Planning education to care for the earth - IUCN Knowledge Network

Forewordgovernments find difficult to handle. NGOs are also undertaking numerousenvironmental initiatives throughout the world. Governments can learn fromthese experiences to help shape better policies and actions. Likewise,governments have a specific role, born of their resources and accountabilityto their citizens, that makes them essential partners in conservation. This wasclearly demonstrated in the Australian case study found in this book, wherethe government helped share experiences amongst NGOs and communitygroups, thus fostering more effective action. In short, this book shows thatafter examining the various needs and capacities of governments and NGOs,the two would do well to look for more opportunities to work in acollaborative way.One example of this comes in the area of information. Often NGOs needtimely and clear information if they are to accomplish their goals.Governments can assist in making this sort of information available. InCanada, to use another example described in the book, the governmentsupported a programme to prepare the sort of environmental information thatwould be needed by a model “environmental citizen.” Recognising that theycould not educate on their own, the government formed partnerships, both toprepare material and, more importantly, to use it in education programmes.The results of this work are fascinating. I would encourage bothgovernments and NGOs to extract the lessons from this case study.Another clear message of this publication is that education can help bringabout participation and thus merits further investment if we are to seeprogress towards environmental goals. Furthermore, governments cansupport environmental education through policies and by providing funding.As an example, to give environmental education a boost, six Ministries in theNetherlands committed funds to prepare a strategy which would helpintegrate environment and sustainable development into both schooling andnon formal education. Again, this approach is illuminating.On the non-governmental side, the factors that have led to the success ofNGO programmes are documented in a group of studies found in the secondsection of this publication. A conclusion that may be drawn from thosestudies is that NGOs have a critical role to play in creating environmentalawareness and in working with communities to ensure that the sustainableuse of natural resources can be used as a basis of development. In Canada,for example, attitudes and behaviour towards a marine resource - seabirds inthis case - were changed as the result of an education programme developedby a private foundation working in close cooperation with the CanadianWildlife Service.These NGO studies emphasise that the success of a communication strategydepends on how well one “does one’s homework.” It is important to knowwhat has to be changed and why, before looking at the tools that can be usedto bring that change about. For this reason, research is an essential part ofany educational programme. It not only helps provide an understanding ofthe people’s perceptions and practices, but it can also shed some light on thebarriers that stand in the way of change. This message is reiterated in studiesfrom Zambia, the Sahel, and North America.ix