Australia's arid and semiarid lands comprise about 80% of the continent. The human population of around 300,000 is very low. The dominant land use is the pastoral industry. However, other interacting land uses include national parks, mining and aboriginal lands. Some of the impacts of European people on soils, vegetation and native wildlife, following almost 200 years of settlement are discussed.

Management of arid lands for sustainable long-term yield requires integrated studies into the physical and biological environment. The central issue for the administration and management of arid grazing lands is the accurate estimation of grazing capacity in relation to the wide annual fluctuations in available forage for livestock in arid regions. Any estimate for grazing capacity must be such that wool or meat production is maximal, or near-maximal, and that soil and vegetation stability is maintained over the long-term. The basic ecological components for such an arid grazing land management programme are described. The programme also provides the essential information base on which future decisions on land administration issues can be made by policy makers.

The wetlands of Kakadu National Park have received national and international recognition. Their significance lies in their large size, the great diversity and high biomass of plants and animals which they support, and the level of protection and management afforded them. The management of these wetlands is influenced by many factors including a uranium mine, a range of alien plants and animals, increasing tourism, an environment subject to change, and Aboriginal ownership of part of the land. Maintaining wetland conservation values appropriate to a major national park and a World Heritage area requires considerable research and management and a continued high level of funding.

This paper uses a two part analysis of a new syllabus document developed by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) for its Diploma in the area of environmental studies. The environmental analysis Is based on the need for concepts to support sustainability. Key ideas in this model are natural systems of flows of energy, cycles of materials and webs of life and human impact on these natural systems. This analysis suggests that some concepts for sustainability, such as soil and water as basic resources, are not covered adequately and that the identification of the syllabus as a science precludes essential economic and social sciences considerations and the dominance of the methodology of manipulation. Using the Habermasian technical, practical and emancipatory interests as analytical categories, serious difficulties are identified. These include the likely lack of congruence of the syllabus with the advertised philosophy of the Diploma and the fundamental technical interest of control expressed in the syllabus. Taken together, It is probable that in many teachers' hands students may inadvertently learn about exploitation rather than sustainability of the environment. Modifications to the syllabus are proposed.

Environmental interpretation occurs as part of the educational continuum that ranges from simple awareness-raising sought by promotional activities to the major attitudinal shifts often pursued in environmental lifestyle education. Interpretation has long been seen by natural resource managers and others not only as “an educational activity…to reveal meaning and relationships” (Tilden 1977) but also as a means of creating “a desire to contribute to environmental conservation” (Aldridge 1974). In 1996 how are we using interpretive theory, techniques and programs to contribute towards developing the cutting edge of environmental education?

Environmental education seeks to involve people in solving environmental problems. Hence, some environmental educators facilitate programs that focus on the development of skills through direct involvement in action programs, such as Waterwatch. However, many people do not feel confident and/or skilled to initiate, plan or undertake action projects. Therefore, environmental educators also facilitate programs that focus on helping people develop the motivation, skills and confidence to engage in action programs, such as A Council of All Beings. Facilitation of these two different forms of programs needs to build on the strengths and capabilities of the people involved so that their skills and perception of themselves as agents of change are enhanced (Kieffer 1984). Effective facilitation skills are essential for environmental educators because they often deal with contested issues, want to foster critical thinking among people and often mediate between community, government and individuals. The purpose of this paper is to: (a) demonstrate the relationship between empowerment, facilitation and social change; and (b) report on an action research process in which I sought to improve my skills in facilitation by using the program A Council of All Beings.

This paper is authored by Bawaka Country, acknowledging Country’s ability to teach and share. Country is homeland and place. Country is everything and the relationships that bring everything to life. Country is knowledge. This paper is shaped and enabled by songspirals. Songspirals are sung and cried by Yolŋu people in north east Arnhem Land, Australia, to awaken Country, to make and remake the life-giving connections between people and place.

The Goŋ-gurtha songspiral leads this paper, showing us how a Yolŋu Country-led pedagogy centres Country’s active agency by learning through, with, and as Country. This pedagogy shares with us the ongoing connections within and between generations to ensure that knowledge remains strong and that sharing is done the right way, according to Yolŋu Rom, Law/Lore. This learning is predicated on relationality and responsibility. It is a more-than-human learning in which human knowing is decentred and Country is knowledgeable. It is a learning which recognises and respects its limits and it is a learning in which the ongoing sovereignty of Yolŋu people is front and centre.

