Environmental And Sustainability Education – Importance And Challenges

Importance of Education for Sustainable Development

Question:

Discuss About The Environmental And Sustainability Education?

Education of good quality is of supreme importance in creating a sustainable world. The concepts regarding sustainable development was specified by Agenda 21 that was the action programme in the 21^st century and it was adopted by different government at United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Education in relation to sustainable development lays emphasis on the development of knowledge, skill and values that will create a sustainable world that would ensure the protection of the environment. It will promote social equity and encourage the economic sustainability (Attfield, 2015).  Concept of Education For Sustainable Development (ESD) emerged from environmental education that particularly focused on developing the skills and values within people so that they will be able to care for their environment. The primary aim of ESD is to help people in making decisions and perform action that will overall contribute in improving the quality of life without harming the planet. It aims at integrating the values imbibed in sustainable development in all the levels of the learning process (Malhotra, Melville & Watson, 2013).

In the last five years or so management practices relating to environmental policies have had much improvement in the state and the whole of Australia. Australia’s environment comprising cultural and natural heritage of nature and Antarctic and marine environments are in quite good condition. However, there are still quite a bit of areas where the environment is deteriorating or poor. These are areas where population is dense near the coasts and also other areas in urban Australia where human pressure is at its peak. These are also the areas where even grazing is considered to be a threat to biodiversity (Sund & Öhman, 2014).  Globally too, the threat to the environment looms large. Even though there are places which are adhering to environment policies, there are places where it is in ruins. In the country, though the foremost drivers of change are the growth in economy and population (McKinnon et al., 2014). The extent of which these things can have an impact on a range of factors are: how many people live there, or where and how they live, the technologies they use to get food, energy, materials and support, the goods and services they produce, how they manage the waste they produce. The main problems which are being faced by the environment in Australia today are the same ones which were there in 2011, those that of climate change, land use change and habitat degradation and fragmentation. In addition to there are the interactions between other pressures and these which are resulting in a impact which is cumulative (Kabisch, Qureshi & Haase, 2015).

Environmental Management Practices in Australia

However, evidence shows that there are quite a few individual pressures on the environment which have been cut down since 2011. These are the ones connected with poor agricultural practices, the quality of air becoming poor, oil and gas exploration and commercial fishing (Murray, Skene & Haynes, 2017). On the other hand however, other pressures like coal mining, habitat degradation and litter along the coastal and marine environments, coal-seam gas industries, invasive species and more traffic in the urban cities have increased. In some parts on the environment in the country, the effective management and policies have very much contributed to the outcomes for the people and the environment. Like for example, the watering of the environment with the help of Murray-Darling Basin plan along with naturally occurring floods have heavily added to the benefits in ecology and biodiversity (Knox, Marston & Imort, 2016). In the marine environment there is the formation of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority which has helped in better offshore petroleum management for the environment. This has led to the better understanding of impacts with more focus on industry compliance and increased levels in order of preparedness for events which are unplanned (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016).

