strategy

Developing broad environmental education

Synonyms:
Building environmental educational curriculum
Fostering environmental education for all
Improving environmental education
Promoting environmental education for sustainability
Supporting education on environmental issues
Description:

Environmental education aims to motivate a harmonious relationship between man and environment.

Context:

The aim of environmental education and training is not only to develop environmental and sustainability awareness, but also to encourage problem-solving skills and sensitivity to the link between environment and development. Less than one quarter of the nations of the world officially implement or have an environmental education strategy. Most are developed countries. Limitations include lack of training and resources, and novelty factor. Untrained teachers do not feel comfortable approaching a wide range of environmental topics in schools, nor embarking on field studies where the likelihood increases of being asked questions they may not be able to answer. In addition, teachers of environmental issues may not have had any kind of formal training. Environmental studies is, however, now regarded as a subject in itself in many schools and universities. Universities and research centres all over the world, particularly in North America, offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in environment or training programmes on specific environmental issues.

Implementation:

In 1975, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Programme (UNESCO) launched the International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP), to promote environmental education for all age groups both within and outside the formal education system. Over 150 countries have been involved in the IEEP programme. Through it, some 12,000 educators and trainers have been trained. The IEEP newsletter Connect reaches more than 20,000 educators and educational institutions. In 1977, the International Conference on Environmental Education developed guidelines and programmes urging schools and universities to promote environmental studies both as a subject in its own right and as a facet of other subjects. The Moscow Congress on Environmental Education and Training took place in 1987. UNEP and UNESCO have published the International Strategy for Action in the Field of Environmental Education and Training for the 1990s. It serves as a basis for national strategies in various countries.

A World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) Education Programme has organized teacher-training courses and produced a wide range of materials for educational use. Distributed materials to schools include an environmental alphabet for primary schools, posters and wall charts covering local issues. WWF is setting up a national network in Zambia, to aid teachers and help them spread information about environmental problems and solutions.

In 1974, Robert Johannes, trained in marine biology in the USA, came to Palau to study fish behaviour. His book is a series of reflections on how people learn about fish and fishing. He spent 16 years in a laboratory in the USA. His Palauan counterparts in Tobi learned by living in a place where knowing about fish behaviour mattered for daily sustenance. Johannes says that in his sixteen months in Palau he learned more that was new to marine science than in his previous sixteen years of conventional research.

Claim:

After the 1997 UNESCO Conference on Education and the Environment, clear that more investment on time and efforts will be needed to ensure that a sustainable development dimension is integrated within education as a whole and within environmental education in particular. Some international moves in this direction have been made by some active colleagues, but at different levels and with diverse degrees of emphasis, by pursuing education for sustainability (EfS), education for sustainable development (EfSD), education for a sustainable future (EfSF), sustainable development education (SDE) and by strengthening development education (DE) and education for biodiversity (EfB). Although most of these expressions all attempt to serve the purpose of trying to follow a recommendation of Agenda 21, which states that education and educational systems should be re-oriented towards sustainable development, there is risk of confusion and over definition. It is not a change in the name of environmental education that will solve past problems. If the aim is to link-up environmental education with sustainability and acknowledge the need for new approaches – which nonetheless pay attention to past developments – and to seek for an acronym capable of being widely accepted, it might be simpler to acknowledge the above items by stating "Environmental Education for Sustainability" (EEfS) as the new field of emphasis.

Organizations:
International Council for Science
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa
European Association for Environmental Management Education
Association for Environmental Education
International Hydrological Programme
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
Intergovernmental Committee of the World Decade for Cultural Development
European Research and Training Centre on Environmental Education
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
Programme on Man and the Biosphere
African Society for Environmental Studies Programme
South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and Environment
Caribbean Action Plan
Africa 2000 Plus Network, Harare
South and Southeast Asia Network for Environmental Education
United Nations Children's Fund
World Wide Fund for Nature
ASEAN Regional Network on Environmental Education
Polis - International Network in Environmental Education
Baltic Environmental Education Network
International Geoscience Programme
United Nations International Drug Control Programme
United Nations Population Fund
ESSENCE Thematic Network of Environmental Sciences
UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network
UNESCO/UNEP International Environmental Education Programme
World Education Fellowship for Environmental Education
Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment
Study Group on Environmental Education in Europe
North American Association for Environmental Education
Global Rivers Environmental Education Network
Center for Global Environmental Education
Global Association of Environmental Education
European Consortium for Environmental Education
International Centre for Environmental Education and Ethics
European Clearinghouse on Environmental Education
Network for Education on the Environment and on Tolerance in the Mediterranean
Training Center for Tropical Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability
International Centre for Conservation Education
Balkan Science and Education Centre of Ecology and Environment
International Wildlife Education and Conservation
Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research
Subjects:
Communication Promotion
Industry Construction
Education Education
Education Educational content
Environment Environment
Development Development
Development Sustainable development
Development Reform
Type Classification:
E: Emanations of other strategies
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
GOAL 1: No PovertyGOAL 2: Zero HungerGOAL 3: Good Health and Well-beingGOAL 4: Quality EducationGOAL 5: Gender EqualityGOAL 6: Clean Water and SanitationGOAL 7: Affordable and Clean EnergyGOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic GrowthGOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureGOAL 10: Reduced InequalityGOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesGOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and ProductionGOAL 13: Climate ActionGOAL 14: Life Below WaterGOAL 15: Life on LandGOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong InstitutionsGOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal