Dedan Kimathi University of Technology

BE.D Technology Education

EED 4117-Environmental Education – Lesson 2

PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The scope of environmental education and awareness or environmental extension

services covers all fields of environmental science. This include the effects of man on

environment - how he has exploited and devastated it, polluted it, but more importantly

how man can save itself from the problems which he has caused through the abuse,

misuse and over-use of the resources provided by the nature.

Environmental Education should not only focus on the effects of environmental

degradation but very importantly the understanding of the fundamental causes. These

should also include the examination of social and economic factors that aggravate

environmental degradation

1. Environmental education can be described as education from the environment

2. Education about the environment and

3. Education for the environment.

Education from the environment involves the experience gained from our surrounding.

This includes the aesthetic value of the environment and the need to keep them as such.

Education about environment involves the study of our environment to learn about its

composition and working mechanism and its usefulness. This is an important component

of environmental education since we have to learn about the environment before we can

make it.

Education for the environmental enables us to learn how to preserve the environment to

enable us derives maximum benefit for the present generation as well as for future. This

is the conservation aspect of environmental education.

Environmental extension means helping people to help themselves, making available to

the people some information and other facilities that will help them improve their living

environment. Environmental education is a two-way system in the sense that the educator

is making available to the people his findings at the same time the effectiveness of the

message is monitored by the educator and made known to relevant authorities. The

responsibility of extension person or educator is enormous because he has to be an expert

in nearly all the fields since he is supposed to explain and answer questions on various

aspects of the environment.

Unlike agricultural or forest extension workers whose task is mainly with rural people,

environmental education and awareness cover rural and urban dwellers, the industrialists

and all those who use any form of natural resource as raw material whose product, bi-

products and waste product affect the living standard of the people.

TARGET POPULATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Three categories of audience have been identified for environmental education and

awareness. These are

(a) General Public

(b) Specific occupational or Social Group

(c) Certain Professional and Scientists

(1) General Public

There is need for environmental education programme which introduces awareness

among the general public for its own environment and danger to which it may be

exposed. This should involve adequate background knowledge and information about the
environment enables them to take part in decision making concerning their environment.

It should include information on present or planned activities with major potential impact

on the environment.

Participants in the general public education should include the general public especially

non-governmental organizations. For the general public, environmental education should

be provided at every age class and at all levels of formal education for pupils and teachers

and informal education for young people and adult including the handicaps.

(2) Specific Occupational or Social Groups

These are those whose activities and influence have an important bearing on the

environment. These include engineers, architects, administrators and planners,

industrialists, trade unionists, policy makers and agriculturists. Their form of education

should be both formal through in-service trainings and short courses and non-formal

through seminars and workshops.

(3) Certain Professional and Scientists

These group includes those working on specific problems of the environment e.g.

biologists, ecologists, hydrologists, taxonomists, sanitary engineers etc.

NEEDS AND RATIONALE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION &

AWARENESS

Need Environmental Education

The needs to protect the environment hence the rationales for environmental education

arise as a result of the following:

1. Environment is the basis of all life and therefore deserves proper care and management.

2. If the environment is threatened on a continuous basis, numerous problem which would constitute a

danger to human existence could arise.

3. The environment is part of our cultural heritage which should be handed down to prosperity.

4. Some resources of the environment are not easily replaceable and should be managed on a sustainable

basis, to prevent the extinction of certain components of the environment such as plants and animals.

5. There is need to enhance the sanity and aesthetic quality of our environment in order to promote healthy

living.

6. The environment is part of nature and needs to be preserved for its own sake.

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Development-refers to human effort to improve their quality of life through meetings basic
needs such as food, healthcare, employment and housing. It is achieved through modification of the
biophysical environment.
Sustainability-it is the endurance of systems and processes e.g. hydrological systems,
regeneration of resources.
In ecology, sustainability refers to how biological systems are diverse and productive e.g.
forests, wetlands, soils e.t.c.
Sustainable development

 It is the development that meets the needs of the present generation without
compromising
the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs(WCED,1987)

 It is human development which is economically, Socially and ecologically sound and

can be
maintained over a long term(UNESCO-UNEP,1993)
 It is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of
supporting systems (iucn, unep, wwf 2001)
 It is development that distributes the benefits of economic progress more equitably as
well as to
rotects both local and global environment for future generations and improves the quality
of life(The Inter-American Development Bank, 1990)

Issues Arising from the definitions

a) Quality of life (e.g health, employment, education)
b) Conservation of environment to continue supplying renewable and non-renewable resources
c) Improving the economy of the country/society
d) Social responsibility of integrating and improving the social aspects of the society
 Evolution of sustainable development concept
Its origin and meaning can be traced to concerted efforts of preservationists and
conservationists in the late 1960s, which were directed towards preventing pollution, especially for
the western world. There was also concern that pollution would become a third world problem too, if

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developing countries followed the pattern of development that the west had taken which had least
regard for the environmental protection.
Issues that influenced sustainable development
ion explosion

ntal resources leading to pollution

Before the adoption of the modern technologies, human societies had developed sophisticated
environmental conservation measures that ensured sustainable utilization of natural resources. This
indigenous conservation measures include:

ystems which valued and respected nature

and splitting the herd to

avoid overgrazing
Industrial revolution greatly increased the ability to control environment bringing enormous
technological changes based on increased energy use, mechanization and chemical use in synthetic
materials and medical advances. These activities led to:

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The concern about environmental degradation resulted in the first global environmental conference
1972, Stockholm, Sweden. The formation of UNEP as an international agency, addressed global
environmental concerns of both developed and developing countries as they experienced impact of
environmental pollution, though at varying scales. Nations there after gave attention to issues
concerning sustainable development.
In 1992, Rio de Janeiro Summit in Brazil, sustainable development was the main agenda. Key
outcome of the summit was Agenda 21 which addressed sustainable development at both local and
international levels. It was a blue print for sustainable development that encompassed poverty
eradication and environmental protection.
The basic idea of Agenda 21 was that people must live within the limitations of the planet earth and
share its resources equitably and use them sustainably. In the World Summit on sustainable
development held in Johannesburg in 2002, three key components of sustainable development were
identified:

Reasons for unsustainable use of resources

1) Ignorance of how ecosystems function
2) Failure of governments to enforce existing laws
3) Profit driven corporate motives

Dimensions of sustainable development

Sustainable quality of life is possible when three dimensions or goals are integrated in the
development process:
1. Economic dimension/goal
It involves wise use of natural resources for economic growth to meet human needs. It also involves
increased support for locally based enterprises and development process that protects the society from
any detrimental forces of international market.

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 2. Social dimension/goal
The improvement of quality of people’s lives e,g health, freedom, human rights and employment. It
involves greater tolerance for diversity, thereby acknowledging individual values of a cross-section of
the society. It demands that a cross-section of the society has basic needs, equal access to services
and is involved in decision-making processes on matters that affect it. It also demands respect for
indigenous cultural values, thus enabling developing countries to avoid the whole application of
western-style free market values and consumerism: western values have regrettably been used as
yardstick to judge the values of societies in other parts of the world.
3. Environmental dimension/goal
Is the maintenance of environmental systems that support life. It demands that the environment and
the species within it are valued on their own merit, and not just because of their usefulness to
humans. That species of plants and animals have a right to exist and that appropriate action is taken to
prevent loss of species and their habitat.
Aims of sustainable development
The concept encompasses the following aims:
ion but
to destroy the environment.
-reliance in the utilization of
available resources;
-effective development process that does not degrade environmental quality nor reduce the
productivity of its natural resources in the long run.

-centered initiatives in which people are the key resources;

NB: Sustainable society is one that lives within self-perpetrating limits of the environment.
Such society recognizes the limits of its sustainable growth by seeking the best means to achieve the
desired growth while avoiding aimless growth.
Characteristics of a sustainable society
A sustainable society is one measured and evaluated based on the following characteristics.
1) Living within environmental sustainability –where environmental considerations are
enriched in policy formulation and development projects. Societies of the world have to address their

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respective environmental issues as they seek to undertake their development activities without
harming the environment (environmentally complaint activities).
2) Equity –It emphasizes not only the creation of wealth along with resource conservation,
but also on the fair distribution of resources among nations and within communities. It also
incorporates inter-generational equity i.e. fair distribution of environmental benefits between
generations.
3) Uplifting socio-economic status of the people- Where economic advancement is
accompanied by non-financial components of improving people’s health, education level, the quality
of work, the existence of cohesive communities and the vibrancy of cultural life, none of which can
be measured by GNP.
4) Satisfying basic or essential human needs e.g. of the poorest and most needy in the
society without any harm done to the natural and cultural heritage. The needs include biological(e.g.
food and sleep) cultural (e.g. entertainment and music), materials(e.g. money, cars) and non-material
(e.g. psychological i.e. safety and security)
5) Citizen participation i.e. satisfactory number of people who are to be affected by a
development process should also be involved through their voluntary contribution, in project
formulation and implementation in their respective localities. In this case participation is as much a
goal of sustainable development as it is a means of achieving sustainability.
6) Self-reliance-is a unifying objective, a confidence building factor emphasizing on
dependence on a country’s own resources including manpower. Self-reliance refers to independence
achieved through rational use of allocation of a nation’s natural and human resources in the process
of sustainable development.
Guidelines to sustainable development
a) Efficient use of resources
Encouraging and facilitating development and application of systems for proper resources allocation
together with incentives to encourage efficient use of resources.
b) Public participation
Establishing forums which encourage and provide opportunity for consultation and meaningful
participation in decision making process.
c) Access to information
Encouraging and facilitating the improvement and refinement of economic, environmental, human
health and social information. Promote the opportunity for equal and timely access to information.
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 d) Integrating decision making and planning
Encourage and facilitate decision making and planning processes that are efficient,
timely and
accountable and cross sectoral and which incorporate an inter-
generational perspective of future
needs and consequences.
e) Waste minimization and substitution
Encouraging and promoting the development and use of substitutes for scarce reso
urces where such
substitutes are both environmentally sound and economically viable. Reducing, re-
reusing, recycling
and recovering the products of society.
f) Research and innovation
Encouraging and assisting research, development, application and sharing of know
ledge and
technologies which further our economic, environmental, human health and social
well being.
Education for sustainable development
Education is the process of imparting intellectual, moral, social skills and values to
learners for aparticular purpose. Education is the key to sustainable development.
It should provide the skills,perspectives, values and knowledge to enable people liv
e sustainably. It must be interdisciplinary and
be reoriented to include the changes needed to promote sustainable development. E
ducation for
sustainable development is also a process of achieving sustainable development en
compassing three
pillars: -society, economy and environment.
Thus it includes education for poverty alleviation, human rights, gender equity, cult
ural diversity,
international understanding and peace.
The overall aim of ESD is to empower citizens to act for positive environmental an
d social change by
giving people knowledge and skills to help them find new solutions to the social, e
conomic and
environmental issues