10 Millennial Innovations in Environmental Education (EE)
a list by kara mitchell
A question about good websites to use in developing environmental education programs that was posted by another user of one of LinkIn's Environmental Education forums was a part of what motivated me to write this article. A call for articles focussed on Environmental Education by Alternatives Journal posted early in the 10th year of the new millenium was another ~ a compact version of this list was first published last fall in this popular-funkiness-meets-academic-quality-of-information magazine's “Canadian Directory of Environmental Education”.
I appreciate the deadline and exposure Alternatives provided this way, but it’s mostly my subscription over the last few years that propels me to recommend doing so: http://www.alternativesjournal.ca/
While EE educators draw from and adapt ways of exploring and connecting with the environment that have worked for ages, i was in a fresh mood setting out on this learning adventure and have focused on innovations in the field that have come to significantly influence practice, learning and our North American culture over the first 10 years of this new millenium. The result is a list of ideas, practices and resources that has been created from subjective research, from informally poling colleagues and media and making my own observations in the field of the past decade.
10. Spiritual Environmentalism ~ spiritual teachers are increasingly motivating sustainable living since 2000 ~ new groups focused on greening their religion and studying spiritual ecology have formed worldwide.
www.arcworld.org ~ Alliance of Religions and Conservation
www.arocha.org ~ international Christian conservation organization who support EE projects
9. Learning Vacations / Ecotourism ~ EE went on tour this decade and improved practice in the most sustainably growing sector of tourism, ecotourism. Tour operators and conscious travellers have formed organizations in the last decade to promote a range of sustainable tourism products. These provide informed explorations which respect local environments and invest in local economies. Some offer service projects focused on ecological research, renewal or restoration, some organic and local cuisine with gorgeous vegetarian fare, some off the grid, renewably powered accommodations, others public educational campaigns or sustainable transport.
International Ecotourism Society : ecotourism.org
Ontario Ecotourism Society: toes.ca
BC Sustainable Tourism Collective: sustainablebc.ca
Aventure Écotourisme Québec: aventure-ecotourisme.qc.ca
8. Professional Exchanges ~ Guidelines for Excellence in EE, provincial and eco-school EE curriculum teams and on-line EE professional discussion boards have all arisen in the last decade to provide up to date resources and communication tools for teachers and school administrators focused on sustainability. Sharing of EE best practices, those based in scientific fact and recognized pedagogy continues through annual conferences and research symposiums organized by many of the same groups coordinating online professional exchages;
Foundation for Environmental Education fee-international.org
Eco-Schools eco-schools.org
7. Integrative Science & Integrated Programs ~ it's all connected and a variety of excellent EE programs have arisen recently to teach this way. Environmental leadership programs are combining arts and science courses and scientists of multiple disciplines are getting together about biodiversity and our technological relationships with the earth and atmosphere at post
secondary levels.
6. Ontario EcoSchools Program ~one holistic example in the movement to green learning environments. This partnership aligns sustainability taught in classrooms with how schools operate. Green schools are naturalizing their yards and food services, studying and managing their wastes and conserving resources as well as funds.
5. Service Learning ~ both youth and adults are increasingly learning by taking positive, organized action for environmental and community well being. Best practices for organizing these projects successfully have been developed and released since 2000.
4. Food education ~ an organic growth spurt in this movement has come, cropping up schoolyard and community gardens, 100 mile diet / locavore dinner clubs, farm tours and vegetarian cooking workshops.
3. Climate Change Education ~ impacting innovations of this challenge of the millennium include compilations of successful ways for teachers to focus on the subject, public education campaigns such as Suzuki's Nature and governmental One-Tonne Challenges and the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth inspired by Al Gore's touring slide show which has since been regionally updated and gone viral.
www.greenteacher.com Teaching About Climate Change (Green Teacher 2001)
2. Ecological Footprint ~ measures the biologically productive land and marine area required to produce the resources populations consume. First developed in the early 90's, since 2000, this tool has become integrated into not only North American school curriculum but everyday language, business and media. In 2006 a Global Footprint Network established the first set of worldwide ecological footprint communication and calculation method standards.
Global comparative calculator: http://myfootprint.org
Canadians: www.mec.ca/Apps/ecoCalc/ecoCalc.jsp
1. Nature Play and early environmental socialization strategies have proven essential this decade in developing sustainable living skills and environmental leaders. The importance of providing young children with these experiences for their health, for establishing important emotional connections and to fully develop (physically, socially and intellectually) was culturally boosted in 2005 by Richard Louv’s popular Last Child in the Woods;Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.
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