Environmental Education

What is Environmental Education?

According to the IUCN (1971), Environmental Education is defined as: The process of recognising values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and appreciate the inter-relatedness among man, his culture and his bio-physical surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning environmental quality.

In short:
Environmental Education is:

• About the environment

• Through the environment

• For the environment

• In the environment

What are the objectives for Environmental Education?

1. Awareness
To help social groups and individuals acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems

2. Knowledge
To help social groups and individuals gain a variety of experience in, and acquire a basic understanding of, the environment and its associated problems.

3. Attitudes
To help social groups and individuals acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and the motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement and protection.

4. Skills
To help social groups and individuals acquire the skills for identifying and solving environmental problems.

5. Active Participation
To provide social groups and individuals with an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working toward resolution of environmental problems

6. Evaluation Ability
Evaluate all existing programmes as well as all future programmes.
(Opie, 1989)