Since it was first defined in 1969, the practice of and perceptions about environmental education (EE) have evolved over time. On this page, the historical development of EE has been sketched out to provide a framework for EE as it currently is practiced, and to provide insight into the emergence of the different perspectives that are represented on other pages of the Perspectives section of EE-Link.

In recognition of the fluidity of history, users are invited to suggest resources to this, and other pages, of the EE Perspectives section via the Suggest a link form.

1969

Dr. William Stapp, University of Michigan, was the first to concisely define environmental education in 1969:

Environmental education is aimed at producing a citizenry that is knowledgeable concerning the biophysical environment and its associated problems, aware of how to help solve these problems, and motivated to work toward their solution.

(Stapp, W.B., et al. (1969). The Concept of Environmental Education. Journal of Environmental Education, 1(1), 30-31.)

1970

In his 1970 Environmental Message to Congress, President Richard Nixon emphasized the importance of environmental literacy.

It is also vital that our entire society develop a new understanding and a new awareness of man's relation to his environment - what might be called "environmental literacy." This will require the development and teaching of environmental concepts at every point in the educational process.

(Nixon, R.M. (1970). President's Message to the Congress of the United States. In Environmental Quality, the First Annual Report of the Council on Environmental Quality, together with the President's Message to Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, S/N 0-389-110. ED 062-109, p.11)

In October of 1970, President Nixon signed the Environmental Education Act (P.L. 91-516) into law. The Act defined EE as:

...The educational process dealing with man's relationship with his natural and manmade surroundings, and includes the relation of population, conservation, transportation, technology, and urban and regional planning to the total human environment.

(U.S. Public Law 91-516. The Environmental Quality Education Act. Enacted October 30, 1970, p. 1)

1972-1977

As EE was still an emerging concept at this time, these definitions were not seen as definitive. Rather they were used as working definitions that would evolve with educational research findings and as more stakeholders were brought to the table. At an international level, EE gained prominence during the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Environment. Recommendation 96 of this conference recommended environmental education as a critical means to address the world's environmental crises. This recommendation was addressed at the 1975 International Environmental Workshop in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, which resulted in the Belgrade Charter (Barry, J. (ed.).(1976). The Belgrade Charter: A Global Framework for Environmental Education. Connect: UNESCO-UNEP Environmental Education Newsletter, 1 (1), p.1-3) a document which begins to define the goals and objectives of environmental education. The Belgrade Charter was further refined at the Intergovernmental Conference on EE in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia in 1977:

Environmental education, properly understood, should constitute a comprehensive lifelong education, one responsive to changes in a rapidly changing world. It should prepare the individual for life through an understanding of the major problems of the contemporary world, and the provision of skills and attributes needed to play a productive role towards improving life and protecting the environment with due regard given to ethical values. (UNESCO, 1977, p.24)

The Tbilisi declaration also explicitly stated the objectives of environmental education as: awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills and participation.

(UNESCO. (1977, 14-26 October). Final Report - Tbilisi. Paper presented at the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, p.26-7)

1980

Unfortunately many of the environmental education programs and activities that were developed in the wake of Tbilisi lacked a clear direction and were inconsistent or failed to achieve the goals set forth by the Tbilisi and Belgrade documents. In response to this lack of coordination, Hungerford, et al. published, "Goals for Curriculum Development in Environmental Education" in the Journal of Environmental Education (11:3, pp. 42-7) in 1980. Using the following as the superordinate goal of EE:

...to aid citizens in becoming environmentally knowledgeable and, above all, skilled and dedicated citizens who are willing to work, individually and collectively, toward achieving and/or maintaining a dynamic equilibrium between quality of life and quality of the environment (Hungerford, et al., 1980, p.44).

Hungerford et al. developed a framework to guide the development of EE curricula in a manner that would be consistent with guiding principles established at Tbilisi.

Level 1: Ecolological Foundations
Level 2: Conceptual Awareness - Issues and Values
Level 3: Investigation and Evaluation
Level 4: Environmental Action Skills - Training and Application