However, there are still a lot of key challenges which remain for the effectively managing the environment in Australia. Firstly there is no overreaching policy that puts forth a very clear idea of how to make sustainably manage Australia’s environment till the year 2050 (Wals et al., 2014). Then there is poor collaboration or coordination of policies of management arrangements or policies which are there in between sectors and between different managers. Also there are no follow through from policy to action. Monitoring for long term and data needed for it are also inadequate. The resources needed for restoration and the management of the environment are also very inadequate. The understanding and managing these capacities to identify cumulative impact are not proper and therefore it reduces the potential for proper management of these. However to meet these challenges there is a need of policies especially designed keeping in mind adaptive management actions which caters to drivers for the changes in environment and the pressures relating to it (Kirton & Trebilcock, 2017).  There should be natural leadership and improved support that is needed for decision making. There should also be a more strategic planning for a future which is sustainable and there should always be reliable sources relating to financing. Globally too the context has not changed. First and foremost it is man that is destroying the environment around him. There is pollution to look into firstly. Air, soil and water takes thousands of years to recover and industry and exhaust from cars, buses and trucks are atop in the list of pollutants. Nitrates, pollutants, plastic toxins are all jointly responsible for causing pollution. While water pollution is caused by oil spills, urban runoff and oil spills, air pollution happens when toxins are released into the air. Then there is Global warming which is a result of human practices like emitting greenhouse gases. Thirdly there is overpopulation which has lead to scarcity of resources like water, food and fuel. Population explosion in developing cities and countries are putting to test the already scarce resources. Intensive agriculture is too draining the environment. The creation of plastics and the over consumption of resources have also led to a crisis in disposal of wastes. Developing countries are quite well known for producing a lot of garbage and throwing this waste in seas and oceans. Disposing of nuclear waste has tremendous hazards connected with health. Plastic, fast food, packaging and cheap electronic wastes threaten the well being of humans (Kazamia & Smith, 2014). Climate change is another problem which has come up in recent years. It happens due to a rise in global warming. Climate change adversely affects the environment. Also there is the loss of bio diversity due to human over activity. This is leading to extinction of some species and a few other getting endangered. Eco systems which have taken millions of years to perfect themselves are also in danger when population of any species is decreasing (Parsons, 2015). Deforestation has also led to a change in the environment. At present forests are covering 30 per cent of land but that is getting reduced each day as the demand for more food and shelter takes place. Technological advancement made along with global integration has led to gains in the arena of material wealth throughout the world. It has however created a huge amount of pressure on the social and environmental resources. Countries should collaborate in addressing climate change and the decision making process should be able to address these problems. The sustainable development puts stress on the long-term compatibility of economic, environmental along with the social dimensions in relation to development (Graham & Thompson, 2014).  An integrated network of institutions is highly important for sustainable development. There should be coherent integration of policy across that of social and economic sphere and the participation of civil society in policy making will help to a large extent. A challenge arises on account of unsustainable consumption and pattern of production that has risen in developed countries. The developing countries are following this pattern. Per capita emission of green house gas is 20-40 times more than that what is required for the stabilization of the concentration of green house gas in the atmosphere. Per capita ecological footprint is 4-9 times more than their bio-capacity in case of the developed countries. There should be a global agenda that is effective or else the high-income households in both developed and developing country will continue to take recourse to consumption practices that are unsustainable (Gough, 2013).  Hunger along with malnourishment has decreased in a large number of developed countries however this problem is still existent in case of other countries and nutrition security continues to be a distant dream for many household. Income inequality has risen to a high level and is creating tension and social conflict in many countries. Inequality results in undermining prospect in relation to inclusive growth and access of social protection. Rapid population growth along with the ageing of population while on the one hand represents the rising prosperity in some countries but on the other hand it puts stress on national along with local infrastructure. It will adversely affect care-giving, health and education system of a country. Rapid urbanization in case of the developing countries needs to undergo major changes so that urban development can be designed and managed. Energy needs will remain unfulfilled for millions of households if significant progress is not made that would ensure energy services in the modern era. The re-emergence of financial crisis needs to be handled properly and it should be directed in such a manner that would promote access in the area of long-term financing that would help in achieving sustainable development. In order to be successful in addressing these challenges it is extremely necessary that a global development agenda should be created that would facilitate transformation in the particular way in which goods and services are produced, manner of creating jobs and managing natural resources (Cullingford & Blewitt, 2013).

Challenges in Effectively Managing the Environment in Australia

The Environmental Sustainability Policy is a policy which has been designed for improving the performance and mitigates environmental aspects which are of the highest risks in the risk assessment. On the other hand, Australian Government Department of Human Services environmental policy statement is commitment of the highest level to stake holder that the department adheres to legal obligations applies a systematic environmental approach striving to minimize pollution (Hodgson, 2016). The policy expands emphasizing on the policy statement and brings out the environmental and sustainability context. The scope of the policy is that it is based on high risk aspects of the environment which are very much identified in the Environment’s Risk Assessment. The policy however does not cater to the welfare of staff of the organization. The objective of the policy is to improve the department’s environmental performance by complying with all government policies, legislation, planning instruments and by meeting the obligations which are needed for Australian Government sustainability and environmental reporting. The next thing is to minimize adverse environmental impacts by giving responsibilities and meeting the necessary things needed for promoting sustainability. This is done through effective and efficient economical procuring which includes assessment of products on a life cycle basis and looking out for suppliers for responsibilities which are social. Then it is done through managing the consumption of resources and demand which results in better product utilization, financial performance and efficiency.  It serves as an evaluation measure or weighting for criteria of the environment (Law et al., 2014).

Objective of this policy was also about improving the department’s environmental performance  by improving environmental standards, practices for use of energy, green house gas emissions, principles and practices of energy use, ozone depleting substances, resource use, materials selection and supplier, product, materials waste and resources recovery and water use treatment. Environmental education is a complex study which covers a lot of different aspects relating to the environment. This education gives people the mindfulness which is needed to build organizations, see NGO exercises and make methodologies for planning urban (McClellan, 2016).  They also guarantee future markets for businesses which are eco friendly. All these will not only support environment but will also be good for the growth of the economy of a nation too. Environmental education is usually taught in communities, schools or even in parks and zoos for that matter. There are different policies for different countries and cities and schools. In New South Wales, Australia the policy supports environmental education programs in schools supported by the government. It provides guidelines on how to manage school resources keeping in mind ecological sustainability and is a point from where one can start addressing issues regarding global environment (Hussey, 2014).  

