Teaching and Learning Materials

UNESCO's contribution to the promotion of 'Science and technology' in support of sustainable development in SIDS includes the diffusion and testing of teaching and learning materials produced both before and after the Mauritius International Meeting of January 2005. Certain of these materials are based on experience in SIDS regions, but most are of more general scope.

Secondary, Vocational and Science Education. May 2006 saw the launch of a new website by UNESCO's Division of Secondary, Vocational and Science Education. There are three thematic areas : General Secondary Education, Science and Technology Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

UNESCO Manuals/Text Books on Renewable Energy Technologies. Subjects addressed include maintenance of renewable energy systems, micro-hydroelectricity, biogas technology, water desalination.

Toolkit of Learning and Teaching Materials on Solar Photovoltaics, comprising a technical training manual and a companion volume for teachers. The overall goal of the toolkit is to provide wide-ranging information and training material for the development of solar photovoltaic systems, with special emphasis on their use for domestic purposes in rural areas. Aspects addressed include installation, operation, monitoring and evaluation, management, maintenance, rehabilitation, awareness-raising, advocacy, innovation, policy and planning.

'Rays of Hope' video and accompanying booklet aimed at supporting the new surge of interest and commitment in the Pacific region for increasing the proportion of renewable energy use in the total primary energy supply. The materials have been conceived and prepared as a joint initiative of UNESCO and its programmes in the Basic and Engineering Sciences and the Fiji-based communications firm PASiFiKA, in cooperation with a range of national and regional bodies in the Pacific. The video and accompanying booklet combine generic information (e.g. history of renewable energy in the Pacific, new energy sources, environmental concerns, energy dependence, renewable sources of energy, types of renewable energy) with interviews and project insights drawn from several countries of the region (e.g. Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu).

Small is Working: Technology for Poverty Reduction. Wind generation for rural energy supply, and the use of waste cooking oil for biodiesel oil for powering lorries, are two of the technologies described in this video and accompanying 60-page booklet. Co-production of UNESCO, the Intermediate Technology Group and the Television Trust for the Environment, prepared and released to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of E.F. Schumacher's influential book Small is Beautiful'.