Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme: an empirical study in Mexico

‘I used to be ashamed’. The influence of an educational program on tribal and non-tribal children's knowledge and valuation of wild food plants

“…This confirms what has been found in other world regions, that locally contextualized educational program curricula promote local knowledge acquisition. For example, Ruiz-Mallén, Barraza, Bodenhorn, and Reyes-García (2009), who conducted research in Mexico, observed that indigenous students who participated in Ixtlan's community-based environmental education program had greater local ecological knowledge than those indigenous students that did not participate.…”

The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species

“…Repeated exposures might be more successful (Ruiz-Mallen et al, 2009). This is especially important as due to the lack of ecology / environmental education in schools in Latin America, it is likely that no further reinforcement of knowledge takes place in the classroom.…”

“…The present study shows that a single short intervention can be effective both in the short and the long term, but only if the information provided is simple and already somewhat familiar to students. Thus, conservation organizations might enhance the dissemination of their messages by making more frequent visits to schools (Borgerhoff Mulder et al, 2009;Ruiz-Mallen et al, 2009) and, at the same time, reduce the passive dissemination of cognitive information about species and ecological concepts (Knapp & Poff, 2001). However, even more important would be the dissemination of ecology / environmental education in school.…”

“…Recently, conservation education programs have been launched in Latin America that aim to sensitize schoolchildren for the conservation and sustainable management of local species and their diversity (Rozzi, Silander, Armesto, Feinsinger, & Massardo, 2000;Ruiz-Mallen, Barranza, Bodenhorn, & Reyes-García, 2009;Borgerhoff Mulder et al, 2009). They are often supported by international organizations and foundations such as the WWF or UNESCO (Ruiz-Mallen et al, 2009). However, little is known about the outcomes of such programs.…”

Ecological dynamics as a theoretical framework for development of sustainable behaviours towards the environment

“…Partly this is because learning is inferred and has been measured by recording changes in reported knowledge or attitudes (Ruiz-Mallen et al 2009), as well as changes in observed specific or generalised short-or long-term behaviours (Ballantyne and Packer 2011). However, the complexities of environmental education provide some unique and challenging learning opportunities.…”