Australia is an old continent with an immensely long history of human settlement. The argument made in this paper is that Australia is, and has always been, a natureculture. Just as English was introduced as the dominant language of education with European colonisation, so arrived an ontological premise that linguistically divides a categorised nature from culture and human from “the” environment. Drawing on published work from the Australian tropics, this paper employs a socionature approach to make a philosophical argument for a more nuanced understanding of language, the cultural interface and contemporary moves towards interculture in Australian environmental education practice.

Pre-service teacher education institutions are large and complex organisations that are notoriously difficult to change. One factor is that many change efforts focus largely on individual pre-service teacher educators altering their practice. We report here on our experience using a model for effecting change, which views pre-service teacher education institutions and educators as a part of a much broader system. We identified numerous possibilities for, and constraints on, embedding change, but focus only on two in this article: participants’ knowledge of change strategies and their leadership capacities. As a result of our study findings and researcher reflections, we argue that being a leader in an academic area within pre-service teacher education does not equate to leadership knowledge or skills to initiate and enact systems-wide change. Furthermore, such leadership capacities must be explicitly developed if education for sustainability is to become embedded in pre-service teacher education.

This article reports on the fourth stage of an evolving study to develop a systems model for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) into preservice teacher education. The fourth stage trialled the extension of the model to a comprehensive state-wide systems approach involving representatives from all eight Queensland teacher education institutions and other key policy agencies and professional associations. Support for trialling the model included regular meetings among the participating representatives and an implementation guide. This article describes the first three stages of developing and trialling the model before presenting the case study and action research methods employed, four key lessons learned from the project, and the implications of the major outcomes for teacher education policies and practices. The Queensland-wide, multi-site case study revealed processes and strategies that can enable institutional change agents to engage productively in building capacity for embedding EfS at the individual, institutional, and state levels in preservice teacher education. Collectively, the project components provide a system-wide framework that offers strategies, examples, insights, and resources that can serve as a model for other states and/or territories wishing to implement EfS in a systematic and coherent fashion.

Environmental education in Australian schools is generally becoming recognised as education for the environment, as distinct from but usually including education ‘about’ and education ‘in’ the environment (Greenall, 1987). This means that students of environmental education will be encouraged to develop an attitude of caring for the Earth (including the biosphere) and its resources, and to participate actively in maintaining and improving the quality of their environment. What encourages students (and ourselves) to move actively towards these goals?

The desire to ‘act’, it will be argued, comes from within ourselves. Until recently taking action for the environment has been seen as the top of a hierarchy of environmental education objectives. It has been assumed that an awareness of environmental problems leads to the acquisition of knowledge, which contributes to the development of attitudes and values and a feeling of concern for the environment, which then prompts one to take positive actions for the environment (see for example, Carin and Sund, 1985, p.88). However more recent research has attempted to formulate theoretical models identifying the factors (and their possible causal connections) which result in individuals taking responsible environmental action. Hines et al., (1988), for example, hypothesised that personality factors (such as one's ‘locus of concern’), knowledge of issues and action strategies, and action skills were positively correlated with taking responsible environmental action. The causal connections are problematic however and Iozzi(1988) concluded that simply being aware of environmental concerns and knowledgeable about them does not automatically lead to taking action for the environment.

Although the need for education for sustainability in pre-service teacher education is well recognised, little has been published to indicate how this might be incorporated into university courses in Australia. This paper describes one attempt to encourage pre-service primary teachers to include education for sustainability in their future work. It includes a discussion about some of the choices made regarding teaching methods and content. The overall purpose of the article is to encourage others to contribute their ideas to the discussion over how best to incorporate education for sustainability in pre-service teacher education in Australia.

Training employees in sustainability knowledge and skills is considered a vital element in creating a sustainability culture within an organisation. Yet, the particular types of training programs that are effective for this task are still relatively unknown. This case study describes an innovative workplace training program using a ‘head, hands, heart and feet’ learning framework to create skilled change agents among employees, in order to influence organisational sustainability culture. Utilising a dialogic inquiry methodology (Most Significant Change), as well as Mezirow's phases of transformative learning and Schein's organisational culture framework, this study considers the training program's impact on both participants and organisational sustainability culture. While transformative learning impacts for participants were identified, questions remain as to the overall impact of the program on the organisation's sustainability culture. Considering training participants as ‘seeds of influence’ as opposed to wholly responsible for organisational culture might provide new perspectives to these questions.

