Environmental Education
Environmental Education Officer, Information Officer, Field Study Officer, Community Development Officer
The Sector
Environmental education addresses environmental and conservation issues within a broad economic, social and political context. It involves concepts such as citizenship, diversity and justice, enabling people to develop the knowledge to participate in decisions about individual and collective actions that will not damage the planet. If people are to be sympathetic towards environmental goals, they need to understand and be able to relate to the issues involved.
Sector Profile
A conservative estimate would suggest there are around 30,000 people involved in environmental education in the UK. Many of these will be teachers, whose main responsibility will not be environmental education. Many conservation organisations and local authorities employ educational staff and park departments also incorporate this within wider remits. The sector is growing as the need to engage people in the environmental debate becomes more urgent.
Issues and Trends
The most significant trend has been the broadening of environmental education to encompass ideas about sustainable development. This has meant new approaches collaborations being developed. Within the formal education sector, environmental education is now becoming a significant element in the national curriculum. There is also a need for specialists to work in a more targeted way with groups outside of traditional education programmes, such as ethnic minorities.
There are reasonable job opportunities and the work can be immensely satisfying. Like many jobs in the environment, it is a vocation and not a soft option. Educational benefits are often only realised in the long term and this can be discouraging at times.
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