Environmental Education is broadly defined to mean “placing the focus on using best practice in education to address the social and environmental issues facing society.”
Environmental education increases public awareness and knowledge about environmental issues or problems. In doing so, it provides the public with the necessary skills to make informed decisions and take responsible action.
The complexity of climate science combined with the complicated political and cultural contexts in which people live makes climate change a particularly challenging topic to approach no matter the educational setting.
The components of environmental education are:
- 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
Environmental education does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course of action. Rather, environmental education teaches individuals how to weigh various sides of an issue through critical thinking and it enhances their own problem-solving and decision-making skills.
Environmental Education is more than Information about the Environment:
Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors
Environmental attitudes are important because they often, but not always, determine behavior that either increases or decreases environmental quality. Pro-environmental attitudes rise and fall with current events and vary with age, gender, socioeconomic status, nation, urban-rural residence, religion, politics, values, personality, experience, education, and environmental knowledge. Environmental Education aims to improve environmental attitudes but has mixed results. The mass media have been both helpful and harmful. [1]
The relationship between attitudes and behavior is not always straightforward. One might think positive environmental attitudes would engender pro-environmental behavior that minimizes environmental impacts and has positive environmental outcomes. But in reality, attitudes are often a weaker predictor of behavior than we might expect. In the case of climate change, although people who hold more positive attitudes toward renewable energy may be more likely to install solar panels on their home. But there are many reasons why people who feel positive about renewable energy may not do so—for example, lack of knowledge, structural barriers such as cost, or how they feel others may view them. Attitudes are a better predictor of behaviors when the attitudes are more specific. For instance, if we want to predict who will install solar panels, attitudes toward renewable energy, specifically, are likely to be a better predictor than general environmental attitudes.
Understanding audiences’ environmental attitudes and knowledge can guide educators in developing program outcomes and content. Defining outcomes early on in your program development process will assist educators in choosing appropriate activities to meet their goals and their audiences’ needs.
Trust between the educator and the audience plays a key role in audience receptivity to climate change messages. Educators can establish trust by working with local trusted partners and opinion leaders and by thinking carefully about the messenger. Luckily for environmental educators, their audiences may already consider them as trusted information sources.
Trust between the educator and the audience plays a key role in audience receptivity to climate change messages. Educators can establish trust by working with local trusted partners and opinion leaders and by thinking carefully about the messenger. Luckily for environmental educators, their audiences may already consider them as trusted information sources. [2]
[1] http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199733026.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199733026-e-4
[2] http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140103609930
How to get involved
eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world. A collaborative enterprise with hundreds of partner organizations, thousands of regional experts, and hundreds of thousands of users, eBird is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. [1]
The weekend of February 15 through 18, 2019 was the Great Backyard Bird Count in Louisiana. I participated and counted numerous ‘common’ backyard species, including Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, American Crows, Carolina Chickadees, Northern Mockingbirds and many, many House Sparrows. As a special treat, we have a Bald Eagle pair nesting in our neighborhood (Metairie, LA). The Bald Eagle’s recovery is an American success story. It no longer needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act because its population is protected, healthy, and growing. [2]
Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
The North American Association for Environmental Education
Vision
A sustainable future for all where environmental and social responsibility drives individual and institutional choices.
Mission
We bring the brightest minds together to accelerate environmental literacy and civic engagement through the power of education.
Strategies
Our work is based on more than five decades of research about what motivates individuals, organizations, and communities to learn, act, and create positive societal change. It is also based on the latest thinking about what makes associations and nongovernmental organizations more effective, and how to collaboratively and effectively scale up our collective impact. [1]
Project Drawdown gathers and facilitates a broad coalition of researchers, scientists, graduate students, PhDs, post-docs, policy makers, business leaders and activists to assemble and present the best available information on climate solutions in order to describe their beneficial financial, social and environmental impact over the next thirty years. Paul Hawken, the author of the 2017 environmental masterwork Drawdown, founded the organization, to track and monitor the top climate change interventions by effectiveness, cost and ancillary savings. In the book Drawdown, a several solutions to slow down climate change is discussed. Each solution is measured and modeled to determine its carbon impact through the year 2050, the total and net cost to society, and the total lifetime savings (or cost). [1]
Follow this link to the Summary of Solutions by Overall Rank.
About the Author
Eugene Brill does not hold a PhD in Environmental Science, Botany or another scientific field. He earned an MBA in business/marketing and is a mentor to startup entrepreneurs… but he’s a dedicated Wannabe Naturalist, an avid gardener and an amateur nature photographer. He does not ‘speak’ in taxonomic groupings, species and genera; but can communicate clearly with ‘Joe Public’ in language everyone understands. Eugene is constantly improving his ability to translate science into plain English. He loves to share knowledge, believe that Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD) is real, agrees that ‘forest bathing’ (fully clothed, off course… ?) makes us happier, healthier and more creative, and he subscribes to the teachings of Edward O. Wilson and the Biophilia Hypothesis.