Environmental education – the bumpy road from childhood foraging to literacy and active responsibility

Abstract

In a time when environmental responsibility is increasingly discussed, with several legal initiatives and a great variety of civic movements, the understanding of environmental problems, together with the capacity and willingness to solve them is gaining more importance. The means of getting acquainted with and learning about these issues are diverse, and are commonly named as environmental education. With a vast background in the pedagogical and the non-governmental sector, environmental education became the subject of several policies, legal and political instruments. Despite the evidences of its positive outcomes, environmental education is still underrepresented in the school curricula. Addressing the problem of this inappreciation, this paper brings together several international documents, theories and studies showing the development and the positive outcomes of environmental education, in the hope of contributing to the widespread of its consideration in the pedagogical and non-pedagogical scientific community. The message stressed out is that: (i) In order to bring out its full potential, environmental education has to be considered not as a disparate discipline, but integrated and run throughout other disciplines and everyday life. (ii) A better and ideally direct communication of environmental knowledge between the scientific community and educational practitioners is of key importance in preventing misinformation and the development of misconceptions. (iii) Environmental knowledge contributes to the formation of a sound ecological thinking and moral judgement, hopefully also leading to change in behaviour and the formation of environmentally committed communities.

Studies on the Behavior Some Paints in Electro-insulating Fluid Based on Vegetable Esters

“…These risks can be substantially reduced by providing adequate information and education [51][52][53] to high-risk equipment managers in exploitation and mobilizing them to implement the latest technical solutions developed in the field [8,19,39].…”

Electromagnetic Pollution of the Environment and its Effects on the Materials from the Built up Media

“…It is considered necessary to reconsider education systems with an emphasis on inter-and transdisciplinary knowledge and sustained environmental education [93][94][95] and to develop and implement appropriate technical regulations [96] environment / health issues, not economic interests).…”

“There will be mushrooms again” – Foraging, landscape and forest fire

“…For foragers the activity of gathering wild produce plays a significant role in connecting to the environment, developed over time as memories are formed in specific sites with specific species (POE et al, 2013). Foraging acts as a source of appreciation and respect for nature (CHIPENIUK, 1995;Ö LLERER, 2015), as well as reinforcing a sense of ownership in local landscapes (CHIPENIUK, 1998;HALL, 2013). Yet the everyday practice of foraging also develops individual relationships with specific species making them more than simply 'components' of the natural environment (DE JONG & VARLEY, 2018;Fusté-Forné, 2019;LAND-OR-YAMAGATA et al, 2018;POE et al, 2013).…”