A collaborative partnership has evolved between the Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) and Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. The Riverina Environmental Education Centre (REEC) is one of 24 Department of Education and Training environmental education centres in New South Wales (see www.reec.nsw.edu.au). As part of this partnership relationship, final year BTeach(Sec)/BSc students have worked with REEC and CSU staff on developing learning materials that support and enrich the programs offered through the REEC. In particular, these students have developed materials focussing on exploring student understanding about biodiversity and salinity. Additionally, the development of web based learning activities that use regional scientists as exemplars of current scientific research and possible career options (called Real Science) has occurred. Through this partnership arrangement, it has been a ‘win-win’ outcome for REEC staff, CSU staff and the CSU final year secondary science students with all participants gaining valuable insights and pedagogical understandings from the partnership.

This paper reports on a research study that investigated the extent to which the Queensland secondary school subject Modern History adopts characteristics of socially critical environmental education. The study found that while the Modern History syllabus gives ample opportunities for students to focus their inquiries on environment, Modern History teachers had overlooked this aspect of the syllabus. More positive findings of this research are that both the syllabus and teachers adopt many characteristics of socially critical environmental education. In particular, the values, political and emancipatory characteristics feature strongly in both policy and practice. To a lesser extent, both the holistic and issues-based characteristics are represented. Finally, this research study shows that the action characteristic, as defined in socially critical environmental education, is clearly neglected. Despite this, there is a case to be made for Modern History to be used as a vehicle for socially critical environmental education in Queensland schools.

Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres provide programs that are designed to address a range of environmental education aims, and contribute broadly to student learning for sustainability. This paper examines the roles such Centres can play, and how they might contribute to the Australian Government's initiative in relation to sustainable schools. Interviews with the principals of 23 such Centres in Queensland revealed three roles or models under which they operate: the destination model; the expert/advisor model; and the partnership model. Principals' understandings of these roles are discussed and the factors that support or hinder their implementation are identified. It is concluded that while the provision of programs in the environment is still a vital role of outdoor and environmental education centres, these can also be seen as a point of entry to long-term partnerships with whole school communities.

In recent years discussions surrounding early childhood curriculum has focused on the movement from developmental to sociocultural theory. A further area worthy of investigation involves the role of content in early childhood education, specifically the relationship between content, context and pedagogy. The paper draws on teacher vignettes to consider how environmental education can be represented as a content area in early years education. Issues associated with environmental education as an emerging area of importance in early childhood education are also discussed.

Lessons from a pilot introduction of environmental education into a teacher education programme designed to address pupil disengagement from school science, are discussed in this paper. Pre-service teachers discovered that environmental education can be a potent context for creativity and continuity in curriculum planning. Interpretation of the responses demonstrates that environmental education can be used to develop scientific and eco-literacy and that pre-service teachers can be imaginative when offered the opportunity to link disparate areas of science in this context, but the timing of the intervention appears to be critical. Exposure to school culture appears to inhibit their ability to plan imaginatively. This has implications for pre-service teacher education and practising teachers internationally, if pupil disenchantment with science is to be halted.

Loss of biodiversity and habitats is one of the greatest threats to the environment and education has a critical role to play in addressing this issue. This paper describes a teaching activity for first-year university students studying sustainable resource management at the University of Newcastle which established a partnership between education, government and the community to rehabilitate a nature reserve where biodiversity values were threatened by weed invasion. Students research the problem (weed invasion), quantitatively assess the impacts of weed invasion and management interventions, and work alongside a community-based bushcare group and government agency during on-ground rehabilitation of the reserve. Key outcomes for students have been knowledge and skills relevant to a critical issue for the Australian environment; a more optimistic attitude towards environmental issues and their potential to develop solutions; a positive perspective about the role of community involvement; continued participation in community bushcare groups outside the classroom; and personal involvement in solving a critical environmental issue.

