What is environmental education?

It has become increasingly fashionable to laud the wonders of environmental education as a tool in our
quest towards sustainable development. Politicians, managers, developers, environmentalists,
educators, and others continue to sing its praises. They make lofty recommendations and claim that
therein lies the key to solving the extremely critical environmental problems facing Trinidad and Tobago
today.

But what exactly is environmental education and what does it entail?

ET programmes

Environment TOBAGO ran several environmental education programmes this year, including the Keep a
Clean School Programme (for primary and secondary schools), modules for CXC Principles of Business
and Chemistry (for secondary schools), and a module on Biodiversity Conservation. The latter was
piloted recently with a teacher’s workshop for Standard 4 and 5 teachers at Scarborough RC Primary
School on "What is Biodiversity". Classes at Bon Accord/Black Rock Secondary Centre also followed full-
day programmes on coral reefs, tropical forests, wetlands, biodiversity, and sea turtles (run by the Save
Our Sea Turtles (SOS)).

ET’s programmes follow the goals and objectives of EE that emphasise taking learners all the way from
developing awareness and knowledge of the issues, to forming a personal ethical relationship with the
environment that leads to feelings of personal commitment to take action for sustainable development.

These programmes embrace action as the ultimate goal of environmental education, but this is a new
paradigm that took several decades to evolve and even now has not been fully recognised or
understood.

Origin of EE

The roots of environmental education go back to the earliest history of mankind when humans were
living in an intimate relationship with nature, and saw both how they depended upon and had the
power to change their natural environment. More contemporary roots are found in:
Nature study's search to understand environs;
Conservation education's concern for the wise use of resources;
The experiential philosophy of outdoor education;
Ecology's study of interrelationships;
Citizenship education's appreciation of action;
Consumer education's recognition of the shortcomings and excesses of the economic system;
Population education's recognition of the problems of limitless growth and over-consumption;
 Resource management ecology's examination of people-land relationships; and
The ethical and esthetic dimensions from religious and philosophical schools.

The heightened concern about environmental degradation drew upon elements of all these and
environmental education emerged as a new discipline in the late 1960s.

The 1971 debut of the Alliance for Environmental Education and 1969 emergence of the quarterly
Journal of Environmental Education cemented the status of this new discipline.
Several international fora were catalysts in the evolution of environmental education, with international
conferences and workshops specifically on environmental education held in 1970 in the USA, 1975 in
Yugoslavia, 1977 and again in 1987 in Russia, 1993 and again in 1995 in England. Here definitions, goals,
objectives, principles, policies, philosophies, methods, and priorities were discussed and debated. Along
with these international initiatives, there were numerous regional, national and local programmes being
run.

Goal of EE

Today environmental education is understood to be:

Education about the environment (building awareness, understanding and skills necessary to obtain
this understanding);
Education in (or from) the environment (where learning occurs in nature, outside of the classroom);
and
Education for the environment (the ultimate goal being conservation and sustainable development).

Early international consensus regarding the goal of environmental education for the environment was
expressed in the 1975 Belgrade Charter adopted by the International Workshop on Environmental
Education.
"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 towards solutions of current problems and the prevention of new ones."

Four main elements

Critical objectives for environmental education pivot on four main elements:

1. Awareness: Raising awareness of the need for environmental conservation is the first step in any
programme.
2. Knowledge: Developing a deeper understanding of the principles and complex issues involved.
3. Values and ethics: Building personal and societal commitment to conservation.
4. Action: Facilitating changes in behaviour and action that promote sustainable development as a new
mode of living.
Unfortunately, many environmental education programmes are incomplete in that they only focus on
developing awareness and knowledge, and do not take the learner through to the ultimate objectives of
building that personal commitment to act form sustainable development. - Nicole Leotaud - Education
Coordinator - Environment TOBAGO - December 4th, 2000

Environmental Education Principles

DEFINITIONS
The goal of environmental education is to develop a world population that is aware of, and concerned
about, the environmental and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes,
motivations and commitment to work individually and collectively towards solutions of current problems
and the prevention of new ones (The Belgrade Charter, UNESCO, 1976).

