Planning education to care for the earth - IUCN Knowledge Network

Planning education to care for the earth• the urgency of decisions to change the spectrum of social factorswhich influence environmental problems.A prime need was to motivate public opinion leaders to become interested inenvironmental problems, to make a habit of thinking of action in favour ofthe environment as a priority, and to work towards solutions of some of theproblems. Confidence had to be established in Fundación Natura and itsEDUNAT project.The environmental crisis facing the country demanded that education andcommunication be combined.• The first step in planning EE was to identify and define theenvironmental problems, their causes and manifestations, theeffects, the possibilities of solution - scientific, legal,technological, financial or other - and the degree of urgency.• The next step was to determine the ways in which EE couldcontribute to solving the problems. Should the environmental crisisbe dramatized? Should individuals be blamed for their habits,behaviour and attitudes towards their surroundings? Shouldindividuals be warned of the danger of exposure to environmentalhazards? Should new behaviour and habits towards nature besuggested?• Definition of the target groups was important. Who was responsiblefor environmental damage and who were the victims? Who wouldlead and how could responsibility be shared? Where were thetargets for EE?• Finally, the project managers had to determine the forms andmethods EE should adopt . The decision was to avoid models basedon rigid umbrella-type theories, to work within existing socioecologicalsituations, and to develop various patterns of EEappropriate to differing contexts.Systems and themesThree systems can be distinguished:• long-term (10 years): policies and goals which created a frameworkto tackle the priority environmental problems;• medium-term (five years): specific education programmes andprojects to deal with the different social causes and factors ofselected environmental problems within the framework of thepolicies established under the first system;• short-term (up to two years): micro-projects in the fields ofeducation, communication and information to deal with the socialfactors surrounding one or two specific environmental problems.156