152
Education for Environmental Citizenship, along with the aim of promoting people
to act according to the public environmental good (Dobson 2007). In that sense,
Education for Environmental Citizenship can be considered as a developed, integrated and applied approach that is in accordance with Education for Sustainability’s
broader context and by which the content and abilities to really make a societal
change for a better world can be fulfilled. In contrast with Education for Sustainability,
where citizenship is only one of the 20 Key Themes (UNECE 2005), Education for
Environmental Citizenship is specifically focused on Environmental Citizenship
and how this could be achieved. Environmental Citizenship never was at the heart
of our education, and Education for Environmental Citizenship is doing exactly this
to bring Environmental Citizenship to the heart of our education. Jacobi (2005)
stated that ‘EE should be placed in a broader context, namely education for citizenship and understood as a practice that is decisive in the consolidation of citizensubjects’ (p. 243). In the same point of view, according to Loureiro (2011),
Environmental Education (EE) is a constituent part of social and environmental
movements, and the process of constructing planetary citizenship or ecocitizenship
(in ENEC Environmental Citizenship) is considered as a new concept. In addition,
Education for Environmental Citizenship explicitly emphasises the practice of environmental rights and duties, the identification of underlying structural causes of the
environmental problems and developing the willingness and competencies for critical and active engagement and civic participation to address structural causes, acting individually and collectively, within democratic means and considering
inter- and intra-generational justice. These aspects are not explicitly in focus both in
Education for Sustainability and EE. However, Education for Environmental
Citizenship builds upon and integrates the pre-existing approaches in EE and
Education for Sustainability.
10.2 Why Education for Environmental Citizenship Is
Crucial
Other species have previously left their imprint on the earth, and their actions have
affected and changed the planet (e.g. the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere
increased because of plants photosynthesis activity). The human species is also
changing it in such a substantial way that the current era is often coined as
Anthropocene (Crutzen 2006). This term has emerged as a popular scientific term to
designate the current period of the Earth’s history during which humans have a
decisive influence on the state of the Earth’s system. Although there is critique about
the correctness of this name choice (Zalasiewicz et al. 2011), it has been demonstrated that we will have geological records of the greatest and fastest degradation
of ecosystems associated with different human activities (from Neolithic agriculture
land use changes to the technological revolution of the last 60 years, including the
recording of a nuclear age by radioactive waste and current planetary climate change
G. Parra et al.
Education for Environmental Citizenship, along with the aim of promoting people
to act according to the public environmental good (Dobson 2007). In that sense,
Education for Environmental Citizenship can be considered as a developed, integrated and applied approach that is in accordance with Education for Sustainability’s
broader context and by which the content and abilities to really make a societal
change for a better world can be fulfilled. In contrast with Education for Sustainability,
where citizenship is only one of the 20 Key Themes (UNECE 2005), Education for
Environmental Citizenship is specifically focused on Environmental Citizenship
and how this could be achieved. Environmental Citizenship never was at the heart
of our education, and Education for Environmental Citizenship is doing exactly this
to bring Environmental Citizenship to the heart of our education. Jacobi (2005)
stated that ‘EE should be placed in a broader context, namely education for citizenship and understood as a practice that is decisive in the consolidation of citizensubjects’ (p. 243). In the same point of view, according to Loureiro (2011),
Environmental Education (EE) is a constituent part of social and environmental
movements, and the process of constructing planetary citizenship or ecocitizenship
(in ENEC Environmental Citizenship) is considered as a new concept. In addition,
Education for Environmental Citizenship explicitly emphasises the practice of environmental rights and duties, the identification of underlying structural causes of the
environmental problems and developing the willingness and competencies for critical and active engagement and civic participation to address structural causes, acting individually and collectively, within democratic means and considering
inter- and intra-generational justice. These aspects are not explicitly in focus both in
Education for Sustainability and EE. However, Education for Environmental
Citizenship builds upon and integrates the pre-existing approaches in EE and
Education for Sustainability.
10.2 Why Education for Environmental Citizenship Is
Crucial
Other species have previously left their imprint on the earth, and their actions have
affected and changed the planet (e.g. the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere
increased because of plants photosynthesis activity). The human species is also
changing it in such a substantial way that the current era is often coined as
Anthropocene (Crutzen 2006). This term has emerged as a popular scientific term to
designate the current period of the Earth’s history during which humans have a
decisive influence on the state of the Earth’s system. Although there is critique about
the correctness of this name choice (Zalasiewicz et al. 2011), it has been demonstrated that we will have geological records of the greatest and fastest degradation
of ecosystems associated with different human activities (from Neolithic agriculture
land use changes to the technological revolution of the last 60 years, including the
recording of a nuclear age by radioactive waste and current planetary climate change
G. Parra et al.