3.1 What is environmental education?
Throughout the years we have become increasingly aware of how our careless treatment of the environment has affected our daily lives, and consequently, environmental concerns are raised regarding all spheres of society. Now, environmental education does not concern only teachers, educators and parents but any person who wants to learn, take action and help raise awareness for the environment. Education, in all its forms and modalities, has an essential role in our effort to save the planet and protect the environment. This module aims to give an overview of what environmental education refers to, present different educational approaches as well as mention other ways in which one can raise awareness regarding the topic.
The answer to this question might seem straightforward as the term is pretty much self-explanatory… However, in order to get a good understanding of what that actually means, what it encompasses and therefore how it translates in real life, it’s worth taking a step back and taking things from the beginning.
Environmental education is getting more and more attention during the last decades, however, in the 18th century, already, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his famous work Emile, was highlighting the significance of an education that focuses on the environment. The influence of his work along with the ideas of other philosophers contributed to the formation of an educational movement Nature Studies during the 19th and 20th centuries which was the preceded the contemporary concept of Environmental Education.
In the 60’s the increasing awareness of ecological problems such as the land, air and water contamination, the increase of human population on the one hand and the decrease in natural resources on the other, led to the emergence of environmental education as a response (Gough, n.d.). For the second half of the 20th century, there were a series of academic publications, international conferences, declarations, charters and recommendations (e.g., Stockholm Declaration in 1972; Belgrade Charter 1975; Tbilisi Declaration 1977) all stressing the need to address environmental issues in the context of education.
Several definitions of environmental education were formulated throughout the years, due to the broad and encompassing nature of the field. However, a widely accepted one is that elaborated in the Belgrade Charter in 1975 during the International Workshop on Environmental Education which was organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) ( National Environmental Education Advisory Council (NEEAC), 1996):
The goal of environmental education is: To develop a world population that is aware of, and concerned about the environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitment to work individually and collectively toward solutions to current problems, and the prevention of new ones.
(United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 1975)
A few years later, in 1977, the Tbilisi Declaration endorsed the following goals, objectives and guiding principles, which several decades since, they remain relevant, yet more urgent than ever:
Goals: | 1. to foster clear awareness of, and concern about, economic, social, political, and ecological interdependence in urban and rural areas;
2. to provide every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes, commitment, and skills needed to protect and improve the environment; 3. to create new patterns of behavior of individuals, groups, and society as a whole towards the environment. |
Objectives: | Awareness—to help social groups and individuals acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems.
Knowledge—to help social groups and individuals gain a variety of experience in, and acquire a basic understanding of, the environment and its associated problems.
Attitudes—to help social groups and individuals acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and the motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement and protection.
Skills—to help social groups and individuals acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental problems.
Participation—to provide social groups and individuals with an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working toward resolution of environmental problems |
Guiding principles: | Environmental education should:
1. consider the environment in its totality—natural and built, technological and social (economic, political, cultural-historical, ethical, aesthetic); 2. be a continuous lifelong process, beginning at the preschool level and continuing through all formal and nonformal stages; 3. be interdisciplinary in its approach, drawing on the specific content of each discipline in making possible a holistic and balanced perspective; 4. examine major environmental issues from local, national, regional, and international points of view so that students receive insights into environmental conditions in other geographical areas; 5. focus on current and potential environmental situations while taking into account the historical perspective; 6. promote the value and necessity of local, national, and international cooperation in the prevention and solution of environmental problems; 7. explicitly consider environmental aspects in plans for development and growth; 8. enable learners to have a role in planning their learning experiences and provide an opportunity for making decisions and accepting their consequences; 9. relate environmental sensitivity, knowledge, problem-solving skills, and values clarification to every age, but with special emphasis on environmental sensitivity to the learner’s own community in early years; 10. help learners discover the symptoms and real causes of environmental problems; 11. emphasize the complexity of environmental problems and thus the need to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills; 12. utilize diverse learning environments and a broad array of educational approaches to teaching, learning about and from the environment with due stress on practical activities and first-hand experience. |
(United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 1978)