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Environmental education has never been so important and fortunately, also so popular thanks to a greater passion than ever before for the subject. Of course, it’s understandable at all levels why environmental education from primary school, right up to under and postgraduate study is of such interest. Let’s take a look at the benefits from this form of education.
Understanding
Creating an understanding of how we live and what we do and the consequences it has for the earth and our environment is something that’s extremely important. We’ve reached a crucial stage in our position on this planet and understanding how we can create a more positive impact is something of a necessity. Environmental education at all levels fosters this and provides children and adults with the knowledge and what’s expected from us to ensure a better world for the future.
Workplace skills
A report from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) and NEETF in 2001 showed that environmental education was something that students benefitted from for a long time after they left education. According to the report, having skills and having taken this sort of education allowed those in the study to deal with real world problems outside of the classroom.
Leadership qualities
Due to a lot of the different topics and the considerations that are included with this sort of education, the same study showed that environmental education benefitted student’s leadership qualities. The report showed that environmental education fostered teamwork and inclusion, as well as an acceptance of diversity of opinion. Problem solving and taking a look at the long term view was also attributed to this form of education.
Employment
The increased attention that is given to the environmental cause and the green push has meant that there are all sorts of new jobs and employment in the industry. From power production, to awareness, to a range of other sustainability posts – the environmental industry is growing at a significant rate. Anything from a NEBOSH training course to a full environmental degree could give you the advantage you need to secure a job. This is something that can really benefit those looking for employment in this industry and also a growing number of other industries. Even as the world economy is still static after the economic collapse, it seems the environmental industry is still doing remarkably well, with no real signs of slowing down.
The future
Obviously, aside from the business, educational and also the employment opportunities that such education allows, there is also environmentalism for the sake of environmentalism alone.
The world is on a very delicate path as we are all more than well aware and ensuring people understand this and also know how to ensure that it becomes a greener place is very important. Green and environmental forms of education can help with this and ensure a better earth for everyone. In short, it’s our job to do such things for the sake of ourselves firstly and for the earth secondly.
Environmental education can be a significant benefit to students as is clear to see, both now and in the future.
About the Author:
Derek Devlin has worked for a number of green companies in his time and has undertaken a number of forms of green education in the past.