A number of events in world history have contributed to the development of environmental education and sustainability education. Discussions about the environment, and more specifically, man’s impact on the environment, predate the modern period. For example, in his play Antigone, the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles lamented man’s increasing control over nature. In the early thirteenth century, Saint Francis of Assisi preached for equality among all creatures and against human arrogance and dominance over the environment. Scholars from the late Ming dynasty in China (1368–1644 BCE) railed against deforestation because of its adverse effects on stream flow and soil quality. In the early eighteenth century, observers of French and British colonialism on the Caribbean islands warned that rapid deforestation to expand sugar plantations was altering the regional climate. All of these anecdotes reveal that discussions about the environment and sustainability certainly predate the modern period.
However, environmental education as we know it today developed out of the Industrial Revolution and the advent of the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. In the nineteenth century, fossil fuels began to have enormous ecological effects on the planet. Much of environmental and sustainability education has revolved around grappling with these effects, their implications, and potential solutions. Some of the most important and oft-discussed effects include oil spills and air pollution from the drilling, transporting, refining, and burning of oil; the warming of the global atmosphere; and devastating climatic phenomena such as El Niño which have led to draught and famine in some of the poorest regions of the world. Much of contemporary environmental and sustainability education therefore revolves around grappling with the environmental crisis caused by the Industrial-era advent of the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/63302.htm
https://www.eh-resources.org/
There are two key events that led to the shift in the culture of education towards environmental education and education for sustainability.
In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm covered international environmental issues and began to turn thoughts toward environmental politics. This conference led to the development of the Stockholm Declaration. This represented a look on the global human impact on the environment and allowed a basic common outlook to be developed--how to both preserve and enhance the human environment. Following this declaration, global awareness of environmental issues was increased.
In response to the Stockholm Declaration, the United National Environment Programme/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization project (UNESCO) was developed in 1975. Over the course of three fazes; a general awareness of the need for environmental education was developed ('75-'77), pilot projects, methodologies, concepts, and studies were initiated with a interdisciplinary approach ('78-'80), and efforts were developed for UNESCO member states to begin including environmental education into their respective educational programs.
These two events created a spark in education systems worldwide and continue to do so today. UNESCO continues to create cultural awareness for environmental education and education for sustainability.
Further Reading:
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/milestones/humanenvironment
https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100055846
When any activity is conceived, the first and foremost requirement is that the planned activity should be in line with the organiser's crystal clear vision about the aims and objectives. Then comes the planning, methodology to carry out the activity, followed by selecting the front line players, second line players etc. There after make the players too clear about the aims, objectives and the expected results combined with motivation. Explain the reasons for planning the activity and how it will be beneficial for individuals or the society. Once the players are satisfied, thought process of individual players will also start in that direction and whole heartily input can be expected. In such a positive atmosphere the results achieved can be beyond expectation.
Since it is a continuous process, unlike cricket game where a particular catch drop can be a game changer, it can not (at least I can not) be pointed out which specific activity is a game changer. All the activities, be it the conferences at different levels, spreading awareness through education and advertisements, organising quizzes etc. by UNEP, UNESCO, IEEP have contributed or rather I should say awakened even the common citizen(what I observe in my country, INDIA) towards the importance of pollution free environment. (I am a witness to some of the activities in INDIA).
The advertisements and publicity given to the latest theme i.e. for 2018 about the ill effects of plastic has definitely made a noticeable effect on the public in my country. Appointment of Brand Ambassador is another activity which is boosting connectivity to the cause.
Throughout the past century, there has been a number of international environmental education events and activities that have greatly impacted environmental policies and education on sustainability.One of the most notable events was in 1975, when the United Nations Environment Program (UN Environment) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) came together to create the International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP). IEEP has since carried out several significant activities with the involvement of over 150 countries. One of the most significant projects of IEEP was organizing the International Congress on Environmental Education and Training in 1987, which took place in Moscow. The International Congress on Environmental Education involved the work of international leaders discussing the best methods to educate universities, students, and members of the general public. These methods would eventually be carried out in the 1990s to educate more than 250,000 students and 12,000 teachers.
https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100055846
Though writers and philosophers as far back as the 1700s (such as Rousseau in his work Emile, or On Education) stressed the importance of nature in children's education, the movement for environmental education accelerated during the Cold War. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, revealed the dangerous effects of pesticides on the environment and on humans.
The first Earth Day in 1970 involved people in communities across the United States and grew to involve countries across the world. In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, Sweden, recognized the importance of environmental education in promoting environmental sustainability. This conference produced The Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, known as the Stockholm Declaration. In 1975, the Stockholm conference was followed up with the International Workshop on Environmental Education, which was held in Belgrade to define the goals, methods, and importance of environmental education. This education was not only to be emphasized for schools, but also for the general public. In the United States, the National Environmental Education Act of 1990 allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create federal-level programs in the area of environmental education.
In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden. This meeting led to the creation of the Stockholm Declaration, which clearly enumerated and defined twenty-six guiding principles that were purportedly essential to the sustainability of modern human society. The nineteenth principle describes the important role youth education has in the development of responsible environmental practices. This international collaboration in the creation of this document preceded, and perhaps inspired, the creation of environmental regulatory departments by several nations. It can be challenging to precisely identify how the United Nation's influential role has directly contributed to the development of specific environmental education curricula. Nonetheless, it is clear that the UN will continue to be a prominent international leader in developing in defining and refining important concepts relating to environmental and sustainability education.
http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-ov.htm
http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
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