. . . the world’s first intergovernmental conference on environmental education adopted the Tbilisi
Declaration in 1978. This declaration built on the Belgrade Charter and established three broad goals for
environmental education. These goals provide the foundation for much of what has been done in the
field:

To foster clear awareness of, and concern about, economic, social, political and ecological
interdependence in urban and rural areas;

To provide every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes, commitment and
skills needed to protect and improve the environment;

To create new patterns of behavior of individuals, groups and society as a whole towards the
environment.

As the field of environmental education has evolved, these principles have been researched, critiqued,
revisited, and expanded. They still stand as a strong foundation for a shared view of the core concepts
and skills that environmentally literate citizens need. Since 1978, bodies such as the Brundtland
Commission (Brundtland, 1987), the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in
Rio (UNCED, 1992), the Thessaloniki Declaration (UNESCO, 1997) and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg (United Nations, 2002) have influenced the work of many educators,
highlighting the importance of viewing the environment within the context of human influences. This
perspective has expanded the emphasis of environmental education, focusing more attention on social
equity, economics, culture, and political structure.
Environmental education is rooted in the belief that humans can live compatibly with nature and act
equitably toward each other. Another fundamental belief is that people can make informed decisions
that consider future generations. Environmental education aims for a democratic society in which
effective, environmentally literate citizens participate with creativity and responsibility.” (NAAEE, 2000)

BEST EDUCATION PRACTICES DERIVED FROM ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PRINCIPLES (NAAEE,

2000)
1. Incorporate training for skills and understandings significant for environmental literacy.

 Questioning and analysis skills

 Knowledge of environmental processes and systems
 Skills for understanding and addressing environmental issues
 Personal and civic responsibility
2. Apply a basic understanding of the goals, theory, practice, and history of the field of environmental
education.

 Fundamental characteristics and goals of environmental education

 How environmental education is implemented
 The evolution of the field of environmental education
3. Apply professional responsibilities.

 Exemplary environmental education practice

 Emphasis on education, not advocacy
 Ongoing professional development
4. Combine the unique features of environmental education with the fundamentals of high-quality
education to design and implement effective instruction.

 Knowledge of learners
 Knowledge of instructional methodologies [link to Tools for Teaching]
 Planning for instruction [link to Plan]
 Knowledge of environmental education materials and resources
 Technologies that assist learning
 Settings for instruction
 Curriculum planning
5. Foster learning. Enable learners to engage in open inquiry and investigation, especially when
considering environmental issues that are controversial and require students to seriously reflect on their
own and others’ perspectives. Provide:

 A climate for learning about and exploring the environment

 An inclusive and collaborative learning environment
  Flexible and responsive instruction
6. Make assessment and evaluation integral to instruction and programs.

ES Goals and Objectives

Environmental Studies as an academic field is the product of efforts to understand and respond to the
variety of changes humans have wrought in our world. Students in Environmental Studies are motivated
by concern for welfare of the many human and non-human communities that shape this planet. The
Environmental Studies Program actively cultivates in our students both engagement with and informed
reflection about those communities. To this end, the curriculum includes an interdisciplinary core that
encourages students to explore the social, aesthetic, ethical, scientific, and technical aspects of
environmental questions; concentrations that allow students to approach these questions with more
focused knowledge and methodological tools; and a community-engaged research course.
Goals
To consider how the natural and built environments shape and are shaped by multiple socio-cultural and
political factors.

To think across and beyond existing disciplinary boundaries, mindful of the diverse forms of knowledge
and experience that arise from human interactions with the world around them.

To live responsibly and appreciate the environmental and cultural histories of the places they inhabit.

To cultivate compassion, curiosity, collaboration, and hope.

To nurture knowledge, respect, and love for the natural and human communities of central Maine, the
place where they spend four formative years of their lives.

To develop skills of analysis and communication, bearing in mind disciplinary traditions and diverse
publics.

Particular objectives
Our graduates should be able to
 recognize the interconnectedness of multiple factors in environmental challenges
 engage constructively with diverse forms of knowledge and experience
 identify the multiple scales, actors, and stakes of an issue
 recognize and apply methodological approaches of the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities
 identify assumptions inherent in arguments and perspectives
 evaluate and interpret various forms of evidence, including text, data, and other media about the
environment
 work productively with those within and beyond the academy on interdisciplinary collaborative projects
 communicate clearly and competently matters of environmental concern and understanding to a
variety of audiences in appropriate forms
 develop and appreciate the environmental and cultural history of Lewiston-Auburn (and any other
place they inhabit).