Søren Breiting

Action Competence and Environmental Education.

Abstract A sharper profile of environmental education is needed to improve the quality of future environmental education. This involves an understanding of the conceptions related to ‘environmental issues’. It is argued that environmental issues have to be understood as issues in the community with conflicting interests at several levels. At the same time the authors argue for the development of the ‘action competence’ of the pupils as the main goal of the new generation of environmental education and refer to promising findings from Danish environmental education, mainly from the MUVIN Programme.

The progressive development of environmental education in Sweden and Denmark

Our paper traces the history and progressive development of environmental education and education for sustainable development (ESD) in Sweden and Denmark. Our main focus is on work in primary and lower secondary schools as part of a search for trends of international interest related to the conceptualisation and practice of environmental education and ESD in both countries, as well as the role and significance of democratic perspectives to their development. Traditionally, Sweden has a more centralised approach to change compared to a more decentralised approach in Denmark. Accordingly, the interplay between the State, the individual and private initiatives has differed over the past half‐century, and this has given rise to interesting effects on the development of environmental education as well as ESD. The discussion of their development in Sweden draws on historical, political and organisational perspectives, while for Denmark, we focus on how these perspectives relate to a series of challenges; for example, the epistemological challenge of the development of environmental education that resulted in ‘the new generation of environmental education’, and the effects of taking an action competence approach to environmental education. In both countries the links between the development of environmental education and ESD and the discourse of environmental protection and democracy are highlighted, as are the interplays between the States agenda on education, the actions of research institutions, and the provision of in‐service teacher training. Sweden has become a world leader in initiatives for ESD promotion and joint efforts to spur innovations and clarification of ESD, while Denmark has mainly put its efforts into developing science education, and in this regard, has sacrificed the development of ESD.

Issues for environmental education and ESD research development: looking ahead from WEEC 2007 in Durban

Can we avoid inheriting serious issues from research related to environmental education when the researcher community is addressing education for sustainable development? This paper identifies and discusses three main issues: if an explicit and coherent concept of environmental education or education for sustainable development is missing; if the field is dominated by researchers with an environmental science background; and if the research is aiming at improving practice through prescriptive, normative recommendations. The elaboration of the issues is taking a point of departure in the World Environmental Education Congress 2007 in Durban with perspectives for future ESD research and traces the historical roots of some of the trends and issues. It is argued that the overall question is related to a basic dichotomy: is the researcher seeing the role as a support to solving environmental problems here and now, or is the researcher seeing long‐term empowerment through education as the main idea.

Mental Ownership and Participation for Innovation in Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development

What specific qualities make participation genuine, and how do they link with a democratic view of education, cooperation, and empowerment? This chapter explores these themes, linking reflections on existing theoretical perspectives on the ‘ownership of participation’ with professional experience on educational development initiatives in a number of countries around the world (mainly Thailand, Namibia, and Denmark). In particular, the chapter argues that while the process of developing ‘mental ownership’ is a neglected aspect of successful participatory approaches in development efforts as well as in education, there is good reason to consider the hypothesis that the level of mental ownership that a participatory initiative is able to generate among participants, corresponds with the experienced quality of the participatory approach. In so doing, the chapter discusses the potential value of generating mental ownership in participation for improving the quality of different approaches to innovation in education, and illustrates wider debates on the need to democratise environmental education and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and whether educational goals should be principally regarded as addressing adaptation or emancipation (e.g. Hellesnes 1982).

Quality Criteria for ESD Schools: Engaging Whole Schools in Education for Sustainable Development

The Quality Criteria for ESD Schools booklet (Breiting S, Mayer M, Mogensen F, Quality criteria for ESD schools. Guidelines to enhance the quality of Education for Sustainable Development. ENSI/SEED & Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science & Culture, Vienna, 2005) has been the most widely distributed publication of the “Environment and School Initiatives” (ENSI) network. It has been translated into 18 languages, quoted by international and national publications, presented in international conferences and training courses, used by schools, teacher trainers and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Centres and adopted by national authorities. At the end of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005–2014 (DESD) this chapter discusses the concept and context of the booklet and its approach as a contribution to ESD development at the local level. Among other themes, its vision of ESD is compared to the aims of the Decade, with a special focus on a ‘whole institution approach’.