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Publications
Environment Australia
January 1999
In recent years, environmental education has expanded in scope and its methods have become more diversified. This expansion has, nonetheless, been accompanied by some insecurity about its place and nature.
There is a strong sense among those directly involved that, following a period of rapid growth (most apparent in some sectors in the last decade), the most urgent need is for consolidation, coordination and integration.
What follows is a list of suggestions of things which providers of environmental education can do to enhance our collective national effort. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but rather a range of options which providers might consider if they have not done so already - in many cases educators have gone beyond the suggestions below.
Federal Government:
There is a need at the Commonwealth level to foster new linkages between departments so that environmental education activities being pursued by different federal agencies are part of a coherent whole-of-government effort.
Environment-related activity has become commonplace in a wide range of Commonwealth departments, but greater linkages and coordination are required to ensure that these activities incorporate the potential of education to facilitate positive environmental outcomes.
The means by which the Environment and Heritage Portfolio can improve its educational activity and the activities of other Commonwealth agencies is treated separately in the previous section.
State and Territory government departments
Where they have not done so already, State and Territory governments should develop and implement an environmental education strategy. Such strategies should recognise and develop the educational possibilities in program activities.
State governments might also consider designating staff with explicit responsibility for environmental education. In designing and implementing program activities, such staff should ensure access to and use of specialists in the field of environmental education.
States should also foster linkages and partnerships with the various actual and potential providers of environmental education - including other State/Territory agencies along with external educators.
Local government bodies
The provision of elected representatives and staff in Local Government with education and training about environmental matters is a major precursor to sustainability at the local level. Designating staff in local authorities with explicit responsibility for environmental matters is another positive step. Councils can help to educate their local communities by demonstrating best practice initiatives in land management and in the treatment of waste/sewage.
Councils also have the opportunity to recognise and develop the educational possibilities associated with local environmental strategies, campaigns and practices. Councils should recognise the opportunity to involve the community in the formulation and implementation of such activities, and to build partnerships based on sustainability with local providers of formal and informal education.
Though these sectors are not administered by the Federal Government, there is a need for increased levels of national consistency and coherence in all of them.
Early childhood learning
Early childhood learning facilities can make a positive contribution by establishing or extending programs focused on environmental education for sustainability. A 'whole centre' approach is optimal - where, for example, the policies, programs, building and grounds functioning and maintenance all reflect a concern for environmental sustainability.
The use of play and other materials which have an environmental focus is to be encouraged, as should environmental awareness and sustainable practices among parents at home, parent-managed committees and parent-operated play groups.
School Education:
Schools are in a position to ensure a place for environmental education in every relevant curriculum area at each level of schooling. They can make sure that environmental education draws on cross-disciplinary information, skills and experiences and has a practical action-based focus. School teachers should receive environmental education in their training, and in subsequent professional development opportunities, where it is relevant to the material being taught.
Access to more courses which have an explicit focus on environmental education needs to be a choice available to all senior students. Schools should provide quality materials that attend to nationally agreed priority environmental issues, and ensure that environmental policies and practices are effectively implemented, monitored and, as necessary, updated.
Schools should move from generalised awareness of problems to teaching and learning about accurate, objective and substantive details within many of the key learning areas. Increased content knowledge and well informed action is urgent and rests on improved teaching. Opportunity also exists for schools to draw on the support of community facilities (public and private) for access to enterprises that demonstrate the principles of ecologically sustainable development in action.
Higher Education
Universities and colleges have the scope to establish departments or centres with staff positions (such as professorial status) focused on issues of environmental sustainability. Such opportunities have not been taken up on enough campuses.
Higher Education institutions also need to provide students with the maximum practicable flexibility to customise course programs to suit the multi-disciplinary requirements of a thorough environmental education.
A 'whole institution' approach to good environmental practice should be promoted across the higher education sector in order to raise environmental awareness across entire campuses.
Vocational Education and Training
Vocational Education and Training facilities should enhance their contribution to environmental education by ensuring that competencies based on sustainability are included in the design of all training packages and other course offerings.
They can also ensure the general public availability of a comprehensive range of specific environmental courses in areas such as renewable energies, natural and cultural heritage management, land and marine conservation and restoration, and waste management/resource recovery.
