This article examines the ways in which settler colonialism shapes place in the social studies curriculum, producing understandings of land and citizenship in educational settings. To do this, the author uses the emergent framework of land education to move forward the important projects of place-based education, especially its potential for…

We report the development and piloting of an evaluative instrument and process for monitoring the environmental literacy (EL) of undergraduate students in one large research-led university in New Zealand. The instrument addresses knowledge, affect and competencies in the general area of EL in line with this institution's adoption of EL as a…

Higher education institutions in Sweden are increasingly exposed to international market conditions and rising competition from a more mobile student body. This increases the need for universities to adapt to their social and economic environment and to their clients, including the political trends and financial opportunities in Sweden and EU, if…

Despite strong political support for the development of sustainability literacy amongst the UK graduates, embedding sustainability in the higher education curriculum has met with widespread indifference, and in some cases, active resistance. However, opportunities exist beyond the formal curriculum for engaging students in learning about…

This paper explores how environmental education through ecological art can help students develop creativity, critical thinking, and an arts-informed notion of being a citizen of the world. In illustrating the importance of uncovering the relationship between environmental education and ecological art, the paper examines how this may be used to…

This paper discusses an oral assessment intervention in environmental education at two tertiary institutions in South Africa. A qualitative study grounded in a social constructivist framework, the inquiry locates learning and assessment of environmental education based on practical activities and first-hand experience within the framework of…

This paper explores the impact of short immersive residentials at a radical institution for staff currently working in a mainstream one; in this instance, at Schumacher College for those at the nearby University of Plymouth (UK). Schumacher is an independent, alternative college offering residential courses in "transformative learning for…

Many higher education institutions have assumed the role of diffusing knowledge, values, attitudes and behaviours that favour sustainability. A key objective in such work is training university teachers to apply sustainability criteria to their respective disciplines. While university teachers' active participation is essential to achieving this…

The interdependence of society and nature, the inherent complexity of social-ecological systems, and the global deterioration of ecosystem services provide the rationale for a growing body of literature focusing on social-ecological resilience--the capacity to cope with, adapt to and shape change--for sustainable development. Processes of…

In this paper, we address the challenge of translating the concept of resilience into effective educational strategies. Three different cognitive dimensions ("ontological," "epistemological" and "axiological") that underpin assumptions held about the nature of nature, the nature of knowing and the nature of human nature are identified. Four case…

This paper discusses the rationale underlying "PENTA", an EU funded Erasmus Mundus project. In doing so, it explores the challenges of internationalising and standardising European environmental assessment (EA) practice and education to a third country audience, looking at India as a case study. It is argued that the EU EA Directives are…

Environmental planning education has become crucial given the projected implications of climate change for human settlements and nature. However, despite the identified importance of educating planners with regards to sustainability and environmental issues, there has been limited discussion of the topic within literature. In particular, there has…

Thirty years of academic dialogue and reinvention about environmental and sustainability education conceals the consistency of rhetoric that literature holds. This paper argues that higher education for sustainable development does not call for the invention of anything disconcertingly new. In fact, four simple, long-standing concepts contribute…

Given the growing environmental awareness, educators - especially in science and environmental education - need to avoid embracing a "critical pedagogy of place". Why conflating critical pedagogy with place-based education is an oxymoron, and why it perpetuates the thinking and silences that undermine both the diversity of the world's cultures and…

This paper suggests a particular question that higher education researchers might ask: "Do educational programs use teaching methods that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable?" It further proposes that program evaluation research (PER) can be used to answer the question. Consideration is given to: a) program evaluation…