Sustainability evaluation

Preparation and Planning

There is enough content in this lesson to make the local appraisal into a separate lesson or piece of project work.

There is little preparation required but to spur suggestions for the local appraisal, you may want to have identified some local activities or developments. You will need to photocopy two copies of Student Worksheet 1 for each group, two copies of Student Worksheet 2 for each student and one copy of the MOD Sustainability Appraisal Matrix for each student.

In Episode 6, you will need to prepare two pieces of poster paper for a brainstorm and will either need marker pens or post it notes for the students to apply their ideas to each topic area.

Access to PowerPoint and Video is required.

About the MOD Topic

'Sustainable development will enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life, without compromising the quality of life of future generations.' Securing the Future, the UK Government's 2005 sustainable development strategy.

When people think about Defence, they probably think about ships, tanks and aircraft, and military personnel providing defence at home and overseas. They probably don't associate the Ministry of Defence (MOD) with sustainable development. However, as the third largest land owner in the country, employer of 280,000 people, spender of £16 billion pounds on goods, services and consumer energy, the MOD plays a vital role in the delivery of the UK Government's sustainable development strategy.

Sustainable development is integral to the MOD's delivery of their vision and objectives and affects their work on all levels. They have a responsibility to defend the UK and its interests and strengthen international peace and stability. Without international peace and stability, there can be no sustainable development. Every international conflict creates local or global sustainability issues. For example, during the first Gulf War, the burning of Kuwait's oil fields had a profound effect on the local economy, environment and social environment. Plus it had a global impact on the world's declining oil resource.

Climate change has significant implications on the MOD's ability and need to conduct military operations, for example, providing humanitarian aid and relief following climatic disasters. More conflicts are likely to occur in the future which may be triggered by competition for resources requiring defence support. Military personnel have to operate in more hostile and challenge areas. Equipment has to cope with much higher temperatures and variations in humidity and wind speed.

At a local level, the MOD needs to ensure its estates and Armed Force communities are managed in a sustainable way including its 30,000 service family houses, 240,000 hectares of land, 171 (Sites of Special Scientific Interest SSSIs), 793 listed buildings and the list goes on. Sustainable development has to be considered across the spectrum of the MOD's work. Importantly, a sustainable programme is likely to provide cost savings in the long term.

Defence Estates is the MOD department which is responsible for ensuring the estate is managed and developed in a sustainable manner, in line with acknowledged best practice and Government policy. To ensure a consistent sustainability strategy is implemented across the MOD, they designed an Appraisal Matrix. This helps MOD staff, partner organisations and contractors to assess and manage the effects of developments and activities that have the potential to affect the environment, society or the economy. The Appraisal Matrix provides a useful tool to grasp the main themes of sustainable development and with which to conduct a methodical and thorough appraisal.

In the Student Worksheet there is an outline of a proposed new development on the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA). The main purpose of this development is to train soldiers for deployment to Iraq. All of the Defence Training Estates play an essential and life saving role for soldiers. Whilst military training can result in some damage to the soil and vegetation, there are benefits too. The military occupation of Salisbury Plain has limited the exposure of the area to such intensive agricultural practises, maintaining extensive areas of unimproved grassland. As a result of this Defence Training Estate Salisbury Plains (DTE SP) now contains the largest area of unimproved chalk grassland in Western Europe and supports a wide range of flora and fauna, which were once widespread but are now scarce in the UK.

For further information on this topic, copy the links below into your web browser:
Defence Estates: http://www.defence-estates.mod.uk/index.php
MOD sustainability appraisal handbook:http://tinyurl.com/5cl6e4
The UK Government's sustainable development guidance website: http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/index.asp

One Planet Living: http://www.oneplanetliving.org/

Further Opportunities for Learning

Produce a 'Sustainable Development Action Plan' for the school. Present it to the year group or in an assembly to motivate people to take action.

If one exists, review your school's current Sustainability Strategy or Environmental Management System. Evaluate your school's recycling scheme, mobile phone recycling, use of recycled paper etc.

Introduce a competition for energy saving ideas from the students with a small prize for the best ideas. Implement the top 3 and look favourably on those that cost little to introduce.

Look at food production. Is the school's food procured locally? Analyse food miles etc.

Discuss green travel. Is there an integrated school travel plan?
Produce a sustainability appraisal of the students' homes.

Research one aspect from the sustainability matrix in more detail, e.g. recycling, energy and climate change etc.

All lessons highlighted in 'Links to other lessons' in the 'Synopsis', extend and reinforce the students understanding of sustainable development and conservation issues.

Produce a sustainable development poster for the school to raise awareness of the environmental, social and economic issues.

If the school has a Combined Cadet Force (CCF), research whether they operate in a sustainable way.
Write an article raising awareness of sustainable development and the key issues.

Class debate for / against the activities that are assessed during this lesson.
Look at the Defence Estates website to study work on other sustainability programmes. If appropriate contact your local Defence Estates office to try to arrange a presentation on their work.

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.