As Australia enters the era of emissions trading schemes, strategies to further curb emissions will grow in importance. At the same time, a national emissions trading scheme is set to be introduced whilst the country is set to increase its dependency and volume of road transport in years to come. This raises a doubly important question for transport operators: what can they do to reduce emissions? Whilst advances in fuel technology and vehicle regulations will play their parts, changing driving behaviour is an area that remains relatively unexplored. This paper will highlight the design, implementation and evaluation of a behaviour change initiative that was trialled by the State of Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation's CleanRun team in collaboration with fleet truck drivers in a large national transport company. It will also propose a model for broader implementation and compare this to other similar programs in other countries.

Following evolutionary theory and an agriculture model, ecosystem research has stressed bottom-up dynamics, implying that top wild predators are epiphenomenal effects of more basic causes. As such, they are assumed expendable. A more modern co-evolutionary and wilderness approach — trophic cascades — instead suggests that top predators, whose effects flow down to fundamental biological processes, are co-equal causes of ecosystem health. Their survival, then, should be supported. This article, based on extensive research including the author's participation in a major field project, provides informational resources for teaching trophic cascades, using wolves as a case study. As charismatic, iconic, thriving but still endangered, well-studied, and terrestrial carnivores, wolves are ideal for enlightening students about what otherwise might be dry abstractions about crucial ecosystem processes. The article ends with student exercises and broader lessons for environmental education.

Diversity is integral to socio-ecological sustainability at all scales and dimensions of education practice. The Australian Journal of Environmental Education (AJEE) has published research and reports of practice from a variety of novel and established perspectives and methodologies, recognising both small and large research studies and, in the process, becoming an energetic record of what we have been thinking about gender and culture and difference over the past 30 years. The editors of the AJEE have promoted diversity, given the purpose of environmental education is to change how we think about our social arrangements and to reconsider how it is possible to act within our world. As with any long-existing journal, the articles reflect historical scholarly trends and societal change, and the publications track what has been counted as legitimate in terms of being and knowing within the academy. Many kinds of useful knowledge were delegitimised and ignored until quite recently, so one of the tasks of researchers and educators and their AJEE editors has been to redress these silences and absences. If progress has been imperfect, this is a reflection of the difficulties of the task and not a reflection of the quality of the journal.

This article surveys critical scholarship that links the literature on sustainable business education and education for sustainable development goals (ESDG). It is assumed that ESDG is desirable in the business curriculum. However, it is argued here that ESDG erroneously fosters the illusion of successfully combining economic growth, social justice, and environmental protection, foregrounding “sustained and inclusive economic growth”, which is often dependent on the increased consumption of natural resources. ESDG rarely addresses industrial expansion that jeopardizes the opportunity for the resolution of environmental crises, ignoring the intrinsic value of nonhuman species and ecosystems and masking the root causes of unsustainability. ESDG places heavy emphasis on economic and social aspects of sustainability, at the cost of the environment. By contrast, some earlier forms of environmental education recognize the limits to growth and emphasize environmental integrity as a foundation for both social and economic activity. This article emphasizes the need to re-orientate ESDG towards genuine sustainability of ecopedagogy in the context of business education, emphasizing transformative business models based on degrowth, circular economy, and steady-state economy. It is argued that a more explicit pedagogical re-orientation towards the recognition of planetary boundaries, as well as toward a less anthropocentric focus is needed.

The development and implementation of a training program is a requirement of Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) certified under international standards. To date, information about these programs has been scarce. The paper reports the results of a survey of 20 Australian organisations with certified EMSs, designed to provide a start in understanding the role and contribution of training in meeting EMS objectives. Information was sought on the status, direction and focus of the training programs, along with the training providers, topics covered, and the range of training mechanisms. Broadly the findings illustrate differences in the training provided to staff generally, selected staff and to managers. Of importance for environmental educators is the extent to which education in the environment and education about the environment are already part of these training programs. Education for the environment is apparent in some training programs, indicating the scope that EMSs provide for the coverage of all three aspects of environmental education for the general community.