The environmental deterioration of the planet, caused by unsustainable development and an unfair model, requires global change on a political, social and environmental level. To boost this change, it is necessary to redirect education and, specifically, environmental education, to educate citizens so that they are capable of making responsible decisions and behaving sustainably. The purpose of this study is to evaluate an educational teacher training model based on the development of sustainable competencies and on the solving of environmental problems. Its final aim is to search for a model that enables students to participate, individually and collectively, in the solution of socio-environmental problems in their surroundings, but without losing the global perspective, and that fosters sustainable life styles. To do so, a quasi-experimental quantitative research was performed with two pretest-posttest phases to compare the results of an active and participative methodology with another more expository one. The results show significant differences in the knowledge, attitudes and intention of the behavior of the aspiring teachers. Thus, this first analysis shows that the experiential educational model promotes and favors sustainable actions in higher education (the faculty of educational science, responsible for basic teacher training) more efficiently and could be the basis for future proposals in this field.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse a teaching strategy designed to increase the awareness of trainee teachers and educate them with regard to sustainable consumption. Design/methodology/approach – Ninety-four subjects (trainee teachers) were assessed on their knowledge of the environmental impacts of consumerism, their attitudes to sustainable consumption and their behavioural intentions before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the teaching intervention took place. Findings – Statistical analysis of the results obtained revealed that subjects increased their knowledge of the social and environmental impacts of consumerism, became more aware of the need to take action in this regard, and developed behaviours oriented towards a sustainable model of consumption. Research limitations/implications – The proper application of an educational strategy of this nature requires more time than that actually assigned to the teaching intervention itself. This obstacle was overcome by using the time envisaged by the European Space for Higher Education, but the outcome could not be monitored. Practical implications – A reduction of individual and collective consumption in universities. Originality/value – The study demonstrates the possibilities of an educational strategy that when applied to trainee teachers in higher education promotes sustainable consumption.

In spite of the repeated recommendations of the UNESCO to integrate the use of mass media in the education, the most teachers ignore their great possibilities as a didactic resource. In this work we present a new didactic strategy, alternative to the traditional methodology, which shows in practice the use of newspapers as a didactic resource in the training of environmental education teachers. We also analyze the changes in the conceptual knowledge and environmental attitudes that this methodology brings to the students. A pesar de las repetidas recomendaciones de la UNESCO para integrar los medios en la educación, la gran mayoría del profesorado continua ignorando las grandes posibilidades que éstos ofrecen como recurso didáctico. En este trabajo se presenta una estrategia didáctica alternativa a la metodología tradicional (transmisiva-expositiva) que, salvando la distancia entre la teoría y la práctica, muestra el uso de la prensa como recurso didáctico en la formación de profesorado de educación ambiental. Se analizan, también, los cambios que esta metodología produce en los conocimientos conceptuales y actitudes ambientales de los sujetos que la siguen.