ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

Environmental catastrophes can be avoided and sustainable development can be achieved only if starting from early childhood people are educated to appreciate environmental values, to understand environmental processes, to recognize environmental risks, and to adopt environmentally conscious attitudes, as consumers, as professionals, and as citizens. The development of environmental education in Hungary over the last twenty years has been characterized by the extension of environmental education to an increasing number of university faculties and colleges. A great variety of postgraduate courses in environmental studies have been established. Environmental blocks and special environmental subjects have been integrated into general curricula. The experience gained in postgraduate courses has been applied to undergraduate courses. The principle being followed is that environmental education should be a part of all suitable disciplines at all levels, including the disciplines of the social sciences and of the humanities. Existing shortcomings stem from the highly specialized nature, the inflexibility, and other general aspects of Hungarian higher education and from the failure to pursue positive tendencies. Consequently, environmental studies have not been integrated into all possible disciplines. Except in the cases of course programmes for professional environmentalists, the environmental education offered may not be sufficiently comprehensive. Moreover, it tends to be concentrated in technical and vocational training programmes, while lagging behind in the humanities and the social sciences, except in the case of economics. Hungary must seize the opportunity offered by the PHARE (Po‐logne Hongrie Aide à la Recherche et à l'Edu‐cation)Programme of the European Communities to speed up advances in environmental education.