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Geoethics – Africa needs to be respected and heard!
Journal of African Earth Sciences 111 (2015) 287
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of African Earth Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jafrearsci
Geoethics e Africa needs to be respected and heard! Recently, Suding et al. (2015) stated that “ethical considerations can supersede direct societal benefits, particularly when ecocentric ideals are followed”. This is also true when it refers to ethical issues related to the “abiotic world”, in particular in development countries. Geoethics, in its modern conception (Nemec, 1992) merges Ethics and Geosciences in a similar way followed by Bioethics. However, although this discipline is being promoted and developed during the last 20 years, it is still poorly known and applied. Ethical issues linked to geosciences are immense. The original priority of Geoethics was mainly focused on protecting and moderating consumption of non-renewable mineral resources, but later other issues and applications came into consideration (Martínez-Frías et al., 2011), such as global warming and cooling in natural history and unavoidable natural disasters and concept lez Garcia et al., 2014). The of sustainability (Nemec, 2012; Gonza International Association for Geoethics (IAGETH) (the only one which is affiliated to two ICSU GeoUnions the IUGS and the IUGG) faces geoethics from a global perspective, considering its main link to geoscience education, as well as some other priority issues (for instance, two thematic commissions on Gender and Geoethics (ICGG) and Geoethics and the Anthropocene were recently launched). Geoethics and the serious consideration of all these issues, is extremely relevant for Africa, which is a continent with a high degree of gender inequality and educational problems, poverty (despite its natural and mineral wealth) and with little capacity of facing the consequences of these disasters and the effects of climate changes. The need for including these ethical aspects in the educational systems is more than evident: it is absolutely unavoidable! It is therefore important that the African ministries of education must be made aware of these issues. In order to make politicians and decision-makers aware of these needs, a project between the IUGS-COGE (Commission on Geoscience Education, Training and Technology Transfer) and the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf), with the collaboration of the Earth Science Matter Foundation is currently in progress, aiming at providing the entire African continent with a roadmap to face the target of geoscience education within a wide scope and a multidisciplinary approach. This project is named GEO-ERA (GEOscience Education Roadmap for Africa) (GEO-ERA; Martínez-Frías and Mogessie, 2012), where it is called upon all interested organizations, especially the African ones, to implement previous initiatives (e.g. UNESCO Earth Science Education in Africa) opening new ways for cooperation. In this framework, GSAf and IAGETH decided that it was also of utmost importance to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.08.008 1464-343X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
between the two organizations (IAGETH, 2013), to cooperate and collaborate for the development and strengthening of Geosciences and Geoethics in Africa, taking into account earth science education as the first crucial step. All these actions confirm that Africa needs to be respected and heard.
References GEOscience Education Roadmap for Africa (GEO-ERA). http://www.iugscoge.com/ geoera.html. lez Garcia, J.L., Martínez-Frías, J., Nishiwaki, N., 2014. Geoethical elements in Gonza risk communication. Episodes 37e4, 317e320. IAGETH website. http://tierra.rediris.es/IAGETH/. IAGETH/GSAf Memorandum of Understanding, 26th April, 2013. See at. http:// www.geologicalsocietyofafrica.org/file/News_51822e20ed5140.17111100.pdf. Martínez-Frías, J., Mogessie, A., 2012. The need for a geoscience education roadmap for Africa. Episodes 35 (4), 489e492. lez, J.L., Pe rez, F.R., 2011. Geoethics and deontology: from Martínez-Frías, J., Gonza fundamentals to applications in planetary protection. Episodes 34e4, 257e262. Nemec, V., 1992. Section II-24-1. In: Ethical Geology in the Education Process. 29th International Geological Congress, Kyoto, Japan, 24 Auguste3 September 1992 New Ideas and Techniques in Geological Education, vol. 3(3). Abstract/Paper 06. Nemec, V., 2012. Geoethics and sustainability. In: Proceedings of the 2nd World Sustain. Forum, 1e30 November 2012. Sciforum Electronic Conference Series, vol. 2. Suding, K., Higgs, E., Palmer, M., Callicot, J.B., Anderson, C.B., Baker, M., Guthrich, J.J., Hondula, K.L., LaFevor, M.C., Larson, B.M.H., Randall, A., Schwartz, K.Z.S., 2015. Committing to ecological restoration. Science 348 (6235), 638e640. UNESCO Earth Science Education in Africa (Project Brief). http://www.unesco.org/ new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/GEO_Sc-Ed-Initiative-Africa_ProjectBrief_05e2011_en.pdf.
Lopo Vasconcelos* Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Faculdade de Ci^ encias, Departamento de Geologia, Maputo, Mozambique Jesus Martínez-Frías Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain E-mail address: [email protected]. Aberra Mogessie Institut für Erdwissenschaften, Bereich Mineralogie und Petrologie, €t Graz, Universita €tsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz, Karl-Franzens Universita Austria E-mail address: [email protected]. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Vasconcelos).
