Importance of Educational Intervention in Environmental Action
Environmental education is a process that allows individuals to explore environmental issues, engage in problem solving, and take action to improve the environment.
As a result, individuals develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and have the skills to make informed and responsible decisions. This unit will discuss how educational intervention can help improve environmental action.
The current concern about the environment is not just for the present, but for the entire mankind now existing and the generations to follow. There has been sudden increase in the activities for Environmental Education since the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil.
This has resulted in the development of several activities and literature both at international and sub-national levels. The purpose is to regenerate man’s interest in preservation, conservation and improvement of the environment before it is too late and reaches the point of no return.
Environmental education is a process to promote the awareness and understanding of the environment, its relationship with man and his activities. It is also aimed at developing responsible actions necessary for preservation, conservation and improvement of the environment and its components.
Importance of Educational Intervention in Environmental Action
Environmental protection, ending poverty and hunger are the main themes of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs), yet a poor education and low level of human capital are often seen as an underlying reason for poverty in developing countries (Easterly, 2005).
Degesys (2008), claims that educational system can sustain inter and intra ethnic conflicts, environmental degradation, resources depletion and food insecurity.
Therefore providing developing countries with educational resources so that they can transform into fully functioning and completive economic and social communities could be seen as a key issue for realizing the United Nations Millennium goals
Education can be defined as a process of socialization, enculturation and transmission of what is worthwhile to those who are committed to it, either children or adults.
It is described as a family of morally legitimate procedures which aim to develop intrinsically worthwhile state of mind with wide range of cognitive content (Richard, 2013).
Education is commonly referred to as the process of learning and obtaining knowledge in the form of formal education. However, the process of education does not start when a child first attends school, it begins at home.
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One cannot only acquire knowledge from a teacher; one can learn and receive knowledge from parents, members of family and even acquaintances (Kurt, 2016).
It is often said that education is the bedrock of every society and if a society wants to develop, it should develop its educational sector first. This is because education is very important to every society (Igbaji, 2016).
In our culture today, there is huge emphasis on education especially higher education. It is believed that the more educated one is the better he is to himself and the society.
Every society has specialized individuals who fulfil certain positions. They include doctors, lawyers, engineers and these positions require education. All professions require some form of higher education and at each stage, knowledge gained is used for making the society better (Durodala and Olude, 2005).
Quality education is crucial to the economic development and social stability of a nation as it helps develop crucial humanitarian values like equality, tolerance and peace.
These values lead to sustainable national development, environmental protection and improved family health along with responsible participation democratic, social and political process (Igbaji, 2016).
