Rethinking envionmental education: an alternative pathway to green lifestyles

Abstract

Environmental education aims to contribute to the resolution of environmental problems through the achievement of environmentally responsible behaviour or what could be termed green lifestyles. In attempting to achieve green lifestyles, environmental education commonly targets children and young people through the formal education system and is less often associated with education of adults and non-school education. Given a lack of substantive research into non-school adult environmental education, this study explores whether further research is warranted by investigating whether non-school adult environmental education could contribute to the adoption of green lifestyles.

The main findings of the study indicate three possible ways (primary, indirect and tertiary) for non-school adult environmental education to contribute to environmental education goals. The primary benefits of non-school adult environmental education include its capacity to reach a wider, audience and a larger portion of the adult community than formal education. In the short term adults are more powerfully positioned in society (than children) to make necessary changes required for green lifestyles. Targeting adults has a number of advantages for achieving environmental education goals. Adoption of green lifestyles amongst adults resulting from non-school environmental education has indirect advantages for the adoption and retention of green lifestyles by children. Children’s future lifestyles may be influenced by adults as role models and providers of out of school experiences. Tertiary benefits of adult non-school environmental education arise from its potential to overcome and avoid some barriers to school-based environmental education.

In conclusion, two pre-requisites to the success of non-school adult environmental education are identified, implications of these findings for resource management are outlined and future research directions indicated. Finally, this report recommends that environmental educators and resource managers give greater consideration to non-school adult environmental education as a worthy alternative pathway to achieving green lifestyles.