people and planet

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are produced contribute to consumer education and
subsequent shifts in habits, allowing consumers to make
decisions according to their values and preference (BIO
Intelligence Service, 2012; Hertwich, 2003).
Labour organizations can play a key role in
mainstreaming and transitioning towards more
sustainable practices in the workplace. At the
international level, the International Labour Organization
(ILO) has an International Training Centre in Turin that
delivers a course for worker representatives called ‘Green
jobs for a just transition to low-carbon and climateresilient
development’ (ILO, 2016). Its purpose is
to educate labour representatives from around the
world about the links between environmental challenges
and the world of work, distil lessons and good practices,
and explore ways of promoting environmentally
sustainable policies adapted to be nationally relevant
and socially inclusive.
BOX 1.2
Leading by example: nudging people to act green
‘Nudging’ is a way of influencing behaviour. In sustainability
nudging, more sustainable behaviour is made the default option.
The government and private sector can work together to make
environment-friendly goods and services the ‘green default’ for
consumers. Positive trends can rapidly be normalized, shifting
responsibility to those who actively wish to behave unsustainably.
Nudging can also help overcome cognitive bias such as a preference
for the status quo, where any change from baseline is perceived
as a loss. Nudging can be considered educational when there
is transparency and when the desired change is supported by
knowledge and information about why the change is deemed
important. When there is no transparency, nudging can become
manipulation, which may lead to desirable environmental outcomes
but is not socially sustainable.
For sustainability nudging to work, the government, public and
private sector have to work well together and share a vision of
reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency. In Schönau,
Germany, a utility provider made its green energy programme the
default option, resulting in more than 90% enrolment. Residents
could opt out, but few chose to do so. By contrast, participation in
clean energy programmes in other German towns was low: Less
than 1% of customers chose to participate through voluntary means
in 2008, the time of the study.
Source: Zaval and Cornwell (2015).
National and local trade unions also contribute to
environmental education. In Argentina, the Construction
Workers’ Union provides environmental training courses
to its members on topics such as solar panel installation,
solar cooker construction, and waste management
and recycling. A certificate is granted upon successful
completion of a course (Fondación UOCRA, 2009).
Non-government organizations
NGOs can mobilize public support for environmental
conservation. In countries with poorly resourced formal
education sectors, they
may be the main source of
NGOs, such
environmental education.
Through public information
as Avaaz, can
campaigns, projects on
effectively mobilize the ground, partnerships
public support for and green alliances, NGOs
substantially contribute
environmental
to the shaping of public
conservation.
environment-related
behaviour. Their strength,
compared to other groups
and the formal education sector, lies in their ability to
deliver environmental education using more informal
methods and channels.
The internet is a crucial, efficient tool for many NGOs
(Brulle, 2010). Web-based campaign groups like Avaaz
help raise awareness and mobilize ‘clicktivists’ across
the globe. With 44 million members in 194 countries,
Avaaz is at the centre of many high profile environmental
campaigns. In 2013, for instance, it launched a two-year
campaign to ban bee-killing pesticides in the European
Union. The campaign included a petition with over
2.6 million signatures, media-grabbing protests with
beekeepers, the funding of opinion polls and the flooding
of ministers with messages (Avaaz, 2013).
Senegal’s Mekhe Solar Cooker Project, implemented
by the Ndop Women’s Association, is an example
of NGOs’ contribution to environmental education.
From October 2004 to September 2006, it aimed to
reduce environmental degradation by replacing woodburning
stoves with solar cookers. Various modes of
education and training were used: Some villagers were
trained to build the cookers, others to promote their
use. A DVD movie and visits to nearby communities
were used to engage households. Each family saved, on
average, 3 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The project created 10 jobs and enhanced the capacity
2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 31