Blog 10

This is the Tenth and last Blogprompt of the year.

It's not a difficult one.

Think about where you live at home (that is where you live now or where you lived before you moved into a Hall of Residence.)

Think about the area in which you live. Perhaps find out the area covered by your electoral ward or better still your Super Output Area (SOA). Find out from here.

Think about how closely your home area fits in with the definition of a 'sustainable community' that we introduced last week (you might want to refresh yourself of this definition by having a look at the powerpoint or one of the white papers. Here.

Blog to what extent your ward/SOA resembles a 'sustainable community' and what extent you don't think it does. Give some evidence from your observations (or your memories) of this judgment.

Use some of the collected data from your ward or SOA to make your point. Find this from here.




I have chosen to look at my super output area Milton Keynes 027D, located within my hometown of Bletchley. I do not think that my area fully fits in with the definition of a sustainable community very well; there is clearly much work to be done by the local council and community. House prices in the area are ridiculously high compared to similar properties in other parts of the country; this does make it difficult for lower-income families to afford housing even in an area that is not particularly highly desirable. There seems to be a very low sense of community spirit. There are several schools nearby but there have always been problems with capacity and catchments that have caused problems for children in the community, those who have to attend different schools from that of their friends can find it socially corrupting.
















There are unemployed adults in the area but the majority of people do work; government statistics state that 2.79% of economically active people in my area were unemployed in April 2001. This means that just over 1 in 50 people were unemployed in my super output area. Government statistics show that this super output area does have an eclectic age range of residents, however, almost a quarter of all residents were aged between 45 and 59 years of age. There is not a massively high diversity of ethnic groups in my area with 87.77% of residents being White British. The majority of people in my area have to travel less than 2km to work, this is a positive fact which shows that there is work available locally. In 2006, my area experienced only 3 fires. Statistics show that 8% of residents in this area are claiming benefits at working age.
















Although many of the statistics do not appear to be alarming, many of the residents would say that they do not live in a sustainable community; these views may be linked to the recession and past experiences such as crime and problems with the council. There is still a lot of work to be done in the area of Milton Keynes 027D but I strongly believe that with some progressive steps forward and an increase in community spirit will push the area into the realms of a sustainable community.

Blog 8

Education for Citizenship

Education for Sustainable Development also includes making learners aware of their role as 'Active Citizens'. Studies of 'citizenship' are intended to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for effective and democratic participation. It helps learners become informed, active citizens who have the confidence and conviction to work together to take action in their communities.

It is important to know about rights, responsibilities, duties and freedoms and about laws, justice and democracy. Citizenship encourages respect for different national, religious and ethnic identities.

For the Blogprompt this week first we want you to do a bit of research.

Find out

The constituency in which you live
Your local MP (name, party)
The name of your local council
Which political party dominates your local council

Secondly

2010 is election year.
What is your attitude concerning people who are not planning to vote in the general election?
What main concerns do you have that may influence your vote?




I hail from Bletchley in the borough of Milton Keynes, my current constituency is Milton Keynes South West, interestingly, this constituency is due to be abolished and will be replaced by the new Milton Keynes South constituency at the time of the 2010 elections. The current local MP is Phyllis Starkey of the Labour party. My local councils are West Bletchley Council and Milton Keynes Council. The Milton Keynes South West constituency is dominated by the Labour Party and the Milton Keynes North East constituency is predominately a Conservative area. My area of Bletchley is a Labour area.










I am always very concerned with the number of people that do not bother to vote in elections, particularly in the general election. Not enough people realise the importance of voting and how politics can affect them. Secondly, not enough people appreciate how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to vote. Not enough people look at elections seriously and certainly do not take the time to read the manifestos and policies of political parties. There are many “thoughtless” votes submitted at elections by people who just choose somebody at random or choose the current political party simply because they hear the most about them. I believe that more people should take the time to understand the importance of voting and find a political party that shares their beliefs and ideas.


















The main concerns influencing my vote mainly span from the mistakes and errors made by the Labour party in the last ten years or so. I do not believe that the Labour party have stayed true to their values in recent years. To me, they do not appear to have remained too committed to their ideology of being a democratic socialist party. And in fairness, the labour party have been in power for over a decade now and the cracks are starting to show. I think that it would be interesting to see Great Britain under the power of a social liberalist government this time around.

Blog 6/7

At the moment the theme in class is sustainable travel. Transport undoubtedly has had a major influence on economic and social development facilitating the movement of goods, people and ideas. Greater accessibility, mobility and communication has shaped the type of global society we live in today.

But is there a cost? Environmentalists will emphasize the problems associated with unlimited travel - depletion of fossil fuels, local air pollution, emissions of greenhouse gases, congestion and accidents, destruction of the countryside and the expansion of land under concrete to name but a few. Even our over-reliance on motorized transport has been linked to a general lack of fitness in the population at large.

So...what are your views? Is there really a transport problem? Do the benefits of motorized transport outweigh the costs? Are there any minor (or perhaps major) changes you personally feel could make our present transport system more sustainable?



Increasing accessibility and low cost travel is having a major impact on our environment. The amount of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere has increased dramatically in the last 100 years or so. This is mainly due to the increase in air and road traffic, so many airplanes fly in the sky every day, airlines and governments are continuously adding fees and charges to flight costs to discourage people from making unnecessary travels. The only thing that this idea seems to have done is anger customers and make people think that governments are just trying to drain more money from consumers for other expenditure rather than helping save the environment.

There is a page on the UK government’s website all about air travel and the environment. Their aim is to make people aware of the damage that air travel is doing to the environment and what people can do to reduce the impacts.

“Air travel is a growing contributor to climate change and can have an impact on local air quality and noise. You can help reduce your impact on the environment by choosing to travel by air less. You can also offset the carbon emissions created by your journeys.”

http://direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Greenertravel/DG_064429

The government are asking travellers to consider their travel options and alternatives to help reduce damage to the environment. They also highly encourage “carbon offsetting” where by the traveller can pay someone to make an equivalent emissions saving or reduction.

There are similar things happening in the world of road travel, car sharing encouragement is everywhere now but it does seem to be a slow process and not many people appear to be that interested in taking part. The truth is that most car owners see the vehicle as their possession, often the second biggest purchase to a house, and they want it to be their own, privacy and efficiency are big factors for car users. Let’s face it, would people allow others to live in their house to reduce the number of properties being built? I believe that many people do see it like that and this may be why car sharing is not very popular at this time.


















I do not believe that there are many changes that can be made to make our transport system more sustainable. Most people react to “green travel advice” very stubbornly and are more likely to opt for the mode of transport that is most convenient for them, and typically, most forms of “convenient” transport are the most damaging to the environment. For most people, a car is much more convenient than a bus or walking and a car omits the most carbon and damage to the environment than the other two alternatives. It is the same with long distance travel, if somebody wanted to travel to the United States from the United Kingdom they are more than likely to fly in a plane as opposed to travelling across the Atlantic in a boat. The key to changing people’s opinions about “green travel” lies in making it the alternatives more accessible and equally or more convenient than their preferred choice of transport.