Nonformal learning setting

Environmental issues have become an increasing concern over the last few decades. Specifically, in Portugal, education on environmental problems has lacked compared with other European countries. In 2016, Portugal resolved to reduce its overall carbon emissions. As a part of that resolution, the country pledged to invest more in environmental education and awareness of the pressing issues of climate change in order to effectively promote environmentally-friendly behaviors in students. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are key in providing education to the next generation of leaders.

In the midwestern United States, bald eagle populations have been impacted by lead poisoning. The phenomenon was linked to the ingestion of lead ammunition from deer carcasses during winter scavenging seasons. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) developed an outreach program at 54 National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) across 9 states to educate deer hunters about the impact of using lead ammunition and offer safe alternatives in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 deer hunting seasons.

Climate change education (CCE) is complex yet critical for future generations. A significant component of CCE includes modeling because of the many spatial and temporal challenges to conducting climate change experiments in a lab at scale. However, climate models are not always complete since many factors (e.g., future population size, technology innovations, etc.) may still be unknown or cannot be accounted for as they may happen in the future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading research consortium of climate change scientists.

Climate change poses the most significant threat to children by way of environmental risk factors. Toxic natural environments have begun to negatively impact the physical and mental well-being of children. A child's physical and mental health are still in the developing stages and thus are more vulnerable to the immediate adverse effects of climate change.

Research has proven the positive impacts of residential outdoor environmental education (ROEE) programs on children and teen participants, however, ROEE programs can similarly impact emerging adult instructors. The programs offer a unique educationally and culturally immersive experience for instructors. Specifically, the experience of influence the identity of short-term ROEE instructors, those who work less than three months or for one season.

Zoos have become popular as wildlife conservation centers, and they serve as an important place for environmental education. Zoos attract people of all ages throughout the year to observe and learn about the wide variety of animals that reside there. For this reason, zoos can be a great place to gather information what influences visitors' attitudes toward animal conservation.

Environmental education plays a pivotal role in a child's development of place attachment, an individual's affinity for a particular place in nature, and connection with nature, the individual's personal relationship with nature despite its location. Previous research has shown when children experience and appreciate nature, they will be more likely to care for the environment and adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Further, children can develop a stronger sense of place attachment and connection to nature earlier in life compared to when they are older.

Environmental and sustainability education (ESE) covers various topics. Of these, waste management has become prevalent given the increased focus on plastic pollution and other material waste. Waste management has typically been viewed in popular culture as a problem in which the consumer should take responsibility for their material consumption. For example, recycling, composting, separating waste materials, and choosing not to litter are key lessons in ESE regarding waste management.

Citizen science (CS) programs contribute scientific data and information that help policymakers make more informed decisions. There have been several studies that evaluated CS programs and demonstrated their role and value in policymaking. However, there is not as much information on how these programs influence pro-environmental behavior (PEB) and attitudes in participants. The researchers in this study reviewed a CS program in Australia called Scientist for a Day (S4AD). This one-day CS event sponsored by Earthwatch gathers citizens to learn more about a specific research project.

Climate change is a complex topic to teach, and challenges arise in inspiring pro-environmental behaviors in students based on the content teachers provide. For example, climate change causes and effects are hard to understand when elements like greenhouse gases are invisible to the human eye. Further, the impacted areas of climate change receiving the most attention for scientific research typically lie far from the average person, like the Arctic or a coral reef, and thus are not relevant enough to cause motivation to act.