Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
interdisciplinary framework, to the relationship between human
population health and the sustainability of the natural and social
environments.
2.2
That education syllabuses assist children to better understand that,
in addition to achieving a fair and cohesive social environment,
they must live within the limits of the natural world. This will
require a rediscovery of our connections to the natural world
which some may see as a new form of spirituality. Children also
need to understand the importance of nutrition, exercise patterns
and social interactions to their own health.
2.3
That we move from away from the competitiveness, selfishness and
short-termism of nation-states (a modern analogue of ancestral
warring tribes) to a more cooperative approach so we can better
shape the future.
2.4
That, in order to develop a new societal awareness, we recognise
that better management of the natural environment is required as
well as the way we design and manage our urban environments.
3
Land use and natural ecosystems
3.1
That State Governments set up a system whereby farmers cease
broad-scale clearing of native vegetation to prevent further
deterioration of water quality, increases in dryland salinity, further
degradation of soils and further losses of native biota.
3.2
That the Federal Government legislate to implement accounting
rules for all businesses and government agencies to value
ecosystem services, such as production of clean water,
maintenance of fresh air, conservation of healthy soils in natural
resource management policy and reward those who are
maintaining essential ecosystem services.
3.3
That the Federal Government set up a process to reach agreement
on the magnitude of hidden environmental subsidies in the
production costs of food, fibre and water, and then introduce levies
equivalent to those costs to fund environmental restoration.
3.4
That Federal and State Governments adequately fund research into
farming systems and land-use patterns that work with, and not
against, the environment.
