Environmental education: An Introduction

1. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
UNIT-I
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: AN
INTRODUCTION
Dr.N.SASIKUMAR
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
Alagappa University
Karaikudi-630003

2. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
 Environmental education is a process that allows
individuals to explore environmental issues,
engage in problem solving, and take action to
improve the environment.
 An Environment is everything that is around us,
which includes both living and nonliving things
such as soil, water, animals and plants, which
adapt themselves to their surroundings.
 It is nature's gift that helps in nourishing life on
Earth.

3. Environmental Education (EE)
Environmental Education (EE) is a process
in which individuals gain awareness of their
environment and acquire knowledge, skills,
values, experiences, and also the
determination, which will enable them to
act - individually and collectively - to solve
present and future environmental problems.

5. Environmental
Education: Definition
Environmental education is a learning
process that increases people’s knowledge
and awareness about the environment and
associated challenges, develops the necessary
skills and expertise to address the challenges,
and fosters attitudes, motivations, and
commitments to make informed decisions
and take responsible action (UNESCO,
Tbilisi Declaration, 1978).

6. ‘Environmental education also entails
practice in decision-making and self-
formulation of a code of behaviour about
issues concerning environmental quality.’ -
(IUCN, 1970) (International Union for
Conservation of Nature)
“Environmental education is concerned
with dynamic interaction between humanity
and nature and it is directed at the
improvement of the quality and existence
for all living things” - Allen 1998

7. GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION
 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.
 To increase public awareness about environmental
issues, explore possible solutions, and to lay the
foundations for a fully informed and active participation
of individual in the protection of environment and the
prudent and rational use of natural resources.

8.  The goals of environmental education were
determined on the occasion of the Tbilisi (Georgia)
conference in 1977.
 To foster clear awareness of, and concern about,
economic, social, political, and ecological inter-
dependence 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 behaviour of individuals,
groups, and society as a whole, towards the
environment (UNESCO, 1977.)

9. OBJECTIVES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
To increase public awareness about
environmental issues,
Explore possible solutions, and to lay the
foundations for a fully informed and active
participation of individual in the protection
of environment and the prudent and rational
use of natural resources.

10. OBJECTIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION
 Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and
environmental challenges
 Knowledge and understanding of the environment
and environmental challenges
 Attitudes of concern for the environment and
motivation to improve or maintain environmental
quality
 Skills to identify and help resolve environmental
challenges
 Participation in activities that lead to the resolution
of environmental challenges.

11. GUIDELINES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION
1. Resource Principles:
 Resource use demands long-term planning if we
are to achieve truly sustainable development.
 Rationale utilization of a renewable source is a
sensible way of preserving the resources while
obtaining maximum benefits from it.
 A mode of life heavily dependent upon rapidly
diminishing nonrenewable energy sources (i.e.
fossil fuel) is unstable.

12. 2. Soil Principles:
The protection of soils and the maintenance
of sustainable agriculture are essential
factors into the survival of civilizations and
settlements.
Soil erosion is the irreversible loss of
essential resources and must be prevented.
A vegetation cover (grass, forest) is
important for the balance of nature and for
the conservation of soil, besides being
exploitable natural resources.

13. 3. Wildlife Protection Principles:
Wildlife population is important
aesthetically, biologically and
economically.
Nature reserves and other protected
wilderness areas are of value in protecting
endangered species because they preserve
their habitats.
The survival of humanity is closely linked
to the survival of wildlife both being
dependent on the same life-supporting
systems.

14. 4. Environmental Management Principles:
 Sound environmental management is beneficial to
both man and environment.
 Management of natural resources should be done
in a rational manner.
 Elimination of wastes through recycling and the
development of clean.
 Technologies are important to modern societies to
help reduce the consumption of resources.
 Human activities and technologies influence
considerably the natural environment and may
affect its capacity to sustain life, including human
life.

