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Publications
Environment Australia, January 1999
It is difficult to provide a comprehensive analysis of environmental education in Australia, given the wide range of relevant activities which are taking place, and the countless number of formal and non-formal agencies involved in the provision of such activities.
What follows is a list of the main providers of environmental education in our community, along with brief descriptions of the activities which they conduct. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list.
Federal:
While the focal point of environmental educational activity at the federal level is the Environment and Heritage Portfolio, relevant activity occurs across a wide range of Commonwealth departments and agencies.
No formal assessment of relevant activities has been conducted across the entire federal bureaucracy, but since the 1996-97 budget when collation of government wide environmental expenditure began, educational activities feature prominently amongst the various programs cited by many departments.
The Environment and Heritage Portfolio conducts a wide range of educational activities from large programs specifically dedicated to raising awareness and changing behaviour to small focussed activities such as brochure publication. A more thorough analysis of the Portfolio's educational effort is the focus of the next section of this Paper.
State and Territory government departments
Each State and Territory government has at least one department devoted primarily to environmental issues. The roles of such departments are manifold, but they include policy development and oversight of implementation of these policies, introduction of regulatory practices and the educational processes which underpin and support the effective implementation of such practices. In some cases these departments have specific educational policy and have developed coordinating and oversighting mechanisms to support effective educational practice.
In addition, State and Territory governments have the primary responsibility for the administration of early childhood learning, along with primary and secondary public education. As such, they have significant direct influence over the incorporation of environmental education into curriculum design and school administration.
Local Government bodies
There has been a significant growth in environmental educational activities involving Local Government. Almost every Australian council, and all local government associations at the state and national level, now employ staff who have dedicated tasks specifically relating to environmental issues. More than 200 of the 726 Local Government Authorities nationally are involved in sustainability plans and local conservation strategies.
Areas of recycling and waste management have been obvious focal points. But strategies adopted in concert with members of the communities have included public awareness raising campaigns, community capacity building, revegetation and tree planting, clean-ups, and developing neighbourhood and community interests around natural features such as parks or beaches.
Federal government financial support for Environment Resource Officers in each State and Territory has provided further impetus for these activities.
Within the formal sectors, State and Territory governments have constitutionally-based responsibility for early childhood and primary and secondary school education. Higher Education is administratively autonomous, but the primary public financial responsibility for the sector rests with the Commonwealth. The vocational education and training sector is a diverse conglomerate of public and private agencies ranging from TAFE colleges to private education consultancies.
Early childhood learning
Childcare and family day care centres and kindergartens are increasingly involved in providing programs and activities focused on living skills, environmental appreciation and concern, and developing cooperative behaviour. The modelling of environmentally responsible behaviour is another important aspect of the work done by those who work in such institutions.
School education
Environmental education is established in the school sector as a part of the curriculum in each State and Territory. In 1989 the then Australian Education Council adopted a series of Common and Agreed Goals for Schooling in Australia. Among these goals were: 'To develop in students … an understanding of, and concern, for balanced development and the global environment.'
These goals were reflected in the development of a series of national curriculum statements and profiles of achievement in eight curriculum areas including Studies of Society and the Environment. Issues related to sustainability also appear in statements and profiles related to Science, Technology, Health and Physical Education and The Arts. These national statements and profiles now guide state based curriculum provision in many Australian schools.
A wide range of field centres, extension programs and centres and environmentally focussed programs exist to support environmental education. Despite these initiatives, evidence suggests that the existence of education in, about and for the environment in schools is contingent on the presence of committed and sometimes isolated individuals and that whole school coordinated approaches are rare.
Higher Education
In the higher education sector, institutions largely determine their own directions. However, it is apparent that many have taken on extensive responsibility for mounting and supporting courses related to the environment. There are some 622 such courses listed on the Environmental Research Information Network web site taught in 56 higher education campuses around the country.
These courses are offered under the aegis of a wide range of faculties including science, applied science, business, technology, arts, earth and land science, social science, engineering, architecture, management, law, information technology, geography, forestry, public policy and faculties specifically devoted to environmental science. There is also some evidence that there is an increasing interest in and practice of transdisciplinary education. Apart from training practitioners for employment in a variety of fields involving environment-related tasks, they also provide a platform for research into environmental issues.
Vocational Education and Training
The vocational education and training sector is driven to a significant extent by demand from senior years of schooling, business and industry and other workforce imperatives. The sector provides both industry specific training and general training for businesses dealing with various environmental issues. While no generic competencies have as yet been developed, currently there are environmental competency standards embedded in a number of specific industry training courses.
In the non formal sectors, groups quite rightly choose their own interests and responsibilities.
Business and Industry:
Businesses and industries provide education and training for their staff in order to comply with environmental regulations and to fulfil their role as good corporate citizens. Internally, most large companies now have dedicated staff with responsibility for monitoring environmental performance and fostering continual improvement through greater awareness and commitment to sustainability among management and staff.
Externally, businesses are in a position to contribute to environmental education in the wider community in a range of ways including direct sponsorship for environmental monitoring and remediation projects, public awareness campaigns in conjunction with NGOs and the media, and support for conferences which foster sustainable development by showcasing the latest and most effective environmental products, services, and management practices in relevant sectors.
Peak Bodies:
Peak bodies representing business, agriculture, and labour are also able to play a significant role in advancing environmental education, both amongst their membership, and across entire industries.
By promoting environment policies to their membership, by addressing environmental matters in their internal and public communications agendas, and by engaging in advocacy on environment-related matters, organisations like the Business Council of Australia, the National Farmers' Federation, and the ACTU all participate in an informal way in raising environmental literacy in the community.
The Media:
As the public's principal source of environmental information, the media is in a unique position to play a vital role in environmental education.
Their impact is determined by a number of factors such as the degree of environmental literacy of the editorial staff, the level of internal commitment by station or newspaper management to environmental performance within the media enterprise itself, the level of support for environmentally educative Community Service Announcements, and support for environmental activities in the wider community.
Environmental interest groups and organisations
These include a wide range of peak national and state bodies, local issues groups, nature conservation and field naturalists groups, and outdoor sporting and recreation organisations.
Their interests and work are varied but include promoting awareness through advertising, publications, participation in public debate; developing educational materials for schools; field and site specific monitoring and remediation activities; and opportunities for direct community involvement in environmental activities.
Other community organisations
Youth groups, church groups, service groups and cultural organisations frequently choose to devote time to environmental issues especially as active participants in clean-up and recycling processes. The range of potential contributions to environmental education which community groups can make is as diverse as the range of community groups.
The home:
It is easy to overlook the educative potential of environmental decisions made in Australian homes, which are the site of all first education for children. Adults are in a position to instil attitudes and behaviours which will heighten the ability of subsequent generations to address the challenges of sustainable development. The extent to which parents' consumer patterns are passed on to children should not be underestimated.
Conversely, it is common for adults to learn greater environmental awareness and better consumer behaviour from their children - as has been the experience of many parents with recycling, or environmentally-friendly supermarket purchases. Opportunities for positive environmental lessons in the home are enormous, and educational agencies need to ensure that their activities act as a catalyst for such learning.