News from the CEPA e-mail list

Environmental education and ESD - two new publications (27/01/06)

Good afternoon everyone:

A couple of publications to while away your weekend!

1. A recent comprehensive study by the Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) has produced a five-volume series that reviews environmental education and its contribution to sustainability in different sectors. A National Review of Environmental Education and its Contribution to Sustainability in Australia includes:

Volume 1: Frameworks for Sustainability
Volume 2: School Education
Volume 3: Community Education
Volume 4: Business and Industry Education
Volume 5: Further and Higher Education

The first volume reviews trends in Environmental Education towards sustainability. As well as defining key components of this area of learning, it examines national strategies from around the world and the frameworks they offer. The other reports in the series provide a snapshot of the current context and experiences within four key sectors, formal school education, community education, business and industry education, and the further and higher education. In each case they identify a number of key themes to construct a picture of EE experiences as well as making recommendations to improve sustainability practices in the different sectors covered. Each volume comes with a glossary of key technical terms and a thorough reference list.

All volumes are available in hard copy from ariescoordinator@gse.mq.edu.au and volumes 2-5 are currently available for download as PDF files (either the summary or the entire report can be downloaded). Look here http://www.aries.mq.edu.au/project.htm and scroll down the page a little. There are several other publications on this page that might also be of interest.

2. For those of you interested in EE and ESD you might also be interested in the journal Policy Futures in Education which has dedicated Volume 3, Number 3 to Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development. Organised and edited by Dr Edgar Javier González-Gaudiano, an advisor for the Secretariat of Public Education in Mexico, the six articles different aspects of the relationship between sustainable development and environmental education:

If you are interested in the discussion of EE versus ESD then read the article by Pablo Ángel Meira Cartea. It makes a strong case that ESD offers no original responses to the challenges of the environmental crisis and of development – worth a read!

All of this and the editorial can be downloaded in PDF format here: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pfie/content/pdfs/3/issue3_3.asp.

With best weekend wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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