15. 5. Other Principles:
The relations between humans and their
environment are mediated by their culture.
Cultural, historical and architectural
heritage are much in need of protection.

16. Origin of Environmental
Education
 The roots of environmental education can be traced back as early as
the 18th century when Jean- Jacques Rousseau stressed the importance
of an education that focuses on the environment in Emile: or, On
Education
 Several decades later, Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-born naturalist, echoed
Rousseau’s philosophy as he encouraged students to “Study nature, not
books.”
 These two influential scholars helped lay the foundation for a concrete
environmental education program, known as Nature study, which took
place in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
 The nature study movement used fables and moral lessons to help
students develop an appreciation of nature and embrace the natural
world

17.  A new type of environmental education, Conservation Education,
emerged as a result of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl during the
1920s and 1930s
 The first article about environmental education as a new movement
appeared in Phi Delta Kappan in 1969, authored by James A. Swan
 A definition of "Environmental Education" first appeared in
Educational Digest in March 1970, authored by William Stapp
 The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 – a national teach-in about
environmental problems – paved the way for the modern
environmental education movement .
 In 1971, the National Association for Environmental Education (now
known as the North American Association for Environmental
Education) was created to improve environmental literacy by
providing resources to teachers and promoting environmental
education programs.
 Internationally, environmental education gained recognition when the
UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm,
Sweden, in 1972, declared environmental education must be used as a
tool to address global environmental problems.

18.  The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) created three
major declarations that have guided the course of environmental education.
 June 5–16, 1972 • The Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the
Human Environment. • The document was made up of 7 proclamations and 26
principles "to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation
and enhancement of the human environment."
 October 13–22, 1975 • The Belgrade Charter was the outcome of the
International Workshop on Environmental Education held in Belgrade, Serbia.
• The Belgrade Charter was built upon the Stockholm Declaration and adds
goals, objectives, and guiding principles of environmental education programs.
It defines an audience for environmental education, which includes the general
public.
 October 14–26, 1977 • "noted the unanimous accord in the important role of
environmental education in the preservation and improvement of the world's
environment, as well as in the sound and balanced development of the world's
communities.“
 The Tbilisi Declaration updated and clarified The Stockholm Declaration and
The Belgrade Charter by including new goals, objectives, characteristics, and
guiding principles of environmental education.

19.  In 1977, the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education in
Tbilisi, Georgia emphasized the role of Environmental Education in preserving
and improving the global environment and sought to provide the framework
and guidelines for environmental education.
 The Conference laid out the role, objectives, and characteristics of
environmental education, and provided several goals and principles for
environmental education.
 Environmental education has been considered an additional or elective subject
in much of traditional K- 12 curriculum.
 At the elementary school level, environmental education can take the form of
science enrichment curriculum, natural history field trips, community service
projects, and participation in outdoor science schools
 The final aspect of environmental education policies, but certainly not least
important, is training individuals to thrive in a sustainable society.
 Environmental education policies fund both teacher training and worker
training initiatives. Teachers must be trained to effectively teach and
incorporate environmental studies in their curricula.
 Environmental education policies that fund training programs are critical in
educating citizens to prosper in a sustainable society.

20. Pre requisition for a successful
environmental education
 Increases public awareness and knowledge of
environmental issues
 Does enhance individuals' problem-solving and
decision-making skills
 Environmental education is a process that allows
individuals to explore environmental issues,
engage in problem solving, and take action to
improve the environment. As a result,
individuals develop a deeper understanding of
environmental issues and have the skills to make
informed and responsible decisions.

21. ISSUES RELATED TO
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
 These challenges include, fragmentation of EE themes
in the various subjects
 inadequate instructional materials
 inadequate training of teachers to handle EE related
topics in their subject areas and
 over-reliance on the lecture method of teaching among
others.
 Environmental issues are the harmful effects of
human activities on the environment. These include
pollution, overpopulation, waste disposal, climate
change, global warming, the greenhouse effect, etc.