The Saltwatch environmental education program aims to increase awareness and understanding of salinity and thereby to stimulate remedial and preventative action. An evaluation of the program in Victoria in 1995 revealed its wide use across school curricula, and subsequent practical environmental action in 53% of schools. Participation in Saltwatch and subsequent environmental activities were more restricted in community groups. The paper concludes with a discussion of Saltwatch's success and possible improvements.

As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning…. This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally. Our cultural diversity is a precious heritage and different cultures will find their own distinctive ways to realize the vision. We must deepen and expand the global dialogue that generated the Earth Charter, for we have much to learn from the ongoing collaborative search for truth and wisdom (The Earth Charter, The Way Forward).

Such advancement of high-minded values, such changes of mind and heart, and such senses of interdependence and responsibility across culture can only be achieved through education. Realising culturally rooted visions of sustainability and searching for cross-cultural collaboration is, inherently, a process of education. The Earth Charter Initiative has said from the beginning that the Earth Charter is an educational resource of significant value.

The art and science of teaching about, from, with, and for the Earth Charter offers a promising pedagogy for exploring such shared values and global ethics. Many of the problems we face are ethical problems. Therefore, the solutions must be solutions to which ethics point.

This research study explored the experiences of children (aged 9–10 years), from four different primary schools, playing a hunting game in a nature reserve. Previous research shows that children’s play in green spaces can provide a number of benefits to children. However, there is a lack of research into children’s experiences of playing in bio-diverse environments. This study sought to find out how children (aged 9–10 years) “playing” the role of animals in a nature reserve could enable them to experience different ways of being and different ways of understanding their relationship with the world around them. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological design that aimed to interpret the first-person lived experiences of the children playing in the nature reserve. Four classes from four different primary schools took part in the study. Six children from each class were interviewed and analysis of their responses generated a number of different themes. The results suggest that playing the hunting game in a biodiverse environment does offer states of being and knowings that are not as accessible in schools. Playing the role of an animal had afforded the children with an accentuated, embodied experience, offering insight into the otherness of the more-than-human world.

This paper explores the innovative socio-educational experience of Huerto Alegre (Spain), linking it to a critical perspective of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Going beyond the ‘pluralist practices’ associated with the ESD, our case study seeks to redefine ESD from a critical and ecocentric perspective within the context of the Earth Charter (EC). Huerto Alegre’s social-educational programme is aimed at children and young people with the objective of creating critical thinking and fostering connections between school and the natural environment by working collaboratively with teaching professionals. The methodology of the paper focuses on a content analysis of the centre’s key documents and on the narratives of students, in addition to an in-depth interview with its director. It also presents a critical reconstruction of the subject. This complements, and gives meaning to, the theoretical debates surrounding ESD — debates that call for structural changes to our current model of society.

This paper presents a learning journey about deepening capacity for teaching with Place through relational learning and shares three pedagogical ingredients that are integral in enacting more ethical, decolonial place pedagogies. We are three women, educators working in community and teacher education with interests in environmental education, decoloniality and indigeneity. We write from the position of people whose ancestry is not Indigenous to the places we were born, nor those where we live now. We bring diverse experiences, voices, bodies and memories of Place into productive conversations as we think and write together about how we are learning with Place, and our response-abilities for enacting regenerative place pedagogies. We situate our emergent and relational inquiry within our experiences and encounters with Place in solidarity with the call for the sharing of stories that “explore knowing and being as relational practices” (Bawaka Country et al.). Our paper is premised on the understanding that our ethical commitment to decoloniality involves learning to live and learn with and love the places we are now, and prioritising Indigenous philosophies, scholarship and ways of knowing Place throughout our education practices.

The school strikes for climate action that began with Greta Thunberg in 2018 and spread worldwide in 2019, left many young people to ponder ‘what is the point of education if we have no future?’ In this investigation of a student-centred project on sustainability conducted with Year 4 students in Brisbane, the point of education was framed by Biesta’s three domains of purpose; Qualification, Socialisation and Subjectification. Sustainability education requires attention to each domain, that is, increasing children’s knowledge of sustainability (Qualification), facilitating their critical awareness of social practices related to sustainability (Socialisation), and expanding their capacity to act in response to the challenges of living sustainably (Subjectification). The project was designed using an action research model where children co-created the topic (reducing plastic usage) and then decided on how it would be investigated and reported. Interviews during and after the project, and episodes recorded in a research journal revealed changes in each of the three domains, with changes in the Subjectification domain being the focus of this study. The overall positive and multifaceted learning outcomes that occurred highlight what is possible when addressing issues of sustainability and the point of education in ways that matter to children.

