D.Phil. / Land cover changes associated with growing human populations and expected changes in climatic conditions are likely to accelerate alterations in hydrological phenomena and processes on various scales. Subsequently, these changes could significantly influence the quantity and quality of water resources for both nature and human society. Documenting the distribution of land cover types within the Shire River catchment is the foundation for applications in this study of the hydrology of the Shire catchment. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between the measured land cover changes and hydrological regimes in the Shire River Catchment in Malawi. Maps depicting land cover dynamics for 1989 and 2002 were derived from multispectral and multi-temporal Landsat 5 (1989) and Landsat 7 ETM+ (2002) satellite remote sensing data for this catchment. Other spectral-independent data sets included the 90-m resolution Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM), Geographical Information System (GIS) layers of soils, geology and archived land cover. Core image-derived data sets such as individual Landsat bands, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Principal Components Analysis and Tasseled Cap transformations were computed. From generated composite images, land cover classes were identified using a maximum likelihood algorithm. Eight land cover classes were mapped. A hierarchical multispectral shape classifier with an object conditional approach determined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) legend structure was used to map land cover variables. LCCS was used as a basis for classification to achieve legend harmonization within Africa and on a global scale. Flexibility of the hierarchical system allowed incorporation of digital elevation objects, soil and underlying geological features as well as other available geographical data sets. This approach improved classification accuracy and can be adopted to discriminate land cover features at several scales, which are internally relatively homogeneous.In addition to compatibility with the FAO/LCCS classification system, the derived land cover maps have provided recent and improved classification accuracy, and added thematic detail compared to the existing 1992 land cover maps. Fieldwork was conducted to validate the land cover classes identified during classification. Accuracy assessment was based on the correlation between ground reference samples collected during field exercise and the satellite image classification. The overall mapping accuracy was 87%, with individual classes being mapped at accuracies of above 77% for both user and producer accuracy. The combination of Landsat images, vector data and detailed ground truthing information was used successfully to classify land cover of the Shire River catchment for years 1989 and 2002.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / In a modern world of fragmentation and embedded dualisms, access to the imagination and creativity seems minimal, especially in science. Human beings and nature, science and the imagination (art), and spirit and matter (body) – these dualisms permeate our sciences and other disciplines, as well as the way we envision the future and educate children about the environment. Sustainability positions a key debate for the future and mediates intergenerational equity (it thus in a way captures the future). Sustainability further proposes an ecological approach wherein systems thinking, holism and the exploration of new (extended) forms of knowledge are subtly starting to reshape the future outlook of the planet. A personal reflection on my own alternative learning process with the Sustainability Institute (SI) resulted in a deep concern and intrigue about the symbolic base of sustainability learning. Imagination, art (stories) and symbols played an intrinsic role in how I integrated many of the empirical and non-empirical, as well as scientific and meta-physical, aspects of the learning. These intrigues led me to explore the nurturing education opportunities that might exist for children to engage with the imagination, art and alternative aspects of education as integrative aspects in learning. Waldorf education claims to use stories in this regard. Waldorf education – together with a review of the role of environmental education – is the case study of this research. This is an inherently transdisciplinary study and, although literature in the separate fields abounds, a comprehensive literature review conducted for this study revealed a gap in research related to the interface between areas of symbolism, sustainability and education (“symbolism-in-sustainability-in-education”). The study is underpinned by the following fields: • Sustainability (with a strong focus on environmental ethics) • Literature (traditional stories) • Psychology (psychoanalytical and environmental psychology) • Education (environmental, Waldorf and finally sustainability or ecological education) This study thus explores the role of the imagination and symbolism, both being ontologically recognised, as well as stories to integrate some of the dualisms prevalent in our modern world, dualisms that are contributing to the reigning ecological crisis. In addition, it focuses on the role of these functionalities to access and open up other forms of knowing in science (with particular application to the built environment/ and planning), which supports the claims of sustainability and sustainability science. I conclude by briefly highlighting a pattern that proposes a way of connecting the ideas in this study in support of ecological education (the future) – and thus sustainability – in an enduring and deep-seated way that is intrinsically human[nature].