New Tools for Environmental Protection Education, Information, and Voluntary Measures (2002) / Chapter Skim
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10. A Model of Community-Based Environmental Education
10. A Model of Community-Based Environmental Education
Pages 161-182
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From page 161... ...
The model, termed community-based environmental education, differs from traditional education in that the educational activities not only build individual knowledge and skills, but also help to build an infrastructure for change that is sustainable, equitable, and empowenng. When the "classroom" is the community, an education strategy can take the form of employee training, media marketing, "point of purchase" information, workshops, study circles, one-on-one demonstrations, or a group initiative to gather data about a local problem.
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From page 162... ...
community members have a common interest in protecting and improving their community's quality of life. Consequently, these agencies have promoted environmental management via local decision-making and voluntary compliance with regulations and have considered ways to support these situation-specific processes and offer more effective environmental education.
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From page 163... ...
model was defined through a four-part process: (1) by examining community efforts that had a common goal of improving local environmental management; (2)
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From page 164... ...
WHAT IS COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION? Community-based education means more than "education based in the community." It implies an education plan created as a result of community involvement and designed to match community interests.5 "Community interests" refer to standard community issues, such as affordable housing or workforce development, as well as to activities with a recognizable environmental component such
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From page 165... ...
Consider, for example, the activities at the Sea Change Resource Center, a community-based organization in Philadelphia.8 Challenged by urban problems, Penn State Extension educators could have tried to improve the local economy by offering their own education program. Instead, educators worked in collaboration with Sea Change, which works to enhance economic development in selected Philadelphia neighborhoods by developing entrepreneurial solutions to local environmental problems.
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The educator is both working with the instigator and is influenced by the instigator's efforts. Education activities range from providing training in group process and planning, to providing information and resources for investigating the environmental problem.
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. Horicon Marsh is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States and is a designated wetland of international importance (Thoms and Andrews, 2000~.
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Experts from the university and other agencies occasionally provided content information and shared analytical skills when asked to explain research findings. The CBEE model emphasizes qualities of equity, empowerment, and sustainability as part of environmental management decision processes.
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From page 170... ...
Education programs developed based on the CBEE model rely, primarily, on informal learning learning through activities that occur outside formal educational settings and that are characterized as voluntary, as opposed to required for school credit. Just as in formal education, however, informal learning experiences can be structured to meet a stated set of objectives and can be designed to influence attitudes, convey information, and/or change behavior (Crane et al., 1994~.
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From page 171... ...
The CBEE model provides numerous avenues to use these strategies for increasing environmental management capacity among many audiences. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CBEE MODEL There is a rich set of resources about what makes community-based involvement and outreach effective too many resources to describe here, except in the most general sense.
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From page 172... ...
In spite of the difficulty of describing and studying such a complex process, this participatory, engaged approach provides a community involvement and outreach model that can be responsive to political as well as ecological necessity. For example, studies show that the new science of ecosystem-based management depends on application of community development problem-solving processes, as described by the CBEE model (Kellogg, 1999; MacKenzie, 1996; Wondolleck and Yaffee, 2000; National Research Council, 1999~.
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From page 173... ...
Who can assure that the CBEE model is properly applied is a very significant question; its answer also helps to answer the question of how CBEE could apply to larger scale problems. Government can enhance the skills of its own staff and ensure that policies provide the time and perspective necessary for community flexibility and responsiveness to environmental issues.
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From page 174... ...
Centralizing goals, but not mechanisms, provides an opportunity for maximizing success at the local level through application of the CBEE model. Several authors have suggested that a collaborative, sequential, or "nested" administrative structure, such as that found in the RAP process, is needed to enhance successful implementation of public participation in larger scale problems (Born and Genskow, 2001; National Research Council, 1999; Ostrom, 1990; Renn and Finson, 1991~.
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. Staff also identified literature reviews, monographs, manuals, conference proceedings, and studies that provided further information about community development models, social marketing experiences, outstanding models of community-based education (as identified by peers)
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. 9 Citizen participation models include citizen advisory committees, citizen panels (also known as planning cells)
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Paul 1990 Community Development, Community Participation, and Substance Abuse Prevention: Rationale, Concepts and Mechanisms. Santa Clara, CA: Department of Health, County of Santa Clara.
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:275-321. Environmental Defense Fund Pollution Prevention Alliance Staff 1996 Environmental Sustainability Kit.
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Knuth 1993 Success of citizen advisory committees in consensus-based water resources public involvement programs. Society and Natural Resources 6:229-257.
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Ball, and K Reaume 2000 Public involvement programs that support water quality management.
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Environmental Management 19(2)
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Patton 1995 Community Visioning/Strategic Planning Programs: State of the Art. Ames: Iowa State University, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.
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