We are living in an era of market-driven, globalised economies characterised by reduced public investments in what, until now, have been considered public goods and services. In Australia and elsewhere, education, and higher education in particular, has seen steady declines in government funding. This has prompted universities to become much more entrepreneurial and to seek out new funding opportunities to support their teaching and research activities. This paper reflects on the personal and professional dilemmas and challenges we faced as two early career environmental education researchers who were commissioned to undertake research for a private corporation. As a result of issues raised during this process, we engaged in a critical reflection of our perceptions and feelings about our involvement in the project. In essence, dilemmas and challenges centred around two issues: (1) control/ ownership of the research; and (2) the clash between corporate and university values. This paper explores these issues and suggests that greater mindfulness on the part of individual researchers as well as the development of better university-corporate partnership processes and protocols might provide useful starting points for overcoming such dilemmas and for moving forward with university-corporate research partnerships.

The discourse of sustainability is promoted internationally, with the United Nations declaring 2005-2014 as a Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. There is discussion concerning the nature, status and significance of Education for Sustainability and its relationship with the somewhat established discourse of environmental education. This debate requires continuing theorising and one approach is to reflect critically on specific examples of sustainability within specific communities. This article seeks to promote further discussion about sustainability, and to contribute to ongoing theorisation about Education for Sustainability, by considering a particular instance – that of environmental sustainability in the Ballarat region of Victoria. The case study suggests that implementation of this local environmental sustainability strategy was dominated by technocratic and individualistic ideologies.

As institutions of education and learning, the higher education sector has a significant role to play in implementing the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014). Some institutions have already acknowledged, and are shaping, their roles in working towards sustainability through appropriate development and implementation of institutional policy and practices, including the signing of international agreements related to sustainability. Such institutions are specifically linking learning to sustainable development. This study was initiated as a result of our interests to i) identify the current commitment to education for sustainability and ii) learn from the institutional lived experiences about how education for sustainability may be realised, within the Australian university context. This is a preliminary investigation to provide baseline insights into how education for sustainability with a focus on curriculum innovation is being implemented within the Australian university landscape. This investigation is informing our further research to understand institutional change of education for sustainability in universities.

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale research project about student teachers' perceptions and experiences of environmental education. The context of this study is a pre-service teacher education faculty in rural New South Wales, Australia. A combined methods approach was applied, with a survey designed from rich data elicited through focus group interviews. The focus of this paper is on the findings of the survey, revealing that prospective teachers' preparedness in environmental education is diluted by their teacher education experience and that such experiences are not providing a stimulus for novice teachers to practice environmental education.

This paper begins with a letter of thanks from future generations for the wisdom our generation has shown in initiating a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. It describes the overall goals of the Decade and focuses on the Action Plan being developed by UNESCO to guide its contributions as the international lead agency for the Decade. These are shown to be two-fold. The first is one of leadership, catalysing, coordinating and supporting activities around the world, especially supporting the re-orientation of national education systems and policies in support of sustainable development and encouraging civil society, the private sector and the media to participate. The second is as a substantive implementer of Education for Sustainable Development, itself, helping to create an enabling environment for the achievement of the objectives of the Decade.

Problem solving and teamwork abilities are important skills for graduates entering the environment profession. Through a problem based learning approach small groups of students from the environmental courses at RMIT University have been gaining these professional skills by undertaking projects in Vietnam. With three years experience in running the project we have data, through the students' reflections and feedback, to demonstrate the value of the project approach, and to undertake improvements. Drawing on data from the latest project we can identify opportunities for improving the details of the project's organisation, but importantly demonstrate the value of the project in providing a depth of professional experiences for the students. This analysis will be important for other academics needing support in the development of project based activities for those in environmental courses.

Event tourism is accompanied by social, economic and environmental benefits and costs. The assessment of this form of tourism has however largely focused on the social and economic perspectives, while environmental assessments have been bound to a destination-based approach. The application of the Ecological Footprint methodology allows for these environmental assessment boundaries to be extended. This case study applies the footprint methodology to the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) Biennial Conference held in Adelaide in 2004. The results of the case study provide important insight into the planning and delivery of future events for the Association and event managers.

