Defining Environmental Education

A great deal of work has been written to define environmental education. The Belgrade Charter: (EE Materials: Guidelines For Excellence, NAAEE) http://www.naaee.org offers:

"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."

The Tbilisi Declaration - EE Objectives: (EE Materials: Guidelines For Excellence, NAAEE) http://www.naaee.org further suggests that environmental education should:

• Foster clear awareness of and concern about economic, social, political, and ecological interdependence in urban and rural areas;
• Provide every person with opportunities to acquire the knowledge, values, attitudes, commitment, and skills needed to protect and improve the environment;
• Create new patterns of behavior of individuals, groups, and society as a whole towards the environment.

To support environmental educators as they develop programs, the North American Association for Environmental Education launched a process to define "Essential Underpinnings of Environmental Education": (Excellence in EE - Guidelines for Learning (K-12)) www.naaee.org. Those statements include:

Environmental education builds from a core of key principles that inform its approach to education. Some of these important underpinnings are:

• Systems-- Systems help make sense of a large and complex world. A system is made up of parts that can be understood separately. The whole, however, is understood only by understanding the relationships among the parts. The human body can be understood as a system; so can galaxies. Organizations, individual cells, communities of animals and plants, and families can all be understood as systems. And systems can be nested within other systems.
• Interdependence-- Human well being is inextricably bound with environmental quality. Humans are a part of the natural order. We and the systems we create--our societies, political systems, economies, religions, cultures, technologies--impact the total environment. Since we are a part of nature rather than outside it, we are challenged to recognize the ramifications of our interdependence.
• The importance of where one lives --Beginning close to home, learners forge connections with, explore, and understand their immediate surroundings. The sensitivity, knowledge, and skills needed for this local connection provide a base for moving out into larger systems, broader issues, and an expanding understanding of causes, connections, and consequences.
• Integration and infusion --Disciplines from the natural sciences to the social sciences to the humanities are connected through the medium of the environment and environmental issues. Environmental education offers opportunities for integration and works best when infused across the curriculum, rather than being treated as a separate discipline or subject area.
• Roots in the real world --Learners develop knowledge and skills through direct experience with the environment, environmental issues, and society. Investigation, analysis, and problem solving are essential activities and are most effective when relevant to the real world.
• Lifelong learning --Critical and creative thinking, decision making, and communication, as well as collaborative learning, are emphasized. These skills are essential for active and meaningful learning, both in school and over a lifetime.