Faced with the paradox of a large global increase in conservation reserves and a simultaneous global decrease in actual effective protection for biodiversity, conservation scientists and policymakers are questioning established conservation theory and practice. I argue that the fundamental premises, the foundational myths, for Western-style conservation also need to be questioned. The statistics on Indigenous land claims, and conservation reserves, in Australia and more specifically the state of New South Wales (NSW), reveal a landscape of policy failure in both arenas. Focusing on Australia, I use spatial analysis and policy histories to demonstrate converging trajectories of land use priorities for conservation needs and Indigenous peoples' needs. This intersection, while generating much potential for conflict, also creates new political landscapes. A combination of spatial and cultural analyses can create a clear picture of new “operational landscapes”, and an understanding of the (sometimes) complementary values of different cultural groups negotiating about these landscapes. From the basis that environmental problems are fundamentally social problems, this paper contributes to explorations of new paradigms supporting new social-ecological relationships, and new relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

This article charts the history of environmental education over four decades - from the 1960s to 2006 - as a rocky road of determined chocolate with the possibilities of rocks (nuts) and easy passage (marshmallow). There were distractions such as suggestions of changing names and new directions (add fruit?) along the way but the road has continued to be well travelled. The article concludes that there is much in common with where we have come from (the 1975 Belgrade Charter) and where we stand now (in year 2 of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development). Where next?

Using survey methodology, students' beliefs, and willingness to act, about 16 specific actions related to global warming are compared across the primary secondary interface. More primary students believed in the effectiveness of most actions to reduce global warming and were willing to take those actions. In general there was a disparity between students' beliefs and their actions and explanations are proffered for these differences. Characteristics that distinguish primary from secondary schooling are proposed for the variations across the interface and these have implications for practice.

There is increasing awareness of environmental issues in Australia (Victorian Government 1986, 1987). However, public participation in many such issues is typically limited to comment and submission on government policy, management plans and a range of other environmental statements. It is rare for the public to be involved in the scientific research upon which many environmental policies are based.

Recent surveys for the rare and endangered Leadbeater's Possum, Gymnobelideus leadbeateri have been an exception to this trend (Lindenmayer et al. 1990a, 1990b, 1990c). These studies have used a new wildlife survey technique termed stagwatching (Lindenmayer, 1989; Lindenmayer & Press, 1989) involves observing and counting animals emerging from nest and den sites in very large living or dead trees with hollows (“stags”) at, or close to, dusk. Animals are observed and recognised in silhouette. Because many Australian animals regularly move between nest sites, stagwatching is dependent on simultaneously watching all stags in a known area (= 3 ha in this study) (Smith et al. 1989). This makes stagwatching extremely labour intensive and its success is dependent on substantial participation by the public. Our experience of this public support suggests that stagwatching has considerable value for use in public and environmental education to increase the awareness of methods of study and understanding of forest biology and conservation. The values of stagwatching in environmental education are identified in this paper, and a case study of the use of stagwatching in surveys for Leadbeater's Possum is also presented. The methods used to organise the stagwatching program are documented so they may be adopted and modified for teaching a range of topics about Australian forests.

This paper proposes some possibilities for thinking with a landscape as a pedagogical concept, inspired by posthuman theory. The idea of thinking with a landscape is enacted in the Australian Alps (AA), concentrating on the contentious environmental dilemma involving introduced horses and their management in this bio-geographical location. The topic of horses is of pedagogical relevance for place-responsive outdoor environmental educators as both a location-specific problem and an example of a troubling issue. The paper has two objectives for employing posthuman thinking. Firstly, it experiments with the alternative methodological possibilities that posthuman theory affords for outdoor environmental education, including new ways of conducting educational research. Secondly, it explores how thinking with a landscape as a pedagogical concept may help open ways of considering the dilemma that horses pose. The pedagogical concept is enacted through some empirical events which sketch human–horse encounters from the AA. These sketches depict some of the pedagogical conversations and discursive pathways that encounters can provoke. Such encounters and conversations are ways of constructing knowledge of the landscape, covering multiple species, perspectives and discursive opportunities. For these reasons, this paper may be of relevance for outdoor environmental educators, those interested in the AA or posthuman theorists.

The greening of universities has been on the international agenda for at least a decade. While there has been considerable activity at some universities overseas, progress in Australian universities has been less easily identifiable. Also, the term ‘greening’ has often been taken to apply to the operations of a university, whereas the universities' curricular should also be examined. After providing a background to the greening of curricula and operations, this article presents an overview of the current status of Australian universities. The relatively poor progress is discussed in the context of the issues associated with bringing about change in universities, and some proposals are made for facilitating change.

In Canada education for sustainable development is not flourishing. This may seem curious as The Decade of Education For Sustainable Development is now well underway. But this isn't a bad news story. There are interesting dynamics at play and many great initiatives are emerging. This assessment is a story too. There are many ways of interpreting events and the analysis presented here is one; there will be others. In telling this story, especially for a brief article, I've made no attempt to provide a comprehensive survey of Canadian activities. Rather, I have taken a closer look at some key events and trends and discussed ways that they might be understood.

The diversity of environmental courses at tertiary level continues to increase. Following from a survey of these courses in the early 1990s the current study revisited the courses to investigate their characteristics. In 1993 tertiary courses with ‘environment’ in their title were surveyed through a postal questionnaire to gain an understanding of their philosophy and approach to teaching in the environmental field, of the capabilities the courses sought to assist the graduates to develop and of the extent to which graduates were being employed. The paper presents and discusses the results of this survey and offers suggestions about enhancing the role of environmental education in tertiary institutions.