Global Challenges to the Environment

 All schools will have to implement and develop a school environment management plan which is quite meaningful in servicing the school community and is evaluated regularly. The school environment management plan should: be incorporated into the whole-school plan. The school administration and management should be linked with curriculum plans. Be organized under the three focus areas of curriculum, resource and grounds management (Hansen & Wethal, 2014).The principal of the school will be responsible for implementing and developing the management plan in his school. He should also monitor to check the effectiveness of the plan. This is applicable for all school communities too. The education is based on the principles of ecologically sustainable development in the NSW Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991 (Zsóka et al.,2013).Academic institutions as vital members of community will play a key role will play a key role in educating citizens along with professionals. They will play an effective role in co-creating community change by making suitable contribution to research and human resources. Universities that are committed to the purpose of community engagement will play a key role to build reciprocal partnership that would help in improving the creativity of both. By taking recourse to collaborative interchange, the academy will become an active partner searching for answers. The community will provide a context in providing civil discourse and it would eventually lead to interactional creation in relation to knowledge (Melton et al., 2013). Education that is engaged with the community will lead to exploration of intricate problems and environmental sustainability will be the primary focus. Community building along with social capital should support the process of learning. Interdisciplinary analysis is crucial for providing different lenses that will be able to deconstruct the different approaches in relation to environmental sustainability. Multiple academic disciplines will be able to provide the training ground that would be able to balance consumption and conservation in relation to the environmental resource. Each discipline will carry with it its own knowledge but an amalgamation of all these will enable to increase the potential in relation to the problem solving. Social workers will be able to bring commitment of human rights along with social justice. Green practice of social work will be able to furnish valuable context that will enable cross-disciplinary exploration (Stern, Powell & Hill, 2014).  Business and economics will be able to highlight on important issues that relates to the management and organization. This holds true for social entrepreneurship where focus is laid on adapting such efficiencies that would be able to provide solutions to different kinds of concerns relating to the environment. Many researchers have expanded work from that of a strict reviewing of climate change to a more dynamic involvement with international development of policy (Kopnina, 2014). Internet search will be able to reveal that interdisciplinary courses will be able to link up natural sciences, economics along with that of public policy. An interdisciplinary approach will be able to prepare practitioners for social work and conflict studies can be used to assess issues threatening the environment. Cross disciplinary exploration will provide the base that would lead to the development of the creative faculty. Different methods in relation to experience will help in the reinforcement of learning regarding the important sustainable responses.

Creating a Global Development Agenda for Sustainable Development

According to Arjen A.J. Walls, the goals in relation to environmental education should not be determined with the help of outside experts but they should be determined by those people who form an inseparable part of community and they should take the lead in framing the process of education. The goals in other words should be determined from the inside. It should take into account the social context and emphasis should be laid on gaining knowledge that will help in shaping their life. Environmental education should help in developing the faculty of autonomous thinking regarding issues that has a bearing on quality of life. There is a lot of injustice in relation to sharing use of natural resources and students should be involved in solving the challenges.

Carolyn Merchant has assessed the 20^th century literature and called it “a grand narrative of environmental endism” and this highlights the popularity of eco-criticism. The rising need of ethically directed study reflects the growing urgency that shrouds the modern civilization and the next generation should have heightened morality in relation to the environment. Classrooms are becoming the places where discussion regarding environmental sustainability and future states of the humankind are made. This shift in education is termed as “the eco critical turn” and it is extremely significant in the present century where problems regarding environment has risen to such heights that it needs immediate attention and thinking. The movement towards the US liberal style of education necessitates the humanity to make research on this cross-disciplinary area that would help students in dealing with the problems of the real world. Raymond William’s study on industrialism “The Country and the City” is largely held to be the forerunner in regard to the environmental criticism in the world of today. The analysis of rural life and the change in the city brought about by the advent of industrialism was the area under discussion of this book. It offered valuable perspective on the relation between that of technology, population and landscape. Environmental concerns have always troubled the literary world. “Bleak House” written by Charles Dickens opens with the description of omnipresent fog that stands as a symbol for the industrial pollutant that has spread in the 1850’s London. Dickens said that it seemed as if the dark city was mourning on account of the sun’s death. This image is an apt reminder about the anxiety of his contemporary in relation to the sun’s cooling that was voiced by Herman von Helmholtz in his 1847 essay. Environmental issues are used in the present age as content of education. Environmental education lays stress on the complex relationship between that of population along with environment (Childers et al., 2014). Higher education enjoys a lot of academic freedom and it has diverse skills that would help in developing innovative ideas that would be able to highlight the challenges of society and to involve in bold experimentation that would help in sustainable development. Education along with scientific preparation will be able to focus on environmental status and it can be used as a tool for the constant development of science and help in creating opinions in this particular area. Knowledge can be obtained from future graduates that will focus on environment and state of fauna, flora and pollution that can prove to be immensely helpful. Environmental Chemistry can throw huge amount of light on environmental degradation and how the prevailing condition can be improved. The students should be encouraged to do projects that would increase their awareness and these study programmes can be integrated with activities that focus on relevant areas of air, water and soil pollution. The students would expand and disseminate information regarding regarding the environment that they have accumulated with the help of school studies. The strategic aim would be to highlight the status of environment of the present age by popularizing scientific activities with the help of programs undertaken by the educational institutions. These programmes will emphasize on the specific role that the young generation will play in order to bring about improvement in the condition of environment. An educational committee can be formed by the teachers who would oversee the entire activity and popularize scientific ideas in the students (Cheney et al., 2014). Training can be given regarding the adverse impact of toxic substances in the environment and the students would be illuminated about quality assessment methods and how to monitor the components in the environment. They would be made aware about particulate matters and the aftermath of certain selected factors on pollutant dispersion and regarding pyrolysis of municipal solid waste. Monitoring the chemical characteristics of the water bodies and understanding the quality of surface water in regard to water flow will help in providing authentic information about the quality of water of the place. The soil samples can be used to determine the presence of inorganic nitrogen in the soil and tests can be done to check the effect that sulphur will have in the accumulation of selenium within the soil. Atomic absorption spectroscopy can be used to determine the presence of heavy metals in the soil (Mahat & Pettigrew, 2017).