This article charts the history of environmental education over four decades - from the 1960s to 2006 - as a rocky road of determined chocolate with the possibilities of rocks (nuts) and easy passage (marshmallow). There were distractions such as suggestions of changing names and new directions (add fruit?) along the way but the road has continued to be well travelled. The article concludes that there is much in common with where we have come from (the 1975 Belgrade Charter) and where we stand now (in year 2 of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development). Where next?

Discourse in the Australian Journal of Environmental Education of the last ten years has not addressed a pedagogy that draws on and reflects the natural history of the continent. Australia is an ecological and species diverse country that has experienced substantial environmental change as a consequence of European settlement. Australians have historically been, and increasingly are, urban people. With high rates of urban residency in a substantially modified landscape, what role might environmental education play in assisting Australians to develop understandings of the natural history of specific Australian places? While Australia has a rich history of people observing, comparing and recording the natural history of the continent, environmental education discourse in this journal has not addressed how pedagogy might be informed by a focus on natural history. This paper draws attention to this gap in Australian environmental education discourse and offers some thoughts and ideas for a pedagogy based on the natural history of specific places.

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) 2005-2014 provides a significant platform to enhance the profile of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in formal and informal learning spaces and ultimately to assist in transforming our future into a more sustainable one. The article presents a brief summary of Australia's response to the DESD since its announcement in 2003. It argues that if stakeholders interpret the Decade as “business as usual”, rather than as a chance to reflect on how to be more strategic and reach out to key decision-makers or how to be more effective in involving a greater number of stakeholders in learning and change for sustainability, then the opportunities presented by the DESD will be missed.

As lead agency of the DESD, UNESCO focuses on partnerships to activate networks and projects in support of ESD. Established committees in Asia and the Pacific are enhancing coordination and cooperation throughout the region. At present, the focus is on mobilising the media, private sector and youth as key stakeholders in achieving ESD. UNESCO recognises the value of linkages and is linking to other programs such as teacher education and supporting existing institutions working in related fields of ESD. UNESCO is involved in a collaborative project to develop monitoring and reporting mechanisms for the DESD in Asia-Pacific. Awareness-raising is increasing understanding of ESD and encouraging active involvement of partners across the region.

Biodiversity is an abstract concept, attracting various responses from different people according to where they have come from and what ecosystems they have been closely linked to. In theory, most people would agree that protecting biodiversity is an important process, but in practice, few people commit to actions on a local level. This paper explores a situation faced in the Northern Territory where environmental educators seek to engage hearts, hands and minds to protect biodiversity but it is difficult to gain commitment given a diverse and transient community such as exists in Darwin. The survey of 175 tertiary students at Charles Darwin University develops insights into how individuals perceive and name local mangrove and savanna ecosystems, and which areas they would want to conserve. Results have implications for local environmental education. Suggestions are made about how awareness of and actions for biodiversity in the Top End could be extended.

Three South American countries, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, have been selected in order to study the impact of the document “The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”. In these countries, whose people react energetically against any attempt to break the environmental balance, the synergic power of education is recognized. Therefore, it can be observed that the content sustainable development has been incorporated in the new educational schemes since 1990s in all their levels. The analysis in the formal, non formal and informal education of these countries shows us that they have the environmental issue well contemplated. But, it is necessary to emphasize the interrelations of three essential components: environment, society and economy in order to develop solidary values for improving a sustainable present and future existence. In relation to the “The United Nations Decade”, it is noticed that although different measures have been adopted, conjoint work by the region's countries from a Latin American perspective is required.

Environmental Education is one of the cross-curricular themes, introduced in the mid 1990s in the curriculum of Flemish secondary education (12-18 yr). Both the Brundtland report and the ENSI philosophy inspired the development of the objectives for EE. A strong partnership exists between the departments of education and the environment of the Flemish Ministry and the provincial authorities, which resulted in the project ‘MOS’, an environmental management system for primary and secondary schools. Besides environmental objectives, the pedagogical objectives of the project are strongly emphasised. The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development provides a strong stimulus to link Environmental Education to the other cross-curricular themes, Citizenship and Health Education and to include the ‘MOS’-project into the broader framework of Education for Sustainable Development.