiring new capabilities to enable a successful transition from products to processes. The important benefits in this case were that the change in strategic shift allowed the organization to take advantage of the effects of the technological discontinuities to the industry. The emergence of the mobile Web and related technologies initiated a new technology cycle that shifted the consumer electronics industry towards smartphones and tablets. These gadgets have consolidated functions that previously required use of multiple devices such as cameras, music players, video players, computers and telephones into a single device. Industry lifecycle theory has long postulated that industries evolve through distinct phases and that each phase is associated with different basis of competition at the firm level. In the traditional industry lifecycle model the basis of competitive strategy changes from product in novation to process improvement as the industry evolves (Utterback & Abernathy 1975). However, in the enhanced model, Cusumano et al. (2006) proposed service as an important component of this shift in strategy as the industry evolves. This discussion uses the enhanced model, shown in Appendix A, together with Porter’s five forces to provide an in-depth analysis of the competitive forces and strategic issues shaping the smartphone and tablet industry from 2011 onwards. The three major forces that shall shape the future of this industry are threat of entrants, buyer power and industry rivalry. 1.1. The weaker forces 1.1.1. Power of suppliers This is probably the weakest competitive force in this industry. The smartphone and tablet industry is dominated by five companies