A Half-century of Environmental Education

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Originally appears in the Fall 2021 issue.

By Henricus Peters and Nina Hatch

Editor’s Note: We don’t typically publish news stories or “history of…” pieces, but this was something we wanted to highlight. First off, a 50^th anniversary is a pretty big deal. Secondly, we have enjoyed fruitful relationships with both organizations (and, in the case of the NAAEE, their many state and provincial affiliates across North America) during our 35-year existence. Thirdly, big milestones are opportunities to reflect and reorient (and haven’t we all been doing a bit of that over the past year and a half!). Considering the increasing focus on environmental education all around the world as we ramp up our collective sustainable development efforts, I thought this would be a fitting time to flip back through the proverbial archives and see how two fine organizations have evolved since 1971.

The National Association of Environmental Education (NAEE) is a charity based in the United Kingdom, with partners across the globe, including the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE). This year, 2021, NAEE celebrates 50 years since it was “born.”

It began life in the 1960s and officially became the National Association for Environmental Education in 1971. Our purpose is to promote all forms of environmental education, and to support those involved in its delivery, in the hope that more people will understand and act on the need to live more sustainably to protect the future of our planet.

NAEE was born when awareness of the environmental crisis we face was beginning to emerge, and key focuses throughout our existence have been to increase opportunities for young people in schools to learn about 1) how life on Earth is utterly dependent on the biosphere, 2) the threats to it, and 3) what they could do to makes things better. Part of this has been trying to influence the government of the day to ensure that the school curriculum was appropriate to these goals. Over the past 50 years, we have seen good and bad times as government interest in supporting environmental education has ebbed, flowed, and then ebbed again. Currently it’s low tide once more!