Place-based environmental problems are an environmental citizenship learning opportunity

Environmental citizenship is defined as active political participation related to environmental issues. To become an environmental citizen, students must learn how environmental issues affect people and societies, which means that environmental citizenship inherently connects science to sociology and anthropology. Studies have shown that there are many ways that students can participate in democratic processes and engage in political issues, such as through letter-writing or participating in rallies and demonstrations. Although researchers speculate environmental education may lead to environmental citizenship, more few studies have demonstrated this connection. This study investigated how science education may integrate environmental citizenship opportunities for upper-secondary school students.

This study took place at an upper-secondary school in a rural town in Norway. Two teachers of two separate science classes assigned their students the same task: assess the environmental impact of developing a parcel of land within their municipality on a local endangered bird species called lapwings. As a culminating project, students presented their findings and concerns about the impending land development to municipality officials through 15-minute presentations. Students were allowed five hours per week for three consecutive weeks in the spring of 2015 to complete this assignment.

After the initial introduction of the project, students were given a questionnaire with open-ended questions to reflect on their reactions to their assignment. The students (age 16-17) were then separated into two groups Group A (seven students) and Group B (five students). The researchers conducted two focus groups, one with four students from Group A and another with five students from Group B. The researcher helped guide the focus groups and made observations. For this study, the researchers focused on six students who spoke the most during the focus groups. Additionally, researchers held two reflection meeting with the two teachers. The researchers analyzed the data collected and searched for common themes across all the data sources.

The authors found that this experience offered participating students a powerful opportunity to engage in environmental citizenship. Students learned about an important local environmental issue (lapwing habitat loss) and spent time developing their arguments to protect the bird's habit. By presenting their research to local officials, students gained experience discussing environmental issues with local government officials and participating in the policymaking process. Though students faced difficulty convincing municipality officials of the importance of preserving the bird habitat, they also learned how to shift their arguments to be more persuasive. Through this project, the students gained communication, presentation, and collaboration skills. They saw, firsthand, how their efforts impacted the policy- and decision-making process. When reflecting on their experiences with the project, students emphasized the importance of collaboration and noted that they felt a connection to the local environmental issue.

Researchers found that in order for students to become environmental citizens, it was important for students to be working toward an environmental-sociological issue rooted outside of the school setting. In particular, the study concluded that the problem should be set in the students' local municipality/geographic area. Using a place-based education approach, researchers concluded, provided the students a sense of ownership of the problem.

This study was limited by the small number of student and teacher participants. The study occurred in only one educational context (Norway), which does not allow for results to be generalizable across contexts. The results of this study, particularly in terms of bridging “traditional” science education and environmental citizenry education, may have been highly dependent upon the structure of schooling. The authors acknowledge that bridging curriculum requirements with environmental problems may prove challenging in many contexts.
Therefore, the individual teacher should strive to bridge this gap within their own classroom and context to the best of their abilities. The results of this study are only reflective of short-term impacts and cannot be generalized to assume longer-term impacts.

The researchers recommend that schools include assignments in which students are given opportunities to incorporate place-based environmental issues. Educators should combine science and sociological problems to expand and deepen learning. In order to do this, educators must prepare students with sociological knowledge, such as lessons in communication, debate, and interpersonal relationships. These tools are necessary for students to hold in order to become respectful active environmental citizens. Following in the example of this study, assignments should be based in the school's place (municipality or region), as this connects the student directly to local issues. The researchers suggest that teachers preestablish connections to municipality officials who would be willing to engage with the students, which can help ensure the success of this approach. The researchers note that it is important for teachers to remain encouraging through this experience as students may feel frustrated or unsettled by the process. Lastly, teachers should demonstrate and describe to students that environmental citizenship involves questioning and analyzing the current state of environmental affairs.