Education for sustainability goes much beyond that of providing students with framework themes. It emphasizes on learning skills and values that can guide as well as motivate people to look for sustainable livelihoods and thus co-operate in a democratic society. Education for sustainability should go much beyond that of teaching regarding global issues. It should be aimed at imbibing students with practical skills that would enable them to continue with the process of learning even after their graduation and thus contribute significantly to sustainable livelihood. Research has led to the conclusion that a sharp vision along with responsible innovation based on ethical decision-making would be able to bring about sustainable development (Benton & Redclift, 2013). It would be able to envision a better future by learning these essential skills. Creative thinking, critical thinking and active value system would be able to develop the faculty of critical thinking and contribute effectively to sustainable education. Gaining real world knowledge is another necessity that would ensure the participation of individuals to the process of sustainable development of environment. The educational institutions should give importance to consequential thinking and on interpersonal competence that would help in creating partnerships and bring about a change in the society (Schaumann et al., 2016). Looking at the underlying cause of issue and predicting future that are based on different scenarios is an integral part of EFS. It must be understood that all the global issues are related to each other. Consumption of consumer goods like paper would lead to deforestation that in turn is related to global climate change. Such realization will dawn on the students and they would be able to ruminate on how everything is inter-related. Understanding an issue from the point of view of different stakeholders is extremely essential for sustainability (Barling & Duncan, 2015).  One should consider an issue from the point of view of others that would eventually lead to international understanding. This understanding is important in creating mood of co-operation that underlies sustainable development. Values form an essential part of EFS. There are some cultures where value is taught overtly in schools whereas in other cultures they are discussed. Understanding values is crucial in order to understanding one’s own point of view as well as the viewpoint of other people. It is necessary to understand the values of society one lives in and the value of other people in the world will form the central part of education in relation to sustainable future. Value clarification along with value analysis are the common two techniques that are useful in understanding the value component in relation to EFS (Sepúlveda  & Murray, 2014). Environment is altogether complex and it is composed of different different areas like natural and cultural environment. It is interdisciplinary in nature and is an integration of biology, geology, geology and economics. It combines all these subjects to highlight the effect of humanity on the world of nature. Students develop methodical knowledge which helps them in facilitating solution to different problems of environment. Chemical engineering will lay emphasis on nature of air pollutants. Mathematical modeling will be able to highlight the effect that climate has on air pollution. The economic results of air pollution will be taught with the help of economics and demography. Sociology will study the sociological fallouts of air pollution.

Conclusion

Environmentalists play a great role in addressing environmental issues like ozone depletion, global warming and greenhouse effect. Environmental chemistry makes use of chemical principles and lays emphasis in maintaining environmental quality. Studies have clearly revealed that there is a link between that of human being and environmental chemistry. The environmental problems are being caused by misuse of environment and the lack of conscience of people in society regarding environmental education. Environmental education should go much beyond that of providing the students with mere information regarding the issues in the environment. The scientific issues that surround the problems taking place in the environment highlight why the teaching of scientific literacy is so crucial for environmental courses of science (Axelrod & VanDeveer, 2014).  Environmental education that is professionally executed provides a conmprehensive process that would be of great help to people in understanding environment and the various problems related to environment.

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