EE can influence how students approach environmental problems and encourage pro-environmental behaviors. However, studies show that undergraduate students are not effectively learning EE through university courses. The authors argue that current issues with EE at the university level include: (1) lack of interdisciplinarity, (2) limited opportunities for students to interact with real-world environmental problems and hone decision-making skills, and (3) difficulty of challenging departmental structure norms in academic institutions. This editorial outlined current issues with environmental education at the university level and completed a literature review to offer recommendations for revision.
The authors found that efforts to revise curriculum in environmental courses have not met the standards for effective EE. They argue this is due to challenges collaborating across disciplines and that there were no changes aimed at specifically encouraging collaboration between students and staff. They believe that an overall structural revision in the EE program to be more effective than individual course revisions. Structural changes include field practice through meeting business and government leaders, as well as community interactions and service.
From reviewing the academic literature, the authors suggested that academic environmental organizations (AEOs) could more effectively deliver EE content than traditional departmental structures. AEOs are collaborations of faculty, students, policy makers, and environmental business leaders who work together to contribute knowledge and skills to community environmental problems while also improving the quality of environmental education in universities. These organizations provide real world experience and mentorship as well as interdisciplinary learning to students through field trips, workshops, and real-world projects. AEOs help students to work with professors from other departments as well as community members and policy makers. The authors named several examples of successful AEOs including Citizens Environmental Watch at the University of Toronto, Environmental Sciences Organization at the University of Virginia, and the University Regional Research Consortium for Environmental Monitoring and Protection at the University of Iasi, Romania.
The article did not provide information about how AEOs are funded or the financial practicality of implementing them. In addition, the authors did not describe how the politics of climate change research in the U.S. could make funding and interacting with policy makers in an AEO more difficult than in other countries. Finally, the authors did not critique the AEOs or indicate success rates and how success would be measured in an AEO system.
Overall, the authors believe that AEOs have the potential to provide effective environmental education at the university level. They recommend that AEOs be implemented where possible in order to create more interdisciplinary and effective environmental education.
The Bottom Line
In this editorial, the authors argue that EE programs in universities lack interdisciplinarity, opportunities for field practice, and collaboration between departments. Through an extensive literature review, the authors suggested that academic environmental organizations (AEOs) are effective structures to create collaboration between students, faculty, businesses, community, and policy makers. The authors recommend the implementation of AEOs to improve environmental education efforts at the university level.