What Is Environmental Education?
You may have heard the term environmental education
used to describe nature-based programs led by natu-
ralists or scientists, such as those at parks, museums,
nature centers, zoos, and aquariums. Sometimes the
term is used for any classroom content about nature,
animals, and plants. Other times it may describe
nature exploration or lessons conducted in the out-
doors. Confused? Don’t be. All of these examples are
valid, in that they describe education focused on the
natural environment.
If you think about it, education focused on the
natural environment has likely been happening in an
informal way throughout human history. However,
the growing recognition of serious environmental
problems in the 1960s sparked the formal establish-
ment of the field of environmental education. As lead-
ers, scientists, and everyday citizens began attending
to the fact that caring for our environment is vital for
our future, they also began explicitly acknowledging
that education about our environment is vital for in-
forming decisions about the care of the environment.
In an important milestone, world leaders convened
by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
2 Chapter 1
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1975 published
The Belgrade Charter: A Global Framework for Environ-
mental Education, establishing the goal “to develop
a world population that is aware of, and concerned
about, the environment and its associated problems,
and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, mo-
tivations and commitment to work individually and
collectively toward solutions to current problems and
the prevention of new ones” (1975, 3). This declara-
tion specified that the audience for environmental
education should include all people and all levels,
from preschool to adult.
This formative early declaration, and others like
it that followed, clearly emphasize teaching about
the problems facing our environment and taking ac-
tions to address them. And though the importance
of environmental education for all ages is stressed,
this declaration is truly tailored toward adults and
youth. Many early childhood educators—myself
among them—recognize that a different and spe-
cial approach is essential when it comes to young
children. The approach for early childhood environ-
mental education acknowledges that a commitment
to care for the Earth cannot be taught to or coaxed
out of people; rather, it springs forth naturally from
an attitude of love and care for the Earth. Moreover,
this approach recognizes that it is our human nature
to care for what we know, enjoy, and value. There-
fore, the goal of early childhood environmental edu-
cation is not to study explicitly about environmental
problems; rather, it is to create opportunities for the
experience of wonder, comfort, and love in the natu-
ral world.
This philosophy of early childhood environmental
education has been spelled out in great detail in Early
Childhood Environmental Education Programs: Guide-
lines for Excellence. That document states, among other
things, that the goal of early childhood environmen-
tal education is to “chart an appropriate and positive
process whereby educators can start young children
on their journey toward becoming environmentally
responsive youth and adults” (NAAEE 2010, 3). This
philosophy also builds upon an understanding of the
unique development and learning stages of young chil-
dren. Though the topic and scope of early childhood
