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The main objective of the Cambodia Unit was to foster responsible environmental
leaders who can bravely criticize and seek for fundamental solutions to the complex
and broad environmental issues in Cambodia. In the course to fi nd or defi ne a problem, the students developed a very important quality: a sense of responsibility . The
authors often encouraged students to enjoy struggling during the Unit. Why? In the
real world, leaders have to go through a time consuming process of fi nding problems and solutions in order to bring positive changes to a society. Thus, this struggle
at this phase was intended to encourage the students to improve their leadership
qualities, namely the discussion and communication skills.
Authors observed how their opinions and ways of thinking would change during
the implementation of this Unit. The result was quite interesting. At the beginning
of the Unit, their opinions were based mainly on their own academic backgrounds
and majors. In other words, they looked at problems from only one direction.
However, the students’ opinions after their trip became more multifaceted, and their
reports were written from holistic viewpoints.
7.3 Contents of the Cambodia Unit
The Cambodia Unit consists of three parts: (1) preliminary lectures and assignments
before visiting Cambodia, (2) fi eldwork during a stay in Cambodia, and (3) fi nal
presentations and reports after the fi eldwork. The details on each part are described
in the following sections.
The basic idea of the Cambodia Unit is to combine one lecture with one
associated site visit on the same day. One day, for example, we took up the case
of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in the morning we had a lecture on JICA’s operation in Cambodia, and then in the afternoon, we had a site
visit that supplemented the details. Students seemed to recognize the importance
of visiting and seeing sites. In other words, lectures provided rich information, but
students were able to fi nd more useful information by looking at real-life situations. Also, students uncovered the differences among themselves after visiting
the same place, which brought out a good chance to experience the diversifi ed
ideas. This program construction refl ected other intentions of Unit organizers.
Students were supposed to understand the real situation of environmental issues
in Cambodia as well as to think why those environmental problems are diffi cult to
solve through site visits. This approach motivated students to investigate how big
the difference between learning knowledge from textbooks and seeing things as
they are with their own eyes is.
7.3.1 Preliminary Lectures and Assignments
Preliminary activities before the on-site program in Cambodia were signifi cant
for two reasons. First, preliminary lectures were necessary for students because
7 Environmental Leadership Development: A Cambodian Case
The main objective of the Cambodia Unit was to foster responsible environmental
leaders who can bravely criticize and seek for fundamental solutions to the complex
and broad environmental issues in Cambodia. In the course to fi nd or defi ne a problem, the students developed a very important quality: a sense of responsibility . The
authors often encouraged students to enjoy struggling during the Unit. Why? In the
real world, leaders have to go through a time consuming process of fi nding problems and solutions in order to bring positive changes to a society. Thus, this struggle
at this phase was intended to encourage the students to improve their leadership
qualities, namely the discussion and communication skills.
Authors observed how their opinions and ways of thinking would change during
the implementation of this Unit. The result was quite interesting. At the beginning
of the Unit, their opinions were based mainly on their own academic backgrounds
and majors. In other words, they looked at problems from only one direction.
However, the students’ opinions after their trip became more multifaceted, and their
reports were written from holistic viewpoints.
7.3 Contents of the Cambodia Unit
The Cambodia Unit consists of three parts: (1) preliminary lectures and assignments
before visiting Cambodia, (2) fi eldwork during a stay in Cambodia, and (3) fi nal
presentations and reports after the fi eldwork. The details on each part are described
in the following sections.
The basic idea of the Cambodia Unit is to combine one lecture with one
associated site visit on the same day. One day, for example, we took up the case
of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in the morning we had a lecture on JICA’s operation in Cambodia, and then in the afternoon, we had a site
visit that supplemented the details. Students seemed to recognize the importance
of visiting and seeing sites. In other words, lectures provided rich information, but
students were able to fi nd more useful information by looking at real-life situations. Also, students uncovered the differences among themselves after visiting
the same place, which brought out a good chance to experience the diversifi ed
ideas. This program construction refl ected other intentions of Unit organizers.
Students were supposed to understand the real situation of environmental issues
in Cambodia as well as to think why those environmental problems are diffi cult to
solve through site visits. This approach motivated students to investigate how big
the difference between learning knowledge from textbooks and seeing things as
they are with their own eyes is.
7.3.1 Preliminary Lectures and Assignments
Preliminary activities before the on-site program in Cambodia were signifi cant
for two reasons. First, preliminary lectures were necessary for students because
7 Environmental Leadership Development: A Cambodian Case