[ draft version comments appreciated] Catherine Kavassalis Return to Contents Return to BioMuncie
last revision: 11/24/2002
Awareness of local environmental issues such as coal emissions, lead pollution, water quality and sprawl has increased as a direct result of BioMuncie’s creation. An activist, Carol Blakney, has been empowered by having access to the information and resources BioMuncie provides. Through her efforts and activities in the Muncie area, new communities of people have networked together to find solutions to local problems. As a result of their actions, Ball State University is actively considering ways to deal with their coal burning facility, a program at the local hospitals will educate health care professionals about lead poisoning, and residents are actively fighting sprawl in the county and addressing issues of corruption that have been adversely affecting the environment. These are small but significant steps toward improving the county's overall environmental health.
The stated mission of the site is to promote biodiversity. Although biodiversity has not been a specific focus for public attention, it is hoped that a planned Coffee House meeting in the fall will raise awareness about endangered species and habitats and provide information on how to increase biodiversity in the area.
BioMuncie's success extends beyond Muncie and Delaware County. The Site Stats indicate over a thousand visits between April and May. The site is successfully supporting learners and teachers trying to build knowledge from around the globe. How this access to information, research and ideas for solving environmental problems is affecting other communities is unknown? It can only be hoped that other local leaders, empowered by knowledge, are able to actively work toward resolution of environmental problems in their country or community.
BioMuncie's success can be attributed to two factors. The site provides access to relevant and credible information and Carol has used this information effectively in support of numerous outreach initiatives. In order to raise awareness and to encourage action, two activities have proven critical:
One of the most significant complaints raised against environmental education is that it is often "based on emotionalism, myths, & misinformation,” (see page 38). The process of gathering and assessing web resources is therefore critical if an environmental education website is to be recognized as reliable and trustworthy. BioMuncie has endeavored to collect such information. This information has then driven action on particular issues.
As environmental
information related to the community was uncovered, Carol brought important
issues to the attention of the public. One of the rationales behind the creation
of BioMuncie was to provide community-specific information because Americans, in
general, and residents of Muncie in particular, did not feel that environmental
problems were a priority. They did not see the personal impact of environmental
problems and/or did not know how to address them when they did. By disseminating
credible community-specific information, Carol has been able to raise the
interest of the public and organize local action.
Robert Keohane, CoDirector of the Program on Democracy, Institutions, and Political
Economy at Duke University, and Joseph Nye, the Dean of the Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University, have investigated the power of credibility.
They state that, "Information power flows to those who can edit and
credibly validate information to sort out what is both correct and important,”
(1998, p. 7). Information
power is a form of 'soft power' - the power to persuade people to behave in a
particular way "through attraction rather than coercion,” (p.7). Frank
Navran, Director of the Ethics Resource Center in Washington, identifies
expertise, information, obligation and reputation as those factors within an
individual’s control that can bestow personal power (1992).
The Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government has the power of
authority conferred by his position and title. His words are given greater
credence simply based on the assumption that someone in this position has
expertise and knowledge. For an individual without title or position to convey
authority, power can be obtained through the development of expertise, the
acquisition of information and the establishment of a reputation for
credibility. Why is power important?
It takes
power to create change. Consider the physical sciences. Simply understood, a
body in motion tends to stay in motion. To alter its speed or direction takes
the application of force. The amount of force is proportional to the velocity
and mass of the object and the desired degree of change. (Navram,
“Ethics/Power Connection,” ¶1) As Francis
Bacon is often quoted, nam et ipsa scientia potestas est - knowledge is
power (1597). Of course BioMuncie does not provide knowledge, only information. It is
up to the user, the learner to construct their own understanding, their own
expertise, and eventually the wisdom on which sound, responsible action is
based. Knowledge based on credible information can be a powerful tool. One of
the first things that Carol noticed when she began referencing BioMuncie was
that it somehow conferred authority to her. People began to treat her more
respectfully, to listen to what she had to say, to actively seek her out for
help, advice and information. She began to build a reputation for her expertise
on environmental issues and her access to reliable information. This has given
her power to be a leader in the community who can promote positive change.
Carol
is one activist. She has been the focal point of this study. But there are
unquestionable others, like the Muncie schoolteacher who was concerned about the
use of pesticides and diesel fuel around her school, using BioMuncie to learn
and to take action. The site stats
indicate users from around the world are gathering information and ideas and
hopefully taking the next critical step of gathering and organizing people to
take action.
BioMuncie is
an essentially passive structure. It can only directly support active or
intentional learners who choose to access the site. Without outreach its
impact would be severely limited. Providing general access to quality
information is an ongoing concern for BioMuncie. Finding the time and the funds
to maintain the site is also an ongoing concern.
A limited number
of Delaware County residents access the site. Without an individual like Carol
to actively work in the community and communicate information to those without
interest or ability to access an environmental education Website, the site would
have little community value. It is only through her voluntary efforts that the
site has had an impact in Delaware County.
To
date, my sister and I have provided BioMuncie as a voluntary service.
However we will need to apply for a grant its future activity. Our next step
will be to seek funding to continue BioMuncie and perhaps create a template for
sister-sites in other localities. In the meantime, given the limits of time and
funds, the site will continue to provide information in response to community
needs and we will share what we learn in the hope that other communities can
benefit from our experience.
At the turn of the
millennium, Abbey Ruskey, Co-Director of the National Environmental Education
Advancement Project, wrote, "After almost a decade of working to increase
EE capacity at the state level, we must now focus resources on EE capacity
building at the local level. For it is at the local level where ‘the rubber
hits the road’ in the teaching and learning of EE. The infrastructure being
built across the nation to support quality EE programs will not be complete
without a broad network of successful and comprehensive local level EE programs
in place. Without question, the extent to which we will achieve environmental
literacy and environmental sustainability will be the extent to which local
level EE programs are developed and institutionalized,” (2000, p.3).
BioMuncie.org is building environmental education capacity in Delaware County
although there is a great deal of work to be done before EE programs are
institutionalized.
In the
1960s, Edward Lorenz, a renowned MIT meteorologist, postulated that a butterfly
flapping its wings could change the weather all over the world (Hilborn, 1994).
In an interconnected world little events can have profound consequences. Little
events on a local scale can have global impact. BioMuncie beats its wings hoping
to display this butterfly
effect.
The Limitations of BioMuncie
and Future Plans
A Final Note: