Why is sustainability education so important? And why is it crucial to learn more about sustainability?The simple answer to this question is: Because there is no alternative!
Sustainability is key to solving the challenges of the 21st century. In times of climate change, environmental pollution, and loss of biodiversity, there is no way around learning more about sustainability. The more you know, the better for the planet (but also for you), and the more positive is your impact on human environment interaction.
In today’s changing environmental climate, society needs eco-innovation and a sustainable focus more than ever before. Social movements (such as Fridays For Future) and innovative initiatives are one way to push environmentalism to the forefront of our world, but we have an even better tool at our fingertips — teaching people about sustainability.
Today’s zoos and educators have a crucial responsibility in terms of sustainability education. It’s essential to raise the next generation into eco-conscious, self-sufficient world citizens who understand the immediacy of environmental responsibility.
Sustainability education encompasses all school subjects and extends far beyond the classroom. It gives students real-world skills they can use to improve the planet. It provides today’s children with the self-sufficiency they need for tomorrow. It offers them a deeply engraved understanding of why the environment is important.
Here are reasons why sustainability education is important!
1. Interdependence between Humans and the Environment
The environment provides our nourishment, sustenance and shelter, giving us everything we need to survive — and yet its part in human lives is increasingly ignored.
Trees provide lumber, food sources and oxygen, and they support various ecosystems in addition to humans. The water cycle would fall to disruption without them, causing extremes like droughts and massive flooding. And yet forests have declined by 32% since the rise of the industrial era, with 15 billion cut down every year. Deforestation also accounts for 13% of global fossil fuel emissions.
The ocean also makes our survival possible by regulating weather patterns and producing more than 50% of our planet’s oxygen. But it has become increasingly polluted with plastic, oil and toxins, killing off the marine life keeping the world afloat.
While modern society too often strays from nature, humanity and the environment are inextricably intertwined — and to prevent further carelessness and damage to our ecosystem, it’s important to show students that. Teaching theoretical environmental science might be a start, but giving children the chance to experience the concept firsthand is infinitely more effective.
However, visiting zoos in order to educate children is not always a good option. This is because the existence of zoos is heavily debated and there are very good arguments to ban zoos completely. Not only because zoos are often portraying incorrect realities, but also because of animal welfare issues and ethical considerations.
2. The Balance between Environment, Society & Economy
Teaching adolescents how to identify environmentally friendly companies — and develop their own sustainable business endeavors — can lead to a more eco-friendly societal future. Consumers of decades past often didn’t know how business and production affected the Earth, but that’s changing fast.
Sustainability affects the economy as much as it does ecosystems. In turn, modern society has a marked impact on the environment. When it comes to building a better, greener future, business practices are the place to start — which makes sustainability-focused business education like EcoCation’s especially important.
As sustainability educator Sarah Pilato says, hands-on environmental education encourages students to “explore the real world…outside of their classroom and how they as individuals can have an impact on it.” Initiatives like these teach current students and future leaders the three pillars of ESG — environment, society and governance — so they learn how to balance and approach them in their own futures.
3. Sustainable Life Skills (Sustainability Education)
Sustainable education projects encourage students to re-think their relationship with the environment and develop eco-friendly skills and habits for their futures. Kids will learn to identify plants using their phones, grow their own food, conserve resources and choose sustainable products — but early sustainable education can also have a profound impact on their life pathways.
Many colleges are now offering sustainability degrees and majors in related fields. Students who pursue green majors seek careers as biologists, environmental scientists, researchers and much more. Agriculture, energy and manufacturing are popular fields for sustainability, as they are always looking to integrate eco-friendly processes. Giving kids a head start with early sustainable education will do more than instill sustainable life skills — it may also help prepare them for successful careers.
With an interest and career path in environmental studies, students can open green businesses, join eco-friendly companies or influence existing organizations to revise their current strategies. Sustainable initiatives like EcoCation’s develop sustainable leadership abilities, stress the value in collaboration, enhance communication skills and drive sustainable thinking — potentially inspiring students to pursue sustainable careers of their own.
4. Respect for the Planet
Earth is the only home the next generation has — and learning more about it is essential to keeping it alive.
Respect for our planet means learning its history, functions and what it needs to prosper. What children learn in school shapes them for the rest of their lives. Starting early with sustainability education teaches kids why the environment is important, how it should be treated, and how they play a crucial role in the future of its existence.
Increased respect for the planet means less littering, polluting and wasting of resources. It means more sustainable habits and efforts to conserve resources. More than anything, it means a mindset rooted in commitments to environmental change — a mindset that is cultivated and solidified early on.
5. Future Preparation and Adaptation through Education
Today’s planet won’t be the same only decades from now. Predictions don’t bode well, but education can both prepare students for future changes and give them the tools to prevent further damage. If teachers, professors and parents educate their students now, we’ll give them the ability to survive in an unknown future landscape. More importantly, today’s students may go on to become future scientists, researchers and activists who will work to protect our resources. Or they will become political and business leaders who will shape a sustainable future.
Environmental education equips students to navigate a changing environment with the proper knowledge of self-sufficiency, science and conservation. Actually, a great way to teach students about sustainability is by creating ecosystems in jars.
Before their involvement in a sustainability program, only 41% of students believed they had the power to affect change. After their experiences with hands-on environmental education, 94% believed they could change the world. Wouldn’t it be something to see that initiative reflected in schools and programs across the world?
The world is changing — and with it, we need to change our approach to the world. By emphasizing environmental themes and sustainability education in schools, we can do more than give the next generation the tools they need to take on environmental change — we can give them a better future.
Are you wondering where you can learn more about sustainability and eco-friendly living? Then you should check out the best sustainable living books!