7 August 2015 Available online 14 August 2015
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of African Earth Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jafrearsci
Geoethics e Africa needs to be respected and heard! Recently, Suding et al. (2015) stated that “ethical considerations can supersede direct societal benefits, particularly when ecocentric ideals are followed”. This is also true when it refers to ethical issues related to the “abiotic world”, in particular in development countries. Geoethics, in its modern conception (Nemec, 1992) merges Ethics and Geosciences in a similar way followed by Bioethics. However, although this discipline is being promoted and developed during the last 20 years, it is still poorly known and applied. Ethical issues linked to geosciences are immense. The original priority of Geoethics was mainly focused on protecting and moderating consumption of non-renewable mineral resources, but later other issues and applications came into consideration (Martínez-Frías et al., 2011), such as global warming and cooling in natural history and unavoidable natural disasters and concept lez Garcia et al., 2014). The of sustainability (Nemec, 2012; Gonza International Association for Geoethics (IAGETH) (the only one which is affiliated to two ICSU GeoUnions the IUGS and the IUGG) faces geoethics from a global perspective, considering its main link to geoscience education, as well as some other priority issues (for instance, two thematic commissions on Gender and Geoethics (ICGG) and Geoethics and the Anthropocene were recently launched). Geoethics and the serious consideration of all these issues, is extremely relevant for Africa, which is a continent with a high degree of gender inequality and educational problems, poverty (despite its natural and mineral wealth) and with little capacity of facing the consequences of these disasters and the effects of climate changes. The need for including these ethical aspects in the educational systems is more than evident: it is absolutely unavoidable! It is therefore important that the African ministries of education must be made aware of these issues. In order to make politicians and decision-makers aware of these needs, a project between the IUGS-COGE (Commission on Geoscience Education, Training and Technology Transfer) and the Geological Society of Africa (GSAf), with the collaboration of the Earth Science Matter Foundation is currently in progress, aiming at providing the entire African continent with a roadmap to face the target of geoscience education within a wide scope and a multidisciplinary approach. This project is named GEO-ERA (GEOscience Education Roadmap for Africa) (GEO-ERA; Martínez-Frías and Mogessie, 2012), where it is called upon all interested organizations, especially the African ones, to implement previous initiatives (e.g. UNESCO Earth Science Education in Africa) opening new ways for cooperation. In this framework, GSAf and IAGETH decided that it was also of utmost importance to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.08.008 1464-343X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
between the two organizations (IAGETH, 2013), to cooperate and collaborate for the development and strengthening of Geosciences and Geoethics in Africa, taking into account earth science education as the first crucial step. All these actions confirm that Africa needs to be respected and heard.
References GEOscience Education Roadmap for Africa (GEO-ERA). http://www.iugscoge.com/ geoera.html. lez Garcia, J.L., Martínez-Frías, J., Nishiwaki, N., 2014. Geoethical elements in Gonza risk communication. Episodes 37e4, 317e320. IAGETH website. http://tierra.rediris.es/IAGETH/. IAGETH/GSAf Memorandum of Understanding, 26th April, 2013. See at. http:// www.geologicalsocietyofafrica.org/file/News_51822e20ed5140.17111100.pdf. Martínez-Frías, J., Mogessie, A., 2012. The need for a geoscience education roadmap for Africa. Episodes 35 (4), 489e492. lez, J.L., Pe rez, F.R., 2011. Geoethics and deontology: from Martínez-Frías, J., Gonza fundamentals to applications in planetary protection. Episodes 34e4, 257e262. Nemec, V., 1992. Section II-24-1. In: Ethical Geology in the Education Process. 29th International Geological Congress, Kyoto, Japan, 24 Auguste3 September 1992 New Ideas and Techniques in Geological Education, vol. 3(3). Abstract/Paper 06. Nemec, V., 2012. Geoethics and sustainability. In: Proceedings of the 2nd World Sustain. Forum, 1e30 November 2012. Sciforum Electronic Conference Series, vol. 2. Suding, K., Higgs, E., Palmer, M., Callicot, J.B., Anderson, C.B., Baker, M., Guthrich, J.J., Hondula, K.L., LaFevor, M.C., Larson, B.M.H., Randall, A., Schwartz, K.Z.S., 2015. Committing to ecological restoration. Science 348 (6235), 638e640. UNESCO Earth Science Education in Africa (Project Brief). http://www.unesco.org/ new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/GEO_Sc-Ed-Initiative-Africa_ProjectBrief_05e2011_en.pdf.
Lopo Vasconcelos* Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Faculdade de Ci^ encias, Departamento de Geologia, Maputo, Mozambique Jesus Martínez-Frías Instituto de Geociencias, IGEO (CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain E-mail address: [email protected]. Aberra Mogessie Institut für Erdwissenschaften, Bereich Mineralogie und Petrologie, €t Graz, Universita €tsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz, Karl-Franzens Universita Austria E-mail address: [email protected]. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Vasconcelos).
7 August 2015 Available online 14 August 2015