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experiences and pedagogies that might build students’ competencies for deep civic
participation, contributing to environmental and social change.
Challenge 4: Educators’ Motivation and Professional Development on
concerning Education for Environmental Citizenship
Teachers play a key role in the impact of students’ knowledge, values, attitudes,
actions and their citizenry towards the environment, thus influencing the outcome of
the observed environmental challenges (e.g.: Hungerford 2010; NAAEE 2010;
Yavetz et al. 2009; Desjean-Perrotta et al. 2008). Pre-service and in-service training
is therefore of particular importance to empower educators to act as formative
agents of Environmental Citizenship. This raises questions that need to be answered
in order to facilitate educators’ engagement in the new initiative of Education for
Environmental Citizenship: What competences should educators have in order to be
able to engage in Education for Environmental Citizenship? Which Teacher
Professional Development models or educational strategies are the most appropriate
to train educators for Educating for Environmental Citizenship?
Challenge 5: Time Availability
Getting youths to participate in non-formal Education for Environmental Citizenship
is limited by time availability. Non-formal Education for Environmental Citizenship
needs to fit into the tight schedule of today’s youth, which differs from that of previous generations (Kleiber and Powell 2005). The time required for non-formal
Education for Environmental Citizenship needs and the free time that young people
have will impact and shape the structure and communication of any non-formal
programme. In order to solve this drawback, the use of weekends could be an alternative, leading to the importance of family involvement.
Challenge 6: Networking
Within Education for Environmental Citizenship, networking is as a crucial component for achieving environmental change due to its characteristics. For example,
networks promote a multidirectional and more symmetrical form of communication. Moreover, networkers want to evolve together with their network partners (at
the same time) which encourages them to progress. This is a positive metaphor for
the reciprocal relationship between the individual and society and can thus enhance
the social responsibility required of environmentally responsible citizens (Goldman
et al. 2017).
Acknowledgments This chapter is based on work from Cost Action ENEC – European Network
for Environmental Citizenship (CA16229) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science
and Technology).
14 Educating for Environmental Citizenship in Non-formal Frameworks…
experiences and pedagogies that might build students’ competencies for deep civic
participation, contributing to environmental and social change.
Challenge 4: Educators’ Motivation and Professional Development on
concerning Education for Environmental Citizenship
Teachers play a key role in the impact of students’ knowledge, values, attitudes,
actions and their citizenry towards the environment, thus influencing the outcome of
the observed environmental challenges (e.g.: Hungerford 2010; NAAEE 2010;
Yavetz et al. 2009; Desjean-Perrotta et al. 2008). Pre-service and in-service training
is therefore of particular importance to empower educators to act as formative
agents of Environmental Citizenship. This raises questions that need to be answered
in order to facilitate educators’ engagement in the new initiative of Education for
Environmental Citizenship: What competences should educators have in order to be
able to engage in Education for Environmental Citizenship? Which Teacher
Professional Development models or educational strategies are the most appropriate
to train educators for Educating for Environmental Citizenship?
Challenge 5: Time Availability
Getting youths to participate in non-formal Education for Environmental Citizenship
is limited by time availability. Non-formal Education for Environmental Citizenship
needs to fit into the tight schedule of today’s youth, which differs from that of previous generations (Kleiber and Powell 2005). The time required for non-formal
Education for Environmental Citizenship needs and the free time that young people
have will impact and shape the structure and communication of any non-formal
programme. In order to solve this drawback, the use of weekends could be an alternative, leading to the importance of family involvement.
Challenge 6: Networking
Within Education for Environmental Citizenship, networking is as a crucial component for achieving environmental change due to its characteristics. For example,
networks promote a multidirectional and more symmetrical form of communication. Moreover, networkers want to evolve together with their network partners (at
the same time) which encourages them to progress. This is a positive metaphor for
the reciprocal relationship between the individual and society and can thus enhance
the social responsibility required of environmentally responsible citizens (Goldman
et al. 2017).
Acknowledgments This chapter is based on work from Cost Action ENEC – European Network
for Environmental Citizenship (CA16229) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science
and Technology).
14 Educating for Environmental Citizenship in Non-formal Frameworks…