1. What is environment and/or biotechnology?

 Mondal, P. (n.d). Meaning, Definition and Components of Environment. Retrieved

from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/environment/meaning-definition-and-
components-of-environment/6157
Mondal (n.d.) described the environment and life forms here on earth as
dynamic and a complex part of our life because these life forms are the
ones interacting directly with it. Aside from that, he claimed that human
beings are interacting more to the environment than the animals and other
organisms.
 Larsson, M. (n.d.). Legal definitions of Environment and of Environmental
change. Retrieved from Scandinavian Law website:
https://www.scandinavianlaw.se/pdf/38-7.pdf
In this article, it was pointed that the problems occurring in the environment
shifted the society’s perception on the scope of the latter. From a private
outlook and responsibility to a communal dimension, the concept of
environment became broader for its adverse effects affects the whole. As
to regulating and protecting the environment thru public policies and legal
ways, the legal definition of environment is needed to be established to
further realize these and making it clear to the public what is the scope of it
when transcribed to public policies. The definition given is that environment
is “all those elements which in their complex inter-relationships form the
framework, setting and living conditions for mankind, by their very existence
or by virtue of their impact”. Furthermore, to categorize the needed
regulations, it was suggested to lay a category of environmental
dimensions—there are three. First, under a heading of “natural”
environment, protection of environmental media is included. A second
category is the “manmade” environment including the cultural heritage. A
third category concerns “human” environment, including regulations on food
content, products, safety issues, leisure and economic health (consumer
protection, eco-labelling, and so forth).
 World Health Organization. (2016). Preventing disease through healthy
environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental
risks. Retrieved from World Health Organization website:
https://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventingdisease2.pdf
In this publication of World health organization, creating a healthy
environment to prevent diseases is its focal point. Clear in its objective,
there is a direct relationship of the environment of the population to their
health status. In this connection, the publication shared a definition of
“environment” to establish a parameter of their intervention since its very
idea is wide and inclusive. Based on how they used it in the study,
environment is the “the physical, biological and chemical factors external to
the human host, and all related behaviors, but excluding those natural
environments that cannot be reasonably modified”. The environment, thus,
 that they are discussing here is only those of contains environmental factors
that can be amenable to change for better health security.
 Scope of Biotechnology, Its Importance and Impacts. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.atlasbiyo.com/en/sayfa_31_scope-of-biotechnology-its-importance-
and-impacts.html
Biotechnology as explained in the article is an area of biology where
technology is incorporated to help improve the standard of life and the
environment. Through the years, there are a lot of groundbreaking
researches that led to the invention of technologies and products that aims
to make it easier to fight illnesses, reduce the possible harms in the
environment, utilize the energy properly, and have a more secure, cleaner,
and progressively effective modern manufacturing processes.
 Rinkesh. (2018). What is Biotechnology: Types, Examples and Applications.
Retrieved from https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/biotechnology-types-
examples-applications.php
In this website, Biotechnology is the use of biological system or living
organisms to make technological advances and later to adapt to various
fields.

2. What are the values of society and culture in learning about the
environment and biotechnology?
 Taylor, P. (1997). The Politics of Conservation of Nature. Retrieved from:
http://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/taylor-3-2.pdf
According to this, there are systems needed to be considered as to where
conservation of nature is better off. In line with this, systems-level thinking
creates a pathway to criticize the models in a bid on finding what is
applicable to the state. Of course, it needs the public’s perspective on how
they picture and give importance to nature. Moreover, two ways are at the
core in resolving environmental problems. These are the moral and
technocratic to which the paper presents a conundrum on their efficacy to
really mend the issue at stake and predicting its sustainability. In connection
to learning about environment, one must be aware of the normative values
of his belonged society. In this way, he would map his society’s position on
the environment and thus making its way to strategize its conservation.
However, as much as dynamic the society is, different perspectives must
be considered.
 Holm, P. et al. (2015). Humanities for Environment—A Manifesto for Research
and Action. Retrieved from Environment and Society website:
http://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/humanities-
04-00977-1.pdf
It is argued here that since human preferences are the primary drivers for
global change, it is imperative to study the same to alter the choices using
the fields of humanities (i.e. psychology, gender studies, philosophy, etc.)
 making the latter more directed in making actions that would incur
betterment for the environment. Moreover, although humanities is
sometimes dealing with contradictory things and is seen as opposite of the
natural sciences, experience would say that even though there is initial
mistrust in the integration of social sciences, humanities, and scientific
analyses in addressing the problems of environment, it generates solutions
that only through cross-disciplinary be understood and fully realized. Thus,
this affirms the use of humanities as an essential part of researches, not
just simply advisory.
 Barnhill, D. (2010). Values in Environmental Studies. Retrieved from
https://www.uwosh.edu/facstaff/barnhill/490-docs/thinking/values-in-es
The author stated that only few people consider values as a part of
education and that there are 2 main aspects of values dimension which are
ethics and philosophy. In ethics, we must always remember our moral
responsibility towards the nature, human beings, and, other non-human
entities while in Philosophy, we must carefully examine what is our concept
of the environment. For example, if we see environment merely as an
instrument to satisfy our needs, then we will not treat our environment
properly. However, if we see our environment as community where living
organisms and the nature benefits from each other, then we will have the
urge to protect and love the environment from those people who abuses
and exploits its resources.
 The Need of Value Based Environmental Education. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/environment/the-need-of-value-based-
environmental-education/9978
According to the article, the social values nurtured for the protection of the
environment are love, compassion, tolerance, and justice. It is the basic
teachings needed while learning about the environment. In terms of the
cultural and religious values in learning about the environment, one
example is a saying from Vedas, which is “Dehi me dadami te” or “You give
me and I give you.” It means that man should never exploit her without
nurturing her. Through culture and religious means, learning about the
environment meant also giving respect and love as well.
 Culture and Biotechnology. (n.d.) College of Tropical Agriculture and Human
Resources, University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Retrieved from:
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/biotech/Culture-5.html
In many cultures, food is something that is tied with their identity. It
symbolizes their rich way of living and the bond they have with each other
and their land. So, when an institute in Hawai’i tries to genetically engineer
the Hawaiian taro for the purpose of its salvation and protection from plant
diseases, many Hawaiian groups are ready to negate this idea. However,
eventually, a truce has been made since the Hawaiians saw the drastic loss
of their taro due to pests. They allowed the GE taro to consummate for it is
 better to have one than none. The lesson in this is that biotechnology should
be there to help the community to continue their living while respecting their
discretions and their culture. When time comes that biotechnology is of help,
it should be there to back them up.

