Cognitive representations play a fundamental role in governing the relationship existing between the natural world and the human world. It is important, therefore, to analyse some ideas which, in our culture, condition in a non ecological way the relationship which have with the natural world. This is the premise for the development of an ecological education.

In this perspective, the thought of Hannah Arendt revealed itself as fundamental. An interpretation of the arguments developed in her fundamental works (Arendt, 1987; 1989) permit the tracing of the genesis of some mental attitudes which have contributed to the development of a culture indifferent to the environment in which we live and, further, permit new categories of thought from which to begin to reform environmental education.

Social ecology as expressed by the Social Ecology Centre, (Faculty of Agriculture & Rural Development, University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury), is an emerging field of learning concerned with improving the quality of the interrelationships between people and between people and the environment. The essence of this improvement is powerfully depicted by Albert Einstein, with this plea for people to widen their sense of compassion and concern to all life:

A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

Social ecology then is concerned with recognising and transcending this ‘optical delusion’ of which Einstein speaks.

In 1992 the Social Ecology Centre will be offering, through the introduction of the Bachelor of Applied Science (Social Ecology) [B. App. Sc. (Soc. Ecol.)] program, a substantively new and different approach to environmental education at a tertiary level. The establishment of the B.App.Sc. (Soc. Ecol.) will provide for the first time learning opportunities in social ecology at undergraduate level.

A genre of computer software with which users simulate designing and managing natural resources and ecosystems deserves critical attention from environmental educators. Such software encourages users to develop their understanding of theoretical and applied ecology by manipulating virtual environmental forces in imaginative ways. This paper refers readers to a directory of software titles in thie genre. It argues that there is significant social and educational momentum toward increased use of such resources for teaching and learning about the environment. It presents some reservations about the nature and purpose of this genre of software, and outlines ethical, economic and experiential questions about it which have implications for the future direction of environmental education.

A collaborative partnership has evolved between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) and Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. The Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) is one of 24 Department of Education and Training environmental education centres in New South Wales (see www.reec.nsw.edu.au). As part of this partnership relationship, final year BTeach(Sec)/BSc students have worked with REEC and CSU staff on developing learning materials that support and enrich the programs offered through the REEC. In particular, these students have developed materials focussing on exploring student understanding about biodiversity and salinity. Additionally, the development of web based learning activities that use regional scientists as exemplars of current scientific research and possible career options (called Real Science) has occurred. Through this partnership arrangement, it has been a ‘win-win’ outcome for REEC staff, CSU staff and the CSU final year secondary science students with all participants gaining valuable insights and pedagogical understandings from the partnership.

Activities in environmental education in the United States during the 1980s are summarized, in terms of audiences involved – formal (school), college/university, and non-formal. Discussion focusses on specific programs and materials, in summary fashion. Trends are noted, and speculative projections into the 1990s are offered.

In early November 2014, over 300 delegates met in Hobart, Tasmania for the 18th Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference. Titled ‘Sustainability: Smart Strategies for the 21st Century’, this conference sought to bring together innovative thinking, practice and research in the field of environmental and sustainability education. This special conference issue of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education captures a snapshot of some of that thinking. While it is by no means a comprehensive account of the many conversation threads that permeated the conference, we hope that readers will find the articles in this special issue a stimulus to your thinking and practice.

The Water Analysis Project (WAP) is an environmental research project conceived in the 70s in Mantova, Italy, as a result of a syllabus revision in the chemistry courses of the Istituto Tecnico Industriale “E. Fermi”. Being restricted only to that school at the beginning, the experience, which was run under the sponsorship of Local Authorities, through improvement and expansion, involved four different schools in a pluri-and interdisciplinary investigation.

This report presents an account of a significant example of an Italian E.E. experience, examining the historical and socioeconomic context in which it grew and developed, its objectives, its processes, and its results.

I am enormously grateful to the readers of this journal for their kind attention to this work over the past 30 years. Conceptual analysis, the subject of my article, is primarily about clarifying meanings of those key concepts that are central to our collective work. Given the number of nebulous concepts in environmental education, and in education in general, this work has never ceased to be important — though, sadly, it is often neglected. Take, for example, a concept currently in vogue, social learning. Two ways of approaching this sometimes fuzzy concept would be, first, for authors to provide a clear articulation of the term, in their own view. What exactly does the idea of social learning involve for an author, and what are the implications for its use in the particular context in which it is used? This is a lot like clarifying one's own assumption about a concept for the benefit of the author and reader alike, and something we should be able to expect from all authors. Second, researchers can analyse the scope of a concept's usage within a body of literature, such as Rodela (2012) has done with social learning. This kind of analysis can provide a kind of heuristic for other researchers to navigate the extant usage of a key concept, and to point in future directions.

This paper outlines adult learning in the space of an important campaign against mining for coal seam gas (CSG). Recently, the government of Victoria became the first state to ban fracking for CSG in Australia. This significant legislative outcome could not have been achieved without the concerted campaigning of activists through the Lock the Gate Alliance (LTGA), in Central Gippsland. The campaign is mainly composed of circumstantial activists who have come together due to the serious threat from fracking to the quality of their land and water supply. This case study research examines adult learning in the field of a campaign. The findings from this research make clear activists learn to think critically about the environment and the impact of fracking for CSG. They learn communication skills, group work and networking skills. They develop a feel for the game of activism by learning informally through socialisation with experienced activists from the LTGA and the Environmental Non-Government Organisation Friends of the Earth (FOE). In turn, FOE resource the coalition and provide opportunities for both informal learning and nonformal learning to the protestors. Drawing on Bourdieu’s writing on practice, this paper outlines practices within the LTGA field that are influential in the knowledge and skill development of the activists.

This article is critical of the Infusion of pseudo-spiritualities in the form of non-legitimised indigenous wisdom and activities in environmental education. Drawing on a definition of true ecospirituality, the doctrine of the world soul, a teaching from western traditions, is presented as a viable alternative in the search for re-enchantment. Implications for environmental educators are addressed.