Biodiversity is an abstract concept, attracting various responses from different people according to where they have come from and what ecosystems they have been closely linked to. In theory, most people would agree that protecting biodiversity is an important process, but in practice, few people commit to actions on a local level. This paper explores a situation faced in the Northern Territory where environmental educators seek to engage hearts, hands and minds to protect biodiversity but it is difficult to gain commitment given a diverse and transient community such as exists in Darwin. The survey of 175 tertiary students at Charles Darwin University develops insights into how individuals perceive and name local mangrove and savanna ecosystems, and which areas they would want to conserve. Results have implications for local environmental education. Suggestions are made about how awareness of and actions for biodiversity in the Top End could be extended.

This research focus on the evaluation of the impact on students’ attitudes towards the environment, fostered by their involvement in an educational citizen science project related to the monitoring of physicochemical properties and the detection of (micro)plastics in Portuguese coastal waters. We developed an attitude scale, comprising four dimensions (Collective, Personal, Recycling and Reuse and Microplastics), which was applied, as a pre-test and post-test, to 574 middle school students (aged 12–14): 442 in the experimental group and 132 in the control group. Initially, based on pre-test results, both groups revealed positive attitudes. In the experimental group, the post-test results revealed that significantly positive attitude changes were promoted in all dimensions, whereas, in the control group, this occurred only in the Personal dimension. The control group also exhibited significantly negative attitude changes in the collective dimension. Students’ engagement in sustainability-related citizen science projects can enhance environmentally literate society.

The ideal period for implementing environmental education or education for sustainability is during the early childhood years. The educational context of playgroups can be a platform for both children and their parents to learn together and together engage in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS), however there is a paucity of literature examining ECEfS within Australian playgroup contexts. The Little Explorers Playgroup (LEP) is a facilitated playgroup located in a sustainable living centre in Sydney, Australia, and provides opportunities for children and their parents to engage in ECEfS. The study purpose was to evaluate the effect of the LEP on the participating children and parents’ environmental attitudes and behaviours. This qualitative study was designed as a single critical case study employing semi-structured telephone interviews conducted with twenty-three participants, including three LEP playgroup facilitators and 20 parents. The data generated by the interviews was analysed thematically and the findings indicated that the LEP empowered and positively transformed both the children and parents’ environmental attitudes and behaviours. This was evident through the children and parents’ adoption of more environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviours. The findings demonstrate that playgroups may be an untapped opportunity for facilitating community change towards sustainable living.

As in many parts of the world so too in Canada blossoming socio-environmental problems are having adverse effects on many communities. The environmental consequences, for example, of sustained over-fishing of Newfoundland cod, of west coast deforestation by logging of the Great Lakes area and of soil and water contamination caused by industrial activities are now fairly obvious to all. The associated depletion of employment possibilities, folklore and other cultural capital has often been coupled with an increase in violence and feelings of powerlessness and helplessness. But, according to public opinion surveys there is a positive weave to this web of adversity. People's concern for their planet remains high—and their knowledge of the gravity, scope, and root causes of environmental problems and the relation of these to politics and global economics has greatly expanded. Coupled with this is a realisation that current ways of living on this Earth are unsustainable, and that although governments, scientists and promised technological ‘fixes’ may be necessary parts of the solutions they are insufficient to the sheer enormity of the task. There is a resulting call to action by many communities.

Problem solving, and specifically the goal of developing problem-solving competences, is a significant dimension of environmental education. Moreover, human senses and electronic sensors have been recognized as important tools in authentic problem-based learning. The purpose of this paper is to present a model to support teachers in creating didactic activities that use human senses and electronic sensors as epistemic mediators in participatory environmental education problem-based learning. The EcoSolvingS model is based on a set theoretical and practical perspectives, and on a cross analysis of a selection of environmental education problem-solving case studies. In a first part, this paper presents the dimensions of the theoretical foundations of the EcoSolvingS model. Subsequently, the results of the cross analysis of the environmental education problem-solving case studies are presented and related to the components of the EcoSolvingS model. Finally, the model is described, and its utility and future developments are discussed.