What is distinctive or indistinctive about environmental education in schools and other formal education settings in India? In essence, what is the ness of environmental education in the Indian education system? Our responses to these important questions form the focus of this paper, shedding light on the historical, present and future directions (or ness) of environmental education in India. In effect, we attempt to capture the ness of environmental education by considering practice, policy and research developments throughout the various contemporary and traditional environmental education movements. In so doing, we identify a theory-practice gap and a dire lack of research as some of the pertinent issues facing environmental education in India. In conclusion we discuss possible future directions that environmental education might take in addressing these issues.

One difficulty in conceptualising the scope of environmental education results from the tremendous breadth of environmental issues which need to be addressed. Environmental issues may be considered, for example, in terms of ‘an interlinked array of political, social, economic and biophysical environmental factors’ (O'Donoghue & McNaught 1991, p.391; see also Di Chiro 1987, p.25). This conception portrays environment as not just natural systems alone, but as ‘a human creation, a result of the way we use nature and its resources to satisfy our needs and wants’ (Fien 1993, p.3). These conceptual developments are consistent with the growing realisation that environmental issues cannot be understood, let alone addressed, in isolation from social and political values and lifestyle choices (Capra, 1982; Devall, 1988; Guha, 1989). Illustrating this thinking, Livingston (in Evernden 1993, p.xii) portrays environmental issues as analogous to the tips of icebergs: they are simply the visible portion of a much larger entity, where the ‘submerged mass constitutes the fundamental problem, that domain of unspoken assumptions which legitimates the behaviour which precipitates the state of affairs we designate as “the environmental crisis”’. Evernden (1993, p.xii) proposes that a consideration of environmental issues must begin with the recognition that their source ‘lies not without but within, not in industrial effluent but in assumptions so casually held as to be virtually invisible’. These interpretations of root causes of environmental issues have important implications for environmental education research and teaching practices.

Environmental education has become a major concern for many politicians, educators, and parents in Canada. The politics of resource scarcity, environmental deterioration, and failed economic theories have combined to force nations such as Canada to reassess their priorities. Environmentalism has matured to the degree that large numbers of environmentally related contradictions in Canadian society can be traced to patterns of western intellectual thought and debated in terms of differing ideologies relating to population, economic development, government policy making, the legal system, and to education. As we face the 21st century with growing uncertainty and threats to our understandings, our ideas, and our institutions, an environmental perspective may well come to dominate our consciousness and our education.

This paper develops an argument for reform in current environmental education practices within Canada at a time when educational systems in this country are becoming serious about incorporating an environmental perspective. After setting the context within systems of Canadian education, the paper attempts to capture the essence of environmental education activities by means of some broadly based Canadian contributions to the field and by two specific examples. The purpose of these sections is to throw into relief a number of tensions and contradictions in the contemporary theory and practice of environmental education in Canada and to identify a number of issues for debate in light of this experience. Finally, a proposal consistent with authentic principles of socially critical environmental education is suggested as a means of reconceptualising future environmental education activities within Canadian contexts.

The relation between the understanding and belief of the site-specific dangers of climate change and the behaviour that individuals take to mitigate their impacts was assessed to investigate the psychological antecedent to pro-environmental behaviour; a necessity to mitigate anthropogenic climate change at the individual level. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed to measure beliefs and behaviour of university students. Correlation was measured between the belief in one’s ability to affect change and pro-environmental behaviour. The hypothesis that nations facing greater climate threat would behave accordingly was tested on the two largest national representatives of the sample, China and Australia. In addition, a naïve Bayesian network, coupled with a self-organising map, was developed to explore correlations between self-efficacy and participants’ socio-demographic features. Results showed that Chinese students are more likely to have higher self-efficacy, while such trend was not noticed for Australians. Similarly, participants with higher educational qualifications, older, and with higher paid jobs also have a higher chance of presenting pro-environmental behaviour. Despite the study limitations, there seems to be evidence suggesting that educational and climate change policies have affected students’ self-efficacy and individual commitment to mitigation.

The concept of education for the environment is well documented in the literature but is apparently less common in practice. Some of the reasons provided for this rhetoric-reality gap include: the controversial and political nature of the subject, the difficulty of empowering students into meaningful action, the challenge of using innovative methods, the difficulties associated with values education, and deficiencies in teacher preparation. Advocates of education for the environment encourage teachers to use student centred, experiential approaches yet provide little guidance to teachers on how to effectively utilise these approaches in their programs. There is a growing body of literature in the field of facilitation that is directly applicable to student-centred, experiential, environmental education. This paper will seek to demonstrate the relevance of facilitation skills, knowledge and experience to the effective implementation of education for the environment.