The Importance Of Environmental Education

Sustainability is something we talk about a lot. It’s taught to kids in elementary and middle schools now, but when I was in primary school it was not heavily focused on. There has been shift in priorities between generations, and I feel that it’s very hard to get my generation on board with living in a sustainable manner. I once gave a speech on the importance of recycling that almost put the entire class to sleep. I think this is because my generation does not care, it’s not their problem, the idea of the earth not supporting them is not something that has been brought to their doorstep, and in a manner of speaking they are unaware that their actions have negative consequences. My ideas for making the Grand View campus more eco-friendly is a three-fold process fully incorporated to form a closed loop. First, I believe we should have a(n) on-campus garden(s) where students are responsible for caring for crops which could be consumed in the cafeteria or used in a food pantry. Second, we should harvest rainwater for use in the gardens and

Studies show that education, training, and incentives are causing university students to become more concerned with their environment and the environment of the next generation (Levy and Dilwali, 2000). Providing the opportunity to live in a sustainably built environment has become an important differentiating factor among universities around the world and is becoming increasingly important to students in terms of both how they adopt sustainable practices and their choice of a university. The majority of students and their parents are making acceptance decisions based on a university’s environmental commitment (Princeton Review, 2012). If the University of Central Arkansas would raise the facility fee, then the higher percentage rates

The UK Parliament has made considerable movement towards helping schools in Britain to become kinder to the planet. The Scottish government has introduced an eco-schools programme into the British school system. These eco-schools and the government hold close links with Education for sustainable development (ESD).

There has been much debate about the environmental sustainability since the 1970's-1980's after the Green Revolution took place to ban harmful chemicals used in pesticides. Recently in today's era what's constantly in the news is global warming and the decimation of species from human's neglectful actions towards nature, which brings up the idea if colleges should incorporate environmental sustainability into their curriculum to educate the student population about the effects of human impact onto the environment. Although people like Peter Woods and Rachelle Peterson argue that environmental sustainability inhibits the success of colleges as the education is costly and environmental sustainability is just an ideology, others such as David

Since the early nineties Australia’s approach to acknowledge sustainability has equipped people with the information, skills and understanding to reach conclusions around their environmental social implications. Australia has seen many changes since the first Environment Conference in 1970 where the emphasis was on natural ecosystem and how to provide the community with understanding to make necessary decisions on the environment and economic implications. As the years progressed so did the Education for Sustainability which facilitates the changes by creating critical and innovative approaches, fostering new knowledge, building capacity in individuals for transformational change and overseeing social and economic implications. In residential

However, it wasn't until 10th grade, in a class debate about the effects of global warming, that I realised the significance of sustainability for social development. This debate created within me a desire to better understand how man-made environmental issues impact social and economic progress. So I chose studies in this area because I believe sustainability is a priority when it comes to the future wellbeing and

When I was five years old I began school. In Kindergarden we learned basic things like letters, numbers, and how not to be fully engulfed in flames. For some reason, 2004 was the height of anti-fire education in Missouri and before I knew how to tie my shoes I knew that if I ever was ablaze, to cover my face, fall to my knees, and roll back and fourth. This is what my institution placed serious value upon and because I was a student of that institution I also placed serious value upon it. The same idea must be applied to a university's teaching of environmental sustainability. This is discussed in David Orr's "What is Education For?" Through choosing a curriculum a university chooses what it places value onto, by making the environment a priority it showcases to the future generations that environmental wellness is an important responsibility for them to take ownership.

In ENVS class we do not learn just about the environment, but also about our health as a society in ensuring that no people or areas of life suffer as a result of, and also about examining the longer-term effects of the human activities and asking questions about how it improved and to ensure the quality of life for this and future generations. Teaching students about sustainability have been very important. It develops the knowledge, values, and worldviews required to make certain that there's enough for everyone, forever. It's different to other learning areas as it focuses on protecting natural environments and creating an ecologically and socially just world through informed action. Sustainability curriculum in CU Denver develops the capabilities, skills, and knowledge for

Educating children on sustainability through the curriculum is about contemporary approaches to early childhood education and not about additional content. It is through experiential play-based approached and transformative learning that occurs in a early childhood settings enables educators to understand the links between their philosophies and pedagogies and the principles of education for sustainability (Elliott, 2014). As a future educator, it is important to ensure the interpretation and implementations of all outcomes, principles and practices of the EYLF promote sustainability and the environment. Education for sustainability is, transformative, empowering and a participative approach to education with the engagement of sustainability issues, topics and experiences (Elliott, 2014). This allows children to build their knowledge, dispositions and skills towards making a difference now and for the future. Having gained an understanding on education for sustainability within early childhood, I now realise the vital importance of implementing sustainability throughout the curriculum to promote children’s awareness and knowledge on the importance of building a sustainable future. Throughout everyday activities there are multiple ways we can incorporate sustainable

Emanuel, R., & Adams, J. N. (2011). College students' perceptions of campus sustainability. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 12(1), 79-92. (David)

2005; Kumar et al. 2005). ‘with this example it is very clear how sustainability education increase the conduct of the recent debates. Another examples given by Hegarty, K (2011) that sustainability education courses takes a ‘triple bottom line (TBL)’, or ‘three pillars’ approach to the presentation of sustainability (Goldie, Douglas, and Furnass 2005), highlighting the highly interdependent, often contradictory, relationship of the three elements of sustainability: society, environment and economy.

This first step of building awareness and instilling a global conscience is complimented by supporting students as they grow to become “active and informed citizens” who “work for the common good [by] improving natural and social environments” (MCEECDYA, 2008). The Australian government has developed educational curriculum on the understanding that “environmental education requires learner-centred, interactive, teaching and learning strategies” and that there needs to be a “shared vision” if students are going to “have the knowledge, critical thinking skills, values and capacity to participate in decision making and development issues” (Department of Environment and Heritage, 2005). Education could be liberated “from the chokehold of consumer culture and economics” where education is “...a training process for future employment, or an 'investment ' which we expect to pay handsome financial dividends” (Burch, 2012). Educating people to become analytical thinkers capable of understanding a multitude of contributing factors in current unsustainable practices will lead the way to new policy and behaviours

This report is designed to investigate the rationale behind teaching Education for Sustainability (EfS) in early childhood education, through investigating the relevant issues and concept of sustainability in relation to the pedagogies and principles of early years education. The initial part of this report will focus on three issues of sustainability, all falling under the greater sustainability concept of waste management. The report will then go on to articulate the role and importance of EfS in early years principles and pedagogies. Finally, some teaching strategies for teaching EfS will be outlined.

-Meanwhile, the society demands larger participation in the education market, and it believes that with limited natural resources, the growing societal segments to knowledge and formal education should incorporate to formulate social and environmentally sustainable development strategies.

Its goal is to ‘encourage changes in behaviour that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations’ (UNESCO 2005) and to help young people to become ‘global citizens’ (UNESCO 2006). In response, the Scottish Government (SDELG 2006) recommends that education for sustainable development should offer young people opportunities to practise and develop: