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viding the opportunity and conditions that enable young people to acquire the body
of knowledge as well as the necessary skills, values, attitudes and pro- environmental
actions that an Environmental Citizen should be equipped with. In doing so, young
people will be empowered and motivated to act and participate in society as an
agent-of-change in the direction of solving contemporary environmental problems,
preventing the creation of new environmental problems, achieving sustainability,
and restoring our (human) relationships with nature.
Non-formal activities of EE have focused primarily on individual changes, especially on attitude and behavioural changes related to environmental aspects (Kool
2012). By building knowledge and environmental behaviours, teachers who have
committed themselves to environmental learning have looked to environmental literacy and positive nature-based experiences for the development of ecologically
responsible citizens (Hungerford 2010; Marcinkowski 2010). However, more
recently, environmental educators and researchers support the need to move beyond
a central focus on individual changes in attitude and behaviour, to collectively build
a better understanding of environmental learning processes aimed at socioecological change (Orr 2004). Thus, EE practices that only attempt to change individual behaviour or increase students’ knowledge of environmental issues will fall
short of promoting Environmental Citizenship. EE is not detached from environmental policy (De Carvalho and Lemos de Souza 2018). Thus, the role of EE is to
provide students with the opportunity to learn how to be active Environmental
Citizens within their communities through civic participation and active engagement, while helping students to understand the structural and systemic roots of
social and environmental problems.
How can we collectively develop in today’s youth the knowledge, skills and
competencies required to be ecologically and socially responsible Environmental
Citizens? What kinds of pedagogies and learning experiences could potentially
develop students’ skills for deep civic participation, contributing to environmental
and social change?
The following pedagogies, teaching tools and learning schemes of non-formal
education could be complementary to formal secondary education in promoting
Education for Environmental Citizenship.
14.2.1 Place-Based Education
The Place-based framework and its variations (e.g. expeditionary learning, pedagogy of place, problem-based learning, service-learning) seeks to make “the boundaries between schools and their environments more permeable by directing at least
part of a students’ school experiences to local phenomenon ranging from culture
and politics to environmental concerns and the economy” (Smith 2007, p. 190).
Such an approach does not diminish the importance of conceptual understanding
and skills as a result of the educational process; on the contrary, these elements are
integrated into an experiential and multidisciplinary learning environment in nonD. Paraskeva-Hadjichambi et al.
viding the opportunity and conditions that enable young people to acquire the body
of knowledge as well as the necessary skills, values, attitudes and pro- environmental
actions that an Environmental Citizen should be equipped with. In doing so, young
people will be empowered and motivated to act and participate in society as an
agent-of-change in the direction of solving contemporary environmental problems,
preventing the creation of new environmental problems, achieving sustainability,
and restoring our (human) relationships with nature.
Non-formal activities of EE have focused primarily on individual changes, especially on attitude and behavioural changes related to environmental aspects (Kool
2012). By building knowledge and environmental behaviours, teachers who have
committed themselves to environmental learning have looked to environmental literacy and positive nature-based experiences for the development of ecologically
responsible citizens (Hungerford 2010; Marcinkowski 2010). However, more
recently, environmental educators and researchers support the need to move beyond
a central focus on individual changes in attitude and behaviour, to collectively build
a better understanding of environmental learning processes aimed at socioecological change (Orr 2004). Thus, EE practices that only attempt to change individual behaviour or increase students’ knowledge of environmental issues will fall
short of promoting Environmental Citizenship. EE is not detached from environmental policy (De Carvalho and Lemos de Souza 2018). Thus, the role of EE is to
provide students with the opportunity to learn how to be active Environmental
Citizens within their communities through civic participation and active engagement, while helping students to understand the structural and systemic roots of
social and environmental problems.
How can we collectively develop in today’s youth the knowledge, skills and
competencies required to be ecologically and socially responsible Environmental
Citizens? What kinds of pedagogies and learning experiences could potentially
develop students’ skills for deep civic participation, contributing to environmental
and social change?
The following pedagogies, teaching tools and learning schemes of non-formal
education could be complementary to formal secondary education in promoting
Education for Environmental Citizenship.
14.2.1 Place-Based Education
The Place-based framework and its variations (e.g. expeditionary learning, pedagogy of place, problem-based learning, service-learning) seeks to make “the boundaries between schools and their environments more permeable by directing at least
part of a students’ school experiences to local phenomenon ranging from culture
and politics to environmental concerns and the economy” (Smith 2007, p. 190).
Such an approach does not diminish the importance of conceptual understanding
and skills as a result of the educational process; on the contrary, these elements are
integrated into an experiential and multidisciplinary learning environment in nonD. Paraskeva-Hadjichambi et al.