This article showcases a creative approach to early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS). It reports on the author's doctoral research program, which examined the effectiveness of arts-based pedagogies for exploring and understanding the natural world in an early childhood education program. Motivated by their existing commitment to…

This paper reviews Australian Government actions related to environmental education, particularly in the past decade, and examines the actions forthcoming from two national action plans (Environment Australia, 2000 and DEWHA, 2009), the implementation strategy for the Decade of ESD (DEWHA, 2006) and developments related to the Australian…

In the 1998 Taiwanese national curriculum revision, environmental education was one of six new "Important Issues". To some early observers, the generic "framework" sections of this 1998 curriculum (Aims, Goals, Core Competences) resonated well with the integrative and transdisciplinary nature of environmental education. This synergy held out…

This paper documents a case study involving a Perth primary school accompanied on its sustainability journey by Millennium Kids Inc, a local not-for-profit community organisation. Tension between the school's sustainability focus, its prestige as an elite private school and a "lucky country" mentality frames the Australian-ness of this…

This paper seeks to provide a perspective on environmental education in Aotearoa New Zealand. To contextualise this perspective, it illustrates how environmental, socio-cultural and political imperatives have shaped the development of environmental education in this land. These imperatives illuminate the natural history of the country, the…

A national curriculum is presently being developed in Australia with implementation due during 2014. Associated standards for the accreditation of teachers and for teacher education providers have been prepared with the standards describing skills and attributes that teachers are expected to attain. The developing Australian Curriculum, along with…

Despite increasing recognition that whole-school approaches to sustainability have an important contribution to make in moving society towards a more sustainable existence, progress in this area remains slow. By examining the practices of the Ananda Marga River School, a small independent school in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland of Queensland, this…

Lessons from a pilot introduction of environmental education into a teacher education programme designed to address pupil disengagement from school science, are discussed in this paper. Pre-service teachers discovered that environmental education can be a potent context for creativity and continuity in curriculum planning. Interpretation of the…

Discourse in the "Australian Journal of Environmental Education" of the last ten years has not addressed a pedagogy that draws on and reflects the natural history of the continent. Australia is an ecological and species diverse country that has experienced substantial environmental change as a consequence of European settlement. Australians have…

This paper explores appropriate disciplinary content for generalist sustainability degrees, based on two recent surveys. A questionnaire was used to extract from a multidisciplinary, largely academic audience--all of whom share an interest in sustainability--their views as to the disciplinary knowledge that a university-based sustainability…

Community-based environmental education is an important part of the sustainability project. Along with regulation and market-based instruments, adult learning and education in non-formal settings consistently features in the sustainability strategies advocated and implemented by government, community and industry entities. Community-situated…

How can an organisation move from awareness raising, in the form of natural history poster production, to the development of systems that change organisations? Through close integration of research and practice, the Gould League has achieved this transformation. It began with extensive research into best practice environmental education, going…

The greening of universities has been on the international agenda for at least a decade. While there has been considerable activity at some universities overseas, progress in Australian universities has been less easily identifiable. Also, the term "greening" has often been taken to apply to the operations of a university, whereas the…

Offers schools, state, and regional authorities a list of suggested priorities for environmental education programs. Recommends that adoption and/or adaptation of the itemized priorities can assist schools in the design, development, and implementation of each school's own particular program and policy. (ML)

Examines some of the reasons why energy education programs in Australia tend not to be tied closely with the environmental impacts of energy use. Highlights some of the difficulties facing the environmental education teacher who wishes to conduct a valid study of energy sources. (TW)