3. What are the possible applications of studying the environment and/or

biotechnology to your specialization?
 Bennett, N. (2018). Environmental Governance: A practical framework to guide
design, evaluation, and analysis. Retrieve from Society for Conservation Biology
website: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12600
A great application of learning about environment and public administration
is through environmental governance. This paper pointed that governance
is one of the most important factors for ensuring effective environmental
management and conservation actions. It has four objectives: to be
effective, to be equitable, to be responsive, and to be robust. Each of these
four objectives need to be considered simultaneously across the
institutional, structural, and procedural elements of environmental
governance. It was also pointed out that environmental governance, in order
to be effective, needs to have partnerships and collaboration to other
sectors such as the NGO’s, the civil group societies, etc.
 Environmental Policy and Administration: Maxwell School. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/paia/mpa/areas-of-study/environmental-policy-and-
administration/?fbclid=IwAR3D1b64joLdt6nJjr3bzcMV_qBiGc0oYQ1SreNXHL_R
3r0_CmLBHFCArSE
According to this website, Public Administrators with specialization in
Environmental Policy and Administration may apply this knowledge with
administrative, political, and legal management involving environmental
policies of different kinds.
 Sambit. (n.d.). How Ecology has Become a Factor of Public Administration?
Retrieved from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/public-administration/ecology-
public-administration/how-ecology-has-become-a-factor-of-public-
administration/63445
In the article, the author states that human-environment interactions have
consequences that will lead to various environmental issues. With that, the
government must do an action to solve the issues in the environment
through the strict implementation of policies.
 Howes, M. (2017). Environmental Sustainability: A case of Policy Implementation
Failure. Retrieved from: www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
This paper highlights the primary application of studying environment to
public administration—specifically in the form of policy implementation.
Here, it was discussed that there are three factors why environmental
sustainability is not yet attainable based on the failure of policy
implementation. First, there are ongoing economic incentives (supported by
 policy) for private and public activities to continue to exploit natural
resources without deeper consideration of the associated damage to the
environment. Second, governments either do not have the capacity and/or
the political will to implement effective sustainability policies. Third, the
seriousness of sustainability issues and the urgent need for change have
not been effectively communicated to key stakeholders. These three factors
are mutually reinforcing and suggest that there has been a failure to
convince decision-makers in all sectors that sustainable development offers
a realistic pathway to a prosperous economy, a better society, and a healthy
environment. Having said this, it is not enough that a policy maker is well-
versed on the problems on environment. He should be wise enough to
curate a policy to implement that is effective and beneficial all throughout.
 Aerni, P. (2000). Public Policy responses to Biotechnology. Center for
International Development, Harvard University. Retrieved from:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.490.1775&rep=rep1&ty
pe=pdf
This paper hopes to mend the gap between the public and the proponents
of biotechnology through deliberate public administration. Due to low public
confidence, that was enrooted to numerous food scandals and release of
controversial publications on biotechnology, mistrust is fostered among the
public. The role of administrators here is to manage the opposition of the
public and be the middle ground of the two sectors in making sure that the
innovations are feasible amongst the public and that trust is being cultivated
on the usage of biotechnology.