Vocational education and training should also model good environmental practice at all sites of provision, and they should provide practical field experiences and training by working in partnership with conservation organisations, community groups and appropriate government agencies.
Business & Industry
Businesses can contribute by practicing and promoting good environmental management which integrates conservation with development, production and distribution processes. Companies have an opportunity to assist with the process of community education and awareness-raising by finding, developing and marketing cost-competitive environmentally friendly products and processes.
Internally, companies can ensure that designated staff with responsibility for, and expertise in, environmental management are an integral component of their human resources structure. Such staff should be given the resources and managerial support to communicate the necessary technical and conceptual information required to foster better environmental awareness and performance company-wide. The implementation of comprehensive and credible environmental management systems is also a way to foster continual environmental improvements, and educate the workforce in the process.
Externally, companies are in a position to participate in appropriate partnerships with other organisations (including community groups) to foster increased knowledge about environmental problems, and build greater capacity for resolving them. This may involve support for educative materials relevant to the business sector, support for conferences dealing with environmental concerns, or financial or in-kind support for grass-roots community projects in environmental monitoring and remediation. Companies can also promote activities directed at sustainability in representative professional, business and industry associations.
Peak Bodies:
Peak bodies representing industry, agriculture, labour and other sectors can help foster the adoption of environmentally responsible practices in the Australian workplaces by adopting comprehensive policies which incorporate a commitment to principles of sustainability.
Environmental education should feature prominently among the training programs, workshops and conferences conducted by peak business organisations and unions. Peak bodies should also foster environmental performance by showcasing examples of workplace-related good environmental practice through awards, and by publicising success stories in their publications.
The Media:
The Media has a particular responsibility for advancing environmental education in our community, because of its pre-eminent role in the distribution of information in our community. In terms of editorial content in news bulletins and current affairs coverage, it is important for reporters to be either cognisant of, or inclined to become so, about environmental aspects of stories covered. This depends to a degree on the priorities of the newsroom culture, so a commitment from senior editors is vital.
Programming decisions are also important - documentaries and feature stories which heighten an appreciation of natural heritage, and an awareness about environmental problems, are among the most powerful educative tools.
The Media (particularly television) is also in a powerful position to educate the public about environmental matters through community service announcements - often in partnership with community groups and government agencies. This requires a donation of air-time or column-space, which should be seen as a worthwhile investment rather than a cost, if for no other reason than the improvement it can make to public perceptions about the particular broadcaster or publisher.
Environmental interest groups and organisations:
A central function of any effective environmental interest group should be to promote the importance of environmental education as widely as possible, and to contribute to that process as far as possible. In order to maximise an NGO's effectiveness in this regard, human and financial resources need to be devoted to education, and the educative knowledge and skills base of the group needs to be continually renewed.
Environmental NGOs have the opportunity to collaborate with other community groups, formal and informal educators, governments, and individual businesses where appropriate, on projects which increase appreciation of environmental problems, and commitment to their resolution in a sustainable way.
Other community organisations
Every community organisation in Australia can make a positive contribution to environmental education, irrespective of their primary function. Whether it be a Scout Troop, a Church Parish, or Meals on Wheels, community groups can make a positive contribution by incorporating environmental sustainability into their decisions and activities.
By fostering a concern for local natural and cultural heritage, through decisions about material use and recycling, equipment purchases, and facility maintenance, community organisations can help to encourage effective participation in environment management in the wider community.
Where possible, community groups (especially service organisations) should look to forge productive links with other groups specifically devoted to environmental monitoring and repair, such as the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Landcare groups, and environmentally related government programs like Bushcare, Waterwatch and Coastcare.
Each of these activities is a substantial contribution to the overarching effort.
The home
The possibilities for environmental education in the home environment are virtually endless. Almost every decision which householders make about purchasing, consuming and disposing presents an opportunity to improve environmental performance.
Given the enormous range and number of decisions made in the average household, adults and children should constantly be looking for ways to teach each other how to make more environmentally friendly choices.
In addition to looking to ways to re-use, recycle, and reduce waste in the home through choices at the supermarket and decisions about waste disposal, households can also contribute to local ecosystems - for example through decisions made in the garden. By planting native trees and shrubs, and using alternative means to chemicals where possible, householders can ensure that their impact on the local ecology is as small as possible.