Environment Education

...One experiences a sense of wonder at the education that has nurtured such talents. Yet the youthful practitioners of such arts wear their prodigious learning lightly, with humility, and unselfishly share what they know with their communities. Theirs has been (they add to it every day, for the 'lifelong learning' that is now the fashion in the West is in fact a well-worn consciousness here) a privileged education – free to learn as and what they will; to associate that learning with their village and clan, family and friends; without fear of grading and examinations, admissions and certificates; with the freedom to experiment with a curriculum that evolves and reshapes itself every day.

- The first and last learners, Rahul Goswami, www.infochangeindia.com, 07/02/2005, /eldoc/n30_/alt_edu.html

A joint forest management programme in Rajasthan has achieved success by linking afforestation to a priority need of the local communities – primary education. The paryavaran pathshalas set up by the forest department in several villages in Jaisalmer district point to a possible integrated development approach and also help foster an enduring partnership between stakeholders and resources of a region.

-  Paryavaran Pathshalas - Education in the Desert, Abhijit Ghose, A K Jha, Economic & Political Weekly, 09/10/2004, /eldoc/e62_/091004EPW4507.html (1076236- put ed1)

The general tendency to regard the only world we know, as normal is reflected in the disciplines that are taught in our schools and universities and in the cur-sory treatment given to ecological prin-ciples in the present science curriculum. The underlying theme of the science cur-riculum reinforces the tenet of modern-ism, i.e. the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources to meet humankind's ever-growing demands for food and com-fort. The authors allude that for an object or a process to be of interest to science, it must be of some use to humankind. This attitude does nothing to instill in impres-sionable minds, an appreciation of the collective importance of all lifeforms and natural processes towards the preservation of life. The idea that an object's 'use-fulness' to humankind is a measure of its value is reiterated throughout the curriculum, whether in reference to plants, animals, micro-organisms or even minerals.Those who frame the syllabus make little attempt to depict the role of an object as more than a commodity devised for the sole purpose of fulfilling man's needs, or to decipher its role in the scheme.
- The Road Not Taken, Priya Shah, Humanscape, 01/07/1996, /eldoc/n00_/01jul96HUS6.pdf


The need for environmental education, both formal and non-formal was keenly felt at the national level, and so the Government of India decided to make efforts to control further deterioration of the environment due to pollution, deforestation, etc. Here it is worth mentioning that the Supreme Court has made environmental education is mandatory in Educational Institutions right from primary level upto University level.

- Environmental Education in India- Issues and Challenges, Dr C Murthy, Third Concept, January 2005,

THE Universities grants Commission has launched a programme to include environ-ment education at the under-graduate level throughout the country, for which it has also prepared a model curriculum. This curriculum includes sub-jects like fundamental dispos-al, epidemiology, public health, environment management, public participation and envi-ronment laws. It envisages pro-ject work on local problems. The idea is to sensitise under-graduate students to environ-mental problems. The absence of awareness about such prob-lems has led to the degradation of the environment, as a result of which thousand of species of plant and animal life are in danger. The new course will thus address an important need.

However it seems that a shift of focus from formal principles of natural sciences to the histo-ry of the environment move-ment and a study of compara-tive perspectives is more rele-vant now. Environment move-ments like the Chipko move-ment has highlighted social struggles. These deserve to be studied. There is also an ur-gent need to incorporate in the curriculum the dialogue that came up between socialism and environment. It must be realised that the main source of environmental destruction in the world is the demand for resources generated by the con-sumption of the rich and it is the poor who suffer most from the degradation of the environment
- New Approach to Environment, Parthasarthi Chakraborty, The Statesman, 05/01/2000,


Ten miles from Dehra Dun, in a small obscure village a forest school, called the 'Bija Vidya-peeth', has been set up. "The in-stitution is an attempt to restore the art of sustainable living through an experiment in interna-tional living, where people of all cultures live, cook, eat and learn together the inestimable value of diversity and organic living," Dr. Shiva said. Nestling in the foothills of the Himalayas and the Shivaliks and spread over eight acres in Utta-ranchal, the Vidyapeeth is a part of the Navdanya Biodiversity Con-servation and Agroecology Farm, which has kept alive the diversity of plant life essential for survival in the region.
In the first week, an internation-al faculty will give lectures on top-ics related to the course theme. In the second week, the students will go on field trips to villages along the Ganges or in Rajasthan, which is fast gaining a reputation for its sustainable water conservation techniques, or to Sewagram to have a better understanding of Mahatma Gandhi's theory of self-sufficiency. Students will spend the last week on the college cam-pus, where the Navdanya farm has conserved over 300 varieties of rice and of pulses, millet and vege-tables. "We will encourage stu-dents to cook and eat organic food and examine the value of indige-nous  knowledge, Third World freedom and dignity through bio-diversity conservation as an alter-nate sustainable system of existence," Dr. Shiva said.
- 'Green' School Starts Functioning, Soma Basu, The Hindu, 6/10/2001,

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Reports

1. Sustaining Education and Communication for Sustainable Development, Centre for Environment Education, R.E62.17

2. Planning Environmental Communication and Education: Lessons from Asia, Saeed, Seema & Goldstein, Wendy, IUCN, 01/01/1998, R.E62.13

3. Rishi Valley Experiment in Ecological Regeneration and Environment Education, Krishnamurti Foundation India, 01/01/1998, R.E62.18

4. Green Teacher, The: Ideas, Experience and Learnings in Educating for the Environment, Raghunathan, Meena & Pandya, Mamata, Centre for Environment Edu., 01/01/1997, R.E62.12

5. Enviromental Education: An Approach To Sustainable Development, Schneider, Hartmut & Others (Ed), OECD, 01/10/1992, R.E62.5

6. A Directory of Selected Environmental Education Materials, College of Env. Science and Forestry, 01/01/1988, R.E62.9

7. Environmental Education : The Indian Experience - Science and Technology Education and Future Human Needs, Khoshoo, T N, S&T Educ. & Future Human Needs, 01/08/1985, R.E62.4


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Books:

1. NGOs in Environmental Education in North-East India, A Directory, CEE North-East, 01/01/1995, B.E62.C1    R

2. Ecodevelopment: Towards A Philosophy of Environmental Education, Balasubramaniam, Arun, RIHED, 01/01/1984, B.E62.B3