This paper provides a discussion about what education and development planners can learn about initiating and sustaining innovation at the teacher education level from the Learning for a Sustainable Environmentproject. It reflects upon how research processes can contribute to sustainable (long-term) developments within teacher education. Essentially, it seeks to address questions about how to make environmental education a permanent feature of teacher education practice and curricula.

The chapter begins with arguments why the issue of sustaining innovation has become an important one. It then identifies the principles and processes within the Learning for a Sustainable Environmentproject which support its innovative components on a long-term basis. The final section reflects upon the next stage of the project which is to involve the setting up of action research networks within different countries. It discusses how the principles and processes of sustainability identified, may be used to support the national process. The value of the Learning for a Sustainable Environmentmodel for developments in education at the practical level is also briefly considered. The chapter argues that the action research network model used in Learning for a Sustainable Environmentproject provides a democratic, culturally relevant and sustainable approach to development in education at the cross-cultural level.

Over the past decade concern for the environment and, as a consequence, interest in environmental education have undergone a revival in Britain. Interest generated in the late Sixties and early Seventies was followed by a quiescent period during which few significant developments occurred. The publication of the World Conservation Strategy and the UK Response in the early Eighties, coupled with the general realisation that environmental degradation was occurring on a global scale, has caused a substantial increase in environmental interest. Recent developments in the formulation of a National Curriculum in England and Wales have provided a real opportunity to incorporate environmental education into the programs of study for every pupil between the ages of 5 to 16.

The following paper concentrates on the formal education system but important developments are currently taking place in the youth sector. As the National Curriculum proceeds and becomes fully implemented it will further affect higher and further education and environmental education in industry.

This paper provides data about how a people still in close contact with their natural physical environment, yet moving from nomadism to a sedentary (though still largely agricultural) lifestyle, perceive their environment. Drawings were obtained from children, and interviews undertaken with adults among the Gebaliya Bedouin in the Sinai desert. The drawings reveal an abundance of animal and plant life and a relative paucity of human artefacts. Wildlife and landscape evidently constitute a central component of these children's environments. The adult interviews reveal how the relationship of the Bedouin with their physical environment, though still an intimate one, has changed in the last two generations. The results are interpreted in the light of social and cultural changes among the Gebaliya Bedouin. The findings reported here may need to be heeded if attempts to preserve endangered wildlife in the Sinai desert, are to succeed.

The Department of Forestry at The University of Melbourne with the financial support of the Myer Foundation, the RIRDC/LWRRDC/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program (JVAP) and the National Farm Forestry Program (AFFA) have developed and are delivering a unique and innovative participatory outreach and extension program for farmers active in revegetation, farm forestry and remnant forest management. Since the first program in 1996, 25 regional Australian Master Tree Grower (MTG) programs have been conducted involving more than 500 landholders across Australia.

By acknowledging and drawing on the commitment and experience of locally selected tree growers, the MTG program aims to instil confidence through knowledge, provide farmers with a support network and encourage them to truly aspire to be ‘master tree growers’ in their own right. By starting with the landholders' motivations, rather than ending with them, the program allows participants to investigate and farm forestry projects. This is leading to the full potential of multipurpose tree growing to be realised for economic, social and environmental outcomes for farmers and their rural communities.

In its broadest sense the “environment” component of environmental education spans such diverse areas as dietary habits, in vitro fertilisation, religious beliefs, occupational health, desertification, the changing nature of work, arms control and over-population. At its best contemporary environmental scholarship highlights the degree to which all these issues are intimately related.

At its worst and narrowest, the process of environmental educational consists of firstly identifying the basic features of an ecosetting for example, a rainforest, a reef or an urban waterway; and studying environmental change in that setting through identifying the goodies and baddies in relation to impacts upon that environment.

An experience I had recently teaching about North Stradbroke Island highlighted the dominance that the narrow view of environmental education has attained. In discussion prior to the study, students indicated that for them, the term “environment” was basically an alternative label for flora and fauna or the “green”/natural elements of the island. They could not comment very easily then about the place of humans in this picture of environment nor could they outline in any detail the range of social, economic or political factors affecting that island's environment. Such factors were incidental to that environment.Also students' ideas about “environmental conflict” and the island seemed to be centred on examples of actions taken by one or other of the conflicting groups, through protest meetings or demonstrations, classifying the main contenders Into two camps - those for and those against the bridge.