Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: energy use and recycling at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Mtutu, Paidamoyo, Thondhlana, Gladman
- Authors: Mtutu, Paidamoyo , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67743 , vital:29136 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.11.031
- Description: Publisher version , The rapid expansion of student numbers, staff and support infrastructures in higher education institutions often result in increased demand for resources such as energy and paper. Promoting pro-environmental behaviour is critical if higher education institutions are to achieve sustainable resource use. Using surveys, reported energy use and recycling behaviour of staff and students in the Faculty of Education at Rhodes University, South Africa was explored. The results showed that self-reported pro-environmental behaviour was mediated by demographic factors and personal values such as ‘liking of aesthetic beauty and biodiversity’, ‘social relations’, ‘a varied life’ and ‘freedom’. Personal values, though key in shaping participants' attitudes toward the environment did not always translate into pro-environmental behaviour. Situational factors beyond the control of participants were cited as barriers to pro-environmental actions. Lessons from this study point to the need to carefully study the assumptions underlying intervention strategies aimed at promoting pro-environmental behaviour and to get rid of barriers to enable pro-environmental actions.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: energy use and recycling at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Mtutu, Paidamoyo , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67743 , vital:29136 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.11.031
- Description: Publisher version , The rapid expansion of student numbers, staff and support infrastructures in higher education institutions often result in increased demand for resources such as energy and paper. Promoting pro-environmental behaviour is critical if higher education institutions are to achieve sustainable resource use. Using surveys, reported energy use and recycling behaviour of staff and students in the Faculty of Education at Rhodes University, South Africa was explored. The results showed that self-reported pro-environmental behaviour was mediated by demographic factors and personal values such as ‘liking of aesthetic beauty and biodiversity’, ‘social relations’, ‘a varied life’ and ‘freedom’. Personal values, though key in shaping participants' attitudes toward the environment did not always translate into pro-environmental behaviour. Situational factors beyond the control of participants were cited as barriers to pro-environmental actions. Lessons from this study point to the need to carefully study the assumptions underlying intervention strategies aimed at promoting pro-environmental behaviour and to get rid of barriers to enable pro-environmental actions.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Food waste generation and potential interventions at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Painter, Kathleen, Thondhlana, Gladman, Kua, Harn W
- Authors: Painter, Kathleen , Thondhlana, Gladman , Kua, Harn W
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67733 , vital:29135 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.07.013
- Description: Publisher version , Estimation of food waste generation represents the first step when considering efforts to reduce waste generation and monitor food waste reduction against set targets. This study reports on an estimation of food waste generated in university dining halls at Rhodes University, South Africa. Daily food waste generation was estimated at about 555 g per student or 2 tonnes across all sample dining halls, translating to about 450 tonnes per year. The results show that food waste is influenced by an array of contextual factors, including distance to dining hall, gender composition of hall and meal times and meal options. It is estimated that the university could save up to US$ 80 000 annually for every 10% reduction in the current rate of food waste generation. Possible educational, technical and administrative interventions for food waste reduction are discussed.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Painter, Kathleen , Thondhlana, Gladman , Kua, Harn W
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67733 , vital:29135 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.07.013
- Description: Publisher version , Estimation of food waste generation represents the first step when considering efforts to reduce waste generation and monitor food waste reduction against set targets. This study reports on an estimation of food waste generated in university dining halls at Rhodes University, South Africa. Daily food waste generation was estimated at about 555 g per student or 2 tonnes across all sample dining halls, translating to about 450 tonnes per year. The results show that food waste is influenced by an array of contextual factors, including distance to dining hall, gender composition of hall and meal times and meal options. It is estimated that the university could save up to US$ 80 000 annually for every 10% reduction in the current rate of food waste generation. Possible educational, technical and administrative interventions for food waste reduction are discussed.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa
- Thondhlana, Gladman, Shackleton, Sheona E, Blignaut, James
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E , Blignaut, James
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67689 , vital:29130 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
- Description: Publisher version , Crafting local institutions to allow more effective decision-making in the management of and access to natural resources in and beyond parks has long been considered key to collaborative governance. South Africa, in particular, has vigorously pursued collaborative governance as a desired approach to managing natural resources as evident in the new arrangements for previously restricted parks. However, though the discourse of collaborative governance has occupied conservation thinking and practice globally, few studies have looked at the interplay between local institutions, actors and collaborative governance involving indigenous hunter–gatherer communities in Southern Africa. In response, we assess the local actors and institutions that were put in place to facilitate collaborative governance of natural resources in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its surrounds in South Africa. Our findings show that though collaborative governance has a practical appeal, it is hampered by lack of participation in decision-making, information dissemination, transparency, trust and accountability, power relations, divergent interests and unequal access to natural resources. The findings also draw our attention to issues of heterogeneity, even within indigenous communities assumed to be homogenous by local conservation authorities as reflected in land settlement agreements in co-managed parks. We argue that collaborative governance arrangements need to reflect and be understood within the broader background of complex local realities.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E , Blignaut, James
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67689 , vital:29130 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
- Description: Publisher version , Crafting local institutions to allow more effective decision-making in the management of and access to natural resources in and beyond parks has long been considered key to collaborative governance. South Africa, in particular, has vigorously pursued collaborative governance as a desired approach to managing natural resources as evident in the new arrangements for previously restricted parks. However, though the discourse of collaborative governance has occupied conservation thinking and practice globally, few studies have looked at the interplay between local institutions, actors and collaborative governance involving indigenous hunter–gatherer communities in Southern Africa. In response, we assess the local actors and institutions that were put in place to facilitate collaborative governance of natural resources in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its surrounds in South Africa. Our findings show that though collaborative governance has a practical appeal, it is hampered by lack of participation in decision-making, information dissemination, transparency, trust and accountability, power relations, divergent interests and unequal access to natural resources. The findings also draw our attention to issues of heterogeneity, even within indigenous communities assumed to be homogenous by local conservation authorities as reflected in land settlement agreements in co-managed parks. We argue that collaborative governance arrangements need to reflect and be understood within the broader background of complex local realities.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
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