exploded. However, it is reasonable to assume that especially local knowledge in
many regions has disappeared.
The development of environmental education represents a chronological
sequence, which in general can be subdivided in five consecutive steps:
1. Communication of disaster stories and religious narratives
(at local scales)
2. Education in religious institutions and schools about water and food production,
nature, medicine, astronomy, religion, and other disciplines with the idea to
enable human life and solve social problems
(at regional scales)
3. Scientific education of modern concepts to solve environmental problems including ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation
(at regional to supra-national scales)
4. Transdisciplinary exchange of scientific information and education of children,
students, the public and stakeholders in economy and politics with the purpose to
limit environmental disaster and species extinction
(at regional to supra-national scales)
5. Environmental education which enables avoidance of environmental catastrophes, species extinction and social disasters
(at all spatial scales)
These phases can be seen as logical sequence of the past. However, the development in the past was not that clearly arranged as different aspects occurred at
different times and in different regions independently. Today a combination of the
first three steps is still globally relevant. Culturally different accentuation is realized
at regional scales.
The fourth step is only partially achieved and has to be intensified. The fifth step
simply has not been reached, yet. However, diverse educational programmes show a
strong effort to avoid environmental disaster based on scientific knowledge across all
disciplines, which are related to human wellbeing, health, survival, animal welfare,
and survival of species and ecosystems.
The formal establishment of environmental education (EE) started in the middle
of the twentieth century due to a worldwide growing concern about environmental
problems. The concepts of environmental education and education for sustainable
development (ESD) meanwhile are established in educational systems across the
world.
However, also these concepts today are intermingled between short-term perspectives (health, wellbeing, profit) and long-term perspectives (survival of ecosystems and biodiversity, resource use, recycling), and between nature conservation and
development. Furthermore, dependent on the concept different aspects of economy,
social science, and ecology are merged with the effect that the target course
sometimes is getting rather weak.
The central purpose of biodiversity conservation education (BCE) is the analysis
and intermediation of the relationship between nature and culture, evolution and
extinction, species and ecosystem, natural constraints and human possibilities. In
44
C. Börtitz and C. Hobohm
many regions has disappeared.
The development of environmental education represents a chronological
sequence, which in general can be subdivided in five consecutive steps:
1. Communication of disaster stories and religious narratives
(at local scales)
2. Education in religious institutions and schools about water and food production,
nature, medicine, astronomy, religion, and other disciplines with the idea to
enable human life and solve social problems
(at regional scales)
3. Scientific education of modern concepts to solve environmental problems including ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation
(at regional to supra-national scales)
4. Transdisciplinary exchange of scientific information and education of children,
students, the public and stakeholders in economy and politics with the purpose to
limit environmental disaster and species extinction
(at regional to supra-national scales)
5. Environmental education which enables avoidance of environmental catastrophes, species extinction and social disasters
(at all spatial scales)
These phases can be seen as logical sequence of the past. However, the development in the past was not that clearly arranged as different aspects occurred at
different times and in different regions independently. Today a combination of the
first three steps is still globally relevant. Culturally different accentuation is realized
at regional scales.
The fourth step is only partially achieved and has to be intensified. The fifth step
simply has not been reached, yet. However, diverse educational programmes show a
strong effort to avoid environmental disaster based on scientific knowledge across all
disciplines, which are related to human wellbeing, health, survival, animal welfare,
and survival of species and ecosystems.
The formal establishment of environmental education (EE) started in the middle
of the twentieth century due to a worldwide growing concern about environmental
problems. The concepts of environmental education and education for sustainable
development (ESD) meanwhile are established in educational systems across the
world.
However, also these concepts today are intermingled between short-term perspectives (health, wellbeing, profit) and long-term perspectives (survival of ecosystems and biodiversity, resource use, recycling), and between nature conservation and
development. Furthermore, dependent on the concept different aspects of economy,
social science, and ecology are merged with the effect that the target course
sometimes is getting rather weak.
The central purpose of biodiversity conservation education (BCE) is the analysis
and intermediation of the relationship between nature and culture, evolution and
extinction, species and ecosystem, natural constraints and human possibilities. In
44
C. Börtitz and C. Hobohm