Engaging Environmental Education: Learning, Culture and Agency

As more attention is devoted to the increasing and complex socio-ecological issues facing the planet, new insights and new ways of thinking are being sought about the learning and agency of children and adults in relation to these environmental concerns. The contributors to this book address the critically important dual challenge of making environmental education engaging while engaging individuals, institutions and communities. Rather than treating students and citizens as passive recipients of other people’s knowledge, the book highlights the importance of engaging learners as active agents in thinking about and constructing a more sustainable and equitable quality of life. The case studies emphasize socio-cultural approaches to environmental learning within and outside formal education in a diverse range of international contexts, including Canada, Denmark, Korea, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The authors not only illuminate the challenges and complexity of engaging youth and adults in meaningful learning, as well as informed action, on complex environmental issues, but also document and offer important insights into promising ways in which these challenges might be addressed. In addition to the many stimulating ideas and strategies for building the learning capacities of individuals and organizations for creating ecologically sustainable communities and societies, further important questions are raised that educators, policymakers and researchers might consider.