|
The PAN
Program reflects NSF's conviction that a greatly improved understanding,
throughout the community, of the processes of life and of the human
place in nature is a prerequisite for successful responses to the serious
environmental and health problems facing humanity in the modern world.
The program's overriding theme is healthy people on a healthy planet.
The aims of the Program are:
- to stimulate
interest in, and promote learning about, the processes of life, the
human place in nature and health and environmental issues facing us
today,
- to encourage
informed discussion about the practical meaning of current understanding
in this area - for individuals, families, organisations and society
as a whole,
- to encourage
individuals and groups to follow up their learning experience with
relevant activities of their own choosing.
The Program
consists of two parts:
Part 1. Extraction, distillation and packaging of information (gistism),
Part 2. Communication and action.
Part
1. Extraction, distillation and packaging of information
The objectives of this part of the Program are:
- to bring
together basic information from the sciences on:
· the processes of life and the human place in nature (necessary
for understanding the present human situation),
· key health and ecological issues in modern society.
- to put
this information together in written form that is intelligible to
interested members of the public in a series of information packages
and booklets (see Panperspectives Booklets below) and on the NSF Website.
The work
for this part of the Program is carried out by NSF volunteers and, when
funds are available, by salaried research assistants, with advice from
members of the scientific community.
The Program
also involves organising conferences for members of the public an key
ecological and health issues. It is intended that the proceedings of
these conferences form the basis of Panperspectives Booklets (one of
which, Bad Bugs, has so far been published).
Part
2. Communication and action
The objectives of this part of the Program are:
- to communicate
information gathered in Part 1 of the Program to interested members
of the public (including NSF study groups, community groups, school
groups, businesses),
- to promote
informed discussion and debate about the practical meaning of this
information for individuals, families, organisations and society as
a whole,
- to encourage
individuals and groups to actively follow up their learning experience
in ways of their choice.
These objectives
will be achieved by organising an on-going series of interactive workshops
for interested members of the general public on nature-society themes
(16 to 20 hours total).
All communication
will be in plain English, and most of the workshops will be transdisciplinary,
focusing on themes and issues rather than on academic disciplines.
The workshops
will be facilitated by members of NSF and invited scientists or other
specialists.
In general, the workshops will take the following form:
1. Learning-
facts, principles, perspectives
(a)The
big picture
The initial workshops in the series will cover underlying biosocial
facts, principles and perspectives, and introducing an integrative
conceptual framework to facilitate thinking and communication about
the dynamic interrelationships between human society and the processes
of life on which it depends. Throughout the workshop discussion and
debate will be encouraged on the practical meaning of the information
presented for individuals, families, communities and society as a
whole.
(b) Specific topics
Short workshops on specific ecological and health issues - available
on demand. In these workshops the principles and framework discusses
in the Big Picture Workshops will be applied to specific ecological
and health issues.
2. Practical
evaluation - appraisal of the practical meaning of information learned
for individuals, families, or society (sometimes involving additional
practical courses).
3. Follow-up
- participants will be encouraged to follow up their course with one
of various forms of action, such as:
·
communication projects (outreach activities, displays, website etc.)
· assessment projects: assessing present situations or options
for the future (e.g. in local communities, businesses, society) in
terms of ecological sustainability, health and equity
· community action projects (environmental or health): initiation
and coordination of projects aimed at bringing about desirable changes
in human activities.
The outcome
of all activities will be communicated widely through the NSF Website
and NSF publications.
|
