Fostering Civic Participation in Environmental Policy

Environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) scholars have noted the importance of increasing civic political involvement to address environmental and sustainable development goals. However, few papers have directly addressed how educational experiences might foster greater engagement in the political realm. Authors of this conceptual paper first sought to understand what EE and ESD research has been conducted related to fostering collective civic action through learning experiences. Finding that this topic has been underexplored in EE and ESD, the authors turned to previous research in political science, psychology, and education to provide a conceptual framework for promoting environmental political engagement.

For the review of previous research, the authors searched seven databases that included journals in the fields of EE, ESD, and environmental psychology. The authors used the following keywords to search the articles' abstracts or titles: political, civic, action, democracy, and democratic. They also reviewed several relevant edited volumes, books, and dissertations.

Although many issues have been explored that are tangentially related to fostering environmental political participation, the authors found the topic has not been fully addressed in a direct sense. The topics that have been explored include political conflicts over curricula, methods of fostering environmentally responsible behaviors, individual attitudes toward environmental political action, and factors influencing the development of pro-environmental attitudes.

The authors found that some EE scholars have examined issues related to political efficacy, which is a key factor in predicting political engagement. Political efficacy is a person's sense that his or her individual action has, or could have, an impact on the political process. It is often defined and measured in terms of both external efficacy— the belief that individuals can influence the democratic process—and internal efficacy—the belief that individuals possess the political competencies needed to participate in the political processes. The authors found that some limited research has been done that directly examined environmental political efficacy. One such study— authored by Dresner in the Journal of Environmental Education in 1990—found that college students who participated in a simulation of the legislative process aimed at energy conservation developed a sense of greater environmental political efficacy. Several studies also found that when individuals believe their actions can make a difference, they are more likely to be involved in environmental community action groups.

The authors' review also found that some scholars have sought to identify factors related to environmental political participation. Lubell, in a 2002 Environment and Behavior article, for example, reported that individuals are more likely to be involved in environmental activism if they prioritize environmental sustainability over their economic self-interest.

Based on their review, this paper's authors argue that, while the research done so far is valuable for educators interested in fostering students' environmental participation, there is a need to research this topic more directly. Using prior research on fostering political participation by political scientists, psychologists, and general educators, the authors propose a theoretical framework—and a research agenda based on this framework—for EE and ESD scholars. At the crux of their argument is that much of what has been learned in political science, psychology, and education could be useful to fostering environmental political actions, specifically; however, research is needed to find out if these findings hold true, as environmental issues are unique compared with other political subjects.

The authors suggest that one of the main findings from political science, psychology, and education is the importance of political efficacy and political interest in predicting political participation, such as voting, contacting officials, and joining political organizations. Political efficacy, as discussed above, is the sense that what one does actually makes a difference. The authors define political interest as a person's willingness to pay attention to politics at the expense of other endeavors. Research in various social science fields has indicated that political efficacy and political interest are particularly important to consider when educating for political participation. This is because political efficacy and political interest are both factors that can be fostered and that have a direct and significant influence on a person's resulting participation in political issues.

The authors identified three key elements in building political interest and efficacy, and suggest ways of using these elements to foster environmental political participation:

1. Learning about and discussing political issues: Providing students an opportunity to learn about and process political issues within the context of environment and sustainability issues could be effective for increasing their sense of political efficacy and interest. Examples of this are watching environmentally related films and giving students an opportunity to discuss relevant issues with their peers.

2. Participation in political processes: Participating in activities on large and small scales—such as voting, political campaigning, democratic decision-making, mock elections, and school governance—can increase internal political efficacy, especially when action leads to achievement of a political goal.
3. Identifying with a group: Identification and affiliation with politically minded groups, communities, and peers strengthens one's own political involvement and positively influences external political efficacy. In the environmental context, this could mean creating an environmental action group at school or a peer group related to sustainability and conservation.