27
developed by modifying Integral Approach of Wilber [ 17 , 18 ].
4 The upper quadrant
in Fig. 2.2a shows the components of education programs, while Fig. 2.2b presents
components of environmental leadership inherent in students. In this framework,
collective leadership is considered to incorporate both cultural leadership and social
leadership within leadership theory.
5 This section considers that collective leadership is the key to building general environmental leadership skills.
2.2.2 Experiences in the Heihe River Basin
Water is essential for life. However, water environmental problems, including the
drying up of rivers/lakes, declining groundwater tables, vegetation degradation, and
desertifi cation, are intensifying in many regions. The Heihe River basin in northwestern China is a good illustration of these problems on the scale of a river basin.
The Heihe River is the second largest inland river in China. Its basin area covers
about 130,000 km
2
, and it is 821 km long. Roughly speaking, this river fl ows through
three administrative provinces in China: the upper reaches are in Qinghai Province,
the middle reaches are in Gansu Province, and the lower reaches are in the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region. In the river basin, people rely on glacier meltwater
and precipitation from the mountainous areas in the upper reaches. Over the past
2,000 years, the Han and Mongolian people have lived in the middle reaches (oasis
region) and lower reaches (desert region), respectively [ 20 – 22 ].
6 Due to these geographical differences, the Han mostly practiced settled farming, while the
Mongolians were nomadic pastoralists (herdsmen). Throughout their history, the
people living in the middle reaches and the people living in the lower reaches had
continual confl icts over water. The confl ict has dramatically worsened since the
1950s. The people living in the middle reaches, benefi ting from technological
improvements to dig deep wells with electric pumps, have been able to reclaim and
irrigate large areas of farmland on the fringes of the oasis. Those lands do not have
direct access to river water, so in the past, people were not able to grow crops there.
However, given access to groundwater, the people have been expanding the area of
irrigated farmland; their use of water intake for irrigation, as a consequence, has
4 Wilber [17, 18] proposed an integrated method called the all-quadrants, all-levels (AQAL) model,
which is gaining attention in the education fi eld as an effective way of teaching and designing curricula [19]. Wilber [17, 18]’s integrated methodology features a four-quadrant framework which
contends that reality is composed of holons. All holons have both an objective exterior expression
and a subjective interior experience. At the same time, all holons are both individuals and members
of a collective. These two distinctions between the exterior and interior, and the individual and
collective, give rise to four aspects of reality, or four ways of knowing, represented by the quadrants. Although the four quadrants are ontologically distinct, Wilber [17, 18] suggests that there is
an interwoven, intimate correspondence between all four quadrants.
5 In the literature, there are many defi nitions of collective leadership.
6 More ethnic groups live in the river basin. Han and Mongolian people are simply the majority
groups in the middle and lower reaches, respectively.
2 The Concept of Environmental Leader
developed by modifying Integral Approach of Wilber [ 17 , 18 ].
4 The upper quadrant
in Fig. 2.2a shows the components of education programs, while Fig. 2.2b presents
components of environmental leadership inherent in students. In this framework,
collective leadership is considered to incorporate both cultural leadership and social
leadership within leadership theory.
5 This section considers that collective leadership is the key to building general environmental leadership skills.
2.2.2 Experiences in the Heihe River Basin
Water is essential for life. However, water environmental problems, including the
drying up of rivers/lakes, declining groundwater tables, vegetation degradation, and
desertifi cation, are intensifying in many regions. The Heihe River basin in northwestern China is a good illustration of these problems on the scale of a river basin.
The Heihe River is the second largest inland river in China. Its basin area covers
about 130,000 km
2
, and it is 821 km long. Roughly speaking, this river fl ows through
three administrative provinces in China: the upper reaches are in Qinghai Province,
the middle reaches are in Gansu Province, and the lower reaches are in the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region. In the river basin, people rely on glacier meltwater
and precipitation from the mountainous areas in the upper reaches. Over the past
2,000 years, the Han and Mongolian people have lived in the middle reaches (oasis
region) and lower reaches (desert region), respectively [ 20 – 22 ].
6 Due to these geographical differences, the Han mostly practiced settled farming, while the
Mongolians were nomadic pastoralists (herdsmen). Throughout their history, the
people living in the middle reaches and the people living in the lower reaches had
continual confl icts over water. The confl ict has dramatically worsened since the
1950s. The people living in the middle reaches, benefi ting from technological
improvements to dig deep wells with electric pumps, have been able to reclaim and
irrigate large areas of farmland on the fringes of the oasis. Those lands do not have
direct access to river water, so in the past, people were not able to grow crops there.
However, given access to groundwater, the people have been expanding the area of
irrigated farmland; their use of water intake for irrigation, as a consequence, has
4 Wilber [17, 18] proposed an integrated method called the all-quadrants, all-levels (AQAL) model,
which is gaining attention in the education fi eld as an effective way of teaching and designing curricula [19]. Wilber [17, 18]’s integrated methodology features a four-quadrant framework which
contends that reality is composed of holons. All holons have both an objective exterior expression
and a subjective interior experience. At the same time, all holons are both individuals and members
of a collective. These two distinctions between the exterior and interior, and the individual and
collective, give rise to four aspects of reality, or four ways of knowing, represented by the quadrants. Although the four quadrants are ontologically distinct, Wilber [17, 18] suggests that there is
an interwoven, intimate correspondence between all four quadrants.
5 In the literature, there are many defi nitions of collective leadership.
6 More ethnic groups live in the river basin. Han and Mongolian people are simply the majority
groups in the middle and lower reaches, respectively.
2 The Concept of Environmental Leader