Environmental justice

Including diverse perspectives in the environmental movement and environmental education is invaluable in helping these movements achieve their goals. In this paper, it is contended that the environmental movement and environmental education often focuses on mainstream perspectives: those of dominant socio-economic groups. This paper is a thought piece that utilized existing literature and the standpoint theory to explore the role of diverse environmental perspectives in environmental movements and environmental education.

A food system is the path that food travels and includes the growing, shopping, cooking, eating, and disposing of food. Modern food systems face multiple issues. Many people across the world do not have access to a constant supply of food. Additionally, global agriculture is a main driver of human-induced climate change. Environmental education can play a pivotal role in raising awareness around the socially and environmentally unsustainable nature of modern food systems.

Individuals develop commitments to social and environmental action through their unique paths, which is shaped by their identities. Understanding what fosters and sustains this development is important for the field of environmental education. This study looked at adults' development of and motivations for action that promotes social and environmental change. To address a lack of research with multiple views in this domain, diverse perspectives were incorporated into this study. The researchers sought to understand three questions:
How do participants view their own activism?

Climate change messages often focus on ecological impacts, such as melting ice caps and vanishing species. However, ecologically focused messages do not resonate with everyone. For some, these types of messages have been overused and lack the influence they once had; for others, they are too politically polarizing or lack relevance. Because mitigating the impacts of climate change will require tremendous individual and collective efforts, multiple messaging strategies should be used to reach as diverse an audience as possible.

Art is often representative of and inspired by nature, yet it is rarely used in environmental education (EE) programming. Making art is a stimulating activity that can help children who struggle in traditional academic settings connect meaningfully with new ideas and material. Evaluation with youth (especially young children) is often difficult and many students may find it easier to express themselves through art rather than words. Children's artwork can also be used to measure their knowledge of and feelings about a particular topic.

Many Canadian educators recognize the importance of developing curricula through the lens of decolonization, which involves dismantling colonial institutions and restoring rights of and respect for Indigenous peoples. However, Indigenous issues can be very contentious, and educators who discuss these issues with their students may face challenges, such as resistance from students, tension with other teachers, and pushback from administrators. Given these challenges, many teachers are hesitant to broach or engage in deep dialogue about these subjects with their students.

Developing an awareness of and capacity to productively engage with political issues is crucial to achieving sustainability. Environmental issues are interwoven with political issues, and environmental and sustainability education (ESE) provides a valuable space for students to participate in political dialogue and benefit from the learning process associated with it. Previous studies characterize “the political” as “something that matters.” The political typically involves opposing viewpoints that creates conflict and forces stakeholders to engage in discourse.

In Spain, the government and society are more frequently considering sustainability, yet university operations have not widely adopted related practices. Previous research has shown that interest exists to increase sustainability curriculum and efforts in Spanish universities but that most students are not aware of their own environmental actions. In addition, online reporting of university sustainability initiatives is not a common practice.

In 2005, the United Nations pledged to promote environmental education through the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). This, combined with perceived benefits of environmental education, led many governments across Canada to establish new EE programs. For example, Manitoba developed a Sustainable Schools program and Nova Scotia created the SENSE project, designed to upgrade schools by implementing community projects.

The National Research Council recently published the Framework for Science Education for students K-12 and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These publications highlight new research regarding necessary scientific knowledge and curriculum for K-12 students. States are altering their school education standards to mirror the Framework and NGSS. These changes offer an opportunity for practitioners to incorporate environmental and sustainability education (ESE) into their curriculum.